Zemstvo of Maritime Territory

Lieutenant-General Rozanov with Japanese officers.

In 1919 the White forces in Western Siberia were defeated by the Reds. Now the main threat for the young Soviet State was in Europe (Poland). The Russian Far East was occupied by the forces of different foreign countries (mainly Japan). The Central Committee of Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks) (RCP(b)) issued an order "to find a way of solving the complicated question of Eastern Siberia, trying to avoid a military conflict with Japan". At the end of December the SR-led Political Centre had overthrown Aleksandr Kolchak in Irkutsk. During negotiations with the Revolution Military Council of the Red 5th Army in January 1920, the Political Centre offered to organize a buffer republic in the Far East region with Irkutsk as its capital. Alexander Krasnoshchyokov - representative of the Irkutsk Revolution Committee - offered a similar idea. The Soviet government rejected the attempt of the Political Centre to lead the creation of such a buffer state, but the idea itself was approved.

At that time, Vladivostok - the capital of Maritime Territory - was ruled by general Sergey Rozanov, who was subordinated to Admiral Kolchak. At the beginning of January, 1920, an underground bolshevik's conference in Vladivostok decided to organize an uprising against Rozanov with the slogan "Whole power to Soviets!". In the middle of January a strong group of cooperative merchants and Zemstvo members organized itself in Vladivostok to oppose the Rozanov's dictatorship. The Bolsheviks in Vladivostok realized that establishing a Soviet regime in the Maritime Territory could slow the evacuation of foreign troops and Japanese troops could fight against the rebels, and decided to transfer the power to the Zemstvo Board after overthrowing the Rozanov dictatorship. On January, 26, military revolution organisations created a United Revolution Operation Staff, led by Bolsheviks. It was decided to start the uprising on January, 31.

At the same time, the White authorities had learned about the revolutionary mood in the Jager Battalion and had decided to disarm it, but the soldiers arrested the officers and created a Battalion Committee. General Rozanov then engaged Gardes de la Marine and Junkers to suppress the mutiny. On January, 26, after a fierce battle, the White Guards managed to surround the Jager Battalion, disarm it and send it to Russky Island, but this could not prevent the following events. In the night of January, 31, the Vladivostok Uprising began, and by the middle of the day, the whole city was captured by the rebels. Foreign troops had to keep neutrality, but helped Rozanov to flee and escape to Japan.

The Provisional Government of Zemstvo of Maritime Territory set as goals:

• To free the political prisoners
• To destroy the remains of Kolchak Dictatorship
• To reestablish social and political freedoms
• To organize a public control over the trade and industry
• To organize the food supplying and trade
• To remove foreign troops

The Bolsheviks organized a party conference at the beginning of February and decided to support the Provisional Government of Zemstvo of Maritime Territory, on the condition of keeping a significant Bolshevik influence in it (especially in the military and organizing sections).

For the organization of the buffer state, the Central Committee of RCP(b) created on March, 3, the Dal'biuro (Russian: Дальбюро, an abbreviation of "Дальневосточное бюро" - "Bureau for Far East"). I.G.Kushnarev, S.G.Lazo and P.M.Nikiforov became the Vladivostok members of the Dal'biuro. But the members of the Dal'biuro had different opinions about the creation of the buffer state: for example, in Vladivostok, Kushnarev supported an idea of buffer state, but Lazo was against it. By the middle of March, 1920, a representative of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee - V.D.Vilenskij - arrived at Vladivostok with party's directives about the creation of the buffer state. Between March 16 – 19, during the Territorial Party Conference in Nikolsk-Ussuriysky Lazo contradicted Vilenskij. Lazo said: "We don't have to organize here the democratic buffer. If the centre wish us to organize a buffer - it will be a soviet buffer". The Conference members supported Lazo. The Centre representatives had to compromise between the will of the people and strategic necessity.

To stop the spontaneous sovietizing of the Maritime Territory, the Siberian Revolution Committee sent a message (transferred by Kushnarev, who returned from Moscow): "There is a process of organizing a government in Verkhneudinsk; Alexander Krasnoshchyokov is our representative there. All Far Eastern governments should coordinate their movements and organize themselves similar to Transbaikal government". In this situation the Dal'biuro decided on March 29, to stop the sovietizing of the Maritime Territory and to offer the Regional Zemstvo Administration to expand its authority by a special law over the whole Russian Far East. On March 31, the Zemstvo issued such a declaration and organized an election for a People's Assembly on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. This people's Assembly of Primorye elected the Council of Ministers headed by a A.S. Medvedev of the PSR.[1] The Government of the Zemsko Administration was also preserved.

On April 6, 1920 an Assembly of workers of the Western Transbaikal Region proclaimed in Verkhneudinsk the creation of the Far Eastern Republic. The "Declaration of creation of an independent Far Eastern Republic" set as purpose uniting the whole Russian Far East. Therefore there became two pretenders for the position of its capital: Vladivostok and Verkhneudinsk. The Amur Oblast, with its pro-Soviet government, recognized Verkhneudinsk, but the Russia Eastern Outskirts wanted to negotiate with Vladivostok. Grigory Semyonov - head of Russia Eastern Outskirts - and N.P.Pumpianskij - representative of Maritime Territory government - met at Manzhouli railway station, but couldn't agree about the unification.

The directions of the Siberian Revolution Committee weren't too strict, and the Bolsheviks of Vladivostok used this situation for supporting the idea of making Vladivostok the capital of the Far Eastern Republic. This situation was favourable for Semyonov, because the Maritime Territory Popular Council negotiated with Semyonov's government as equals.

On August 13, 1920, the Political Bureau of Central Committee of RCP(b) approved "The Short Thesises about the Far Eastern Republic". After reading it, representatives of Vladivostok in Verkhneudinsk signed a preliminary agreement with the government of the Far Eastern Republic, recognizing Verkhneudinsk as its capital.

On August 24, 1920, at the Khadabulak railway station, Grigory Semyonov and representatives of the Maritime Territory Popular Council signed an agreement about the unification of the Maritime Territory and the Transbaikal Territory under the leadership of the Maritime Territory government. Representatives of the Transbaikal Territory should have one third of the places in the united Popular Assembly of the Far East. Semyonov agreed to organize an election in the Transbaikal Territory according to the election law of the Maritime Territory. But the Maritime Territory Popular Council rejected to ratify this agreement.

In October, 1920, Chita (capital of Russia's Eastern Outskirts) was captured by the Reds. At the Chita Conference (October, 28 – November, 11) three local governments (the Transbaikal Government, Amur Government, and Maritime Government, which also ruled the Kamchatka and Chukotka Peninsulas) joined in the united Far Eastern Republic.

Only formally part of the Far Eastern Republic, and with Japanese troops still present, the Zemstvo of Maritime Territory kept a certain autonomy. A new Provisional Priamurye Government would be created between May 27, 1921 and October 25, 1922 in the Maritime Territory after a coup by White forces supported by the Japanese Army.

• Шишкин С. Н. Гражданская война на Дальнем Востоке. [S.N.Chichkin "Civil War on Far East"] — Moscow: USSR Defence Ministry Publishing House, 1957
• Кокоулин В. Г. Образование дальневосточного буфера и тактика РКП(б) (январь — сентябрь 1920 г.) [V.G.Kokoulin "Creation of Far East buffer and the tactics of RCP(b): January–September, 1920"] // Из прошлого Сибири: Межвузовский сборник научных трудов, Вып. 3, Ч. 1 ["Siberian Past: inter-university collection of science works", Vol.3, part 1] — Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk State University, 1997
• Новиков П. А. Гражданская война в Восточной Сибири. [P.A.Novikov "Civil War in Eastern Siberia"] — Moscow: "Centrepoligraph" Publishing House, 2005. — ISBN 5-9524-1400-1.