Provisional Government of the Northern Region

Provisional Government of the Northern Region 

counterrevolutionary body established by the White Guards with the support of Anglo-American occupation forces in Arkhangel’sk in October 1918. On the day of the occupation of Arkhangel’sk by the Anglo-American landing force (Aug. 2, 1918) the so-called “Supreme Administration of the Northern Region” (VUSO) was established under the chairmanship of N. V. Chaikovskii, a member of the People’s Socialist Party. On Sept. 28, 1918, VUSO relinquished its authority, and Chaikovksii, in close cooperation with the American ambassador D. Francis, formed the Provisional Government of the Northern Region. The policies of the Provisional Government of the Northern Region resulted in the plundering of the rich resources of the North and the institution of terror. At the hands of the White Guards and the interventionists, leaders of the local Bolshevik organizations (V. Vinogradov and others) were killed and 200 persons were tortured to death in a concentration camp on Mud’iug Island, which became known as “death island.”

From the beginning of 1919 the leading figure in the Provisional Government of the Northern Region was the former tsarist general E. K. Miller, a protege of the Anglo-American imperialists. On Apr. 30, 1919, the Provisional Government of the Northern Region recognized the supreme authority of Admiral A. V. Kolchak. On Sept. 10, 1919, Kolchak abolished the Provisional Government of the region; Miller became, in reality, a dictator. The struggle of the workers of the north, led by the Bolsheviks, against the foreign and domestic counterrevolution and the successes of the Red Army in the Civil War forced the interventionist’s to evacuate Arkhangel’sk in September and October 1919, and Murmansk in February 1920. Attacked and defeated by Soviet forces, Miller’s White Guard army disintegrated. On Feb. 19, 1920, Miller escaped abroad. On Feb. 21, 1920, Soviet power was restored in the northern region.

REFERENCES

Bor’ba za torzhestvo Sovetskoi vlasti na Severe: Sbornik dokumentov (1918-1920). Arkhangel’sk, 1967.
Tarasov, V. V. Bor’ba s interventami na Severe Rossii (1918-1920 gg.). Moscow, 1958.
Malkov, V. M. Na Severnom platsdarme. Vologda, 1963.
Shumilov, M. I. Bor’ba za Sovetskuiu vlast’ na Severe Rossii, 1917-1922: Ukazatel’ literatury. Petrozavodsk, 1967.

A. G. KAVTARADZE