Provisional Priamurye Government | |||||||||
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| 1921–1923 | |||||||||
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| Capital | Vladivostok | ||||||||
| Common languages | Russian | ||||||||
| Government | Provisional government | ||||||||
• 1921–1922 | Spiridon Merkulov | ||||||||
• Jun–Oct 1922 | Mikhail Diterikhs | ||||||||
• 1922–1923 | Anatoly Pepelyayev (de facto) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | May 27, 1921 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | June 16, 1923 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | RU | ||||||||
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TheProvisional Priamurye Government orProvisional Priamur Government (Russian:Приамурский земский край) existed in the region ofPriamurye of theRussian Far East between May 27, 1921 and June 16, 1923. It was the lastRussian State enclave during theRussian Civil War.
The government had its origin in a 1921White Army coup inVladivostok and its environs. The coup aimed for thePriamurye region to break away from theFar Eastern Republic and to survive behind acordon sanitaire ofJapanese troops involved in theSiberian Intervention. The coup was started on May 23, 1921 by theKappelevtsy, the remnants ofVladimir Kappel'sPeople's Army of Komuch.
The government was headed by the Merkulov brothers:Spiridon Merkulov, a former functionary of theMinistry of Agriculture and head of the Priamurye government; andNikolai Dionisovich Merkulov [ru], a merchant. Both had been deputies of theState Duma of the Russian Empire and supporters of the 1917Russian Provisional Government. Somewhat later in 1921 theCossackatamanGrigory Semyonov attempted to take power in the Priamurye, but he had no backing from the Japanese and eventually withdrew. The Kappelevtsy and the Semyonovtsy (Semyonov's supporters) despised each other.[citation needed]
Gradually the Priamurye enclave was expanded toKhabarovsk and then toSpassk, 125 miles north of Vladivostok.[1] The Merkulovs were deposed in June 1922 by the Priamurye Zemsky Sobor (Russian:Приамурский Земский Собор) and replaced by one of AdmiralAlexander Kolchak's generals,Mikhail Diterikhs.
In July 1922, aZemsky Sobor (Приамурский Земский Собор) was convened in the territory. This sobor called all Russian people to repent for the overthrow of the Tsar and proclaimed a new Tsar,Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich. Patriarch Tikhon was named as the honorary chairman of the sobor. Neither the Grand Duke nor the Patriarch was present. The territory was renamedPriamursky Zemsky Krai and Diterikhs styled himselfvoyevoda. The army was renamed theZemskaya Rat ("Territorial Rat'" - the archaic Slavic termrat' means "military force").
When the Japanese withdrew from the Priamurye (June to October 1922), the Soviet army of the Far Eastern Republic retook most of the Priamurye Government territory. TheAyano-Maysky District was controlled byAnatoly Pepelyayev at that time; its surrender in June 1923 marked the end of theRussian Civil War.
