Don Soviet Republic
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| 1918 | |||||||||
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 Map of the territory claimed by Don Soviet Republic. | |||||||||
| Status | Republic withinRussian SFSR | ||||||||
| Capital | Rostov-on-Don | ||||||||
| Common languages | Russian | ||||||||
| Government | Soviet Republic | ||||||||
| Chairman of theSovnarkom | |||||||||
| Legislature | Soviet council | ||||||||
| Historical era | World War I | ||||||||
• Established | 23 March 1918 | ||||||||
• Conquered byDon Cossacks | 8 May 1918 | ||||||||
| Currency | Ruble | ||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||
TheDon Soviet Republic (Russian:Донская советская республика,romanized: Donskaya sovetskaya respublika) was a short-livedSoviet republic of theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic that existed from March to May 1918.
Claiming the territory of theDon Host Oblast, the republic was proclaimed in March 1918 after the retreat of theWhite Army from the area. In May, after the revolt of theDon Cossacks and the German advance into the region as a result of theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk, the republic was overthrown and its leaders fled. The Don Cossacks'Don Republic took over the territory of the Don Soviet Republic.
The Don Soviet Republic was proclaimed on 23 March 1918 with its capital atRostov-on-Don, claiming the territory of the Don Host Oblast and part ofYekaterinoslav Governorate, after theVolunteer Army andAlexey Kaledin's Don Cossack forces retreated from the area. Between 9 and 14 April, a regional congress of soviets elected a Central Executive Committee (CEC) of 26Bolsheviks and 24Left Socialist Revolutionaries for the republic. The CEC in turn formed a Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), which was led by Red CossackFyodor Podtyolkov. An Extraordinary Staff led bySergo Ordzhonikidze was also established to organize the defense of the republic.[1]
According toPeter Kenez, "Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, the leader of the Southern Forces, askedLenin to send a representative to the Don, but Lenin had no one to send and instead asked Antonov-Ovseenko to be the chief representative of theCouncil of People's Commissars, the Sovnarkom. Antonov-Ovseenko could not go himself, but he sent Commissar Voitsekhovskii, who together with Sivers became the real ruler of the district. Voitsekhovskii nationalized the mines and factories, organized forced collectivization of food, extorted money from the bourgeoisie, and introduced a reign of terror. Terror was applied even against members of socialist parties and ordinary workers. The Red general Sivers ordered that anyone who had been a member of theVolunteer Army was to be executed. Dozens of officers were arrested and brutally murdered." This included the execution ofPaul von Rennenkampf.[2]
The Don Soviet Republic began to lose support as a result of its food requisitions and executions of suspected "counterrevolutionaries". In April, a general revolt of the Don Cossacks began, and from 1 May German troops also entered its territory, as a result of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. On 4 May,Mikhail Drozdovsky's force took Rostov-on-Don, which was then occupied by German troops, on 6 May. The leaders of the republic fled toTsaritsyn, but Podtyolkov was captured and executed by the Don Cossacks. The Don Republic then took control of the territory of the Don Soviet Republic.[1] The Don Soviet Republic, however, was not officially abolished by the Soviet government until September as its leaders had remained at Tsaritsyn.[3][2]
