Crimean Regional Government

Crimean Regional Government Крымское краевое правительство Krymskoe kraevoe pravitel'stvo
← 1918–1919 →
Flag
Capital	Simferopol
Language(s)	Russian, Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian, German
Government	Liberal republic
Prime minister
- 1918	Maciej Sulkiewicz
- 1918-1919	Solomon Krym
Historical era	World War I
- Crimean Offensive of 1918 by Ukrainian and German troops	April 1918
- First government established	25 June 1918
- German withdrawal	November 1918
- Second government established	November 1918
- Brief Red Army invasion	April 1919
- Soviet control reestablished	November 1920

The Crimean Regional Government (Russian: Крымское краевое правительство - Krymskoe kraevoe pravitel'stvo) refers to two successive short-lived regimes in Crimea in 1918 and 1919.

Following Russia's 1917 October Revolution, an ethnic Tatar government proclaimed the Crimean People's Republic. The republic was soon overrun by Bolshevik forces in early 1918 who established the Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic and then by the forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic with a military assistance from the German Empire in the Crimean Offensive at the end of April 1918.

The first Crimean Regional Government was established on 25 June 1918. It was formed under German protection with Lipka Tatar General Maciej (Suleyman) Sulkiewicz as prime minister, minister of interior and military affairs. There were efforts by Ukraine to exert control over Crimea but, with German support, the regional government remained separate from Ukraine though, in September and October, there were talks to effect a federation of the two.

Following the evacuation of German troops from Crimea, the unpopular^[1] Sulkiewicz fell from power on 25 November 1918 and was succeeded by Crimean Karaite politician and former Kadet member Solomon Krym. This liberal, anti-Bolshevik regime included fellow former Kadet member Maxim Vinaver as foreign minister and Vladimir D. Nabokov as minister of justice.^[1] In late November 1918, ships of the Allies of World War I landed in Crimea but they withdrew by early 1919.

The Krym government, also called the Crimean Frontier Government,^[2] began to crumble in early 1919 due to tensions with the Russian White movement's Volunteer Army under Anton Denikin which suspected the loyalty of its main figures.^[1] The collapse of the World War I Central Powers and the withdrawal of the Allies had made the Crimea again fully dependent on Russia.

On 2 April 1919, the Soviet Red Army occupied Simferopol and the second Crimean Regional Government was dissolved. The Crimean Socialist Soviet Republic was then established only to be retaken by White forces in June 1919. The Whites under Denikin and later Pyotr Wrangel held Crimea until November 1920.

After the reassertion of Soviet control, the lands of former government became the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic under the Russian SFSR. Today, Crimea is part of Ukraine.

1919 postage stamp of the Crimean Regional Government

See also

• Russian Civil War
• Post-Russian Empire states

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Brian Boyd. Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years. Princeton University Press, 1993. p. 154.
2. ^ Harold Henry Fisher. The Famine in Soviet Russia, 1919-1923: The Operations of the American Relief Administration. Ayer Publishing, 1971. p. 277.