The Kuban People's Republic or Kuban National Republic (KPR or KNR; ; ) was an anti-Bolshevik state during the Russian Civil War, comprising the territory of the Kuban region in Russia.
The republic was proclaimed by the Kuban Rada on 28 January 1918 and declared its independence on 16 February. It included the entire territory of the former Kuban Oblast of the Russian Empire. During its brief independence, it unsuccessfully sought union with the Ukrainian People's Republic. The Kuban People's Republic was de facto occupied by the forces of Anton Denikin on 6 November 1919, before being fully occupied and annexed by the Soviets in the spring of 1920.
History
Background
During the Russian Empire, the region of the Kuban was a Cossack territory. Like many similar provinces, its demographics constituted several differences from ordinary Russian governorates (guberniyas). The western regions belonged to the descendants of the Black Sea Cossack Host from Ukraine in 1792. The southern and eastern regions were made from the Caucasus Line Cossack Host, descendants of the Don Cossacks.
The Kuban Cossacks were formed to guard the Russian borders against the Mountain peoples they fought in the Caucasus War (1817–1864). Kuban Cossacks sent large contingents to fight alongside the Imperial Russian Army in many wars and formed the Tsar's personal bodyguard. In return for such loyalty, they lived free from taxes in a semi-independent way, with various privileges. The military nature of their lifestyle was mirrored in the administration of the region, where stanitsa settlements had much more autonomy than traditional Russian villages, electing a local Ataman (commander). The notion promoted by the government in the 19th century was that the Cossack Hosts had a special and unique bond with the Emperor and were personally loyal to him rather than Russia.
However, during the reforms of Tsar Alexander II, the pacified Kuban Oblast was heavily invested in and extensive peasant migrants from Russian, Armenian and Ukrainian provinces migrated to cultivate the land. The question of land ownership caused extensive friction between the peasants and the Cossacks, and often resulted in the latter's action to ensure its ownership. The Cossacks called the non-Cossack peoples living beside them inogorodyne ("outlanders"), a rather disparaging and insulting term.
February Revolution
Following 1917's February Revolution in Petrograd, the Russian Provisional Government continued fighting in the increasingly unpopular First World War. As a result, the Russian Army began to collapse. Kuban Cossack units deserted the front lines and returned home to protect their homelands from a threatened Turkish invasion.
During the Russian Empire, the Kuban was directly administered by an appointed Ataman (Nakaznoy Ataman) directly by the Tsar, usually a skilled non-Cossack general. The notion that the Cossack Hosts were personally loyal to the emperor rather than Russia meant that with the end of the monarchy in March 1917 that many Cossacks felt that they had no more loyalty to Russia. With the sovereign's abdication, the Kuban governing council, the Kuban Rada (parliament) in March 1917 proclaimed itself as the sole administration body with intentions to create a military government that would retain control of the Kuban, and on June 17 of that year proclaimed the Kuban People's Republic.
Independent Kuban National Republic
From 30 April through 3 May 1917, a Cossack meeting took place in Yekaterinodar. It formed a Cossack governmentthe Kuban Military Councilelecting Mykola Riabovil as its head.
With the October Revolution, the people of the Kuban found themselves divided. The numerous non-Cossack peasants were influenced by the Bolsheviks, proclaiming a Kuban Soviet Republic, which dispersed the council. However, on 16 February 1918, the Kuban Rada proclaimed the independence of the Kuban People's Republic from Bolshevik Russia. A few days after the closing of the sessions, the members of the Council voted for a resolution to join a federal structure with Ukraine (under its conservative Skoropadsky government).
In March 1918, after Lavr Kornilov's successful offensive, the Kuban Rada was re-established and placed itself under his authority. The Cossacks, formerly loyal to the Russian Empire, supported the White movement. Yet after the early successes of Kornilov's Volunteer Army, which rid the Kuban of the Bolsheviks, the front lines moved north into the Don territory.