Soviet republic that existed in 1918 – early 1919.

 

It was proclaimed at the 4th Regional Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies of the Donetsk and Krivoy Rog Basins [Donetsk and Krivoy Rog coal basin, for short Donbass or Donkrivbass] on January 30, 1918, in Kharkov as a republic within Soviet Russia. The Regional Committee (headed by Bolshevik Semyon Vasilchenko) became the administrative body of the republic. The Council of People’s Commissars of the republic was headed by Bolshevik Fyodor Sergeyev (“comrade Artyom”).

 

The republic included Yekaterinoslav, Kharkov, part of Kherson and Tauride (up to Perekop) governorates, and industrial regions of the Don Host Oblast. The exact border with the Russian SFSR was not established. All enterprises and mines were subordinated to the Southern Regional Council of the National Economy, which in its turn was subordinate to the Supreme Council (Board) of the National Economy of the Russian SFSR.

 

The Central Rada of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR) signed an agreement on January 27, 1918, under which German and Austrian troops entered the territory of Ukraine. The head of the government of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic sent a note to Wilhelm II, the Kaiser of Germany, explaining that the region was not part of the UPR and would offer armed resistance in the event of an invasion. The Central Headquarters of the Red Army in Donbass was established in Yuzovka on February 26. However, the superior forces of the Central Powers consistently occupied the territory of the republic. On April 8, the government of the republic left Kharkov and moved to Lugansk, which was also occupied by German troops on April 28. On May 4, the last units left the republic and headed for Tsaritsyn, where the government of the republic also moved. The Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic was officially eliminated on February 17, 1919.