A provisional state that occupied Arkhangelsk governorate as well as some districts of Vologda and Olonets governorates.

 

It was formed on August 2, 1918, as a result of a coup and overthrow of the Bolsheviks’ power in Arkhangelsk, organized by members of the Russian Revival Union, in which right-wing officer groups were also involved. On the same day, the Supreme Directorate of the Northern Region (VUSO) was established in the city, with Nikolay Tchaikovsky as its chairman, and Entente forces landed. By mid-August, volunteers’ detachments had occupied Kem, Onega, and Shenkursk abandoned by the Reds. On August 13, Murmansk Krai became part of the Northern Region, the Krai Council of which entered into an agreement with the allies on the provision of military and material assistance. On June 30, 1918, it left the Russian SFSR.

 

The VUSO, in which Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) were in majority, was resented by the right-wing forces. On September 6, officers led by Georgy Chaplin arrested the VUSO members. Due to the pressure from the allied ambassadors, who condemned the coup, Chaplin was removed from power. Nevertheless, at the end of September, the VUSO resigned. The Provisional Government of the Northern Region, formed in early October, was also headed by Tchaikovsky. However, it consisted mainly of the members of the Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets). The government recognized the power of the Ufa Directorate, and from April 30, 1919, the power of the Supreme Ruler of Russia Aleksander Kolchak. After January 1919, when Tchaikovsky left for Paris, the post of Governor-General of the Northern Region was taken by General Evgeny Miller, who de facto became the head of the government. In October 1919, Kolchak abolished the Provisional Government of the Northern Region and appointed Miller as the head of the region with dictatorial powers.

 

While the legislative acts of the Russian Empire and the Provisional Government were restored in the Northern Region, some decrees and decisions of the Soviet government concerning the democratization of education and the procedure for land use remained in force. Zemstvos and city councils were restored, industry and trade were denationalized.

 

Until the beginning of 1919, the main military force of the Northern Region had been the Allied Expeditionary Force, which consisted of British troops (including troops from the dominions: Canada, Australia), American, French, Italian troops. The Northern Region was gradually forming its army. In the second half of 1919, its total strength exceeded 50 thousand. In June 1919, the forces of the Northern Region, supported by the Allied Corps, advanced in the southern and southeastern directions, trying to link up with Kolchak's Russian army. This goal was not achieved due to the retreat of the Kolchak's troops and uprisings in several units. In September–October, the Allies evacuated from the region. Despite this, the Whites continued their offensive, approached Petrozavodsk, and occupied several areas of Vologda governorate. Due to a shortage in weapons, ammunition, and reserves, the advance stopped.

 

The defeat of Aleksander Kolchak’s and Anton Denikin’s armies implied the end of the Northern Region, which lacked its resources to continue the struggle. In early February 1920, the Reds’ offensive caused a collapse of the front. On February 19, the Provisional Government of the Northern Region left Arkhangelsk on board of an icebreaker and evacuated to Norway, where it soon ceased to exist.