The united command of the White movement in South Russia, which carried out military and civil administration of the controlled territories. It was headed by the Commander-in-Chief of the AFSR; at first, it was Anton Denikin (January 8, 1919 – April 4, 1920), then Pyotr Wrangel (April 4 – May 11, 1920).

 

On January 8, 1919, representatives of the Volunteer Army (in January–May 1919 it was called the Caucasian Volunteer Army) led by Anton Denikin and the Don Army led by Peter Krasnov, met at the Torgovaya station. The parties concluded an agreement on a single command and Anton Denikin became the Commander-in-Chief. At the beginning of 1919, the troops of the Black Sea coast, the troops of the North Caucasus, and the Turkestan army (formed with the support of the British military mission and operated in the Transcaspian region) were created within the AFSR.

 

The Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief and the Special Council served as the government (headed by Abram Dragomirov and, starting from September 1919, Aleksander Lukomsky) were situated in Yekaterinodar until July 1919. Then the Headquarters moved to Taganrog and the Government went to Rostov-on-Don (from December 1919 it was located in Novorossiysk). The Special Council consisted of departments (of internal affairs, foreign affairs, justice, finance, and others) and included representatives of the Kadets (Nikolay Astrov, Vasily Stepanov, Konstantin Sokolov), Octobrists (Sergey Maslov, Nikanor Savich), monarchists (Vasily Shulgin, Sergei Sazonov), but the military played a key role.

 

Anton Denikin followed the principle of unpredetermination (refusal to determine the state structure of Russia before the convocation of the Constituent Assembly) in domestic politics. The fight against the Bolsheviks was declared the main current goal. The legislation of Russia, which had been in effect before the Bolshevik coup in October 1917 was applied on the territory of the AFSR. Plants, factories, and lands were returned to their owners. In March 1919, the Provisional Regulations on Civil Administration were approved and the State Guard was created (served as the police). The key principle of Denikin’s policy was the concept of united and indivisible Russia. This led to conflicts with the Cossack state formations of the Don and Kuban (the Great Don Host and the Kuban People’s Republic), which were the center of the AFSR, and prevented interaction with the political forces of Ukraine and Transcaucasia.

 

In June 1919, Anton Denikin recognized the supreme power of Aleksander Kolchak, who handed over the Ural Army to the operational command of the AFSR. As new territories were conquered, military regions were created. They included several governorates headed by commanders who were liable only to the Commander-in-Chief. The Kharkov, Novorossiysk (Kherson governorate and Northern Taurida), Kiev, and North Caucasus regions were created during the summer and autumn of 1919. By mid-October, the troops of the AFSR approached Moscow as close as possible, stretching along the Kiev–Oryol–Tsaritsyn line.

 

In the autumn of 1919, the counter-offensive of the Southern Front of the Red Army (commanded by Aleksander Egorov) resulted in the defeat of the AFSR main forces. The administration was reorganized in the conditions of the retreat: the Special Council was dissolved on December 30 and replaced by a Government under the Commander-in-Chief of the AFSR (headed by Aleksander Lukomsky). In his last decree of January 4, 1920, Aleksander Kolchak expressed his intention to hand over the supreme power to Anton Denikin but the latter did not accept the title of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. In March 1920, the South Russian Government was established (headed by Nikolay Melnikov) to obtain broader support from the population. It included socialists, in particular Nikolay Tchaikovsky.

 

In late 1919 – early 1920, a series of the Red Army campaigns forced the AFSR out to Crimea. On April 4, 1920, Pyotr Wrangel became the Commander-in-Chief of the AFSR and renamed it into the Russian Army on May 11.