A territorial-political entity that existed within the borders of the former Orenburg governorate of the Russian Empire where the Orenburg Cossacks lived (a military-agricultural and service class with autonomism traditions).

 

In April 1917, the 1st Host Krug (elective assembly) declared that before the Constituent Assembly, the Orenburg Cossack Host was to solve all internal issues independently. The Host Krug became the administrative body, while the Host Uprava [executive board] became the executive body (since September, the Host Government). On October 1, at the extraordinary Host Krug, Aleksander Dutov was elected as a Host Ataman and head of the Host Government (approved by Aleksander Kerensky).

 

On October 26, 1917, after receiving news of the October Coup in Petrograd, the Host Government announced that it would take full executive power in the Host. On December 7, 1917, the 2nd regular Host Krug decided by an overwhelming majority not to recognize the power of the Bolsheviks and to fight them. On December 11, the Orenburg Military District was formed under the command of Aleksander Dutov within the borders of the Orenburg governorate and Turgay region. In response, the Bolsheviks declared a state of siege in the Orenburg governorate. On January 18, the Reds took Orenburg, the Cossacks retreated to Uralsk and Verkhneuralsk, and then to Turgay.

 

In the summer of 1918, Orenburg Cossacks rebelled against the Soviet government and occupied Orenburg on July 3. On July 7, Aleksander Dutov returned to the city to lead the Cossack host, declaring the territory of the Orenburg governorate a “Special Area of the Orenburg Host”. As a result of military operations, the Reds were driven out of the cities of the Orenburg governorate (Orsk was the last to be left at the end of September). The territory of the Host was under the influence of the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch) and the Provisional Siberian Government. On July 19, Dutov received the position of the Komuch chief plenipotentiary on the territory of the Orenburg Cossack Host, Orenburg governorate, and Turgay region. However, on August 12, Dutov announced the autonomy of the Host’s territory, which led to a conflict with Komuch.

 

On October 17, the South-Western Army was formed from units of the Orenburg Cossack Host (it also included Ural and Astrakhan Cossack units), subordinate to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional All-Russian Government (Ufa Directorate), Lieutenant General Vasily Boldyrev. On November 6, the Ufa Directorate officially liquidated all local governments in the controlled territory. On November 20, 1918, the Host Government recognized the authority of the Supreme Ruler of the Russian State Aleksander Kolchak, who overthrew the Directorate after the Omsk coup. On December 28, the South-Western Army was renamed the Orenburg Independent Army

 

After a series of defeats of the Whites, on January 21, 1919, the Host Government moved from Orenburg to Orsk, then to Troitsk. On February 13, the Council of Ministers in Omsk established the post of the Chief Head of the Orenburg region to control the Orenburg governorate, as well as the Kustanay and Aktyubinsk districts of the Turgay region. Dutov was appointed the head of the region with the rights of the Governor-General, but in fact, he controlled only part of Orsk and Verkhneuralsk districts.

 

In the spring of 1919, the Orenburg Independent Army supported the spring offensive of Kolchak, got Orsk and Ilek back, reached the approaches to Orenburg but failed to take the city. By September 1919, units of the Red Army took control of almost the entire territory of the Orenburg Cossack Host. With heavy fighting, the Orenburg Army retreated to the Semirechyensk region where it cooperated with the army of Boris Annenkov for a while. In March 1920, its remnants went to China.