Karelian Labor Commune Карельская трудовая коммуна Karjalan työkansan kommuuni | |||||||||
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1920-1923 | |||||||||
![]() Area claimed and controlled by the Karelian Labor Commune | |||||||||
Capital | Petrozavodsk | ||||||||
Administrative centers | Petrozavodsk & Olonets | ||||||||
Official languages | Finnish Russian | ||||||||
Government | |||||||||
• Chairman | Edvard Gylling | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Established | 8 June 1920 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 25 July 1923 | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1920 census | 145,753 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Republic of Karelia as a subject of Russian Federation |
The Karelian Labor Commune [a] was an autonomous region established in 1920 following the successes of the Red Army's incursion into the Republic of Uhtua, to undermine and discredit the separatist movements and to make Finland give up on attempting to liberate East Karelia shortly before the beginning of negotiations for the Treaty of Tartu [1] and during the Heimosodat. [2] Edvard Gylling and Yrjö Sirola, former members of the government of the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic, met with Vladimir Lenin in the Kremlin to propose autonomy for Karelia within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. [3] The Commune was founded on 8 June 1920 and was disestablished on 25 July 1923 and succeeded by the Karelian ASSR, following the end of the Heimosodat. [4]
The Government of the Karelian Labor Commune was run by the Karelian Revolutionary Committee (Karrevkom), which was headed by Edvard Gylling, a former member of the government of the FSWR. Much of the leadership of the Karelian Labor Commune were that of Red Finns, who were expatriates that got government jobs, such as Gylling, Aleksandr Šotman and et cetera. Around 20,000 Finnish people, mostly people who were a part of the Finnish People's Delegation or Red Guards fled to the Commune following or nearing the end of the Finnish Civil War. [5] [6]
The Capital of the Commune was chosen to be Petrozavodsk. This was a problem as this led to the formation of two administrative centers for the Commune, for the existence of the Executive Committee of Olonets. The existence of two administrative centers led to infighting and petty disputes, such as the demarcation of the border based on either ethnic, legal/historical or economic boundaries. [7] [8]
The borders of the Karelian Labor Commune were drawn in such a way that the Karelian people and/or Finnish people would form to be the majority of the region, as according to the census carried out in 1920, 145,753 people lived there, of which 60.8%, or 89,951 people, were ethnically Karelians. [9] The bitter infighting led to the eastern border to run roughly along the Murmansk railroad from the White Sea to Lake Onega, so that Shunga, Shyoltozero and the mouth of the River Svir would remain outside of the Commune, to limit the number of Russian people within the borders of the labor commune. [9]
Green represents areas under the Karrevkom/the Labour Commune and Red represents areas under the control of the Olonets Governorate. The borders which the Executive Committee of Olonets wished for were those of the Olonets Governorate of that under the Russian Empire. As they saw it to be the legitimate option as the Governorate had never been formally dissolved and in de jure control of the Executive Committee of Olonets.
Gylling was infavour of Karelization or Karelianization, which in his words meant:
Karelization means that the Karelian dialects have civil rights everywhere, that Karelians in all offices and meetings will be able to explain their business in their own dialect. But if one thinks of Karelization as meaning that one wants to use the Karelian dialects, which often are mixed up with Russian words more than half of the time, as a literary language, then Karelization is naturally irrational.
This led to the policy of regions that spoke majority Karelian language or Finnish language would only have their services in the Finnish language. The policy of Karelization was meant to make the Karelian people not support the Karelian United Government and the Finnish Government due to their sponsoring of anti-communist and separatist movements. [8]
The 1. All-Karelian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies was held between 11 and 19 February 1921. The 1. All-Karelian Congress of Soviets elected the chairman of the Karelian Regional Executive Committee (Karoblispolkom), which had jurisdiction over all territory other than that in conflict with the Executive Committee of Olonets. 144 delegates took part in this session of congress and Edward Gylling was elected to be chairman of the Karoblispolkom. [10]
The All-Karelian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies held a congress in Petrozavodsk between 1–3 July 1920 and it was a de facto election between the 142 delegates representing 24 Karelian volosts of the Karelian Labor Commune, within the congress the delegates represented around 105,000 Karelian people. The All-Karelian Congress of Soviets was held to see the opinions of regions relating to the subject of independence, joining Finland or staying in the RSFSR. The results of the congress were that 88.3% of all respondents were in favor of remaining a part of the RSFSR, 10.8% were in favor of independence, and 0.9% were in favor of joining Finland. [10]
The congress was filled with regionalist debate, with the Executive Committee of Olonets having wishes to stay within the RSFSR, while the White Karelia region wishing more for outright independence or joining Finland. The congress itself was promoted by the Executive Committee of Olonets on April 28, 1920, when they adopted a special resolution in which a congress would be held on the subject of independence, joining Finland or staying within Russia for Karelia. [10] The All-Karelian Congress of Soviets was however not only related to independence, as it also adopted an order for the Karelian Revolutionary Committee to take measures to combat hunger, in order to prevent a famine, restore agriculture, fisheries and the forestry industry. [10]
The All-Karelian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies became the supreme state power of the Karelian Labour Commune following a resolution on 8 June 1920 when the Karrevkom resigned due it having completed its temporary task. [11]
The Karelian Revolutionary Committee (Karrevkom) despite its continued authority over the Executive Committee of Olonets, resorted to a Joint Presidium between the two groups, which was called a provincial executive committee, alongside this a lot of political power was granted to a Council of People's Commissars (CPC). [11] The formation of the Provincial Executive Committee did not solve a lot of problems, as areas which were inside the Olonets Governorate but outside the reach of the CPC still were under de jure control of the Executive Committee of Olonets. These areas outside the Commune which retained their powers were neighbouring areas of Petrozavodsk and Povenets. [11]
This led to the Administrative Commission of the Presidium proposing to include the Petrozavodsk and Povenets unincluded regions, this was rejected by all parties, including the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR, who rejected the proposal. This led to the proposal being given to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, who rejected the proposal on 11 September 1920, the rejection to the proposal was signed by Vladimir Lenin, and it was said to be a need for the preservation of the old province, and its subject economic, food and land departments. [11] P.F. Anokhin was later elected the chairman of the Presidium in August 1920.
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The Karelian Labor Commune was faced with a labor shortage due to conflict in the region, this alongside the political motives of the Bolshevik Party had established various forced labor camps within its territory, such as a sawmill in Neglinka which was run by the Cheka until Gylling requested it for it to be run by the Karelian Economic Council. [12] The extreme infighting within the Karelian Labor Commune led to the sporadic division of resources between the Executive Committee of Aunus and the Karelian Economic Council, which was headed by Šotman. The Karelian Labor Commune had been given economic and administrative autonomy relating to their resources by the Government in Moscow. [12]
The Karelian Labor Commune was not meant to be just limited to East Karelia or Karelia as a whole, the intentions reflecting the sometimes debated intentions of the Karelo-Finnish SSR in its expansion. It is often thought that the Commune was meant to be a runway for the expansion of the communist revolution to Finland. [13] These ideas were killed with the Socialism in One Country policy applied by Stalin, in result of the Soviet failure in the Polish–Soviet War.
The Republic of Karelia, Karjala or Karelia is a republic of Russia situated in the northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of 172,400 square kilometres, with a population of 533,121 residents. Its capital is Petrozavodsk.
Karelian is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically, Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland, and some Finnish linguists have even classified Karelian as a dialect of Finnish, though in the modern day it is widely considered a separate language. Karelian is not to be confused with the Southeastern dialects of Finnish, sometimes referred to as karjalaismurteet in Finland. In the Russian 2020–2021 census, around 9,000 people spoke Karelian natively, but around 14,000 said to be able to speak the language. There are around 11,000 speakers of Karelian in Finland. And around 30,000 have at least some knowledge of Karelian in Finland.
The Aunus expedition was an attempt by Finnish volunteers to occupy parts of East Karelia in 1919, during the Russian Civil War. Aunus is the Finnish name for Olonets Karelia. This expedition was one of many Finnic "kinship wars" (heimosodat) fought against forces of Soviet Russia after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and during the Russian Civil War.
Olonets Karelia is a historical and cultural region and the southern portion of East Karelia, which is part of Russia. Olonets Karelia is located between the other historical regions of Ladoga Karelia, to its west, White Karelia, to its north, the River Svir, to its south and Lake Onega on its eastern side. Olonets Karelia is home to its own dialect of the Karelian language, which is known as Livvi Karelian or sometimes as 'Olonets Karelian'.
Olonets is a town and the administrative center of Olonetsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located on the Olonka River to the east of Lake Ladoga.
Olonetsky District is an administrative district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Republic of Karelia, Russia.
Greater Finland is an irredentist and nationalist idea which aims for the territorial expansion of Finland. It is associated with Pan-Finnicism. The most common concept saw the country as defined by natural borders encompassing the territories inhabited by Finns and Karelians, ranging from the White Sea to Lake Onega and along the Svir River and Neva River—or, more modestly, the Sestra River—to the Gulf of Finland. Some extremist proponents also included the Kola Peninsula, Finnmark, Swedish Meänmaa, Ingria, and Estonia.
The flag of the Republic of Karelia is the official state symbol of the Republic of Karelia. Adopted by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Karelia on February 16, 1993. The flag was designed by Alexander Ivanovich Kinnear.
The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Karelian ASSR for short, sometimes referred to as Soviet Karelia or simply Karelia, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, with the capital in Petrozavodsk.
Eero Haapalainen was a Finnish politician, trade unionist and journalist, who served as the commander-in-chief of the Red Guards from January to March 1918 during the Finnish Civil War.
The Karelian people's presence can be dated back to the 7th millennium BC–6th millennium BC. The region itself is rich with fish, lakes, and minerals, and because of that its holder has changed throughout history, and to this day it is divided between the Republic of Finland and the Russian Federation.
The East Karelian Uprising and the Soviet–Finnish conflict 1921–1922 were an attempt by a group of East Karelian separatists supported by Finland to gain independence from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. They were aided by a number of Finnish volunteers, starting from 6 November 1921. The conflict ended on 21 March 1922 with the Agreements between the governments of Soviet Russia and Finland about the measures of maintenance of the inviolability of the Soviet–Finnish border. The conflict is regarded in Finland as one of the heimosodat – "Kinship Wars".
The Finnish invasion of East Karelia was a military campaign in 1941. It was part of the Continuation War. Finnish troops occupied East Karelia and held it until 1944. For over a month after the outbreak of the Continuation War, the Karelian Army reinforced and prepared to resume its earlier offensive while waiting for the recapture of the Karelian Isthmus. The Soviets had prepared fortifications and brought troops to the front. When encirclements on the western shore of Lake Ladoga were resolved, the Finnish 7th Division was transferred to the junction of VI and VII Corps.
Pro-independence movements in the Russian Civil War within the territory of the former Russian Empire sought the creation of independent nation states that were not aligned with the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution. Many pro-independence movements emerged after the dissolution of the Russian Empire and fought in the Russian Civil War.
Karjalan Sanomat is a weekly Finnish language newspaper from the Republic of Karelia, published in Petrozavodsk. The newspaper was founded in 1920 as 'Karjalan kommuuni'.
The Republic of Uhtua, also Provisional Government of Karelia, officially called the Republic of East Karelia was an unrecognized state that existed from 1919 to 1920, formed out of five volosts in the Kemsky Uyezd of the Arkhangelsk Governorate.
Lyudmila Fyodorovna Markianova is a Karelian linguist and a professor emerita. She has been called "karjalan kielen muamo", i.e. 'mother of the Karelian language'.
The Karelian United Government was a short-lived state that existed from 1920 to 1923, as a merger of the Republic of Uhtua and the Olonets Government of Southern Karelia.
Kestenga is a rural village in the Loukhsky District of the Republic of Karelia in Russia on the northern shore of Lake Topozero.
The Finnish Operation of the NKVD was a mass arrest, execution and deportations of persons of Finnish origin in the Soviet Union by the NKVD during the period of the Great Purge (1937–1938). It was a part of the larger mass operations of the NKVD which targeted many minority nationalities in the Soviet Union. Different estimations range from 8,000 to 25,000 of Finns killed or disappearing during the repression.