Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic

Origins

In February 1918 a regional congress of soviets in Kharkiv proclaimed the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic over the coal and iron districts of eastern and southern Ukraine. Its leader, Fyodor Sergeyev, known as Artyom, argued that the industrial region belonged economically with Russia rather than with the Ukrainian People's Republic.

Rule and society

The republic had a council of people's commissars in Kharkiv and tried to nationalise mines and factories, but it existed for only a few weeks. Its separate status was opposed by Bolsheviks who backed a single Soviet Ukraine, and Moscow did not formally recognise it as distinct from Ukraine.

Decline and legacy

After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, German and Austro-Hungarian forces advanced into the Donbas. The government retreated to Luhansk and beyond, and by spring 1918 the republic was dissolved into Soviet Ukraine's structures, with its territory occupied by the Central Powers.