Kuban People's Republic

Kuban People's Republic (Кубанська Народна Республіка; Kubanska Narodna Respublika). The name of the state formed on 16 February 1918 that existed in several forms until the Bolshevik consolidation of power in Kuban in May 1920. It was established as a sovereign state on the territory of the former Kuban oblast of the Russian Empire by a proclamation of the Kuban Legislative Council. On 4 December 1918, a new constitution, adopted in an extraordinary session of the Kuban Territorial Council, changed the name of the republic to Kuban Krai. The constitution also contained a declaration stating that the krai would be independent until order was restored in Russia and it could join a future Russian Federated Republic. The Kuban Territorial Council was the state’s constituent assembly and the Kuban Legislative Council was the legislative organ. The chief executive officer was the Chief Otaman, who was elected for a four-year term by the Territorial Council but was responsible to the Legislative Council. He was the commander in chief of the armed forces and the head of government. According to some reports, on 20 January 1918 the Kuban Legislative Council issued a resolution about the incorporation, on federative principles, of the future Kuban People's Republic to the Ukrainian National Republic, but because of the Russian offensive, this resolution was not enacted.

[This article was updated in 2018.]