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80 
 
extraordinary commissars for the entire Caucasus, and enjoyed plenipotentiaries 
powers in the entire area and direct contact with Moscow.
208
 
Following the conclusion of an agreement, in Brest-Litovsk on 3 March, the 
Bolshevik forces, under the command of Celâl Korkmazov occupied Vladikavkaz 
in the middle of March.
209
 There, they formed the Terek People’s Soviet Socialist 
Republic (Terskaya Narodnai Sovetskaia Sotsialisticheskaia Respublika) headed by 
Noi Buachidze with the aim of joining Soviet Russia.
210
 Then the Bolshevik 
controlled military revolutionary soviets (voenrevkoms) were spread all around the 
North Caucasus.
211
 
 
As a result, the members of the provisional government of the 
Mountaineers had to move to Nazran first and then to Temir Khan Shura.
212
 At the 
same time, while some members of the government were forced to turn back on 
their native regions to organise military formations against the Bolsheviks, others 
left the North Caucasus to search for economic and military aid.
213
 Nevertheless 
during the last month of 1917, apart from the natives, the Cossacks and the 
Bolsheviks, a new force had taken position in the region. This was the Volunteer 
Army. 
                                                 
208
 Blank, “Soviet North Caucasus,” 13. 
209
 After the signing of Treaty, in compliance with the Bolsheviks’ promises the soldiers from entire 
Caucasian front began to desert to the Russian territories. Most of these deserting soldiers were pro-
Bolshevik and stayed in the North Caucasus. Thus, the baseless North Caucasian Bolsheviks of 
1917 surprisingly owned an army of their own. 
210
 Pipes, Formation, 197 and Kalmık, 21-2, pointed out that in this structure Osetians had 8, Ingush 
3, Cossacks 8, Chechens 15, inogorodnye 15 and Kabardians 7 representatives respectively. 
211
 Kashkaev, Ot Fevralya, 105-107. 
212
 “It did this because part of the population in Vladikavkaz, which consisted of Russians, and also 
the entire garrison which had once belonged to demoralized sections of the old Russian Army, 
joined the Bolsheviks and seized the control of city.” Kosok, “Revolution and Sovietization II,” 49. 
213
 Cabaği, Kafkas-Rus Mücadelesi, 86-87 and Baytugan, “Kuzey Kafkasya,” 9. 

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B-Volunteer Army (Dobrovol’cheskaia Armiia):
214
 
The name Volunteer was used throughout the civil war period to refer to the 
army organized by General Alekseev, and subsequently expanded by the other 
generals, Kornilov and Anton Ivanovich Denikin. It was mainly an organization of 
officers. They created the Army, set its tone, determined its ideology, and always 
retained leadership in it. But the main combat force of this Army composed of 
neither officers nor Russian soldiers, it was made up rather of Kuban and Don 
Cossacks, and its official name became the Armed Forces of South Russia.
215
 
Following the Bolshevik coup ın Petersburg, at the invitation of Ataman 
Kaledin
216
, the Tsar’s last Commander in Chief, General Alekseev arrived in 
Novocherkassk, the capital of the Don, on 15 November 1917. By the end of 
December, the other prominent names such as Kornilov, Denikin, Markov, 
Romanovskiy, and Lukomskiy who had been imprisoned at Bykov for their 
participation in the Kornilov affair
217
 managed to escape from their confinement 
                                                 
214
 For the Volunteer Army, the first hand information could be reached from General A. I. Denikin, 
Ocherki Russkoi Smuty, Vol. II, pp.156-157. A shortened English version has been published in two 
volumes, General A. I. Denikin, 1922. The Russian Turmoil, London: Hutchinson and co., and, 
1930. The White Army, London: J. Cape and co. 
215
 Peter Kenez, 37, and George Brinkley, Allied Intervention in South Russia, 1917-1921. Notre 
Dame, Indiana: Un. of Notre Dame Press, 297. Hereafter Allied Intervention. 
216
 Following the Bolshevik coup in Petrograd General Kaledin assumes control of the Don region 
by issuing a declaration on 7 November. And, “taking into consideration the extraordinary 
conditions of the moment and the lack of contact with the central authorities, [he]… assumes …full 
executive power…The assumption of power is temporary and will last only until the Provisional 
Government and order in Russia are restabilised.” For the text of the Declaration see, James Bunyan 
and H. H. Fisher, 404. 
217
 After the February Revolution, uncontrollable strikes and street demonstrations, so-called ‘July 
Days’ had created a crisis and the resignation of most of the Kadets caused the collapse of 
Provisional Government. As a result, Alexander F. Kerensky, the only member of the Petrograd 
soviet in the government as a war minister replaced Prime Minister G. Lvov. But the position that 
Kerensky stood related the war isolated him from all the Soviet Parties and the population in 
general. He insisted on fighting to victory, thus he had to turn to the army. At that point he made his 
mistake and in order to restore the discipline in the army, he appointed General Kornilov to the post 

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and arrived at Novocherkassk. These Tsarist generals get together with the 
intention of using the south eastern region as a base for gathering the remaining 
loyal elements to organize a coherent military power or an army. As Denikin 
himself pointed out, the first goal of the Volunteer Army was to stand against an 
armed invasion of Southern Russia by the Germans or Bolsheviks.
218
 Then the 
ultimate objective, in compliance with the basic dictum of ‘Russia One and 
Indivisible’, was the restoration of a ‘Free Great Russia’. 
This had caused serious apprehensions among the Bolsheviks, and the 
Sovnarkom
219
 declared war on the Cossack chiefs. Trotsky then ordered an 
offensive against the Cossacks.
220
 Thus, Bolshevik forces attacked in December 
1917 and occupied Novocherkassk and the whole Don by February 1918. As a 
result, the generals and the Volunteer Army started to move southwards, towards 
the Alliance’s territory. Consequently, the two rival groups clashed i. e. Bolsheviks 
and the Volunteers, in the North Caucasian territory and put the Mountaineers in a 
disturbing position. 
 
By the early months of 1918, following the December 1917 declaration by 
the Mountaineers, the power configuration of the region changed severely. The 
Mountaineers started to loose their possible partners in the region one by one. 
                                                                                                                                        
of Commander in Chief. This was resulted with a ‘Kornilov Affair’. By the support of the Kadets 
and other royalists Kornilov moved towards Petrograd. Bolsheviks, despite the leadership cadre 
were being arrested or forced to leave the country, were utilized July Days in a best manner. They 
opposed Kornilov and took the lead in organizing the struggle against Kornilov. They organised a 
Red Guard amongst the workers; set up a Military Revolutionary Committee, secured the release of 
the Bolsheviks imprisoned in July. At the end Kornilov was arrested and the Bolsheviks gained 
more reputation among the soldiers and workers. See Richard Pipes, 1997. The Russian Revolution, 
1899-1919, London: Harvill Press, 426-431. 
218
 Denikin, Ocherki, 198-199. 
219
 Council of People’s Commissariats, which was the highest non-party official body. 

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