The Russian-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Urals during the Russian Civil War (1918-1919)

Abstract

This article examines the economic cooperation between representatives of the Czechoslovak Republic and the governments in the Urals during the Russian Civil War to restore production, supply industrial enterprises, and solve social problems. This relationship began in summer 1918 with to the establishment of the Technical Department of the Czech troops in the region. The Russian-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Ural region operated in Yekaterinburg from January to July 1919. The article’s research is based on a wide range of previously unpublished holdings in the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (thereafter - AMZV ČR). These documents are particularly important given the paucity of relevant sources in Russia. The author demonstrates that this bilateral cooperation, resolved many issues, including the establishment of governing bodies. Geographically, the Chamber’s area of responsibility in the Urals included Perm, Vyatka, Ufa, and Orenburg provinces and the Turgay region. The Chamber had its own branches and appointed correspondents almost everywhere. At the same time, it gradually increased the number of participants and expanded its practical activities, thus actively helping to restore industry in the Urals. The author concludes that the Russian-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry laid the foundation for future cooperation between Czechoslovakia and liberated Russia. Even the Czechoslovaks’ subsequent rejection of military support to the government of Admiral A.V. Kolchak did not halt economic cooperation, which both Russian industrialists and the Czechoslovak representatives supported.

Keywords

• Ural Region
• Russian Civil War
• Czechoslovak Corps
• Russian-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry