Chita Republic

The chapel on the shooting spot.

The Chita Republic (Russian: Читинская республика) was a short-term workers and peasants' dictatory republic in Chita. Chita, a city in eastern Siberia, Russia and place of exile for early revolutionaries, was a center for worker unrest in the early years of the 20th century. During the Russian Revolution of 1905 armed revolutionaries under the leadership of the RSDRP headed by Viktor Kurnatovsky (Виктор Константинович Курнатовский)^[1] took control over the city and declared the Chita Republic in December 1905.

The leaders of the republic tried to organize and establish administration in the city and its outskirts, and the new periodical Zabaykalsky Rabochy was issued in Chita on December 7, 1905, but the republic was fated to fail after the suppression of uprisings in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Troops loyal to the regime, led by Paul von Rennenkampf and general Miller-Zakomelsky, were sent to suppress the rebellious territory; it was quickly subjugated and Chita was occupied by government troops on 22 January 1906.

The six leaders of the Chita Republic were shot on the slope of Titovsky sopka. In the memory of the leaders of the Chita Republic, several central streets of Chita were named after them (Babushskinskaya street, Kurnatovsky street, etc.).

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