Council of People's Commissars on War and Navy Affairs (Soviet Russia)
| Совет Народных Комиссаров по Военным и Морским Делам | |
All ministry seals of the RSFSR used the RSFSR coat of arms
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 8 November 1917 |
| Superseding agency |
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| Jurisdiction | Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
| Headquarters | Petrograd, (later in Moscow), RSFSR |
Council of People's Commissars on War and Navy Affairs (Russian: Совет Народных Комиссаров по Военным и Морским Делам, Soviet Narodnykh Kommissarov po voyenym i morskim dyelam) was the very first military government agency of the Soviet Russia initially named as the Committee on affairs of War and Navy. The council was created on November 8, 1917 (day after the October Revolution) on the decree of the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets "On creation of the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government" which was the name of the Russian Sovnarkom.
The Kornilov Affair sanctioned by Alexander Kerensky which resulted in detention of the Russian Supreme Commander-in-Chief Lavr Kornilov and the Bolshevisation of Soviets also played a major role in establishing of the Soviet military presence. The council gradually overtook the authority of the Ministry of War of the Russian Republic completely changing the defense policy of Russia.
Per decree "On creation of the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government" the committee was headed by a collegiate of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee (Petrograd VRK) "Field Headquarters" (triumvirate) consisting of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, Pavel Dybenko and Nikolai Krylenko. Ovseyenko oversaw the Military ministry and internal front, Dybenko headed the Navy ministry, while Krylenko was put in charge of foreign front. However, on the next day the leadership was increased to 10 members, due to organizational complications. The same day (November 9, 1917) Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko was placed in charge of the Petrograd Military District replacing at that post Mikhail Artemyevich Muravyov. Together with Muravyov, Antonov was placed in charge of an expeditionary force to the Southern Russia, while the acting Supreme Commander-in-Chief was General Nikolay Dukhonin.
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