Republic of East Karelia
| Republic of Uhtua | ||||||||||
| Uhtuan tasavalta | ||||||||||
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.svg) Coat of arms
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Areas controlled by the Republic of Uhtua
White Karelia
Olonets Karelia
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| Capital | Uhtua | |||||||||
| Government | Republic | |||||||||
| Legislature | Diet | |||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Established | 21 June 1918 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 10 December 1920 | ||||||||
| Area | 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi) | |||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||
| • | est. | 100,000 | ||||||||
| Density | 2/km2 (5/sq mi) | |||||||||
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The Republic of Uhtua (or the Republic of East Karelia) was an unrecognized state, with the focus of a state led by Finns. It existed from 1919 to 1920, created out of five Volosts in the of the Arkhangelsk Governorate, now in the Republic of Karelia. The capital of the republic was the village of Uhtua (now Kalevala).
Discussions about Karelia becoming its own state emerged in 1906, when in Tampere, Grand Duchy of Finland, the Union of White Karelians was created on 3 August. In 1911, the Union was banned, but it was later revived in 1922 as the Academic Karelia Society, to take a direct part in the creation of the Republic of Uhtua.
After the Bolsheviks came to power most of the peasants of Karelia fell under the definition of a kulak and were subject to loss of grain and cattle. This, as well as finding Karelians in combat zones during the civil wars in Russia and Finland, and foreign military intervention in northern Russia persuaded the population to all following events.
Two years before the state was created, the Heimosodat begun. They were a series of expeditions to capture the Finnic lands that were under Soviet rule, to create a bigger Finland. During the Aunus and Viena expeditions, short-lived bases, or governments, existed in Olonets Karelia and White Karelia.
The Republic was created after White Guard units, which occupied the area in late March, 1918, during the Finnish Civil War placed the villages of and Uhtua under direct order from . In the villages and the surrounding counties, a local government was organized under the leadership of patriotic supporters for the independence of Karelia from the RSFSR - The Committee of Uhtua (Finnish: Uhtuan toimikunta), which was led by Tuisku. We also know the name of another member of the Toimikunta - Paavo Ahava.
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Wikipedia