28 Dec 1905
Workers and peasants seized power in Sochi, creating a democratic republic. It lasted only nine days, but demonstrated that society could be governed without tsarist officials.
The uprising began back in October, immediately after Nicholas II issued a manifesto on freedom of speech and assembly. He did so under the pressure of the First Russian Revolution, which was already in its tenth month.
Revolutionary-minded communists were able to mobilize workers engaged in the construction of the highway to Sukhumi: they were on strike due to wage cuts.
Other residents, dissatisfied with mass unemployment, also joined the protests. City police officer Shinkarev attempted to stop the crowd; he was arrested, taken out of town, and stabbed to death.
After this, the police refused to perform guard duty: out of 200 people in the garrison, only 23 remained. Sochi was engulfed in robberies and bandits.
To stem the crime wave, the rebels created a people's militia. Thus began a dual power: on one side, the tsar's decrees and laws; on the other, decisions made at city assemblies.
In November, a Dutch anarchist sent the rebels a ship containing over 2,000 rifles and 300,000 rounds of ammunition. The Cossacks managed to confiscate almost all of it, but the rebels managed to get their hands on 31 boxes of weapons and five boxes of ammunition. All of this was put to use on December 28.
The uprising developed according to plan and had its own headquarters. Barricades were erected in the streets, medical teams were organized, and guard posts were set up.
The barracks where the police and border guards had taken refuge were fired upon with an old cannon from the Caucasian War, which stood as a monument. Instead of buckshot, they used tin cans filled with nuts.
During the nine days that the republic held out, the rebels managed to change the judicial system and create law enforcement and city government bodies.
The Sochi Republic surrendered when Cossack detachments approached the city and warships docked at the port. 112 people were sent to prison or hard labor. The leaders of the uprising fled abroad.
