Revolution and Civil War

Tyumen was the first town in Tobolsk region, where revolutionary movement received sufficient support. This was pre-determined by concentration of leading industries in the region, thus bringing up a layer of proletariat. First spontaneous strikes were registered in May, 1905. Three thousand shipyard loaders went out to the streets, calling others to join them. The bosses carried on negotiations, which resulted in salary increase and reduced working day (from 14 hours down to 9). In autumn a new wave of strikes took out. This time it was supported by railway workers and telegraph operators. On the 16th of October the first political demonstration was held.

In August 1917, the Russian Emperor Nikolai II and his family were delivered to Tyumen in a special train, and from here they were convoyed to Tobolsk in the ship ‘Russ”.

In March 1918, a Soviet regime was officially declared in Tyumen. In April it was decided by a number of local soviets (a soviet was a unit of local executive power) to move a regional center from Tobolsk to Tyumen. It was only logical, since Tyumen was the biggest regional town located at the Trans-Siberian railway road. Apart from this, Tyumen unlike Tobolsk had got a well-developed Bolshevik organization. In July 1918 Tyumen was occupied by the Czechoslovaks regiments. For some time the town remained a scene of fierce struggle between ‘the Reds’ and ‘the Whites’. In August 1919, Tyumen was occupied by the Red Army troops. By that time over 10 thousand Tymen inhabitants, almost a half of labour-capable population, had left out the town in fear of persecutions. In August-September 1919, in the former house of the Tyumen merchant Kolokolnikov, a headquarters of Vassili Blucher, a commander of the 51th infantry division, was located. Vassili Blucher later became one of the first five marshals in the Soviet Union.