Anti-Bolshevik press in the Urals and the political regime of A. V. Kolchak

The article is devoted to the anti-Bolshevik press in the Urals during the period of A.V. Kolchak’s political regime (November 1918 – August 1919). The number, ideological affiliation and places of pub-lication of the majority of newspapers are presented. All periodicals, depending on the ideological dis-course they construct, are divided into governmental (Civil, Military, Cossack), loyal (Cadet, Zemstvo, Church) and opposition (Menshevik, Social Revolutionary, Trade Union). The tendency to increase the number of governmental, primarily military newspapers and to close opposition publications in the con-ditions of censorship bans is outlined. Attempts by some editorial offices to protest against the restrictions ended in vain. It is concluded that the given policy towards the press obviously did not contribute to the strengthening of A.V. Kolchak’s political regime. On the other hand, in the conditions of the Civil War, the discourse about the “strong hand” and the authoritarian leader, apparently, found understanding and approval of the masses. Such sentiments were undoubtedly related to the lack of democratic traditions that had not managed to take root in Russian society in the short period since the fall of the monarchy. At the same time, the liberal publications in the Urals, unlike the socialist and trade union ones, embarked on the path of cooperation with the Kolchak regime.