Russian Empire
Which country did Tobolsk belong to from Aug 1721 to Nov 1917?
Tobolsk Tobolsk ( , ) is a town in Tyumen Oblast , Russia , located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers . Founded in 1590 , Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia , and is a historic capital of the Siberia region . Population : History . Conquest of Khanate of Sibir . In 1580 , a group of Yermak Timofeyevichs Cossacks initiated the Russian conquest of Siberia , pushing eastwards on behalf of the Tsardom of Russia . They attacked the Vogul ( Mansi ) and Ostyak ( Khanty ) peoples in Yugra , and had also captured a tax collector of Kuchum Khan , the king of the large Tatar Khanate of Sibir , the most powerful force in the western Siberia region on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains . At the time the Voguls and Ostyaks were subjects of Kuchum , and in response the Tatars carried out retaliation attacks against the Cossacks . After a year of Tatar attacks , Yermak prepared for the conquest of the Khanate of Sibir and a campaign to take the Khanates capital city , Qashliq . The Cossacks conquered the city on 26 October 1582 , sending Kuchum into retreat . Despite the conquest , Kuchum regrouped his remaining forces and formed a new army , launching a surprise attack on 6 August 1584 , killing Yermak . There were a series of battles over Qashliq , and it passed between Tatar and Cossack control , before the city was finally abandoned in 1588 . Kuchum was eventually defeated by the Cossacks in 1598 at the Battle of Urmin near the River Ob , ending the Khanate of Sibir . The Russians had established control over the western Siberia region . Founding of Tobolsk and Imperial Russian era . Tobolsk was founded in 1590 by a group of Yermaks Cossacks under the command of near the ruins of Qashliq . It had been almost totally destroyed by years of fighting . Tobolsk would become the center of the conquest . To the north Beryozovo ( 1593 ) and Mangazeya ( 1600-01 ) were built to bring the Nenets under tribute , while to the east Surgut ( 1594 ) and Tara ( 1594 ) were established to protect Tobolsk and subdue the ruler of the Narym Ostiaks . Of these settlements , Mangazeya was the most prominent , and it was used as a base for further exploration eastward . The new city of Tobolsk was the second Russian town founded in Siberia after Tyumen , and was named after the Tobol River . It was situated at its confluence with the Irtysh River , where the Irtysh turns from flowing westward to flowing northward . Tobolsk quickly grew based on the importance of the Siberian river routes , and prospered on trade with China to the east and with Bukhara to the south . In 1708 , Tobolsk was designated as the capital of the newly established Siberia Governorate ; the first school , theater , and newspaper in Siberia were founded here . During the Great Northern War , soldiers of the defeated Swedish army at Battle of Poltava in 1709 were sent in large numbers as prisoners of war to Tobolsk . The Swedes numbered about 25% of the total population and were popular among locals for their contributions to the city . A building of the Tobolsk Kremlin was named the Swedish Chamber in their honor . Many of them were not repatriated until the 1720s , while some of them settled permanently in Tobolsk . In 1719 , Russian authorities began administrative reforms that resulted in Tobolsks political importance declining as the Siberia Governorates massive territory was gradually decentralized . New provinces were organized or territory was transferred to other governorates . By 1782 , Siberia Governorate was abolished and its remaining area split into two viceroyalties , with Tobolsk becoming the capital of the Tobolsk Viceroyalty . In 1796 , Tobolsk became the capital of Tobolsk Governorate , and remained the seat of the Governor-General of Western Siberia until the seat was moved to Omsk in the 1820s or 1830s . Acknowledging the authority of Tobolsk , many Western Siberian towns including Omsk , Tyumen , and Tomsk , had their original coat of arms display the Tobolsk insignia , which Omsk continues to honor . After the Decembrist Revolt in 1825 , some of the Decembrists deported to Siberia settled in Tobolsk . In the 1890s the importance of Tobolsk declined further after the Trans-Siberian Railway line between Tyumen and Omsk bypassed the city to the south . In the early 1900s Tobolsk was noted as the administrative center of home province of Grigori Rasputin , a faith healer who had great influence with the Romanov Imperial Family . It is located close to his birthplace Pokrovskoye . The town was also famous for confectionery companies run by Karelian immigrants . Soviet era . In March 1917 , the February Revolution forced the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II , ending the Russian Empire . In August the new Provisional Government evacuated the imperial family and their retinue to Tobolsk to live in the former house of the Governor-General . With the October Revolution three months later , the Russian Civil War began , and the Bolsheviks quickly came to power in Tobolsk . After troops of the opposing White Army approached the city in the spring of 1918 , the Bolsheviks moved the imperial family west to Yekaterinburg . They were executed there in July 1918 , together with several of their retainers . Following the Bolshevik victory and the formation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , administrative reforms in 1920 resulted in the abolition of Tobolsk Governorate and the end of 218 years of Tobolsk serving as a provincial capital . Instead , the city became the administrative center of its own uyezd ( county ) , Tobolsky District , in the new Tyumen Province . From 1921 to 1922 , Tobolsk was a site of massive anti-Bolshevik peasant uprisings across Western Siberia by peasants associated with the Green Army . On November 3 , 1923 , the city became part of Ural Oblast ; on January 7 , 1932 , it was transferred to Omsk Oblast . From January 17 , 1934 , the city was part of Obsko-Irtysh Oblast , until it was abolished on December 7 that year and transferred to Omsk Oblast . On August 14 , 1944 , Tobolsk was transferred to Tyumen Oblast . A 2004 American book said a 1982 explosion in Toblosk was caused by CIA sabotage . A former KGB officer said that the explosion was caused by improper installation . On July 10 , 1987 , by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR , the city of Tobolsk was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour . Recent history . On November 4 , 1996 , Tobolsk became an independent city with town status when it was separated from Tobolsky District by the Tyumen Oblast Duma . In 2013 , Tobolsk-Polymer opened the largest polypropylene production facility in Russia as part of an initiative to create a large petrochemical complex in the city . Tobolsk has also become a popular location for tourism in Siberia due to its historical importance , architecture , and natural landscapes . It is an important educational center of the Russian Orthodox Church , and the seat of Tobolsk Diocese , the first Orthodox diocese in Siberia . Administrative and municipal status . Within the framework of administrative divisions , Tobolsk serves as the administrative center of Tobolsky District , even though it is not a part of it . As an administrative division , it is , together with one urban-type settlement , incorporated separately as the Town of Tobolsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts . As a municipal division , the Town of Tobolsk is incorporated as Tobolsk Urban Okrug . Economy . The economy of modern Tobolsk centers on a major oil refinery and the petrochemical industry . Some traditional crafts , such as bone-carving , are also preserved . Climate . Tobolsk has a humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfb ) bordering on a subarctic climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfc ) . Winters are very cold with average temperatures from to in January , while summers are mild with average temperatures from . Precipitation is moderate and is somewhat higher in summer than at other times of the year . Demographics . Ethnic composition ( 2010 ) : : - Russians – 76.4% - Tatars – 16.8% - Ukrainians – 1.9% - Azerbaijanis – 0.8% - Others – 4.1% Main sights . Tobolsk is the only town in Siberia and one of the few in Russia which has a standing stone kremlin ( Tobolsk Kremlin ) : an elaborate city-fortress from the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries . Its white walls and towers with an ensemble of churches and palatial buildings spectacularly sited on a high river bank were proclaimed a national historical and architectural treasure in 1870 . The principal monuments in the kremlin are the Cathedral of St . Sophia ( 1683–1686 ) , a merchant courtyard ( 1703–1705 ) , an episcopal palace ( 1773–1775 ; now a museum of local lore ) , and the so-called Swedish Chamber , with six baroque halls ( 1713–1716 ) . The town contains some remarkable baroque and Neoclassical churches from the 18th and 19th centuries . Also noteworthy is a granite monument to Yermak , constructed to a design by Alexander Brullov in 1839 . The towns vicinity is rich in ancient kurgans and pagan shrines , some of which date back to the 10th century BCE . The Governors Mansion , built in 1790 , is a historical monument protected by the Russian federal government . It is built in the architectural style of classicism and one of the first stone buildings built in the city . It is best known as having housed the last Tsar , Nicholas II , and his family after he abdicated the throne they were sent to exile by the Bolsheviks . The family was later moved to Yekaterinburg where they were later slaughtered . Notable people . - Alexander Alyabyev , composer - Juraj Križanić , pan-Slavist linguist - , linguist - Dmitri Mendeleev , chemist - Vasily Perov , painter - Alexander Zakin , pianist - Nikolai Nikitin , designer - Semyon Remezov , geographer - Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov , writer Twin towns and sister cities . Tobolsk is twinned with : - Council Bluffs , Iowa , United States Further reading . - Brumfield , William . Tobolsk : Architectural Heritage in Photographs . Moscow : Tri Kvadrata , 2006 . External links . - Official website of Tobolsk - Official website of Tobolsk Town Administration - Tobolsk : Siberias first capital