Karelian Revolutionary Committee & the Executive Committee of Olonets The Government of the Karelian Labor Commune was run by the
Karelian Revolutionary Committee (Karrevkom), which was headed by
Edvard Gylling, a former member of the government of the
FSWR. Much of the leadership of the Karelian Labor Commune were that of Red Finns, who were expatriates that got government jobs, such as
Gylling,
Aleksandr Šotman and et cetera. Around 20,000 Finnish people, mostly people who were a part of the
Finnish People's Delegation or
Red Guards fled to the Commune following or nearing the end of the
Finnish Civil War. The Capital of the Commune was chosen to be
Petrozavodsk. This was a problem as this led to the formation of two administrative centers for the Commune, for the existence of the
Executive Committee of Olonets. The existence of two administrative centers led to infighting and petty disputes, such as the demarcation of the border based on either ethnic, legal/historical or economic boundaries. The borders of the Karelian Labor Commune were drawn in such a way that the
Karelian people and/or
Finnish people would form to be the majority of the region, as according to the census carried out in 1920, 145,753 people lived there, of which 60.8%, or 89,951 people, were ethnically Karelians. The bitter infighting led to the eastern border to run roughly along the
Murmansk railroad from the
White Sea to
Lake Onega, so that
Shunga,
Shyoltozero and the mouth of the
River Svir would remain outside of the Commune, to limit the number of
Russian people within the borders of the labor commune. The congress was filled with regionalist debate, with the
Executive Committee of Olonets having wishes to stay within the RSFSR, while the
White Karelia region wishing more for outright independence or joining Finland. The congress itself was promoted by the
Executive Committee of Olonets on April 28, 1920, when they adopted a special resolution in which a congress would be held on the subject of independence, joining Finland or staying within Russia for Karelia. The formation of the Provincial Executive Committee did not solve a lot of problems, as areas which were inside the
Olonets Governorate but outside the reach of the CPC still were under
de jure control of the
Executive Committee of Olonets. These areas outside the Commune which retained their powers were neighbouring areas of
Petrozavodsk and
Povenets. This led to the Administrative Commission of the Presidium proposing to include the
Petrozavodsk and
Povenets unincluded regions, this was rejected by all parties, including the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR, who rejected the proposal. This led to the proposal being given to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, who rejected the proposal on 11 September 1920, the rejection to the proposal was signed by
Vladimir Lenin, and it was said to be a need for the preservation of the old province, and its subject economic, food and land departments. P.F. Anokhin was later elected the chairman of the Presidium in August 1920. == Economy ==