Murmansk Krai was an informal name used in the early Russian SFSR to refer to the territory roughly corresponding to modern Murmansk Oblast

Murmansk Oblast

Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the northwestern part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.-Geography:...

. At various times, the term referred to the territory which included Alexandrovsky

Alexandrovsky Uyezd

Alexandrovsky Uyezd was an administrative division of Arkhangelsk Governorate of the Russian Empire and later of the Russian SFSR.The origins of Alexandrovsky Uyezd trace back to Kolsky Uyezd, which existed on this territory since the early 16th century until , 1858, when Tsar Alexander II...

 and Kemsky Uyezds of Arkhangelsk Governorate

Arkhangelsk Governorate

Archangelsk Governorate was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Arkhangelsk...

 and some parts of Olonets Governorate

Olonets Governorate

The Olonets Governorate or Government of Olonets was a guberniya of north-western Imperial Russia, extending from Lake Ladoga almost to the White Sea, bounded W. by Finland, N. and E. by Arkhangelsk and Vologda, and S. by Novgorod and St. Petersburg...

.

The first references to Murmansk Krai date back to the period after the February Revolution

February Revolution

The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...

 when the power in the region was assumed by the Murmansk Soviet of the Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. On , 1917, the Soviet transferred all the power to the newly created Murmansk Provisional Revolutionary Committee; however, after the joint assembly of the Murmansk Soviet with the representatives of the local democratic organizations on , 1917, the Revolutionary Committee was dismissed and all power was returned to the Soviet.

On February 18, 1918, the Arkhangelsk Governorate Congress of Deputies declared the town of Murmansk

Murmansk

Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...

 the center of Murmansk Krai, and in terms of self-government recognized its independence from Arkhangelsk Governorate. It emphasized that Arkhangelsk Soviet of Deputies has no authority over the Murmansk Soviet and that the latter is directly subordinated to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee

All-Russian Central Executive Committee

All-Russian Central Executive Committee , was the highest legislative, administrative, and revising body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Although the All-Russian Congress of Soviets had supreme authority, in periods between its sessions its powers were passed to VTsIK...

 and the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR.

On May 2, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars considered a formal separation of Murmansk Krai from Arkhangelsk Governorate, and while the separation was found to be desirable, the final decision had been postponed.

In June 1918, the Murmansk Krai Soviet reached an agreement with the representatives of the Allies

Allies of World War I

The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...

, and the foreign armies disembarked on the krai's territory. On August 2, 1918, Soviet power fell in Arkhangelsk

Arkhangelsk

Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...

, and the Provisional Government of the Northern Oblast

Northern Oblast (1918-1920)

Northern Oblast was a territory in the northwest of Russia controlled by the White movement during the Russian Civil War. Its administrative center was Arkhangelsk....

 was established instead. On August 6, 1918, the Murmansk Krai Soviet authorized Chairman Yuryev to agree on the inclusion of Murmansk Krai (Alexandrovsky and Kemsky Uyezds of Arkhangelsk Governorate, a part of Olonets Governorate, and some other territories) into Northern Oblast. On September 15, 1918, the Provisional Government issued a resolution which accepted Murmansk Krai as a part of Northern Oblast. In October 1918, they also abolished all the soviets and restored zemstvo

Zemstvo

Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...

s.

On February 2, 1920, the Provisional Government of the Northern Oblast issued a resolution establishing Murmansk Governorate

Murmansk Governorate (1920)

Murmansk Governorate was a short-lived administrative division established by the White government on the Kola Peninsula in Russia....

, which included Alexandrovsky and Kemsky Uyezds of Arkhangelsk Governorate and parts of Olonets Governorate. The governorate, however, proved to be short-lived and was abolished after the Soviet power on the Kola Peninsula

Kola Peninsula

The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...

was restored on February 21, 1920. Alexandrovsky and Kemsky Uyezds were restored in their 1917 borders.