Editing Omsk (section)

===Imperial period===
{{tone|section|date=January 2023}}
The creation of the Omsk fortress, like other Upper Irtysh fortresses, was caused by the urgent need to strengthen the trade route to China. The credit for their arrangement belongs entirely to the Siberian governor, Prince M.P. Gagarin. However, he also bears a large share of the responsibility. Gagarin, being the governor in [[Nerchinsk]] and then the head of the Siberian order and the Siberian province, devoted a lot of time and effort to trade with [[China]]. And above all, he organized the trade route to this country.

The main route passed from [[Tobolsk]], down the Irtysh, then up the Ob, then along the Ket portage to the Yenisei, and on to the border with China. The journey was long, difficult, and expensive. There was also a second option - up the Irtysh, twice shorter and much easier. Kalmyk, Kyrgyz-Kaisak and Chinese chiefs were interested in this route as they all had their share of international trade. However, above the mouth of the Ob, trade caravans were attacked by free detachments of [[Kalmyks]] (Oirats) and Kirghiz-Kaisaks, which their rulers could not cope with. A reliable guard was needed with its placement in stationary fortifications.

In May 1714, the Siberian governor received the [[Tsar of all Russia|tsar]]'s consent to build fortresses along the Irtysh and to the existing trade route. In his report to the tsar on May 22, 1714, Gagarin substantiated the need to build fortresses along the Irtysh to ensure communication and safety of the expedition going to the city of [[Yarkant County|Yarkand]] for the golden sand.

The gold deposit was behind the Tien Shan ridges, on the territory of a neighboring state, in the [[Taklamakan Desert]]. Prince Gagarin understood the consequences of this adventure. With a positive result, this would threaten a military conflict with China and [[Dzungar people|Dzungaria]]. Of course, the Siberian governor did not expect the military expedition to reach Yarkand. It was almost impossible and unnecessary. The fortresses along the trade route would remain. The tsar believed in the governor and signed a decree organizing an expedition under the command of a former captain of the Guards, Army Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Bukholts, about the construction of fortresses along the Irtysh above Yamyshev.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bk55.ru/news/article/112417/|title=1717 год. Омские крепость и слобода}}</ref><ref>[http://www.admomsk.ru/web/guest/city/history/timeline Omsk history timeline] (in Russian)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lib.omsk.ru/ip/evseev/node/119?page=show|title=Исторические предпосылки основания Омской крепости}}</ref>

On January 2, 1716, Matvey Petrovich Gagarin took up his governor's duties and actively took up the construction of fortresses in Siberia including those on Lake Kosogol, and the Yenisei and Irtysh rivers. Between January 8-10, 1716, the prince met with the king and made him an offer as a golden collection from the ancient burial mounds plundered along the [[Ishim River|Ishim]] and Irtysh.

At the meeting, Gagarin reported to Peter about his plans for the development of Siberia and received the tsar's permission, presumably as the highest resolution. On January 27, 1716, Peter I left for Europe, where he stayed until October 1717 and ceased receiving timely and reliable information from Siberia. In January 1716, Gagarin (regarding the tsar's decree) issued his own orders for the construction of a fortress on the frontier of Kosogol Lake and in April on the construction of the fortresses on the Upper Yenisei.

On April 28, the Buholz detachment abandoned the Yamyshev fortress and moved down the Irtysh to the territory of the Tarsky district. Gagarin assessed the situation and gave instructions to Lieutenant Colonel Buholz and the Tara commandant to build a fortress at the mouth of the [[Om (river)|Om]] and sent recruits to reinforce them. By the end of 1716, the first fortress (fortified place) was built in the modern river station. It comprised an earthen pentagonal fortress, powder and food stores, barracks for soldiers, and houses for officers.

The first Omsk fortress (fortified place) was practically a copy of the fortress erected in 1715 near Yamyshevskoye Lake. However, it also had a significant drawback: the fortifications were scattered and the outer fence was weak. When the enemy attacked, the entire garrison would have to defend the fortress with objects separate from each other. This actually happened in 1716 during the defense of the Yamyshevskaya fortress. The unsuccessful layout of the first Yamyshev and Omsk fortresses was explained by the lack of fortification experience among the construction managers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vestnik.utmn.ru/upload/iblock/01d/140_148.pdf|title=Первый сибирский губернатор М. П. Гагарин и основание русской крепости на реке Омь}}</ref><ref>Колесников А. Д. Основание Омской крепости и её роль в заселении Прииртышья // Известия Омского отделения Географического общества Союза ССР. Омск: Западно-Сибирское книжное издательство. Омское отделение, 1965. С. 133—135</ref>

At the beginning of [[1717]], the dragoon captain, Ilya Gavrilovich Aksakov, was requested to make the trip from Russia. The Governor conferred a major on him and directed him to supervise the construction of a new (second) fortress at the mouth of the [[Om (river)|Om]].
In the summer of 1717, the Omsk garrison under the command of Stupin went to the upper Irtysh to build fortresses. Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Buholz categorically refused to lead a new expedition. In March 1717, he was sent from Tobolsk to the capital. There is very little information about the foundation of the Omsk settlement and the construction of the second fortress. One of the most valuable sources of information is the inventory of documents of the Tara Chancellery, copied for Professor G.F. Miller in 1734. This inventory was mentioned by Professor {{ill|V.I. Kochedamov|ru|Кочедамов, Виктор Ильич}} in 1960, and in 2015 it was published by the Barnaul scientists V.B. Borodaev and A.V. Kontev.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vestnik.utmn.ru/upload/iblock/01d/140_148.pdf|title=Первый сибирский губернатор М. П. Гагарин и основание русской крепости на реке Омь}}</ref> However, there are no drawings and it is not known where and how the new city (fortress) was built. From Tara to the Omsk fortress, a drawing was sent "On the structure of the Omsk fortress beyond the Omya river prison and courtyards in a line."

In 1722, this drawing was used by the captain-engineer, Paul de Grange, in the plan's development of the fortress on the right bank of the Om. At the end of the summer of 1717, Gagarin ordered the production of six bells for the Yamyshevskaya and Omsk fortresses. Bells were made by the military department, in the amount of three pieces per fortress. According to the drawing of the Omsk fortress in 1717, there was a triangular guard redoubt at the mouth of the Om, a quadrangular fort at the crossing over the Om, and a pentagonal fortress in the yard. At the beginning of 1718, seven bells were made. Perhaps the seventh was intended for the Omsk Sloboda on the right bank of the [[Om (river)|Om]]. There is no information about whether the quadrangular fort and the triangular redoubt were built. However, it is known that the fortress (defensive structure) was built pentagonal, although not as regular as in the drawing. This is clear from the plans of 1745 and 1755. The entire settlement (Omsk fortress, including the Cossack settlement and the main defensive structure) had the shape of an irregular, broken quadrangle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bk55.ru/news/article/112417/|title=1717 год. Омские крепость и слобода}}</ref>

In 1768 Om fortress was moved. The original [[Tobolsk]] and the restored [[Tara, Omsk Oblast|Tara]] gates, along with the original German Lutheran Church and several public buildings, are left. Omsk was granted town status in 1782.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.admomsk.ru/web/en/city/history|title=History of the City of Omsk|website=www.admomsk.ru}}</ref>

In 1822, Omsk became an administrative capital of Western Siberia and later in 1882 the center of the vast Steppes region (today the northern part of [[Kazakhstan]]) and [[Akmolinsk Oblast (Russian Empire)|Akmolinsk Oblast]] acquiring several churches and cathedrals of various denominations, mosques, a synagogue, the governor-general's mansion, and a military academy.<ref>''Siberia and the Exile System'' {{ISBN|978-1-108-04823-1}} p. 480</ref> But as the frontier receded and its military importance diminished, the town fell into disarray. For that reason, Omsk became a major center of the Siberian exile. From 1850 to 1854, [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]] served his sentence in an Omsk [[katorga]] prison.

Inside the Omsk settlement (the city of Omsk), a military settlement - the Omsk fortress - lived on its own for approximately 150 years. By 1845, the structures of the Omsk fortress were half destroyed, which prompted the engineering department of the military department to petition for the abolition of the fortress. In 1864, the fortress was destroyed.

[[File:Железный мост Омск.jpg|thumb|right|The Iron Bridge in 1918]]
The development of the city was generated by the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the 1890s. This move led to the significance of Omsk as a logistic hub. Many trade companies established stores and offices in Omsk which came to define the character of the city center. British, Dutch, and German consulates were established roughly at the same time to represent their commercial interests. The pinnacle of development for pre-revolutionary Omsk was the Siberian Exposition of Agriculture and Industry in 1910. The popularity of the World Fair contributed to the image of Omsk as the "[[Chicago]] of [[Siberia]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thinkrussia.com/life-arts/trans-siberian-railway-visiting-omsk-entering-siberia|title=''thinkrussia.com''|access-date=April 15, 2018|archive-date=April 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415064856/http://www.thinkrussia.com/life-arts/trans-siberian-railway-visiting-omsk-entering-siberia|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After the [[October Revolution]], anti-Bolshevik [[White movement|White forces]] seized control of Omsk. The "[[Provisional All-Russian Government]]" was established in Omsk in 1918, headed by the Arctic explorer and decorated war hero [[Aleksandr Kolchak|Admiral Kolchak]]. Omsk was proclaimed the capital of Russia, and its central bank was tasked with safekeeping the former empire's gold reserves. These were guarded by a garrison of former Czechoslovakian POWs trapped in Siberia by the chaos of [[World War I]] and the subsequent [[Russian Revolution|Revolution]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}} Omsk became a prime target for the [[Red Army]], which viewed it as a major focus of their Siberian campaign and eventually forced Kolchak and his government to abandon the city and retreat along the Trans-Siberian eastward to [[Irkutsk]]. Bolshevik forces entered the city in 1919.