Although a member of the Russian Forum, Crimea yearns to form an independent path away from its Russian past. The republic first came to form in the first Russian Civil War, but later emerged again in the second Russian Civil War. During this time the state came to align with the Russian Forum over the harsher pro-Stalin Bolsheviks. When the war ended with Stalin's defeat, Crimea remained part of the Russian Forum, but has pursued its own course in international relations and politics.