Republics of the Soviet Union
The constituent republics of the Soviet Union were the Soviet socialist republics that constitutionally formed the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as first-level administrative subdivisions. Created in 1922 with only four republics—Russian SFSR, Transcaucasian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR, and Byelorussian SSR—their number increased and varied throughout the 69 years of its existence, reaching fifteen in its final decades. the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 all the republics became independent and became independent countries, twelve of them becoming the Commonwealth of Independent States.
History
02. Black Sea Soviet Republic
03. Jiva Soviet People ' s Republic
04. Socialist Soviet Autonomous Republic of Crimea
05. Republic of Finland
06. Socialist Soviet Republic of Galitzia
07. Kuban Soviet Republic
08. Socialist Soviet Autonomous Republic of Moldova
09. Soviet Republic of Naissaar
10. Montagnese Soviet Republic
11. Soviet Republic of Stávropol
12. Taurida General Governatura
13. Autonomous Republic of the Germans of the Volga
14. Democratic Republic of Armenia
15. Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan
16. Belarus National Republic
17. Republic of the Far East
18. Democratic Republic of Georgia
19. People ' s Republic of Ukraine
20. State Idel-Ural
21. Imanato del Daguestán
22. Karakalpakia Autonomous Opblast
23. Northern Ingria
24. Republic of Central Lithuania
25. People ' s Republic of Tannu Tuvá
26. Turkestan Soviet Socialist Autonomous Republic
27. Second Polish Republic
28. Republic of Estonia
29. Republic of Latvia
30. Republic of Lithuania
31. Kyrgyz People ' s Republic
32. People ' s Republic of Turkey
33. Turkestan Soviet Socialist Autonomous Republic
34. Soviet People ' s Republic of Bukhara
35. Russian Soviet Socialist Federal Republic
02. Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
03. Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus
04. Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic
05. Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia
06. Soviet Socialist Republic of Kazakhstan
07. Kyrgyzstan Soviet Socialist Republic
08. Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic
09. Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
10. Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova
11. Russian Soviet Socialist Federal Republic
12. Republic of Tajikistan
13. Soviet Socialist Republic of Turkmenistan
14. Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine
15. Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan
On December 28, 1922, at a conference of plenipotentiary delegations of the Russian SFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR, the Treaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union was approved and the Declaration of the Creation of the Soviet Union, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and unifying the already existing Soviet republics created after the Russian Revolution and during the subsequent Russian civil war.
As a federation that was the Soviet Union according to the Constitution and the Union Treaty, the federated republics enjoyed broad autonomy for their internal administration. Each of them had its own Communist Party, with the exception of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Each republic also had its own flag, shield and anthem. All the flags and shields had the hammer and sickle, symbol of communism, and predominantly red. The hymns deal with issues such as brotherly friendship between the inhabitants of the republics, a bright future and a tribute to Vladimir Lenin, ideologue of the October Revolution and the first Soviet ruler.
Under the Constitution, adopted in 1924—and constantly modified until the end of its existence, with substantial changes in 1936 and 1977—the political foundation of the Soviet Union was based on the Soviets of People's Deputies. These existed at all levels of the administrative chain, with the federal level encompassing all of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union located in Moscow, which in turn designated the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet and the USSR Council of Ministers.. At the economic level, there was a series of national economy councils that came together in a single body at the federal level, related to the Ministry of Planning.
Along with the chain of state administration there was the parallel structure of the Party, which was structured in the same federal way and allowed it to exercise a considerable level of influence over the organs of power at all levels. State administrative bodies took direct orders from the Party, and the approval of various high-level state officials required the approval of their central bodies. A general practice was that the position of head of state in a federated republic was held by a local official, while the position of general secretary of the local Communist Party was held by a citizen of another republic.
The first examples of enlargement of the constituent republics were the republics of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, created on October 27, 1924 by separation from the Turkistan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. Next was the Tajikistan Soviet Socialist Republic, until that time part of the Uzbekistan SSR, being elevated to union republic status on October 6, 1929, becoming the Tajikistan SSR.
The Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic existed until December 5, 1936, when it divided into the Soviet republics of the Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, and Georgian SSR. On the same day the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ceased to exist within the Russian SFSR, and the territory was divided between the Kazakh and Kyrgyz Soviet republics.
On the eve of World War II, a number of new republics were created prior to the Nazi invasion in 1941. The first was the Karel-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, which on March 31, 1940 was elevated to the rank of a republic of union from the former Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was part of the Russian SFSR. After the occupation of the Baltic republics, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were transformed into the Lithuanian SSR on July 13, the Latvian SSR on July 21, and the Estonian SSR on July 21, and formally joined the Soviet Union. on August 3, 5 and 6, respectively. The last republic was the Moldavian SSR, which was born from a merger of the territory of Bessarabia, annexed after the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, with that of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, previously included within the Moldavian SSR. Ukraine.
After the war, no new republics were established, although the Karel-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic became an autonomous republic and was re-annexed by the Russian SFSR on July 16, 1956.
Republics and the dissolution of the Soviet Union
The federal character of the Union and the autonomy of the federated republics coexisted with a strong central power that was essential for their cohesion. The loss of power of the central government during the term of Mikhail Gorbachev and the consequent strengthening of the republics against it is considered one of the factors causing the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The policies of glásnost and perestroika were designed with the manifest aim of modernizing the country, although one of their immediate effects was the increase in the power of the republics, which according to article 72 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution maintained the right to secede. Political liberalization allowed the governments of the republics to proselytize invoking multipartyism, nationalism and other themes contrary to what was sustained by the Soviet power. In addition, changes in the political leadership gave rise to fractures within the Communist Party itself, which reduced the effective power of the central administration. perestroika, for its part, led to a great decentralization of the economy, which began to be privatized and controlled by regional governments rather than by central planning bodies.
But these policies did not follow the expected course. It was then that the president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev proposed the creation of a new Union Treaty that would leave the central government only defense and foreign policy matters in order to keep the republics together. This proposal was unsuccessful due to the refusal of local governments, especially the recently elected president of the Russian SFSR, Boris Yeltsin. Thus, on December 8, 1991, the leaders of the Russian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR, and Byelorussian SSR met to agree on the annulment of the 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union, which was terminated on December 25, 1991. 1991, with the effect of dissolution of the Soviet Union. Said decision was communicated by telephone to Mikhail Gorbachev by the president of the Byelorussian SSR Stanislav Shushkiévich. With the signing of the Treaty of Belavezha each of the republics became an independent state, although 11 of the 15 existing at the time of the treaty dismemberment of the Union formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) by signing the Protocol of Almá-Atá, on December 21 of the same year (Georgia would join the CEI in 1993).
Republics of the Soviet Union
The following table lists all the Soviet republics, ordered by chronological order of date of establishment, grouped into two groups:
- First, the republics existing at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, with a column in which they are identified by a shaded color and a number that refer to the map at the beginning of the article;
- Second, the disappeared republics, shaded in light blue.
At the time of the dissolution, Russia was the largest republic in size, occupying territories in Europe and Asia, followed by Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Turkmenistan. Russia was also the most populous, followed by Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
| Flag | Shield | Inicio | Fin | Location | Name | Capital | Area (km2) | % in the USSR | Population (hab.) | Density (hab/km2) | Current country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1917 | 1991 |  | Russian Soviet Socialist Federal Republic | Moscow | 17 075 200 | 76.62 | 147 386 000 | 8.6 | Russia Russia
|
 |  | 1917 | 1991 |  | Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine | Kiev | 603 700 | 2.71 | 51 706 746 | 85.6 | Ukraine Ukraine
|
.svg){kind=small} | .svg) | 1919 | 1991 |  | Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus | Minsk | 207 600 | 0.93 | 10 151 806 | 48.9 | Belarus Belarus
|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1920 | 1991 |  | Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic | Baku | 86 600 | 0.39 | 7 037 900 | 81.3 | Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1921 | 1991 |  | Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia | Tiflis | 69 700 | 0.31 | 4 337 600 | 62.2 | Georgia Georgia
|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1921 | 1991 |  | Soviet Socialist Republic of Turkmenistan | Asjabad | 488 100 | 2.19 | 3 522 700 | 7.2 |  Turkmenistan
|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1924 | 1991 |  | Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan | Taskent | 447 400 | 2.01 | 19 906 000 | 44,5 | Uzbekistan Uzbekistan
|
 |  | 1929 | 1991 |  | Republic of Tajikistan | Dusambé | 143 100 | 0.64 | 5 112 000 | 35.7 |  Tajikistan
|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1936 | 1991 |  | Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia | Yerevan | 29 800 | 0.13 | 325 307 | 110.3 | Armenia Armenia
|
 |  | 1936 | 1991 |  | Soviet Socialist Republic of Kazakhstan | Alma-Ata | 2 717 300 | 12,24 | 16 711 900 | 6.2 | Kazakhstan Kazakhstan
|
 |  | 1936 | 1991 |  | Kyrgyzstan Soviet Socialist Republic | Frunze | 198 500 | 0.89 | 4 257 800 | 21,4 | Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan
|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1940 | 1991 |  | Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic | Riga | 64 589 | 0.29 | 2 666 567 | 41.3 | Latvia Latvia
|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1940 | 1991 |  | Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic | Vilna | 65 200 | 0.29 | 3 689 779 | 56.6 | Lithuania Lithuania
|
.svg){kind=small} | .svg) | 1940 | 1991 |  | Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova | Chisináu | 33 843 | 0.15 | 4 337 600 | 128.2 | Moldova Moldova
|
.svg){kind=small} |  | 1940 | 1991 |  | Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic | Tallinn | 45 227 | 0.20 | 1 565 662 | 34.6 | Estonia Estonia
|
| Flag | Shield | Inicio | Fin | Location | Name | Capital | Area (km2) | % in the USSR | Population (hab.) | Density (hab/km2) | Current country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | 1920 | 1925 | .svg) | Soviet People ' s Republic of Bukhara | Buja | |||||
 | .svg) | 1920 | 1925 | .svg) | Socialist Soviet Republic of Corasmia | Jiva | |||||
.svg){kind=small} | .svg) | 1921 | 1944 | - | People ' s Republic of Tannu Tuvá | Kyzyl | |||||
 | .svg) | 1921 | 1931 | - | Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia | Sukhmi | |||||
 | .svg){kind=small} | 1922 | 1936 |  | Soviet Socialist Federal Republic of Transcaucasia | Tiflis | |||||
 | .png) | 1940 | 1956 | .svg) | Soviet Socialist Republic Carelo-Finesa | Petrozavodsk |
| Flag | It's okay. | Inicio | Fin | Location | Name | Capital | Area (km2) | % in the USSR | Population (hab.) | Density (hab/km2) | Current country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} | 1917 | 1918 | Soviet Socialist Republic of Donetsk-Krivoy Rog | Járkov | |||||||
| 1918 | 1918 | Black Sea Soviet Republic | Novorossisk | ||||||||
 | 1918 | 1918 | Odessa Soviet Republic | Odessa | |||||||
| 1919 | 1919 | Socialist Soviet Republic of Besarabia | Odessa, Tiráspol | |||||||
 |  | 1920 | 1922 | Republic of the Far East | Verjneúdinsk, Chitá | ||||||
 | 1920 | 1920 | Socialist Soviet Republic of Galitzia | Ternópil | |||||||
| 1920 | 1920 | Soviet Republic of the Mountain | Vladikavkaz |