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Republics Of The Soviet Union

The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics (Russian: Сою́зные Респу́блики, tr.

The Soviet Union was formed in 1922 by a treaty between the Soviet republics of Byelorussia, Russian SFSR (RSFSR), Transcaucasian Federation, and Ukraine, by which they became its constituent republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union).

Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Republics Of The Soviet Union
CategoryFederated state
LocationRepublics Of The Soviet Union Soviet Union
Created byTreaty on the Creation of the USSR
Created
  • 30 December 1922
Abolished by
Abolished
  • 26 December 1991
Number21 (as of 1933)
PopulationsSmallest: 1,565,662 (Estonian SSR)
Largest: 147,386,000 (Russian SFSR)
AreasSmallest: 29,800 km2 (11,500 sq mi) (Armenian SSR)
Largest: 17,075,400 km2 (6,592,800 sq mi) (Russian SFSR)
Government
Subdivisions

For most of its history, the USSR was a highly centralized state led by its Communist Party despite its nominal structure as a federation of republics; the light decentralization reforms during the era of perestroika (reconstruction) and glasnost (voice-ness, as freedom of speech) conducted by Mikhail Gorbachev as part of the Helsinki Accords are cited as one of the factors which led to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 as result of the Cold War and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

There were two very distinct types of republics in the Soviet Union: the larger union republics, representing the main ethnic groups of the Union and with the constitutional right to secede from it, and the smaller autonomous republics, located within some of the union republics and representing ethnic minorities. Typically, in regard to governance, autonomous republics were subordinate to the union republics they were located in except for few instances such as the Republic of Nakhichevan.

The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, a relic of the Soviet-Finnish War, became the only union republic to be deprived of its status in 1956. The decision to downgrade Karelia to an autonomous republic within the RSFSR was made unilaterally by the central government without consulting its population.[citation needed] The official basis for downgrading the status of the republic was the changes that had occurred in the national composition of its population (about 80% of the inhabitants were Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians), as well as the need to reduce the state apparatus, the cost of maintaining which in 1955 amounted to 19.6 million rubles.

Overview

Republics Of The Soviet Union 
Reverse of the 1-ruble note of the 1961 series, with the value in all the official languages of the Union Republics

Chapter 8 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution is titled as the "Soviet Union is a union state". Article 70 stated that the union was founded on principles "socialist federalism" as a result of free self-determination of nation and volunteer association of equal in rights soviet socialist republics. Article 71 listed all of 15 union republics that united into the Soviet Union.

According to Article 76 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution, a Union Republic was a sovereign Soviet socialist state that had united with other Soviet Republics in the USSR. Article 78 of the Constitution stated that the territory of the union republic cannot be changed without its agreement. Article 81 of the Constitution stated that "the sovereign rights of Union Republics shall be safeguarded by the USSR".

In the final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union officially consisted of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs). All of them, with the exception of the Russian SFSR (until 1990), had their own local party chapters of the All-Union Communist Party.

In 1944, amendments to the All-Union Constitution allowed for separate branches of the Red Army for each Soviet Republic. They also allowed for Republic-level commissariats for foreign affairs and defense, allowing them to be recognized as de jure independent states in international law. This allowed for two Soviet Republics, Ukraine and Byelorussia, (as well as the USSR as a whole) to join the United Nations General Assembly as founding members in 1945.

The Soviet currency Soviet ruble banknotes all included writings in national languages of all the 15 union republics.

All of the former Republics of the Union are now independent countries, with ten of them (all except the Baltic states, Georgia and Ukraine) being very loosely organized under the heading of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Baltic states assert that their incorporation into the Soviet Union in 1940 (as the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian SSRs) under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was illegal, and that they therefore remained independent countries under Soviet occupation. Their position is supported by the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United States. In contrast, the Russian government and state officials maintain that the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states was legitimate.

Constitutionally, the Soviet Union was a federation. In accordance with provisions present in its Constitution (versions adopted in 1924, 1936 and 1977), each republic retained the right to secede from the USSR. Throughout the Cold War, this right was widely considered to be meaningless; however, the corresponding Article 72 of the 1977 Constitution was used in December 1991 to effectively dissolve the Soviet Union, when Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus seceded from the Union. Although the Union was created under an initial ideological appearance of forming a supranational union, it never de facto functioned as one; an example of the ambiguity is that the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1930s officially had its own foreign minister, but that office did not exercise any true sovereignty apart from that of the union. The Constitution of the Soviet Union in its various iterations defined the union as a federation with the right of the republics to secede. This constitutional status led to the possibility of the parade of sovereignties once the republic with de facto (albeit not de jure) dominance over the other republics, the Russian one, developed a prevailing political notion asserting that it would be better off if it seceded. The de facto dominance of the Russian republic is the reason that various historians (for example, Dmitri Volkogonov and others) have asserted that the union was a unitary state in fact albeit it not in law.: 71, 483 

In practice, the USSR was a highly centralised entity from its creation in 1922 until the mid-1980s when political forces unleashed by reforms undertaken by Mikhail Gorbachev resulted in the loosening of central control and its ultimate dissolution. Under the constitution adopted in 1936 and modified along the way until October 1977, the political foundation of the Soviet Union was formed by the Soviets (Councils) of People's Deputies. These existed at all levels of the administrative hierarchy, with the former "countries" and other regions brought into the union referred to as soviets during their time as republics and with the Soviet Union as a whole under the nominal control of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, located in Moscow within the Russian SFSR.

Along with the state administrative hierarchy, there existed a parallel structure of party organizations, which allowed the Politburo to exercise large amounts of control over the republics. State administrative organs took direction from the parallel party organs, and appointments of all party and state officials required approval of the central organs of the party.

Each republic had its own unique set of state symbols: a flag, a coat of arms, and, with the exception of Russia until 1990, an anthem. Every republic of the Soviet Union also was awarded with the Order of Lenin.

  • Republics Of The Soviet Union 
    A hall in Bishkek's Soviet-era Lenin Museum decorated with the flags of Soviet Republics
  • Republics Of The Soviet Union 
    Poster of the unity of the Soviet republics in the late 1930s. All republics, except Russia, are shown with their respective traditional clothes.
  • Republics Of The Soviet Union 
    Poster of the unity of the Soviet republics in the late 1940s. Note that the map also points out the Karelo-Finnish SSR capital, Petrozavodsk.

Union Republics of the Soviet Union

Republics Of The Soviet Union 
Map of the Union Republics from 1956 to 1991, as numbered by the Soviet Constitution: 1. Russia, 2. Ukraine, 3. Belarus, 4. Uzbekistan, 5. Kazakhstan, 6. Georgia, 7. Azerbaijan, 8. Lithuania, 9. Moldavia, 10. Latvia, 11. Kyrgyzstan, 12. Tajikistan, 13. Armenia, 14. Turkmenistan, 15. Estonia

The number of the union republics of the USSR varied from 4 to 16. From 1956 until its dissolution in 1991, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics. (In 1956, the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, created in 1940, was absorbed into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.) Rather than listing the republics in alphabetical order, the republics were listed in constitutional order, which, particularly by the last decades of the Soviet Union, did not correspond to order either by population or economic power. [citation needed]

Emblem Name Flag Capital Official languages Established Joined Sovereignty Independence Population
(1989) 		Pop.
% 		Area (km2)
(1991) 		Area
% 		Post-Soviet and de facto states No.
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Yerevan Armenian, Russian 2 December 1920 30 December 1922 23 August 1990 21 September 1991 3,287,700 1.15 29,800 0.13 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Armenia 13
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Baku Azerbaijani, Russian 28 April 1920 30 December 1922 23 September 1989 18 October 1991 7,037,900 2.45 86,600 0.39 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Azerbaijan
 7
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Minsk Byelorussian, Russian 31 July 1920 30 December 1922 27 July 1990 25 August 1991 10,151,806 3.54 207,600 0.93 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Belarus 3
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tallinn Estonian, Russian 21 July 1940 6 August 1940 16 November 1988 20 August 1991 1,565,662 0.55 45,226 0.20 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Estonia 15
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tbilisi Georgian, Russian 25 February 1921 30 December 1922 18 November 1989 9 April 1991 5,400,841 1.88 69,700 0.31 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Georgia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Abkhazia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  South Ossetia 		6
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Alma-Ata Kazakh, Russian 5 December 1936 25 October 1990 16 December 1991 16,711,900 5.83 2,717,300 12.24 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kazakhstan 5
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Frunze Kirghiz, Russian 5 December 1936 15 December 1990 31 August 1991 4,257,800 1.48 198,500 0.89 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kyrgyzstan 11
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Riga Latvian, Russian 21 July 1940 5 August 1940 28 July 1989 21 August 1991 2,666,567 0.93 64,589 0.29 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Latvia 10
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Vilnius Lithuanian, Russian 21 July 1940 3 August 1940 18 May 1989 11 March 1990 3,689,779 1.29 65,200 0.29 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Lithuania 8
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kishinev Moldavian, Russian 2 August 1940 23 June 1990 27 August 1991 4,337,600 1.51 33,843 0.15 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Moldova
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Transnistria 		9
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Moscow Russian 7 November 1917 30 December 1922 12 June 1990 12 December 1991 147,386,000 51.40 17,075,400 76.62 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russia 1
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Dushanbe Tajik,
Russian 		5 December 1929 24 August 1990 9 September 1991 5,112,000 1.78 143,100 0.64 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tajikistan 12
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Ashkhabad Turkmen, Russian 13 May 1925 27 August 1990 27 October 1991 3,522,700 1.23 488,100 2.19 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Turkmenistan 14
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kiev Ukrainian, Russian 10 March 1919 30 December 1922 16 July 1990 24 August 1991 51,706,746 18.03 603,700 2.71 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Ukraine
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russia 		2
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tashkent Uzbek,
Russian 		5 December 1924 20 June 1990 1 September 1991 19,906,000 6.94 447,400 2.01 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Uzbekistan 4

Short-lived Union Republics of the Soviet Union

Emblem Name Flag Capital Titular nationality Years of
membership 		Population Area (km2) Soviet successor
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Bukharan People's Soviet Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Bukhara Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmens 1920–1924 2,000,000 182,193 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Uzbek SSR
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tajik SSR
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Turkmen SSR
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Petrozavodsk Karelians, Finns 1940–1956 651,300
(1959) 		172,400 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR
(Republics Of The Soviet Union  Karelian ASSR)
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Khorezm People's Soviet Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Khiva Uzbeks, Turkmens 1920–1924 800,000 62,200 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Turkmen SSR
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Uzbek SSR
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tiflis Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Georgians 1922–1936 5,861,600
(1926) 		186,100 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Armenian SSR
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Azerbaijan SSR
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Georgian SSR

Republics not recognized by the Soviet Union

Emblem Name Flag Capital Official languages Independence from SSR declared Independence from USSR declared Population Area (km2) Post-Soviet states
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tiraspol Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan 2 September 1990 25 August 1991 680,000
(1989) 		4,163
(1989) 		Republics Of The Soviet Union  Transnistria
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Moldova

Other non-union Soviet republics

Emblem Name Flag Capital Created Defunct Successor states Modern states
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Far Eastern Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Verkhneudinsk
Chita 		1920 1922 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tuvan People's Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kyzyl
 1921 1944 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR (Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tuvan ASSR)

The Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic was proclaimed in 1918 but did not survive to the founding of the USSR, becoming the short-lived Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the RSFSR. The Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida) was also proclaimed in 1918, but did not become a union republic and was made into an autonomous republic of the RSFSR, although the Crimean Tatars had a relative majority until the 1930s or 1940s according to censuses. When the Tuvan People's Republic joined the Soviet Union in 1944, it did not become a union republic, and was instead established as an autonomous republic of the RSFSR.

The leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Todor Zhivkov, suggested in the early 1960s that the country should become a union republic, but the offer was rejected. During the Soviet–Afghan War, the Soviet Union proposed to annex Northern Afghanistan as its 16th union republic in what was to become the Afghan Soviet Socialist Republic.

Other defunct Soviet states

Autonomous Republics of the Soviet Union

Several of the Union Republics themselves, most notably Russia, were further subdivided into Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics (ASSRs). Though administratively part of their respective Union Republics, ASSRs were also established based on ethnic/cultural lines.

According to the constitution of the USSR, in case of a union republic voting on leaving the Soviet Union, autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs had the right, by means of a referendum, to independently resolve whether they will stay in the USSR or leave with the seceding union republic, as well as to raise the issue of their state-legal status.

Emblem Name Flag Years of
membership 		Capital Official languages Area (km2) Soviet Socialist Republic Post-Soviet subjects
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1931–1992 Sukhumi Abkhazian, Georgian, Russian 8,600 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Georgian SSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Abkhazia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1921–1990 Batumi Georgian, Russian 2,880 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Georgian SSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Adjara
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1919–1991 Ufa Bashkir, Russian 143,600 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Bashkortostan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1923–1990 Ulan-Ude Buryat, Russian 69,857 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Buryatia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1936–1944
1957–1991 		Grozny Chechen, Ingush, Russian 19,300 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Chechnya
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Ingushetia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1925–1992 Cheboksary Chuvash, Russian 18,300 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Chuvashia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1921–1991 Makhachkala Aghul, Avar, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Kumyk, Lezgian, Lak, Nogai, Tabasaran, Tat, Russian 50,300 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Dagestan
Gorno-Altai Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic 1990–1991 Gorno-Altaysk Altai, Russian[citation needed] 92,600 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Altai Republic
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1936–1944
1957–1991 		Nalchik Kabardian, Karachay-Balkar, Russian 12,500 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kabardino-Balkaria
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1935–1943
1958–1991 		Elista Kalmyk Oirat, Russian 76,100 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kalmykia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1932–1991 Nukus Karakalpak (1956-1980s), Russian 165,000 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Uzbek SSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Karakalpakstan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1923–1940
1956–1991 		Petrozavodsk Finnish (1956-1980s), Russian 147,000 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Karelia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1936–1990 Syktyvkar Komi, Russian 415,900 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Komi Republic
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1936–1990 Yoshkar-Ola Mari (Meadow and Hill variants), Russian 23,200 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Mari El
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1934–1990 Saransk Erzya, Moksha, Russian 26,200 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Mordovia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1921–1990 Nakhichevan Azerbaijani, Russian 5,500 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Azerbaijan SSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Nakhchivan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1936–1993 Ordzhonikidze Ossetian, Russian 8,000 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  North Ossetia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1920–1990 Kazan Tatar, Russian 68,000 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tatarstan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1961–1992 Kyzyl Tuvan, Russian 170,500 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tuva
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1934–1990 Izhevsk Udmurt, Russian 42,100 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Udmurtia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  1922–1991 Yakutsk Yakut, Russian 3,083,523 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Sakha Republic

Former Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union

Emblem Name Flag Capital Titular nationality Years of
membership 		Population Area (km2) Soviet Socialist Republic Post-Soviet states
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Simferopol Crimean Tatars
Russians 		1921–1945
1991–1992 		1,126,000
(1939) 		26,860 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Ukrainian SSR 		Republics Of The Soviet Union  Ukraine
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kabardin Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Nalchik Kabardians 1944–1957 420,115
(1959) 		12,470 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Alma-Ata Kazakhs 1920–1925 6,503,000
(1926) 		2,960,000 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kazakhstan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Uzbekistan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic 1925–1936
Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Frunze Kyrgyz 1926–1936 993,000
(1926) 		196,129 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kyrgyzstan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tiraspol Moldovans 1924–1940 599,150
(1939) 		8,288 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Ukrainian SSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Transnistria
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Moldova
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Ukraine
Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
Republics Of The Soviet Union 
 Vladikavkaz Balkars, Chechens, Ingush, Kabardians, Karachays, Ossetians, Terek Cossacks 1921–1924 1,286,000
(1921) 		74,000 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russia
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Dushanbe Tajiks 1924–1929 740,000
(1924) 		Republics Of The Soviet Union  Uzbek SSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tajikistan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tashkent Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Turkmens 1918–1924 5,221,963
(1920) 		Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kazakhstan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Uzbekistan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Turkmenistan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Tajikistan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Kyrgyzstan
Republics Of The Soviet Union  Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Republics Of The Soviet Union  Engels Soviet Germans 1923–1941 606,532
(1939) 		27,400 Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russian SFSR Republics Of The Soviet Union  Russia

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

Starting in the late 1980s, under the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet government undertook a program of political reforms (glasnost and perestroika) intended to liberalise and revitalise the Union. These measures, however, had a number of unintended political and social effects. Political liberalisation allowed the governments of the union republics to openly invoke the principles of democracy and nationalism to gain legitimacy. In addition, the loosening of political restrictions led to fractures within the Communist Party which resulted in a reduced ability to govern the Union effectively. The rise of nationalist and right-wing movements, notably led by Boris Yeltsin in Russia, in the previously homogeneous political system undermined the Union's foundations. With the central role of the Communist Party removed from the constitution, the Party lost its control over the State machinery and was banned from operating after an attempted coup d'état.

Throughout this period of turmoil, the Soviet government attempted to find a new structure that would reflect the increased authority of the republics. Some autonomous republics, like Tatarstan, Checheno-Ingushetia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, Transnistria, Gagauzia sought the union statute in the New Union Treaty. Efforts to found a Union of Sovereign States, however, proved unsuccessful and the republics began to secede from the Union. By 6 September 1991, the Soviet Union's State Council recognized the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania bringing the number of union republics down to 12. On 8 December 1991, the remaining leaders of the republics signed the Belavezha Accords which agreed that the USSR would be dissolved and replaced with a Commonwealth of Independent States. On 25 December, President Gorbachev announced his resignation and turned all executive powers over to Yeltsin. The next day the Council of Republics voted to dissolve the Union. Since then, the republics have been governed independently with some reconstituting themselves as liberal parliamentary republics and others, particularly in Central Asia, devolving into highly autocratic states under the leadership of the old Party elite.

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

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