An autonomous republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, styled Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR, ), was a type of administrative unit created for certain ethnic groups to be the titular nations of. The ASSRs had a status lower than the constituent union republics of the USSR, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs.
The level of political, administrative and cultural autonomy ASSRs enjoyed within the USSR varied with time—it was most substantial in the 1920s (Korenizatsiya), in the 1950s after the death of Joseph Stalin, and in the Brezhnev Era (1964–1982).Cornell, Svante E., Autonomy and Conflict: Ethnoterritoriality and Separatism in the South Caucasus – Case in Georgia . Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Report No. 61. p. 89-90. University of Uppsala, . In the Russian SFSR, for example, the various chairmen of the governments of the ASSRs were officially members of the Government of the Russian SFSR.
Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union were administrative units created for a number of smaller nations, which were given autonomy within the fifteen republics of the USSR.
History Art. 11 of the 1918 Constitution of the RSFSR stated that autonomous regional unions "distinguished by their distinctive way of life and ethnic composition" may be formed. With explicit reference to the article, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR passed a decree on October 19, 1918 to establish the Labour Commune of Volga Germans, a precursor to the future autonomous republics and oblasts. The Karelian Labor Commune was later established in 1920. The labor commune as a type of administrative division did not receive further consolidation of legal status due to the transformation of both of them into ASSRs in 1923.
While the 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union simply mentioned the existence of autonomous republics and oblasts, the codified them as part of the power structure. The 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union would follow suit while also listing all existing autonomous units in Art. 22 to 29. The 1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union renamed national okrugs to autonomous okrugs and defined them alongside the autonomous oblasts, albeit without listing each of them.
Parade of sovereignties Unlike for the union republics, the Constitution did not specify a right to disaffiliate from the Union for autonomous units. On April 3, 1990, a law was passed which stated that when a union republic was voting to leave the Soviet Union, autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts, and autonomous okrugs had the right, by means of a referendum, to independently resolve whether they would stay in the USSR or leave with the seceding union republic, as well as broader rights to raise the issue of their state-legal status. On April 26, 1990, a law was passed where autonomous republics were considered "constituent entities of the federation, the USSR".
In the months following the proposal of New Union Treaty by Gorbachev during the Communist Party Congress in July 1990, most of autonomous republics declared sovereignty and expressed the desire to be a party to the new treaty during the parade of sovereignties. Most of them participated in the to draft the treaty, and the status of former autonomous republics was a major point of contention among participants. On July 12, 1991, the Supreme Soviet passed the resolution "About the draft treaty on Union of Sovereign States" to state its stance on the matter that each of "the subjects of the federation, including both the sovereign states - the republics - and the republics incorporated within them on a treaty or constitutional basis" "possesses the right to sign the text of the Union Treaty". As a compromise, the final draft of the treaty allowed a state to join the Union as a part of another state, but the autonomous republics were not invited to sign it on July 23. The effort was ultimately futile due to the August Coup.
Russian SFSR The 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR recognized sixteen autonomous republics and five autonomous oblasts within the RSFSR. The autonomous oblasts were subordinated to the krais; this clause was removed in the December 15, 1990, revision, when it was specified that the autonomous oblasts were to be directly subordinated to the Russian SFSR.
As most autonomous republics and oblasts declared self-promotion to Soviet Socialist Republics during the parade of sovereignties, Art. 71 and 72 of the constitution were amended on May 24, 1991 to recognize its autonomous republics as SSRs;Закон РСФСР от 24 мая 1991 года «Об изменениях и дополнениях Конституции (Основного Закона) РСФСР»Конституция РСФСР в редакции от 24 мая 1991 г. it was further amended on July 3 to promote four of its five autonomous oblasts to SSRs.Закон РСФСР от 3 июля 1991 г."Об изменениях и дополнениях Конституции (Основного Закона) РСФСР в связи с преобразованием автономных областей в Советские Социалистические Республики в составе РСФСР"Конституция РСФСР в редакции от 3 июля 1991 г. These divisions then became republics of Russia while the Jewish Autonomous Oblast retained its status in Russia.
Autonomous republics in 1978 Most autonomous republics existed as autonomous oblasts before promotion. Autonomous oblast nameAutonomous oblast establishedEmblemAutonomous republic nameFlagCapitalOfficial languagesAutonomous republic establishedArea (km2) republics of Russia colspan="2" Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicUfaBashkir, Russian1919143,600 colspan="2" Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicUlan-UdeBuryat, Russian192369,857 Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Oblast1934Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicGroznyChechen, Ingush, Russian1936195719,300 Chuvash Autonomous Oblast1920Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicCheboksaryChuvash, Russian192518,300 colspan="2" Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicMakhachkalaAghul, Avar, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Kumyk, Lezgian, Lak, Nogai, Tabasaran, Tat, Russian192150,300 Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Oblast1921Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicNalchikKabardian, Karachay-Balkar, Russian193612,500 Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast19201957Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicElistaKalmyk Oirat, Russian1935195876,100 Karelian Labor Commune 1920Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicPetrozavodskFinnish (1956-1980s), Russian1923147,000 Komi (Zyryan) Autonomous Oblast 1923Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicSyktyvkarKomi, Russian 1936415,900 Mari Autonomous Oblast 1920Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicYoshkar-OlaMari (Meadow and Hill variants), Russian 193623,200 1930Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicSaranskErzya, Moksha, Russian193426,200 North Ossetian Autonomous Oblast 1924North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicOrdzhonikidzeOssetian, Russian 19368,000 colspan="2" Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicKazanTatar, Russian192068,000 Tuvan Autonomous Oblast 1944Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicKyzylTuvan, Russian 1961170,500 Udmurt Autonomous Oblast 1920Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicIzhevskUdmurt, Russian 193442,100 colspan="2" Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicYakutskYakut, Russian19223,083,523
Autonomous oblasts in 1978 NameCapitalEstablishedKrai Adyghe Autonomous OblastMaykop1922Krasnodar KraiGorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast1922Altai KraiJewish Autonomous OblastBirobidzhan1934Khabarovsk KraiCherkessk1922Stavropol KraiKhakas Autonomous OblastAbakan1930
Early divisions Other autonomous republics also existed within the RSFSR at earlier points of the Soviet history: Predecessor name Predecessor establishedEmblem Autonomous republic nameFlag Capital Titular nationality Autonomous republic established Dissolved Area (km2) Soviet successors colspan="2" Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicSimferopolCrimean Tatars 1921 194526,860Crimean Oblast colspan="2" Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic VladikavkazBalkars, Chechens, Ingush, Kabardians, Karachays, Ossetians, Terek Cossacks 1921 192474,000Karachay-Cherkess AOChechen AONorth Ossetian AOIngush AO Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic 1918Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicTashkentTurkic peoples(Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Turkmens) 1920 1924Tajik ASSRKara-Kirghiz AOKarakalpak AO Labour Commune of Volga Germans 1918Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicEngelsVolga Germans 1923 194127,400Saratov OblastStalingrad Oblast
These autonomous oblasts existed at earlier points of the Soviet history before they were merged: NameCapitalYears of membershipSoviet successorChita1921–1923Irkutsk1922–1923Chechen Autonomous OblastGrozny1922–1934Checheno-Ingush Autonomous OblastIngush Autonomous OblastVladikavkaz1924–1934Cherkess Autonomous OblastCherkessk1928–1957Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous OblastKarachay Autonomous OblastKarachayevsk1926–1943
Ukrainian SSR The Moldavian Autonomous Oblast was established in 1924 under Ukrainian SSR and became an autonomous republic (Moldavian ASSR) only months after its formation, a union republic (Moldavian SSR) in 1940, and now the independent Moldova. However, de facto, almost all areas of the original oblast are controlled either by Ukraine or by Transnistria.
The Crimea Oblast was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR jurisdiction on 19 February 1954 and promoted to the ASSR status following a referendum held on January 20, 1991 (now the Autonomous Republic of Crimea / Republic of Crimea, territory disputed between Ukraine and the Russian Federation). Emblem NameFlag Years ofmembership Capital Titular nationality Area (km2)Post-Soviet successorsMoldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic1924-1940Tiraspol (de facto)Moldavians8,288 Pridnestrovian Moldavian RepublicCrimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic1991SimferopolCrimean Tatars26,860 Autonomous Republic of Crimea
South Caucasus One autonomous republic and both of the two autonomous oblasts in the South Caucasus region became self-declared break-away states during the dissolution of the Soviet Union: EmblemNameFlagCapitalOfficial languagesEstablishedIndependenceArea (km2)Soviet Socialist Republic subjectsAbkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicSukhumiAbkhazian, Georgian, Russian193119928,600Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicBatumi Georgian, Russian1921 -2,880()-Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast-Stepanakert19231991Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicNakhichevanAzerbaijani, Russian192119905,500()-South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast-Tskhinvali19221990
Central Asia Autonomous oblast nameEmblemAutonomous republic nameFlagCapitalOfficial languagesAutonomous oblast establishedAutonomous republic establishedArea (km2)Soviet Socialist Republic subjectsKarakalpak Autonomous OblastKarakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicNukusKarakalpak (1956-1980s), Russian19251932165,000Kazakh ASSR (1925-1930) (1936-1991)()Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast colspan="3" Khorog1925 Gorno-Badakhshan()
Divisions promoted to union republics Some divisions existed at earlier points of the Soviet history were promoted into full union republics of the Soviet Union. Autonomous oblast name Autonomous oblast establishedEmblem Autonomous republic nameFlag Capital Titular nationality Autonomous republic established Union Republics status Population Area (km2)Soviet Socialist RepublicSoviet successor colspan="2" Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet RepublicAlma-AtaKazakhs192019366,503,000(1926)2,960,000 Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast1924Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet RepublicFrunzeKyrgyz19261936993,000(1926)196,129 Moldavian Autonomous Oblast1924Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicTiraspolMoldovans19241940599,150(1939)8,288 colspan="2" Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist RepublicDushanbeTajiks19241929740,000(1924)
Karelian ASSR was promoted to the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940 but demoted back in 1956.
See also Emblems of the Autonomous Soviet Republics