Treaty on the Creation of the USSR
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Treaty on the Creation of the USSR is a document that legalized the creation of a union of several Soviet republics in the form of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
It was signed on December 29, 1922 at a conference of the representatives elected at the Congresses of Soviets of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Transcaucasian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic (TSFSR), and the Byelorussian and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).
The conference also issued the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, which may be considered a political preamble to the Treaty.
The Treaty was confirmed on December 30, 1922 by the 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR. Successive republics were formed by separate amendments to the treaty.
Contents |
[edit] 1922 – 1940
The first such examples were the Uzbek and Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republics, which on October 27, 1924 were seceded from Turkestanian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the RSFSR.
Following this, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, formerly part of the Uzbek SSR was made an elevated to a union republic on October 16, 1929 becoming the Tajik SSR.
The TSFSR existed until December 5, 1936 when it was broken into Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani SSRs. The same day Turkestanian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the RSFSR ceased to exist, and its territory was divided between the new Kazakh and Kirghiz SSRs.
[edit] 1940
On March 31, 1940, the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the RSFSR was raised into the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
In prelude to the Great Patriotic War (Second World War), during the expansion of the USSR new republics were created on new territories like the Moldavian SSR which on August 24, 1940 was created from parts of Bessarabia (annexed from Romania after the Great War) and the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Ukrainian SSR.
During the same year in the Baltics, in the aftermath of Soviet controversial communist victories in the elections and the transformation of the republics Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into the Lithuanian SSR (July 13), Latvian SSR (July 21) and Estonian SSR (also July 21). They entered the Soviet Union on August 3, August 5 and August 6, respectively.
After the Great Patriotic War, no new republics were established, instead the Karello-Finnish SSR was downgraded into an autonomous republic and re-annexed by the RSFSR on July 16, 1956.
On December 8, 1991 the leaders of the Ukrainian and Belorussian SSRs, and the RSFSR met to agree on the annulment of the 1922 treaty, which was terminated on December 25, 1991, effectively dissolving the USSR.
[edit] Timeline
- December 21, 1922 - Treaty signed.
- December 30, 1922 - Treaty ratified.
- October 27, 1924 - Uzbek and Turkmen populated regions of the Turkestani ASSR (previously of RSFSR) elevated into union republics.
- October 16, 1929 - Tajik SSR created from the Tajik ASSR (previously part of the RSFSR).
- December 5, 1936 - Simultaneous split of the Transcaucasian SFSR into Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani SSRs. Simultaneous breakup of the RSFSR administered Turkestan (then consisting of Kazakh and Kirgiz ASSRs) into Kazakh and Kirgiz SSRs.
- March 31, 1940 - RSFSR administered Karelian ASSR raised into the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
- July 13, 1940 - Lithuanian SSR joins USSR.
- August 5, 1940 - Latvian SSR joins USSR.
- August 6, 1940 - Estonian SSR joins USSR.
- August 24, 1940 - Moldavian SSR created from the Ukrainian administered Moldavian ASSR and annexed Romanian territory of Bessarabia.
- July 16, 1956 - Karello-Finnish SSR downgraded into an autonomous republic and re-annexed by RSFSR.
- December 8, 1991 - Treaty termination agreed by founding republics.
- December 25, 1991 - Treaty terminated.
