Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
| Українська Радянська Соціалістична Республіка (Ukrainian) Украинская Советская Социалистическая Республика (Russian) Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic |
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| Capital | Kursk (1919) Kharkiv (1919-1934)[1] Kiev (1934-1991) [2] |
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| Official language | Ukrainian and Russian | ||||
| Established In the Soviet Union: - Since - Until |
March 10, 1919 December 30, 1922 December 25, 1991 |
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| Area - Total - Water (%) |
Ranked 3rd in the USSR 603,700 km² negligible |
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| Population - Total - Density |
Ranked 2nd in the USSR 51,706,746 (1989) 85.6/km² |
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| Time zone | UTC + 3 | ||||
| Anthem | Anthem of Ukrainian SSR | ||||
| Medals |  Order of Lenin
 Four Hero cities |
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The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or the Ukrainian SSR was a self-proclaimed partially recognized republic formed by the members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) some of whom were members of the Central Rada (Volodymyr Zatonsky, Georgy Pyatakov). Eventually it became one of the founding constituent Republics of the Soviet Union from its formation in 1922 to its abolition in 1991. It was one of the founding members of the United Nations organization when it finally received an international recognition.
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Name
The first Bolshevik republic declared in December 24 or December 25, 1917 and was called either the Republic of Soviets of workers', soldiers', and peasants' deputies[3] or Ukrainian People's Republic.[4]
On March 10, 1919 according to the III Congress of Soviets in Ukraine (March 6–10, 1919) the name of the state was changed to Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic.[5]
On December 30, 1922 according to the I Congress of Soviets in Soviet Union the state was incorporated into the Soviet Union.
On December 5, 1936 according to the VIII Extraordinary Congress Soviets in Soviet Union (November 25 - December 5, 1936) the state name changed to Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. On January 31, 1937 this decision was ratified on the XIV Extraordinary Congress of Soviets in Ukrainian SSR.[4] It changed along with the names of all other Soviet republics, transposing the second ("socialist") and third ("soviet" or "radyans'ka") words. From 1937 , Ukraine was officially known as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, or UkSSR.
The official names in Ukrainian and Russian were:
- Ukrainian: Українська Радянська Соціалістична Республіка (УРСР), Ukrayins’ka Radyans’ka Sotsialistychna Respublika (URSR)
- Russian: Украинская Советская Социалистическая Республика (УССР), Ukrainskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika (USSR)
History
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, several factions sought to create an independent Ukrainian state, alternately cooperating and struggling against each other. Bolsheviks and Mensheviks in Ukraine first participated in the formation of the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), which initially declared autonomy in 1917, and then independence in 1918.
Right after the October Revolution in Petrograd they instigated the Kiev Bolshevik Uprising to take Kiev into their hands, but surprisingly it did not go as planned. Due to lack of adequate support from the local population and anti-revolutionary Central Rada, the Bolshevik split and moved to Kharkiv where they were supported in big cities and industrial centers of the eastern Ukraine. Later this move was recognized as a misstep by some of the People's Commissars (Yevgenia Bosch). They issued an ultimatum to the Central Rada on December 17, to recognize the Soviet regime of which the Rada was very critical. The Bolsheviks convened a separate congress and declared the first Soviet Republic of Ukraine on 24 December 1917 and claiming the Central Rada supporters outlaws that need to be eradicated. Warfare ensued against the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR) for the installation of the Soviet regime in the country. After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Russian SFSR yielded all the captured Ukrainian territory as the Bolsheviks were pushed out of Ukraine. The government of the Soviet Ukraine was dissolved, but eventually reforming first on 20 November 1918, and then 21 December 1919. Eventually, the Red Army ended up controlling much of the Ukrainian territory after the Polish-Soviet Peace of Riga.
On 30 December 1922, along with the Russian, Byelorussian, and Transcaucasian republics, the Ukrainian SSR was one of the founding members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
In 1932 the Soviet government inflicted one of the largest national catastrophes in modern history of the Ukrainian nation. A man-made famine known as the Holodomor caused a direct loss of human life estimated between 2.6 million[6][7] to 10 million.[8]
In September 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Poland, and added Galician lands inhabited by Ukrainians to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1945, these lands were permanently annexed, and the Transcarpathia region was added as well, by treaty with the post-war administration of Czechoslovakia.
After World War II some amendments to the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR were accepted, which allowed it to act as a separate subject of international law in some cases and to a certain extent, remaining a part of the Soviet Union at the same time. In particular, these amendments allowed the Ukrainian SSR to become one of founding members of the United Nations (UN) together with the Soviet Union and the Byelorussian SSR. This was part of a deal with the United States to ensure a degree of balance in the General Assembly, which, the USSR opined, was unbalanced in favor of the Western Bloc. In its capacity as a member of the UN, the Ukrainian SSR was an elected member of the United Nations Security Council in 1948-1949 and 1984-1985.
The Ukrainian SSR was also the site of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, when a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant melted down and exploded, subjecting countless multitudes to radiological effects.
Ukrainian SSR in 1933, after the Peace of Riga and the consolidation of USSR. Note the rose border line showing the Soviet claims over the former Russian guberniya of Bessarabia.
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Ukrainian SSR at early 1939, showing borders before September 17, 1939.
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“Western Ukraine” and Ukrainian SSR in a Soviet map from the winter of 1939/1940. Bessarabia is noted as occupied by Romania.
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Ukrainian SSR in 1940, after the Soviet acquisitions in Poland and Romania and before the German invasion of Soviet Union. Lacks the Transcarpathia and Crimea compared to modern Ukraine; includes portion of what became northern Moldova.
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Secretaries
Terms of the leaders of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine, and de facto leaders of the republic:
- Georgy Pyatakov, July 12-September 9, 1918
- Serafima Hopner, September 9-October 23, 1918
- Emanuel Kviring, October 23, 1918–March 6, 1919
- Georgy Pyatakov, March 6-May 30, 1919
- Stanislav Kosior, May 30-December 10, 1919
- Rafail Farbman, January–March 23, 1920 (acting)
- Mykola Mykolaiv, March 23-March 25, 1920
- Stanislav Kosior, March 25-November 23, 1920 stayed until October 17, 1922 in Secretariat
- First Secretary
- Viacheslav Molotov, November 23, 1920 – March 22, 1921
- Feliks Kon, March 22-December 14, 1921 (acting)
- Dmitry Manuilsky, December 15, 1921 – April 10, 1923
- Emanuel Kviring, April 10, 1923 – March 20, 1925
- General Secretary
- Emanuel Kviring, March 20–April 7, 1925
- Lazar Kaganovich, April 7, 1925 – July 14, 1928
- Stanislav Kosior, July 14, 1928 – January 23, 1934
- Ivan Akulov, October 12, 1932 - November 22, 1933 (Donbas secretary)
- First Secretary
- Stanislav Kosior, January 23, 1934 – January 27, 1938
- Nikita Khrushchev, January 27-June 18, 1938 (acting)
- Nikita Khrushchev, June 18, 1938 - March 3, 1947
- Lazar Kaganovich, March 3-December 26, 1947
- Nikita Khrushchev, December 26, 1947 – December 28, 1949
- Leonid Melnikov, 1949–1953
- Alexei Kirichenko, 1953–1957
- Nikolai Podgorny, 1957–1963
- Petro Shelest, 1963–1972
- Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, 1972–1989
- Vladimir Ivashko, 1989–1990
- Stanislav Hurenko, 1990–1991
Head of State
The official head of state in Ukraine at first was the chairman of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee or also known as VTsIK. Later that position was reformed into the chairman of Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council). In case of the chairman's absence his role was performed by the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.
- VTsIK
- Yukhym Medvedev December 27, 1917 - March 19, 1918
- Volodymyr Zatonsky March 19, 1918 - July 12, 1918
- TsVRK (Military-Revolutionary Committee)
- Andrei Bubnov July 12, 1918 - September 18, 1918
- Fyodor Sergeyev (Artem) September 18, 1918 - November 28, 1918
- Hryhoriy Petrovskiy November 28, 1918 - January 6, 1919
- VTsIK (reinstated)
- Fyodor Sergeyev (Artem) January 6, 1919 - March 10, 1919
- Hryhoriy Petrovskiy March 10, 1919 - March 1938
- Leonid Korniyets March 1938 - July 28, 1939 (introduced the Presidium)
- Presidium
- Mykhailo Hrechukha July 28, 1939 - January 15, 1954
- Demyan Korotchenko January 15, 1954 - April 7, 1969
- Oleksandr Liashko April 7, 1969 - June 8, 1972
- Ivan Hrushetsky June 8, 1972 - June 24, 1976
- Oleksiy Vatchenko June 24, 1976 - November 22, 1984
- Valentyna Shevchenko November 22, 1984 - June 4, 1990 (acting until March 27, 1985)
Administrative divisions
| History of Ukraine |
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Early Modern Period
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Early Twentieth Century
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Ukraine after the Revolution Ukrainian Civil War Ukrainian People's Republic West Ukrainian People's Republic Ukrainian State Directorate of Ukraine |
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Topics
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Ukraine Portal |
The administrative divisions of the Ukrainian SSR changed numerous times throughout its 74-year history. The most common administrative division was the oblast (province) of which there were 25 upon the UkSSR's abolishment in 1991. Most of the UkSSR's oblasts still exist as oblasts of independent Ukraine while one changed its status to an autonomous republic. (see map).
Upon the Ukrainian SSR's formation to 1934, the republic's capital was the city of Kharkiv (Rus. Kharkov) located in the east of the republic. Kharkiv was also the city where the first Soviet Ukrainian government was created in 1917 with a strong support from the Russian SFSR. In 1934, the capital moved from Kharkiv to Kiev, which remains the capital of Ukraine today.
Other administrative divisions of the Ukrainian SSR included the two Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics which existed during different time periods. The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic existed from 1924-1940 until it was upgraded to that of a constituent Soviet republic in 1940. Around 1930s numerous national raions were formed as a territorial-administrative units such were Jewish, German, Bulgarian, Russian, and many others.
The other ASSR was the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic which was formed in 1991 from the former Crimean Oblast, which was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR from the Russian SFSR in 1954. After Ukrainian independence, the Crimean ASSR was renamed the Crimean Autonomous Republic.
Governorates
Until the Riga Peace Treaty with Poland on March 18, 1921 the Ukrainian SSR had the governotorial administrative division of Imperial Russia and consisted of ten guberniyas. That administrative division was confirmed during the establishment of the Ukrainian State in 1918 when the Red Army withdrew from Ukraine following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Central Powers.
- Chernigov Governorate
- Kharkov Governorate
- Kherson Governorate
- Kholm Governorate
- Kiev Governorate
- Podolie Governorate
- Poltava Governorate
- Volyn Governorate
- Yekaterinoslav Governorate
- Taurida Governorate
In 1920-1921 series of territorial changes took place as well as changing in administrative division.
- April 16, 1920
- The Donetsk Governorate was created out of the surrounding Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav Govrnorates and the Don Army Oblast. It was initially created in 1919, but with the advance of Anton Denikin its reorganization was temporarily halted.
- The Kremenchuk Governorate was created out of bordering areas of Poltava, Kiev, and Kherson Governorates.
- The Zaporizhia Governorate was created out Yekaterinslav Governorate and Taurida Governorate (initially as Aleksandrovsk)
- Odessa Governorate was split from the Kherson Governorate once again with the last changing name to Mykolaiv Governorate and acquiring the Dnepr uyezd of the Taurida Governorate while the peninsula became part of the Russian SFSR (later forming an autonomous republic).
- March 18, 1921 (Peace of Riga)
- The Kholm Governorate was transferred to Poland.
- Five full uyezds and partially the Ostrog uyezd of Volyn Governorate were transferred to Poland.
- Four uyezds of Chernigov Governorate were transferred to the Gomel Governorate of Russian SFSR.
- October 21, 1922
- Zaporizhia Governorate was annexed to Yekaterinslav Governorate
- Mykolaiv Governorate was annexed to Odessa Governorate
- Kremenchuk Governorate was liquidate
In 1923 uyezds were reorganized as okrugs. On October 12, 1924 the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created out of parts of Podolie Governorate and Odessa Governorate as part of the Ukrainian SSR.
On August 1, 1925 the gubernial administrative division was abolished as an obsolete.
Okrugs
Oblasts
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References
- ↑ History of Kharkiv Region at Kharkiv Oblast Administration website
- ↑ Радя́нська енциклопе́дія істо́рії Украї́ни in 4 volumes Kiev 1969-72 Academy of Science of UKR SSR
- ↑ Revolution of 1917 (Russian)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Guide to the history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union in 1898 (Russian)
- ↑ [http://www.knowbysight.info/1_UKRA/08983.asp Guide to the history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union in 1898 (Russian)
- ↑ France Meslé, Gilles Pison, Jacques Vallin France-Ukraine: Demographic Twins Separated by History, Population and societies, N°413, juin 2005
- ↑ ce Meslé, Jacques Vallin Mortalité et causes de décès en Ukraine au XXè siècle + CDRom ISBN 2-7332-0152-2 CD online data (partially - http://www.ined.fr/fichier/t_publication/cdrom_mortukraine/cdrom.htm
- ↑ Shelton, Dinah (2005). Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Detroit ; Munich: Macmillan Reference, Thomson Gale. pp. 1059. ISBN 0028658507.
External links
- "Governments of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic". Government portal. http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control%5Cen%5Cpublish%5Carticle?art_id=1334334&cat_id=1290711. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- "Constitution of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic" (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 1978. http://gska2.rada.gov.ua/site/const/istoriya/1978.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
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