How the Soviet Union was created. The composition of the USSR - what it was like and how it was formed

The abbreviation USSR today is not familiar to every citizen of Russia. This mainly concerns young people. What is the USSR? The USSR is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which included 16 republics, existed until 1991, after which it broke up into several separate independent states. After a while, a new union was formed - the CIS, but that's a completely different story.

They were called union republics - fifteen.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics included only fifteen republics. Although initially

only four were included. In the final version, the USSR included the following modern states like: Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Estonia.

At the time of the formation of the USSR in 1922, it included four republics. Over time, other countries joined the Soviet Union (after the annexation, the union republics). The maximum number of republics in the USSR was 16, at the time of collapse in 1991 - 15.

Ukrainian SSR

Byelorussian SSR

Uzbek SSR

Kazakh SSR

Georgian SSR

Azerbaijan SSR

Lithuanian SSR

Moldavian SSR

Latvian SSR

Kirghiz SSR

Tajik SSR

Armenian SSR

Turkmen SSR

Estonian SSR

In the history of the USSR, the highest number of countries was - sixteen, when the Soviet Union first appeared, and it was in 1922, if I’m not mistaken. that's only four countries. So, it depends on what period of the existence of the USSR.

The USSR itself was a country. But the USSR included 15 republics. I remember from childhood this slogan: Fifteen republics - fifteen sisters. The only pity is that, as time has shown, not all sisters turned out to be truly family. They quickly disowned their relatives.

And here are the republics that were part of the USSR:

Byelorussian SSR.

Ukrainian SSR.

Kazakh SSR (the capital is the city of Alma-Ata, the republic has been part of the USSR since 1936).

Uzbek SSR.

Azerbaijan SSR (capital - Baku, part of the USSR since 1920).

Georgian SSR.

Lithuanian SSR (formed in 1940).

Estonian SSR (formed in 1940).

Moldavian SSR (formed in 1940).

Latvian SSR (joined the USSR in 1940).

Kirghiz SSR (capital - the city of Frunze, the republic was formed in 1924).

Tajik SSR (capital - Dushanbe, the republic has been part of the USSR since 1929).

Armenian SSR (formed in 1920).

Turkmen SSR.

I myself didn’t remember how many republics were part of the USSR, but I refreshed my memory by finding and re-reading information on the Internet. So, the USSR once included 16 republics, but at the time of its collapse there were 15. You can read which republics were included in the previous answers.

The USSR consisted not of countries, but of republics. The USSR itself was a country. The number of republics in the union changed. The minimum number was 4 (at the time of formation), at the time of collapse 15. The maximum number was 16: in 1940 - 56. The Karelo-Finnish SSR was separated into a separate republic.

The concept of a country is quite loose and does not always include territories with obvious signs of a state, including states that have not existed for a long time. Thus, we can say that the territory of the USSR included thousands of countries that it inherited from the Empire, and the USSR worked in this direction by including several countries, including those that were formed after the collapse of the Empire. For example, the same East Prussia, the Baltic countries, Tuva, Western Belarus, Karelia, Bessarabia, all these territories can well be called countries, regardless of state affiliation. A huge number of countries can be expressed in words, and so on, and so on, and so on, so successfully formulated in the title of Russian autocrats.

I would say that the question is somewhat incorrect, since during the existence of the USSR it included not countries, but republics, which is reflected in the abbreviation Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. And although the republics had a certain independence within the framework of the accepted agreements, they were still not considered separate countries.

If we put aside the question of terminology, then the USSR had fifteen union republics:



As I remember, the USSR included 15 or 16 countries. Probably closer to the collapse of the USSR in 1991, there were 15 republics and so on. At the beginning it consisted of 4 republics, and the maximum composition of the USSR was 16 republics, I don’t remember what year.

The USSR included fifteen republics (Russian SFSR

Ukrainian SSR

Byelorussian SSR

Uzbek SSR

Kazakh SSR

Georgian SSR

Azerbaijan SSR

Lithuanian SSR

Moldavian SSR

Latvian SSR

Kirghiz SSR

Tajik SSR

Armenian SSR

Turkmen SSR

Estonian SSR

In the last decades of its existence, the Soviet Union included 15 Union Republics. At one time there were even 16 of them. As far as I remember, the Karelo-Finnish Republic was considered 16th. And at the time of the formation of the USSR, it included only 4 republics.

The state unification of Soviet socialist republics played an important role in successful socialist construction. The voluntary unification of the sovereign Soviet republics into a single union multinational socialist state was dictated by the course of their political, economic and cultural development and was prepared practically as a result of the implementation of Lenin’s national policy. The joint struggle of the peoples of the Soviet republics against external and internal enemies showed that the contractual relations between them, established in the first years of Soviet power, were not enough to restore the economy and further socialist construction, in order to defend their state independence and independence. It was possible to successfully develop the national economy only if all Soviet republics were united into a single economic whole. Great importance There was also the fact that an economic division of labor and interdependence had historically developed between different regions of the country. This led to mutual assistance and close economic ties. The threat of military intervention from the imperialist states demanded unity in foreign policy and strengthening the country's defense capability.

The union cooperation of the republics was especially important for those non-Russian peoples who had to go through the path from pre-capitalist forms of economy to socialism. The formation of the USSR resulted from the presence of a socialist structure in the national economy and from the very nature of Soviet power, international in its essence.

In 1922, a mass movement of workers for unification into a single union state began in all republics. In March 1922 it was proclaimed Transcaucasian Federation, which took shape in December 1922 Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR). The question of the forms of unification of the republics was developed and discussed in the Central Committee of the party. The idea of ​​autonomization, that is, the entry of independent Soviet republics into the RSFSR on the basis of autonomy, put forward by I. V. Stalin (from April 1922 Secretary General Central Committee of the Party) and supported by some other party workers, was rejected by Lenin, then by the October Plenum (1922) of the Central Committee of the RCP (b).
Lenin developed a fundamentally different form of unification of independent republics. He proposed the creation of a new state entity - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, into which all Soviet republics would enter along with RSFSR on equal terms. The congresses of Soviets of the Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, ZSFSR, held in December 1922, as well as the 10th All-Russian Congress The Soviets recognized the timely unification of the Soviet republics into a single union state. On December 30, 1922, the 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR opened in Moscow, which approved the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR. It formulated the basic principles of the unification of the republics: equality and voluntariness of their entry into the USSR, the right to freely secede from the Union and access to the Union for new Soviet socialist republics. The Congress reviewed and approved the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. Initially, the USSR included: RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, ZSFSR. The formation of the USSR was a triumph of Lenin's national policy and had world-historical significance. It became possible thanks to the victory of the October Revolution, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the creation of a socialist structure in the economy. The 1st Congress of Soviets elected the supreme authority of the USSR - the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (chairmen: M. I. Kalinin, G. I. Petrovsky, N. N. Narimanov and A. G. Chervyakov). At the 2nd session of the Central Executive Committee, the government of the USSR was formed - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, headed by Lenin.

Combining material and labor resources into single state was of great importance for successful socialist construction. Lenin, speaking in November 1922 at the plenum of the Moscow Soviet and summing up the five years of Soviet power, expressed confidence that “... from NEP Russia there will be a socialist Russia” (ibid., p. 309).

In the autumn of the same year, Lenin fell seriously ill. While ill, he wrote a number of important letters and articles: “Letter to the Congress”, “On giving legislative functions to the State Planning Committee”, “On the issue of nationalities or “autonomization””, “Pages from the diary”, “On cooperation”, “On our revolution”, “How can we reorganize the Rabkrin”, “Less is better”. In these works, Lenin summed up the development of Soviet society and indicated specific ways to build socialism: industrialization of the country, cooperation of peasant farms (collectivization), carrying out a cultural revolution, strengthening the socialist state and its armed forces. Lenin's instructions, made in his last articles and letters, formed the basis for the decisions of the 12th Party Congress (April 1923) and all subsequent policies of the party and government. Having summed up the results of the NEP for 2 years, the congress outlined ways to implement the new economic policy. Congress decisions on national question contained a detailed program of struggle for the elimination of economic and cultural inequality between peoples inherited from the past.

Despite significant successes in restoring the national economy, in 1923 the country was still experiencing serious difficulties. There were about 1 million unemployed. In the hands of private capital there were up to 4 thousand small and medium-sized enterprises in the light and food industries, 3/4 of retail and about half of wholesale and retail trade. Nepmen in the city, kulaks in the countryside, remnants of the defeated Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik parties and other hostile forces fought against Soviet power. Economic difficulties were aggravated by the crisis in the sales of industrial goods, caused by differences in the pace of industrial recovery and Agriculture, deficiencies in planning, violations of price policies by industrial and trade bodies. Prices for industrial goods are high, and prices for agricultural products are extremely low. Discrepancies in prices (the so-called scissors) could lead to a narrowing of the base of industrial production, undermining industry, and weakening the alliance of the working class and the peasantry. Measures were taken to eliminate the difficulties that arose and eliminate the sales crisis: prices for industrial goods were reduced, and a monetary reform was successfully implemented (1922-24), which led to the establishment of a hard currency.

Taking advantage of the acute internal as well as the current international situation and Lenin’s illness, the Trotskyists launched new attacks on the party. They denigrated the work of the Party Central Committee, demanded freedom of factions and groupings, opposed lowering prices for goods, proposed increasing taxes on peasants, closing unprofitable enterprises (which were of great economic importance), and increasing the import of industrial products from abroad. The 13th Party Conference (January 1924), condemning the Trotskyists, stated that “... in the person of the current opposition we have before us not only an attempt to revise Bolshevism, not only a direct departure from Leninism, but also a clearly expressed petty-bourgeois deviation” (“CPSU in resolutions...", 8th ed., vol. 2, 1970, p. 511).

On January 31, 1924, the 2nd Congress of Soviets of the USSR approved the first Constitution of the USSR. It was based on the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR, adopted by the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviets in 1922. The Central Executive Committee had 2 equal chambers: the Union Council and the Council of Nationalities. A single union citizenship was established: a citizen of each republic is a citizen of the USSR. The Constitution provided the working people of the USSR with broad democratic rights and freedoms and Active participation in government. But at that time, in an atmosphere of acute class struggle, Soviet authority was forced to deprive class alien elements of voting rights: kulaks, traders, ministers of religious cults, former police and gendarmerie employees, etc. The Constitution of the USSR had enormous international and domestic significance. In accordance with its text, the constitutions of the union republics were developed and approved.

Nation-state building continued. The process of government was completed Russian Federation(by 1925 it included, in addition to the provinces, 9 autonomous republics and 15 autonomous regions). In 1924, the BSSR transferred from the RSFSR a number of districts of the Smolensk, Vitebsk and Gomel provinces, populated mainly by Belarusians, as a result of which the territory of the BSSR more than doubled, and the population almost tripled. The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as part of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1924-25, the national-state delimitation of the Soviet republics was carried out Central Asia, as a result of which the peoples of Central Asia gained the opportunity to create sovereign national states. The Uzbek SSR and the Turkmen SSR were formed from the regions of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Bukhara and Khorezm republics inhabited by Uzbeks and Turkmen. From the regions of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the Bukhara Republic, inhabited by Tajiks, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed, which became part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Areas inhabited by Kazakhs, previously part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, were reunited with the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. From the areas inhabited by the Kyrgyz, the Kyrgyz Autonomous Okrug was formed as part of the RSFSR.

The 3rd Congress of Soviets of the USSR (May 1925) admitted the newly formed union republics - the Uzbek SSR and the Turkmen SSR - into the USSR.

During the existence of the Soviet Union, its borders changed significantly several times. The 15 republics of the USSR did not appear immediately, but at the time of the collapse of the country there were exactly that many of them.

RSFSR

The Soviet Union was founded on December 30, 1922. At that time, the 15 republics of the USSR did not yet exist. The agreement on the formation of a new country was signed between four states - the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Byelorussian SSR and the Transcaucasian SSR.

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was the center of the new country from the very beginning. It was proclaimed on November 7, 1917, during the October Revolution in Petrograd. A few months later, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a declaration emphasizing that the republic is a free association of national subjects. This confirmed the federal nature of the state, which replaced the unitary one that existed during the tsarist reign.

On March 12, 1918, the Bolsheviks moved the capital of the RSFSR from Petrograd to Moscow. Moreover, it later became the main city of the entire Soviet Union. Of the 15 republics of the USSR, the RSFSR was the largest in terms of territory and population.

Ukraine

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was formally independent until 1922. It was the second region of the USSR in terms of economic importance. Ukraine's industrial production was four times higher than that of the next most important republic. Fertile black soil was located here, thanks to which the Ukrainian SSR was the breadbasket of the entire huge state.

Until 1934, the capital of Ukraine was Kharkov, after which it was finally moved to Kyiv. The 15 republics of the USSR often changed their borders, but the Ukrainian SSR did this more than others. During administrative reforms 1920s The RSFSR transferred the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to its western neighbor. After the war, Crimea was included in Ukraine. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War The Soviet Union annexed several regions that previously belonged to Poland. Some of them went to Ukraine.

Belarus

Belarus was one of the 15 republics of the USSR. The list of union states according to the 1977 Constitution placed it in third place. Belarus approximately doubled in size after the western regions separated from Poland were annexed to it in 1939. Modern borders were established after the Great Patriotic War. The capital of the republic was Minsk.

It is interesting that until 1936 in Belarus the official languages ​​were not only Belarusian and Russian, but also Polish and Yiddish. This was due to the legacy of the empire. Before the revolution in Russia there was a Pale of Settlement for Jews, because of which a huge number of Jews could not settle too close to Moscow or St. Petersburg.

Belarus was one of the founders of the USSR. Therefore, when the Bialowieza Accords were signed in 1991, the politicians of this republic played a vital role in the rejection of the Soviet state system.

Transcaucasia

Which states have not yet been mentioned from the 15 republics of the USSR? The list cannot do without mentioning the countries of Transcaucasia. The borders in this region have changed several times. After the revolution and civil war, for some time there was a single Transcaucasian SFSR. In 1936 it was finally divided:

• to the Georgian SSR (with its capital Tbilisi),
• Armenian SSR (with its capital in Yerevan),
• Azerbaijan SSR (with its capital in Baku).

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, national and religious contradictions flared up here again. The Armenian SSR was the smallest in size among all the republics of the USSR.

middle Asia

Over the course of several years, the Soviet government had to return territories that previously belonged to Russian Empire. This was most difficult to do in distant regions. In Central Asia, the process of creating Soviet statehood dragged on until the mid-1920s. Here the national Basmachi detachments resisted the communists.

And only with the advent of peace in the region were all the prerequisites for the emergence of the next states from among the 15 republics that were part of the USSR. This is how they were formed:

• Uzbek SSR (capital - Tashkent),
• Kazakh SSR (capital - Alma-Ata),
• Kirghiz SSR (capital - Frunze),
• Tajik SSR (capital - Dushanbe),
• Turkmen SSR (capital - Ashgabat).

Baltics

This region was annexed by the Russian Empire in the 18th century. When the October Revolution occurred, the peoples of the Baltic states opposed the communists. They were supported by whites, as well as some European countries. Since the economy Soviet Russia was in the most deplorable state, the country's leadership decided to stop the war and recognize the independence of these three countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).

The independent republics existed for 20 years. When Hitler unleashed the Second world war, he enlisted the support of the USSR by dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence with Stalin. The Baltic states were to go to the Bolsheviks.

On July 21, 1940, after ultimatums and the deployment of troops, new governments were formed and officially asked to include their countries in the Soviet Union. This is how 3 of the 15 republics of the USSR appeared. The list and their capitals are:

• Lithuanian SSR (Vilnius),
• Latvian SSR (Riga),
• Estonian SSR (Tallinn).

The Baltic states were the first to announce their secession from the Soviet Union during the “Parade of Sovereignties.”

Moldova

Of the 15 former republics of the USSR, the Moldavian SSR was the last to be formed. This happened on August 2, 1940. Before this, Moldavia was part of the Kingdom of Romania. But this historical region (Bessarabia) formerly belonged to the Russian Empire. Moldova was annexed to Romania during the years Civil War between red and white. Now Stalin, having agreed with Hitler, could calmly return to the Soviet Union those territories that he had once laid claim to.

15 republics of the USSR and their capitals joined the Bolsheviks different ways. This time Stalin was ready to declare war on Romania. On the eve of the invasion, an ultimatum was sent to King Carol II. In the document, the Soviet leadership demanded that the monarch give up Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. King II stalled for several days, but a few hours before the expiration of the deadline given to him, he agreed to concede. The Red Army occupied the territory of Moldova in a few days. Formally, the law on the formation of the next Soviet republic was adopted on August 2, 1940 in Moscow, at the next session of the Supreme Council of the USSR.

It is interesting that in the 60s a project was considered to create a 16th union republic. It could become Bulgaria, which is close to Moldova. Secretary General communist party of this country, Todor Zhivkov proposed to Moscow to accept the republic into the USSR. However, this project was never realized.

The USSR was formed from the fragments of the former Russian Empire. It was one of the two centers of power and influence throughout the twentieth century. It was the Union that inflicted the decisive defeat fascist Germany, and its collapse became the most significant event of the second half of the last century. We will look at which republics were part of the USSR in the following article.

Problems of the national state structure on the eve of the emergence of the USSR

How many were? Different answers can be given to this question, because at the initial stage of the formation of the state, their number did not remain unchanged. To understand this in more detail, let's look at history. By the end of the Civil War, the territory of our state was a rather motley complex of various national and state entities. Their legal status often depended on the military-political situation, the strength of local government institutions and other factors. However, as the influence and power of the Bolsheviks increased, this issue became one of the main ones for the state and government. The leadership of the CPSU (b) did not have a consolidated opinion on the future structure of the country. Most of party members believed that the state should be built on the basis of unitary principles, without taking into account national component, its other members cautiously spoke out for self-determination of nations within the country. But V.I. had the final say. Lenin.

A difficult dilemma in the depths of the CPSU(b)

The republics that were part of the USSR, according to Lenin, should have had a certain independence, but recognizing this issue as quite complex, he saw the need for a special analysis of it. This question was entrusted to I.V., a well-known specialist on the national question in the Central Committee. Stalin. He was a consistent supporter of the autonomy of all republics included in the new state formation. During the Civil War, victory prevailed on the territory of the RSFSR, but the relations between the independent republics were regulated on the basis of special agreements. Another serious problem was the rather strong nationalist sentiments among the local communists. This entire complex of disagreements had to be taken into account when forming a new state.

Start of work on creating a unified state

By the beginning of 1922, about 185 peoples lived in the territory controlled by the Soviets. To unite them, it was necessary to take into account everything, even the smallest nuances, but the process was not only a decision from above, it was overwhelmingly supported by the masses. The formation of the USSR also had a foreign policy reason - the need for unification in the face of clearly hostile states. To develop the principles of organizing the future country, a special commission of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was created. Within this structure, it was decided that the example of the existence of the RSFSR was the most acceptable option for the formation of a new state. However, this idea encountered strong opposition from members of the commission of national regions. Stalin was little inclined to criticize his position. It was decided to try the method in Transcaucasia. This area required special attention. A lot of national contradictions were concentrated here. In particular, during the short period of its independence, Georgia managed to build its economy and foreign policy relations quite effectively. Armenia and Azerbaijan treated each other with mutual suspicion.

Disagreements between Stalin and Lenin on the formation of the USSR

The experiment ended with the creation of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. This is how they were supposed to enter the new state. At the end of August 1922, a commission was formed in Moscow to implement the unification. According to the “autonomization” plan, I.V. Stalin, all components of the Union will have limited independence. At this moment Lenin intervened and rejected Stalin's plan. According to his idea, the republics that were part of the USSR should unite on the basis of union treaties. In this edition, the project was supported by the majority of members of the plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. However, Georgia did not want to join the new state entity as part of the Transcaucasian Federation. She insisted on concluding a separate agreement with the Union, outside the TSFSR. But under pressure from the center, the Georgian communists were forced to agree to the original plan.

In December 1922, at the Congress of Soviets, the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was announced, consisting of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Federation. This is how many republics there were in the USSR at the time of its appearance. On the basis of the Treaty, the creation of a new state association was declared as a federation of full-fledged and independent countries with the right to secede and freely enter into its composition. However, in fact, the exit procedure was not legally prescribed in any way, which consequently made it very difficult. This time bomb, embedded in the foundation of the state, showed itself with all its force at the moment, because in the 90s, the countries that were part of the Union could not leave it on legal and civilized grounds, which led to bloody events. Foreign policy, trade, finance, defense, communications and communications were delegated in favor of the central authorities of the USSR.

The next stage in the formation of the state was the national-administrative demarcation in Central Asia. On its territory were located the huge Turkestan Republic, as well as two tiny territories - the Bukhara and Khorezm republics. As a result of long discussions in the Central Committee, the Uzbek and Turkmen Union Republics were formed. The USSR subsequently separated the Tajik Republic from the former, part of the territory was transferred to the jurisdiction of Kazakhstan, which also became a union republic. The Kirghiz founded an autonomous republic within the RSFSR, but at the end of the twenties of the last century it was transformed into a union republic. And on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, Moldova was separated into the union republic. Thus, at the end of the second decade of the last century, the data on how many republics there were in the USSR changed significantly.

The thirties also saw a structural change in the composition of the Union. Since the Transcaucasian Federation was initially a non-viable entity, this was taken into account in the new Constitution of the USSR. In 1936, it was disbanded, and Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, having concluded agreements with the center, received the status of union republics of the USSR.

Baltic states within the USSR

The next stage of the formation of the Union dates back to the end of the thirties of the last century. Then, due to the difficult foreign policy situation, our country had to come to an agreement with Germany, which was pursuing an aggressive policy in Europe. Western Ukraine and Belarus were then part of Poland, in order to reunite historically one people and secure their western borders, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with a secret protocol was concluded between the USSR and Germany. According to it, the territory of Eastern Europe was included in the sphere of influence of our country. Due to the extremely hostile position of the Baltic states, by decision of the leadership, units of the Red Army were introduced there, and legitimate governments were liquidated in the territories of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. And construction began instead political system following the example of the USSR. These republics were given union status. And it was possible to re-calculate how many republics there were in the USSR immediately before the start of the war with Germany.

Formally, the Soviet Union was a confederation. Let me explain. Confederation is a special form of government in which individual independent states are united into a single whole, while retaining a significant part of the powers and the right to secede from the confederation. Shortly before the formation of the united Soviet state, there were debates about the basis on which to unite the union republics: whether to grant them some kind of autonomy (I.V. Stalin) or to give them the opportunity to freely secede from the state (V.I. Lenin). The first idea was called autonomization, the second - federalization. The Leninist concept won, the right to secede from the USSR was clearly stated in the Constitution. Which republics were included at the time of its formation, that is, on November 12, 1922? The agreement was signed by the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR and ZSFSR on December 27 of the same year, and approved three days later. It is clear that the first three union republics are Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. What is hidden under the fourth abbreviation? TSFSR stands for Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Socialist Republic, which consisted of the following states: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia.

The Bolsheviks were internationalists; they took into account the national specifics of the regions of the former Russian Empire in order to take power and maintain it. While A.I. Denikin, A.V. Kolchak and other White Guard leaders proclaimed the concept of “United and indivisible Russia”, that is, they did not even accept the existence of autonomous state formations within united Russia, the Bolsheviks to a certain extent supported nationalism for reasons of political expediency. Example: in 1919, Anton Ivanovich Denikin led a large-scale attack on Moscow, the Bolsheviks were even preparing to go underground. An important reason for the failure of A.I. Denikin - refusal to recognize the sovereignty or at least autonomy of the Ukrainian People's Republic led by Symon Petliura.

The communists took into account what largely destroyed the white movement, and listened to the identity of each individual people that makes up the single Soviet state. But we should not forget the main thing: the Bolsheviks are internationalists by nature, the goal of their activities is to build a classless communist society. “Dictatorship of the proletariat” (power relations in which the working class sets the vector social movement) was a temporary measure; in the end, the state would die out and the eternal era of communism would begin.

But the realities turned out to be somewhat different. The revolutionary fire did not break out in neighboring states. M.N. Tukhachevsky, who promised to “bring happiness and peace to working humanity at bayonets,” was unable to overcome the resistance of the Polish state. The Bavarian, Slovak, and Hungarian Soviet republics in Europe fell because the Red Army soldiers could not come to the aid of the Soviet governments. The Bolsheviks had to come to terms with the fact that the flames of the world revolution could not engulf the entire capitalist and imperialist world.

In 1924, the Uzbek SSR and the Turkmen SSR became parts of the Soviet state. In 1929, the Tajik SSR was formed.

In 1936, the Soviet government made a reasonable decision to divide the TSFSR into three separate public education: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. This action can be considered correct. Armenians and Georgians are Christians, and each state has its own Orthodox Church, Azerbaijanis are Muslims. Also, the peoples are by no means ethnically united: Armenians are a distinctive and unique ethnic group, Georgians belong to the Kartvelian language family, and Azerbaijanis are Turks. We should not forget that conflicts have repeatedly occurred between these peoples, which, unfortunately, are still ongoing (Nagorno-Karabakh).

In the same year, the autonomous Kazakh and Kyrgyz republics acquired the status of union states. Subsequently, they were transformed into union republics from the RSFSR. Adding up the above figures, it turns out that by 1936 the USSR already included 11 states that de jure had the right to leave.

In 1939 it flared up Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland. The Karelo-Finnish SSR was created in the occupied Finnish territories, which existed for 16 years (1940 - 1956).

The subsequent territorial expansion of the USSR was carried out on the eve of the Second World War. September 1, 1939 is the day that marked the beginning of the Second World War, the bloodiest action in human history, which claimed tens of millions of lives. The war would end almost 6 years later - on September 2, 1945.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed on August 23, 1939, divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence between the USSR and the Third Reich. Discussions about whether this agreement was to protect one’s own interests or whether it was a “deal with the devil” are still ongoing. On the one hand, the USSR significantly secured its own western borders, and on the other hand, it nevertheless agreed to cooperate with the Nazis. With the pact, the USSR expanded the territory of Ukraine and Belarus to the west, and also created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940.

In the same year, the Soviet state expanded by three more union republics due to the annexation of three Baltic states: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In them, Soviet governments “came to power” through “democratic elections.” Perhaps the de facto forced annexation of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union gave rise to the negativity that periodically manifests itself between modern independent Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia.

The maximum number of union republics that were part of a single Soviet state is 16. But in 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was disbanded, liquidated, and the “classical” number of Soviet republics was formed, equal to 15.

Upon coming to power, Mikhail Gorbachev announced a policy of glasnost. After for long years political vacuum made it possible to express one's opinion. This and the worsening economic crisis led to the growth of separatist sentiments in the union republics. Centrifugal forces began to act intensely, and the process of disintegration could no longer be stopped. Perhaps the federalization proposed by V.I. Lenin back in the early 20s, was beneficial. The Soviet republics were able to become independent states without shedding much blood. Conflicts in the post-Soviet space are still ongoing, but who knows what scale they would have taken if the republics had to gain their independence from the center in their hands?

Lithuania gained its independence back in 1990; the remaining states left the Soviet Union later, in 1991. The Bialowieza Agreement finally formalized the end Soviet period in the history of many states. Let us recall which republics were part of the USSR:

• Azerbaijan SSR.
• Armenian SSR.
• Byelorussian SSR.
• Georgian SSR.
• Kazakh SSR.
• Kirghiz SSR.
• Latvian SSR.
• Lithuanian SSR.
• Moldavian SSR.
• RSFSR.
• Tajik SSR.
• Turkmen SSR.
• Uzbek SSR.
• Ukrainian SSR.
• Estonian SSR.