The Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic or Bessarabian SSR ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Basarabeană, RSS Basarabeană; russian: Бессарабская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Бессарабская ССР) was a
revolutionary committee created under the patronage of
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
to establish a
Soviet republic within
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds o ...
. The only Bessarabian territory under the committee's control was the town of
Bender during the
uprising of 27−28 May 1919. While the government was disbanded later in 1919, the idea was revived during the
Tatarbunary Uprising, when another committee held control over some villages in southern Bessarabia for a few days in September 1924.
History
The Bessarabian SSR was proclaimed on 5 May 1919 in
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
at the 2nd Regional Bolshevik Conference as a "Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government in exile" and established on 11 May 1919 in
Tiraspol
Tiraspol or Tirișpolea ( ro, Tiraspol, Moldovan Cyrillic: Тираспол, ; russian: Тира́споль, ; uk, Тирасполь, Tyraspol') is the capital of Transnistria (''de facto''), a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the th ...
as an autonomous part of
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
. Neither Odessa nor Tiraspol were part of historical Bessarabia. The planned territories included Tiraspol ''
uyezd
An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...
'' of
Kherson Governorate
The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (als ...
and
Balta and
Olgopol ''uyezds'' of
Podolian Governorate
The Podolia Governorate or Podillia Governorate (), set up after the Second Partition of Poland, was a governorate ('' gubernia'', ''province'', or ''government'') of the Russian Empire from 1793 to 1917, of the Ukrainian People's Republic fro ...
. The self-proclaimed government of the Bessarabian SSR never managed to control any part of Bessarabia, which on 9 April 1918 united with
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. Soviet authorities did not recognize the
Union of Bessarabia with Romania, and the proclamation of the Bessarabian SSR was a political measure aimed at preparing a future invasion of Bessarabia by the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
.
The ''de facto''-government had talks with the French military authorities over the military and political settlement but was disbanded in September 1919 after
Denikin
Anton Ivanovich Denikin (russian: Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин, link= ; 16 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...
's army took control of the Odessa region.
The Western European powers recognised the union of Bessarabia and Romania by the
Treaty of Paris (1920). However, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
refused to sign the Treaty on the grounds that
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
was not represented at the conference. This aided the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in its continued desire to retake
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds o ...
, which it
succeeded in doing twenty years later.
[Wayne S Vucinich, ''Bessarabia'' In: '']Collier's Encyclopedia
''Collier's Encyclopedia'' is a discontinued general encyclopedia first published in 1949 by P. F. Collier and Son in the United States. With ''Encyclopedia Americana'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Collier's Encyclopedia'' became one of the th ...
'' (Crowell Collier and MacMillan Inc., 1967) vol. 4, p. 103
Government (Provisional Sovnarkom)
* Chairman –
Ivan Krivorukov
* People's Commissar of Interior –
Alexander Krusser
* People's Commissar of Land Cultivation –
Boris Gumpert
* People's Commissar of War –
Boris Gumpert
* People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs –
Daniil Ridel/
Mihail Gh. Bujor
* People's Commissar of Food –
Grigoriy Staryi
* People's Commissar of Enlightenment – G. Kasperovskiy
* People's Commissar of Road Communications – M. Palamarenko
* People's Commissar of Labour – V. Vorontsov
* People's Commissar of Finance –
Zelman Ushan
* People's Commissar of Justice –
Aleksandr Aladzhalov
* Administration of Affairs – I. Vizgerd
* Representative to the Soviet Ukraine –
Asen Khristev
See also
*
Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee
*
Bessarabian question
*
Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
Sources
External links
Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic (government) Handbook on history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union 1898–1991
Post–Russian Empire states
Early Soviet republics
States and territories established in 1919
States and territories disestablished in 1919
Russian Revolution
Provisional governments
Romania–Soviet Union relations
History of Bessarabia
History of Odesa Oblast
Former socialist republics
Communism in Ukraine
Communism in Moldova
{{Soviet-stub
Subdivisions of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic