Karelian ASSR
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The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Karelian ASSR for short, sometimes referred to as Soviet Karelia, East Karelia or simply Karelia, was an
autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Ma ...
of the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
within the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, with its capital in
Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (, ; Karelian language, Karelian, Veps language, Vepsian and ) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population of the city is 280,890 as of 2022. ...
. It existed from 25 July 1923 to 31 March 1940 and again from 6 July 1956 to 13 November 1991. It was succeeded by the
Republic of Karelia The Republic of Karelia, or simply Karelia or Karjala (; ) is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the Northwest Russia, northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of ...
.


History

Originally called the Autonomous Karelian Soviet Socialist Republic (AKSSR; Finnish: ''Autonominen Karjalan sosialistinen neuvostotasavalta,''
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
: Автономная Карельская Социалистическая Советская Республика) until 1936, the Karelian ASSR was formed as a part of the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
by the Resolution of the Presidium of the
All-Russian Central Executive Committee The All-Russian Central Executive Committee () was (June – November 1917) a permanent body formed by the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (held from June 16 to July 7, 1917 in Petrograd), then became the ...
(VTsIK) of June 27, 1923 and by the Decree of the VTsIK and the
Council of People's Commissars The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...
of July 25, 1923 from the Karelian Labor Commune.''Administrative-Territorial Division of Murmansk Oblast'', p. 31 In 1927, the ASSR was divided into
districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
,''Administrative-Territorial Division of Murmansk Oblast'', p. 35 which replaced the old
volost Volost (; ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Kievan Rus', the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the Russian Empire. History The '' Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'' (1890–1907) states that the origins of the concept is unc ...
s. Prior to the
Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
and
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the leaders of the Karelian ASSR (most of which were socialist Finnish immigrants) were applying a significant policy of
indigenization Indigenization is the act of making something more indigenous; transformation of some service, idea, etc. to suit a local culture, especially through the use of more indigenous people in public administration, employment and other fields. The t ...
over the ASSR. This was mainly taken care of by the long-time leader of the Karelian ASSR, Edvard Gylling. Finnish was used as the primary language for education and administration, with
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
in second. It's believed that Gylling, a Finnish socialist, wished to create his own
Red Finland The Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (FSWR), more commonly referred to as Red Finland, was a self-proclaimed socialist state in Finland during the Finnish Civil War from January to May 1918. The FSWR was established by the Finnish People's D ...
in Soviet Karelia following the defeat of the Reds in the
Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...
. Because of this, the Karelian ASSR was sometimes referred to as "''the Gyllingian Empire''" in Finnish propaganda. However, with the Great Purge and the Finnish Operation of the NKVD, Gylling, among the rest of the Finnish leadership, was removed in 1935 and later executed. Consequently, any indigenization process and effort faded away, giving way to
Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...
instead. Gylling was replaced by Tver Karelian Pavel Bushuev, who soon also got framed and then purged. Pjotr Soljakov, a Russian politician, replaced Bushuev, and he served as the chairman of the Karelian ASSR until it ceased to exist in 1940. In 1938, the
Kandalakshsky District Kandalakshsky District () is an administrative district (a raion), one of the six in Murmansk Oblast, Russia.Law #96-01-ZMO As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Kandalakshsky Municipal District.Law #538-01-ZMO It is located in the south ...
was transferred from the Karelian ASSR to the
Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...
. From 1940 to 1956, territory annexed from Finland (which had briefly constituted a puppet Finnish Democratic Republic) was incorporated with the Karelian ASSR to form the
Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelo-Finnish SSR), also called Soviet Karelia or simply known as Karelia, was a republic of the Soviet Union. It existed from 31 March 1940 until it was made part of the Russian SFSR on 16 July 1956 ...
, which had the status of a union republic in the federal structure of the Soviet Union. However, by this time, only a small portion of the population of this region was of Karelian or Finnish ethnic background. The K-FSSR was also '' de facto'' fully under
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
's control. Some later historians believe that this unorthodox upgrade was likely a "convenient means for facilitating the possible incorporation of additional Finnish territory" (or all of Finland) or "at least a way to keep Finland continuously under the gun". The K-FSSR was also conflicted with the criteria outlined by Stalin in his address introducing the then-current
1936 Soviet Constitution The 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union, also known as the Stalin Constitution, was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 5 December 1936. The 1936 Constitution was the second constitution of the Soviet Union and replaced the 1924 ...
,On the Draft Constitution of the U.S.S.R - Report Delivered at the Extraordinary Eighth Congress of Soviets of the U.S.S.R.
/ref> as its population never reached a million, and as stated earlier, neither Karelians or Finns formed a majority in it. On July 16, 1956, it was downgraded from a
union republic In the Soviet Union, a Union Republic () or unofficially a Republic of the USSR was a constituent federated political entity with a system of government called a Soviet republic, which was officially defined in the 1977 constitution as "a ...
to an
autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Ma ...
, and retroceded to the Russian SFSR. Due to the ethnic composition, it was also decided in 1958 to abolish the compulsory study of the Finnish language within the KASSR. Finnish retained its status as an official language, however, but its influence and use had now shrunk to a very minor point in comparison to earlier times. The last territorial change of the Karelian ASSR happened in 1987, when the locality of Poyakonda was transferred to the Murmansk Oblast. Beginning on August 9, 1990, the Karelian ASSR declared state sovereignty and was renamed to the Karelian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Karelian SSR was renamed to the
Republic of Karelia The Republic of Karelia, or simply Karelia or Karjala (; ) is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the Northwest Russia, northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of ...
on November 13, 1991, and remains a
federal subject The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation () or simply as the subjects of the federation (), are the administrative division, constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political division ...
of Russia.


Administration


Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet

* Aleksandr Vasilevich Shotman (25 June 1923 – 1924) * Aleksandr Fyodorovich Nuorteva (December 1924 – May 1928) * Nikolay Aleksandrovich Yushchyev (January 1929 – 13 January 1934) * Vasiliy Petrovich Averkyev (13 January 1934 – 1935) * Nikolay Vasilyevich Arkhipov (February 1935 – November 1937) * Mark Vasilyevich Gorbachev (November 1937 – 31 March 1940) * Pavel Stepanovich Prokkonen (16 July 1956 – 18 July 1979) * N. Kalinin (acting) (18 July 1979 – 18 August 1979) * Ivan Pavlovich Mankin (18 August 1979 – 9 March 1984) * N. Kalinin (acting) (9 March 1984 – 18 April 1984) * Ivan Ilyich Senkin (18 April 1984 – 12 December 1985) * V. Cheremovsky (acting) (12 December 1985 – 21 January 1986) * Kuzma Filippovich Filatov (21 January 1986 – 27 December 1989) * Viktor Nikolayevich Stepanov (27 December 1989 – 18 April 1990)


See also

* First Secretary of the Karelian Communist Party


Notes


References


Sources

* {{Authority control Autonomous republics of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic History of the Republic of Karelia States and territories established in 1923 1923 establishments in the Soviet Union 1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union States and territories disestablished in 1991 Former socialist republics