Republics of Russia

• 1. Soviet Origins And Creation

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  On the 15th of November 1917, Vladimir Lenin issued the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia. This document promised minorities the right to self-determination within the collapsing Russian Empire. The Bolsheviks used this promise to gain support from ethnic groups during the ensuing Civil War. They never intended for these groups to actually become independent states. Attempts to create independent republics were suppressed by force throughout the war. When the Soviet Union was formally created on the 30th of December 1922, these regions became Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics. These new entities had less power than the union republics and remained subordinate to Moscow. Joseph Stalin drew borders to create national homelands for various recognized ethnic groups. Early republics like the Kazakh ASSR and the Turkestan ASSR in Central Asia were dissolved and split up. The policy of indigenization encouraged the promotion of minority languages and culture. Language and culture flourished and ultimately institutionalized ethnicity in the state apparatus. Despite this, the Bolsheviks worked to isolate the country's new republics by surrounding them within Russian territory. In 1925 the Bashkir ASSR lost its border with the future Kazakh SSR with the creation of the so-called Orenburg corridor. The Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast lost access to the Barents Sea and became an enclave on the 15th of July 1929.

• 2. Stalinist Purges And Deportations

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  By the 1930s, the mood shifted as the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin stopped enforcing indigenization. A period of Russification set in where Russian became mandatory in all areas of non-Russian ethnicity. The Cyrillic script became compulsory for all languages of the Soviet Union. From 1937, bourgeois nationalists became the enemy of the Russian people and indigenization was abolished. On the 22nd of June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, forcing it into the Second World War. In response, Stalin abolished the Volga German ASSR on the 7th of September 1941 and exiled the Volga Germans to Central Asia and Siberia. Between 1943 and 1945, ethnic Balkars, Chechens, Crimean Tatars, Ingush, and Kalmyks were deported en masse from the region to remote parts of the country. Immediately after the deportations the Soviet government passed decrees that liquidated the Kalmyk ASSR on the 27th of December 1943. The Crimean ASSR was liquidated on the 23rd of February 1944. The Checheno-Ingush ASSR was liquidated on the 7th of March 1944. The Kabardino-Balkar ASSR was renamed the Kabardian ASSR on the 8th of April 1944. After Stalin's death on the 5th of March 1953, Nikita Khrushchev sought to undo his controversial legacy. During his Secret speech on the 25th of February 1956 Khrushchev rehabilitated Russia's minorities. The Kabardino-Balkar ASSR and the Checheno-Ingush ASSR were restored on the 9th of January 1957 while the Kalmyk ASSR was restored on the 29th of July 1958.

• 3. Post-Soviet Sovereignty Struggles

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  On the 12th of June 1990, the Russian SFSR issued a Declaration of State Sovereignty. This proclamation declared Russia a sovereign state whose laws take priority over Soviet ones. Yeltsin told the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics to take as much sovereignty as they could swallow during a speech in Kazan. Throughout 1990 and 1991, most of the ASSRs followed Russia's lead and issued declarations of sovereignty. The Dagestan ASSR and Mordovian ASSR were the only republics that did not proclaim sovereignty. On the 1st of November 1991, the Checheno-Ingush ASSR led by Dzhokhar Dudayev unilaterally declared independence. Yeltsin attempted to retake it on the 11th of December 1994, beginning the First Chechen War. When the Tatar ASSR held a referendum on whether to declare independence on the 21st of March 1992, he had the ballot declared illegal by the Constitutional Court. On the 31st of March 1992, every subject of Russia except the Tatar ASSR and the de facto state of Chechnya signed the Treaty of Federation. Boris Yeltsin became the country's first president. The number of republics increased dramatically as autonomous oblasts like Adygea, Gorno-Altai, Khakassia, and Karachay-Cherkessia were elevated to full republics. The Ingush portion of the Checheno-Ingush ASSR rejoined Russia as the Republic of Ingushetia on the 4th of June 1992. The Republic of Tatarstan demanded its own agreement to preserve its autonomy within the Russian Federation. Moscow and Kazan signed a power-sharing deal on the 15th of February 1994.

• 4. Putin Centralization Reforms

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  Vladimir Putin participated in the election on the 26th of March 2000 with the promise of completely restructuring the federal system. The power-sharing agreements began to gradually expire or be terminated after 2003. Bashkortostan's power-sharing treaty expired on the 7th of July 2005, leaving Tatarstan as the sole republic to maintain its autonomy. Influential regional leaders like Mintimer Shaimiev of Tatarstan and Murtaza Rakhimov of Bashkortostan were dismissed. On the 24th of July 2017, Tatarstan's power-sharing agreement with Moscow expired, making it the last republic to lose its special status. After the agreement's termination, some commentators expressed the view that Russia ceased to be a federation. In 2022, Russia's ethnic republics suffered heavy losses in the invasion of Ukraine. Putin later established the so-called Kozak Commission in June 2001 to examine the division of powers between the government and regions. The Commission's recommendations focused mainly on minimizing the basis of regional autonomy. Centralization of power continued as the republics gradually lost more and more autonomy to the federal government. On the 29th of December 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law banning the leaders of the republics from holding the title of president. Tatarstan resisted attempts to abolish its presidential post and remained the only republic to maintain the title until June 2022.

• 5. Constitutional Asymmetry And Law

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  Republics differ from other federal subjects in that they have the right to establish their own official language. Article 68 of the Constitution of Russia allows them to have their own constitution and national anthem. Other federal subjects such as krais and oblasts are not explicitly given this right. During Boris Yeltsin's presidency, the republics were often given preferential treatment over other subjects. This has led to Russia being characterized as an asymmetrical federation. Sakha was granted more control over its resources due to its vast diamond deposits. North Ossetia was mainly granted more control over defense and internal security due to its location in the restive North Caucasus. Tatarstan and Bashkortostan had the authority to establish their own foreign relations. In theory, the constitution of Russia was the ultimate authority over the republics. However, the power-sharing treaties held greater weight in practice. Republics often created their own laws which contradicted the constitution. Vladimir Putin's election on the 26th of March 2000 began a period of extensive reforms to centralize authority. His first act as president was the creation of federal districts on the 18th of May 2000. On the 19th of June 2018, a bill was passed that elevated the status of the Russian language at the expense of other official languages.

• 6. Crimea And Ukrainian Annexations

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  On the 18th of March 2014, Russia annexed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of Ukraine after a referendum. The peninsula subsequently became the Republic of Crimea, the 22nd republic of Russia. Ukraine and most of the international community do not recognize Crimea's annexation. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262 declared the referendum to be invalid. On the 24th of February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and conquered large swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine. As early as March leaders in both the Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic expressed their wish to join Russia. After sudden Ukrainian gains in the east in September 2022, the republics organized referendums on joining Russia. An overwhelming majority reportedly supported annexation. On the 30th of September 2022, Putin formally announced the annexation of two republics and also of two Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The European Union and G7 rejected these referendums as illegal while the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the annexations as a violation of the UN Charter.

• 7. De Facto States And Integration

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  After the brief 2008 Russo-Georgian War, Russia secured the de facto independence of Abkhazia from Georgia. On the 25th of November 2014, Abkhazia signed a treaty integrating its economy and military with Russia. Georgia described this step toward de facto annexation. Despite this, the proposal to join Russia has little to no support among Abkhazia's political elite or the general public. Abkhazia relies entirely on Russia for financial support and much of its state structure is highly integrated with Russia. It uses the Russian ruble and its foreign policy is coordinated with Russia. A majority of its citizens have Russian passports. On the 12th of November 2020, Abkhazia and Russia signed a new integration agreement expanding on their previous one from 2014. South Ossetia had its independence secured and recognized by Russia in 2008. Officials in both Russia and South Ossetia have repeatedly expressed their wish to see South Ossetia join Russia. An opinion poll conducted in 2010 showed that over 80% of people supported integration with Russia. On the 18th of March 2015 South Ossetia signed a treaty integrating the region's economy and military with Russia. Transnistria made multiple appeals to integrate with Russia, which the latter has consistently ignored. In a 2006 referendum an overwhelming majority of people voted in favor of its accession to Russia.