Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from the Union's inception in 1922 until its breakup in 1991.
In the anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the republic was referred to simply as Ukraine.
The republic was governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union through its republican branch, the Communist Party of Ukraine, as a union republic of the Soviet Union, which existed as a highly centralized one-party state.
The first Bolshevik Ukrainian republic was founded in December 1917, as Ukrainian Soviet Republic, after the Bolshevik Revolution started in Russia.
The Ukrainian civil war was fought among the different Ukrainian republics founded by Ukrainian nationalists, Ukrainian anarchists, and Ukrainian Bolsheviks, with the help or against neighboring states.
The Ukrainian SSR was established by the Bolsheviks following the defeat of the Ukrainian People's Republic in the Soviet–Ukrainian War during the Russian Civil War.
As a Soviet proto-state, the Ukrainian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations along with the Byelorussian SSR, even though they were legally represented by the All-Union state in its affairs with countries outside of the Soviet Union.
Upon the Soviet Union's dissolution, the Ukrainian SSR was transformed into the independent state of Ukraine, although the constitution remained in use until the adoption of the new constitution in June 1996.
Throughout its 72-year history, the republic's borders changed many times, with a significant portion of what is now Western Ukraine being annexed by Soviet forces in 1939 from the Republic of Poland, and the addition of Carpathian Ruthenia from Czechoslovakia in 1945.
From its establishment, the eastern city of Kharkov served as the republic's capital.
However, the seat of government was subsequently moved in 1934 to the city of Kiev, Ukraine's historic capital, which remained the capital for the rest of the Ukrainian SSR's existence and remained the capital of independent Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Geographically, the Ukrainian SSR was situated in Eastern Europe to the north of the Black Sea, bordered by the Soviet republics of Moldavia, Byelorussia, and Russia.
The Ukrainian SSR's border with Czechoslovakia formed the Soviet Union's westernmost border point.
According to the 1989 Soviet Census, the republic had a population of 51,706,746 inhabitants, which fell sharply after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
UKRAINE SSR
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Name of Ukraine
Its original name in 1919 was Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic.
After the ratification of the 1936 Soviet Constitution, the names of all Soviet republics were changed, transposing the second (socialist) and third (sovietskaya in Russian or radianska in Ukrainian) words.
In accordance, on 5 December 1936, the 8th Extraordinary Congress Soviets in Soviet Union changed the name of the republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was ratified by the 14th Extraordinary Congress of Soviets in Ukrainian SSR on 31 January 1937.
The name Ukraine (Latin: Vkraina) is a subject of debate.
It is often perceived as being derived from the Slavic word "okraina", meaning "border land".
It was first used to define part of the territory of Kievan Rus' (Ruthenia) in the 12th century, at which point Kiev was the capital of Rus'.
The name has been used in a variety of ways since the twelfth century.
For example, Zaporozhian Cossacks called their hetmanate "Ukraine".
Within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the name carried unofficial status for larger part of Kiev Voivodeship.
"The Ukraine" used to be the usual form in English, despite Ukrainian not having a definite article.
Since the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, this form has become less common in the English-speaking world, and style-guides warn against its use in professional writing.
According to U.S. ambassador William Taylor, "The Ukraine" now implies disregard for the country's sovereignty.
The Ukrainian position is that the usage of "'The Ukraine' is incorrect both grammatically and politically."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Name of Ukraine
Its original name in 1919 was Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic.
After the ratification of the 1936 Soviet Constitution, the names of all Soviet republics were changed, transposing the second (socialist) and third (sovietskaya in Russian or radianska in Ukrainian) words.
In accordance, on 5 December 1936, the 8th Extraordinary Congress Soviets in Soviet Union changed the name of the republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was ratified by the 14th Extraordinary Congress of Soviets in Ukrainian SSR on 31 January 1937.
The name Ukraine (Latin: Vkraina) is a subject of debate.
It is often perceived as being derived from the Slavic word "okraina", meaning "border land".
It was first used to define part of the territory of Kievan Rus' (Ruthenia) in the 12th century, at which point Kiev was the capital of Rus'.
The name has been used in a variety of ways since the twelfth century.
For example, Zaporozhian Cossacks called their hetmanate "Ukraine".
Within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the name carried unofficial status for larger part of Kiev Voivodeship.
"The Ukraine" used to be the usual form in English, despite Ukrainian not having a definite article.
Since the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, this form has become less common in the English-speaking world, and style-guides warn against its use in professional writing.
According to U.S. ambassador William Taylor, "The Ukraine" now implies disregard for the country's sovereignty.
The Ukrainian position is that the usage of "'The Ukraine' is incorrect both grammatically and politically."
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History
After the abdication of the tsar and the start of the process of destruction of the Russian Empire many people in Ukraine wished to establish a Ukrainian Republic.
During a period of civil war from 1917 to 1923 many factions claiming themselves governments of the newly born republic were formed, each with supporters and opponents.
The two most prominent of them were a government in Kiev called the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) and a government in Kharkov called the Ukrainian Soviet Republic (USR).
The Kiev-based UNR was internationally recognized and supported by the Central powers following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, whereas the Kharkov-based USR was solely supported by the Soviet Russian forces, while neither the UNR nor the USR were supported by the White Russian forces that remained.
The conflict between the two competing governments, known as the Ukrainian–Soviet War, was part of the ongoing Russian Civil War, as well as a struggle for national independence, which ended with the territory of pro-independence Ukrainian People's Republic being annexed into a new Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, western Ukraine being annexed into the Second Polish Republic, and the newly stable Ukraine becoming a founding member of the Soviet Union.
The government of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic was founded on 24–25 December 1917.
In its publications, it named itself either the Republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies or the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets.
The 1917 republic was only recognised by another non-recognised country, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
With the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, it was ultimately defeated by mid-1918 and eventually dissolved.
The last session of the government took place in the city of Taganrog.
In July 1918, the former members of the government formed the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, the constituent assembly of which took place in Moscow.
With the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, Bolshevik Russia resumed its hostilities towards the Ukrainian People's Republic fighting for Ukrainian independence and organised another Soviet government in Kursk, Russia.
On 10 March 1919, according to the 3rd Congress of Soviets in Ukraine (conducted 6–10 March 1919) the name of the state was changed to the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History
After the abdication of the tsar and the start of the process of destruction of the Russian Empire many people in Ukraine wished to establish a Ukrainian Republic.
During a period of civil war from 1917 to 1923 many factions claiming themselves governments of the newly born republic were formed, each with supporters and opponents.
The two most prominent of them were a government in Kiev called the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) and a government in Kharkov called the Ukrainian Soviet Republic (USR).
The Kiev-based UNR was internationally recognized and supported by the Central powers following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, whereas the Kharkov-based USR was solely supported by the Soviet Russian forces, while neither the UNR nor the USR were supported by the White Russian forces that remained.
The conflict between the two competing governments, known as the Ukrainian–Soviet War, was part of the ongoing Russian Civil War, as well as a struggle for national independence, which ended with the territory of pro-independence Ukrainian People's Republic being annexed into a new Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, western Ukraine being annexed into the Second Polish Republic, and the newly stable Ukraine becoming a founding member of the Soviet Union.
The government of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic was founded on 24–25 December 1917.
In its publications, it named itself either the Republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies or the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets.
The 1917 republic was only recognised by another non-recognised country, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
With the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, it was ultimately defeated by mid-1918 and eventually dissolved.
The last session of the government took place in the city of Taganrog.
In July 1918, the former members of the government formed the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, the constituent assembly of which took place in Moscow.
With the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, Bolshevik Russia resumed its hostilities towards the Ukrainian People's Republic fighting for Ukrainian independence and organised another Soviet government in Kursk, Russia.
On 10 March 1919, according to the 3rd Congress of Soviets in Ukraine (conducted 6–10 March 1919) the name of the state was changed to the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Founding: 1917–1922
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, several factions sought to create an independent Ukrainian state, alternately cooperating and struggling against each other.
Numerous more or less socialist-oriented factions participated in the formation of the Ukrainian People's Republic among which were Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Socialists, Revolutionaries, and many others.
The most popular faction was initially the local Socialist Revolutionary Party that composed the local government together with Federalists and Mensheviks.
Immediately after the October Revolution in Petrograd, Bolsheviks instigated the Kiev Bolshevik uprising to support the Revolution and secure Kiev.
Due to a lack of adequate support from the local population and anti-revolutionary Central Rada, however, the Kiev Bolshevik group split.
Most moved to Kharkov and received the support of the eastern Ukrainian cities and industrial centers.
Later, this move was regarded as a mistake by some of the People's Commissars (Yevgenia Bosch).
They issued an ultimatum to the Central Rada on 17 December to recognise the Soviet government 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 claiming the Central Rada and its supporters outlaws that need to be eradicated.
Warfare ensued against the Ukrainian People's Republic for the installation of the Soviet regime in the country and with the direct support from Soviet Russia the Ukrainian National forces were practically overrun.
The government of Ukraine appealed to foreign capitalists, finding the support in the face of the Central Powers as the others refused to recognise it.
After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Russian SFSR yielded all the captured Ukrainian territory as the Bolsheviks were forced out of Ukraine.
The government of Soviet Ukraine was dissolved after its last session on 20 November 1918.
After re-taking Kharkov in February 1919, a second Soviet Ukrainian government was formed.
The government enforced Russian policies that did not adhere to local needs.
A group of three thousand workers were dispatched from Russia to take grain from local farms to feed Russian cities and were met with resistance.
The Ukrainian language was also censured from administrative and educational use.
Eventually fighting both White forces in the east and republic forces in the west, Lenin ordered the liquidation of the second Soviet Ukrainian government in August 1919.
Eventually, after the creation of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine in Moscow, a third Ukrainian Soviet government was formed on 21 December 1919 that initiated new hostilities against Ukrainian nationalists as they lost their military support from the defeated Central Powers.
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).
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Founding: 1917–1922
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, several factions sought to create an independent Ukrainian state, alternately cooperating and struggling against each other.
Numerous more or less socialist-oriented factions participated in the formation of the Ukrainian People's Republic among which were Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Socialists, Revolutionaries, and many others.
The most popular faction was initially the local Socialist Revolutionary Party that composed the local government together with Federalists and Mensheviks.
Immediately after the October Revolution in Petrograd, Bolsheviks instigated the Kiev Bolshevik uprising to support the Revolution and secure Kiev.
Due to a lack of adequate support from the local population and anti-revolutionary Central Rada, however, the Kiev Bolshevik group split.
Most moved to Kharkov and received the support of the eastern Ukrainian cities and industrial centers.
Later, this move was regarded as a mistake by some of the People's Commissars (Yevgenia Bosch).
They issued an ultimatum to the Central Rada on 17 December to recognise the Soviet government 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 claiming the Central Rada and its supporters outlaws that need to be eradicated.
Warfare ensued against the Ukrainian People's Republic for the installation of the Soviet regime in the country and with the direct support from Soviet Russia the Ukrainian National forces were practically overrun.
The government of Ukraine appealed to foreign capitalists, finding the support in the face of the Central Powers as the others refused to recognise it.
After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Russian SFSR yielded all the captured Ukrainian territory as the Bolsheviks were forced out of Ukraine.
The government of Soviet Ukraine was dissolved after its last session on 20 November 1918.
After re-taking Kharkov in February 1919, a second Soviet Ukrainian government was formed.
The government enforced Russian policies that did not adhere to local needs.
A group of three thousand workers were dispatched from Russia to take grain from local farms to feed Russian cities and were met with resistance.
The Ukrainian language was also censured from administrative and educational use.
Eventually fighting both White forces in the east and republic forces in the west, Lenin ordered the liquidation of the second Soviet Ukrainian government in August 1919.
Eventually, after the creation of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine in Moscow, a third Ukrainian Soviet government was formed on 21 December 1919 that initiated new hostilities against Ukrainian nationalists as they lost their military support from the defeated Central Powers.
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).
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Interwar years: 1922–1939
During the 1920s, a policy of so-called Ukrainization was pursued in the Ukrainian SSR, as part of the general Soviet korenization policy; this involved promoting the use and the social status of the Ukrainian language and the elevation of ethnic Ukrainians to leadership positions (see Ukrainization - early years of Soviet Ukraine for more details).
In 1932, the aggressive agricultural policies of Joseph Stalin's totalitarian regime resulted in one of the largest national catastrophes in the modern history for the Ukrainian nation.
A famine known as the Holodomor caused a direct loss of human life estimated between 2.6 million to 10 million.
Some scholars and the World Congress of Free Ukrainians assert that this was an act of genocide.
The International Commission of Inquiry Into the 1932–1933 Famine in Ukraine found no evidence that the famine was part of a preconceived plan to starve Ukrainians, and concluded in 1990 that the famine was caused by a combination of factors, including Soviet policies of compulsory grain requisitions, forced collectivization, dekulakization, and Russification.
The General Assembly of the UN has stopped shy of recognizing the Holodomor as genocide, calling it a "great tragedy" as a compromise between tense positions of United Kingdom, United States, Russia, and Ukraine on the matter, while many nations went on individually to accept it as such.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Interwar years: 1922–1939
During the 1920s, a policy of so-called Ukrainization was pursued in the Ukrainian SSR, as part of the general Soviet korenization policy; this involved promoting the use and the social status of the Ukrainian language and the elevation of ethnic Ukrainians to leadership positions (see Ukrainization - early years of Soviet Ukraine for more details).
In 1932, the aggressive agricultural policies of Joseph Stalin's totalitarian regime resulted in one of the largest national catastrophes in the modern history for the Ukrainian nation.
A famine known as the Holodomor caused a direct loss of human life estimated between 2.6 million to 10 million.
Some scholars and the World Congress of Free Ukrainians assert that this was an act of genocide.
The International Commission of Inquiry Into the 1932–1933 Famine in Ukraine found no evidence that the famine was part of a preconceived plan to starve Ukrainians, and concluded in 1990 that the famine was caused by a combination of factors, including Soviet policies of compulsory grain requisitions, forced collectivization, dekulakization, and Russification.
The General Assembly of the UN has stopped shy of recognizing the Holodomor as genocide, calling it a "great tragedy" as a compromise between tense positions of United Kingdom, United States, Russia, and Ukraine on the matter, while many nations went on individually to accept it as such.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
World War II: 1939–1945
In September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland and occupied Galician lands inhabited by Ukrainians, Poles and Jews adding it to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.
In 1940, the Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region, lands inhabited by Romanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Bulgarians and Gagauz, adding them to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR and the newly formed Moldavian 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.
Following eastward Soviet retreat in 1941, Ufa became the wartime seat of the Soviet Ukrainian government.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
World War II: 1939–1945
In September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland and occupied Galician lands inhabited by Ukrainians, Poles and Jews adding it to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.
In 1940, the Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region, lands inhabited by Romanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Bulgarians and Gagauz, adding them to the territory of the Ukrainian SSR and the newly formed Moldavian 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.
Following eastward Soviet retreat in 1941, Ufa became the wartime seat of the Soviet Ukrainian government.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Post-war years: 1945–1953
While World War II (called the Great Patriotic War by the Soviet government) did not end before May 1945, the Germans were driven out of Ukraine between February 1943 and October 1944.
The first task of the Soviet authorities was to reestablish political control over the republic which had been entirely lost during the war.
This was an immense task, considering the widespread human and material losses.
During World War II the Soviet Union lost about 8.6 million combatants and around 18 million civilians, of these, 6.8 million were Ukrainian civilians and military personnel.
Also, an estimated 3.9 million Ukrainians were evacuated to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic during the war, and 2.2 million Ukrainians were sent to forced labour camps by the Germans.
The material devastation was huge; Adolf Hitler's orders to create "a zone of annihilation" in 1943, coupled with the Soviet military's scorched-earth policy in 1941, meant Ukraine lay in ruins.
These two policies led to the destruction of 28 thousand villages and 714 cities and towns. 85 percent of Kiev's city centre was destroyed, as was 70 percent of the city centre of the second-largest city in Ukraine, Kharkov.
Because of this, 19 million people were left homeless after the war.
The republic's industrial base, as so much else, was destroyed.
The Soviet government had managed to evacuate 544 industrial enterprises between July and November 1941, but the rapid German advance led to the destruction or the partial destruction of 16,150 enterprises. 27,910 thousand collective farms, 1,300 machine tractor stations and 872 state farms were destroyed by the Germans.
While the war brought to Ukraine an enormous physical destruction, victory also led to territorial expansion.
As a victor, the Soviet Union gained new prestige and more land.
The Ukrainian border was expanded to the Curzon Line.
Ukraine was also expanded southwards, near the area Izmail, previously part of Romania.
An agreement was signed by the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia whereby Carpathian Ruthenia was handed over to Ukraine.
The territory of Ukraine expanded by 167,000 square kilometres (64,500 sq mi) and increased its population by an estimated 11 million.
After World War II, 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.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Post-war years: 1945–1953
While World War II (called the Great Patriotic War by the Soviet government) did not end before May 1945, the Germans were driven out of Ukraine between February 1943 and October 1944.
The first task of the Soviet authorities was to reestablish political control over the republic which had been entirely lost during the war.
This was an immense task, considering the widespread human and material losses.
During World War II the Soviet Union lost about 8.6 million combatants and around 18 million civilians, of these, 6.8 million were Ukrainian civilians and military personnel.
Also, an estimated 3.9 million Ukrainians were evacuated to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic during the war, and 2.2 million Ukrainians were sent to forced labour camps by the Germans.
The material devastation was huge; Adolf Hitler's orders to create "a zone of annihilation" in 1943, coupled with the Soviet military's scorched-earth policy in 1941, meant Ukraine lay in ruins.
These two policies led to the destruction of 28 thousand villages and 714 cities and towns. 85 percent of Kiev's city centre was destroyed, as was 70 percent of the city centre of the second-largest city in Ukraine, Kharkov.
Because of this, 19 million people were left homeless after the war.
The republic's industrial base, as so much else, was destroyed.
The Soviet government had managed to evacuate 544 industrial enterprises between July and November 1941, but the rapid German advance led to the destruction or the partial destruction of 16,150 enterprises. 27,910 thousand collective farms, 1,300 machine tractor stations and 872 state farms were destroyed by the Germans.
While the war brought to Ukraine an enormous physical destruction, victory also led to territorial expansion.
As a victor, the Soviet Union gained new prestige and more land.
The Ukrainian border was expanded to the Curzon Line.
Ukraine was also expanded southwards, near the area Izmail, previously part of Romania.
An agreement was signed by the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia whereby Carpathian Ruthenia was handed over to Ukraine.
The territory of Ukraine expanded by 167,000 square kilometres (64,500 sq mi) and increased its population by an estimated 11 million.
After World War II, 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.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Khrushchev and Brezhnev: 1953–1985
When Stalin died on 5 March 1953 the collective leadership of Khrushchev, Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov and Lavrentiy Beria took power and a period of de-Stalinization began.
Change came as early as 1953, when officials were allowed to criticise Stalin's policy of russification.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) openly criticised Stalin's russification policies in a meeting in June 1953.
On 4 June 1953, Oleksii Kyrychenko succeeded Leonid Melnikov as First Secretary of the CPU; this was significant since Kyrychenko was the first ethnic Ukrainian to lead the CPU since the 1920s.
The policy of de-Stalinization took two main features, that of centralisation and decentralisation from the centre.
In February 1954 the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) transferred Crimea as a gift to Ukraine from the Russians; even if only 22 percent of the Crimean population were ethnic Ukrainian.
1954 also witnessed the massive state-organised celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Union Russia and Ukraine also known as the Pereyaslav Council; the treaty which brought Ukraine under Russian rule three centuries before.
The event was celebrated to prove the old and brotherly love between Ukrainians and Russians, and proof of the Soviet Union as a "family of nations"; it was also another way of legitimising Marxism–Leninism.
On 23 June 1954, the civilian oil tanker Tuapse of the Black Sea Shipping Company based in Odessa was hijacked by a fleet of Republic of China Navy in the high sea of 19°35′N, 120°39′E, west of Balintang Channel near Philippines, whereas the 49 Ukrainian, Russian and Moldovan crew were detained by the Kuomintang regime in various terms up to 34 years in captivity with 3 deaths.
The "Thaw" – the policy of deliberate liberalisation – was characterised by four points: amnesty for all those convicted of state crime during the war or the immediate post-war years; amnesties for one-third of those convicted of state crime during Stalin's rule; the establishment of the first Ukrainian mission to the United Nations in 1958; and the steady increase of Ukrainians in the rank of the CPU and government of the Ukrainian SSR.
Not only were the majority of CPU Central Committee and Politburo members ethnic Ukrainians, three-quarters of the highest ranking party and state officials were ethnic Ukrainians too.
The policy of partial Ukrainisation also led to a cultural thaw within Ukraine.
In October 1964, Khrushchev was deposed by a joint Central Committee and Politburo plenum and succeeded by another collective leadership, this time led by Leonid Brezhnev, born in Ukraine, as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Brezhnev's rule would be marked by social and economic stagnation, a period often referred to as the Era of Stagnation.
The new regime introduced the policy of rastsvet, sblizhenie and sliianie ("flowering", "drawing together" and "merging"/"fusion"), which was the policy of uniting the different Soviet nationalities into one Soviet nationality by merging the best elements of each nationality into the new one.
This policy turned out to be, in fact, the reintroduction of the russification policy.
The reintroduction of this policy can be explained by Khrushchev's promise of communism in 20 years; the unification of Soviet nationalities would take place, according to Vladimir Lenin, when the Soviet Union reached the final stage of communism, also the final stage of human development.
Some all-Union Soviet officials were calling for the abolition of the "pseudosovereign" Soviet republics, and the establishment of one nationality.
Instead of introducing the ideologic concept of the Soviet Nation, Brezhnev at the 24th Party Congress talked about "a new historical community of people – the Soviet people", and introduced the ideological tenant of Developed socialism, which postponed communism.
When Brezhnev died in 1982, his position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was succeeded by Yuri Andropov, who died quickly after taking power.
Andropov was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko, who ruled for little more than a year.
Chernenko was succeeded by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Khrushchev and Brezhnev: 1953–1985
When Stalin died on 5 March 1953 the collective leadership of Khrushchev, Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov and Lavrentiy Beria took power and a period of de-Stalinization began.
Change came as early as 1953, when officials were allowed to criticise Stalin's policy of russification.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) openly criticised Stalin's russification policies in a meeting in June 1953.
On 4 June 1953, Oleksii Kyrychenko succeeded Leonid Melnikov as First Secretary of the CPU; this was significant since Kyrychenko was the first ethnic Ukrainian to lead the CPU since the 1920s.
The policy of de-Stalinization took two main features, that of centralisation and decentralisation from the centre.
In February 1954 the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) transferred Crimea as a gift to Ukraine from the Russians; even if only 22 percent of the Crimean population were ethnic Ukrainian.
1954 also witnessed the massive state-organised celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Union Russia and Ukraine also known as the Pereyaslav Council; the treaty which brought Ukraine under Russian rule three centuries before.
The event was celebrated to prove the old and brotherly love between Ukrainians and Russians, and proof of the Soviet Union as a "family of nations"; it was also another way of legitimising Marxism–Leninism.
On 23 June 1954, the civilian oil tanker Tuapse of the Black Sea Shipping Company based in Odessa was hijacked by a fleet of Republic of China Navy in the high sea of 19°35′N, 120°39′E, west of Balintang Channel near Philippines, whereas the 49 Ukrainian, Russian and Moldovan crew were detained by the Kuomintang regime in various terms up to 34 years in captivity with 3 deaths.
The "Thaw" – the policy of deliberate liberalisation – was characterised by four points: amnesty for all those convicted of state crime during the war or the immediate post-war years; amnesties for one-third of those convicted of state crime during Stalin's rule; the establishment of the first Ukrainian mission to the United Nations in 1958; and the steady increase of Ukrainians in the rank of the CPU and government of the Ukrainian SSR.
Not only were the majority of CPU Central Committee and Politburo members ethnic Ukrainians, three-quarters of the highest ranking party and state officials were ethnic Ukrainians too.
The policy of partial Ukrainisation also led to a cultural thaw within Ukraine.
In October 1964, Khrushchev was deposed by a joint Central Committee and Politburo plenum and succeeded by another collective leadership, this time led by Leonid Brezhnev, born in Ukraine, as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Brezhnev's rule would be marked by social and economic stagnation, a period often referred to as the Era of Stagnation.
The new regime introduced the policy of rastsvet, sblizhenie and sliianie ("flowering", "drawing together" and "merging"/"fusion"), which was the policy of uniting the different Soviet nationalities into one Soviet nationality by merging the best elements of each nationality into the new one.
This policy turned out to be, in fact, the reintroduction of the russification policy.
The reintroduction of this policy can be explained by Khrushchev's promise of communism in 20 years; the unification of Soviet nationalities would take place, according to Vladimir Lenin, when the Soviet Union reached the final stage of communism, also the final stage of human development.
Some all-Union Soviet officials were calling for the abolition of the "pseudosovereign" Soviet republics, and the establishment of one nationality.
Instead of introducing the ideologic concept of the Soviet Nation, Brezhnev at the 24th Party Congress talked about "a new historical community of people – the Soviet people", and introduced the ideological tenant of Developed socialism, which postponed communism.
When Brezhnev died in 1982, his position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was succeeded by Yuri Andropov, who died quickly after taking power.
Andropov was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko, who ruled for little more than a year.
Chernenko was succeeded by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gorbachev and dissolution: 1985–1991
Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost (English: restructuring and openness) failed to reach Ukraine as early as other Soviet republics because of Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, a conservative communist appointed by Brezhnev and the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party, who resigned from his post in 1989.
The Chernobyl disaster of 1986, the russification policies, and the apparent social and economic stagnation led several Ukrainians to oppose Soviet rule.
Gorbachev's policy of perestroika was also never introduced into practice, 95 percent of industry and agriculture was still owned by the Soviet state in 1990.
The talk of reform, but the lack of introducing reform into practice, led to confusion which in turn evolved into opposition to the Soviet state itself.
The policy of glasnost, which ended state censorship, led the Ukrainian diaspora to reconnect with their compatriots in Ukraine, the revitalisation of religious practices by destroying the monopoly of the Russian Orthodox Church and led to the establishment of several opposition pamphlets, journals and newspapers.
Following the failed August Coup in Moscow on 19–21 August 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine declared independence on 24 August 1991, which renamed the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic to Ukraine.
The result of the 1991 independence referendum held on 1 December 1991 proved to be a surprise.
An overwhelming majority, 92.3%, voted for independence.
The referendum carried in the majority of all oblasts.
Notably, the Crimea, which had originally been a territory of the RSFSR until 1954, supported the referendum by a 54 percent majority.
Over 80 percent of the population of Eastern Ukraine voted for independence.
Ukraine's independence was almost immediately recognized by the international community.
Ukraine's new-found independence was the first time in the 20th century that Ukrainian independence had not been attempted without either foreign intervention or civil war.
In the 1991 Ukrainian presidential election 62 percent of Ukrainians voted for Leonid Kravchuk, who had been vested with presidential powers since the Supreme Soviet's declaration of independence.
The secession of the second most powerful republic in the Soviet Union ended any realistic chance of the Soviet Union staying together even on a limited scale.
A week after Kravchuk's victory, on 8 December, he and his Russian and Belarusian counterparts signed the Belovezha Accords, which declared that the Soviet Union had effectively ceased to exist and forming the Commonwealth of Independent States as a replacement.
They were joined by eight of the remaining 12 republics (all except Georgia) on 21 December in signing the Alma-Ata Protocol, which reiterated that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist.
The Soviet Union formally dissolved on 26 December.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gorbachev and dissolution: 1985–1991
Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost (English: restructuring and openness) failed to reach Ukraine as early as other Soviet republics because of Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, a conservative communist appointed by Brezhnev and the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party, who resigned from his post in 1989.
The Chernobyl disaster of 1986, the russification policies, and the apparent social and economic stagnation led several Ukrainians to oppose Soviet rule.
Gorbachev's policy of perestroika was also never introduced into practice, 95 percent of industry and agriculture was still owned by the Soviet state in 1990.
The talk of reform, but the lack of introducing reform into practice, led to confusion which in turn evolved into opposition to the Soviet state itself.
The policy of glasnost, which ended state censorship, led the Ukrainian diaspora to reconnect with their compatriots in Ukraine, the revitalisation of religious practices by destroying the monopoly of the Russian Orthodox Church and led to the establishment of several opposition pamphlets, journals and newspapers.
Following the failed August Coup in Moscow on 19–21 August 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine declared independence on 24 August 1991, which renamed the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic to Ukraine.
The result of the 1991 independence referendum held on 1 December 1991 proved to be a surprise.
An overwhelming majority, 92.3%, voted for independence.
The referendum carried in the majority of all oblasts.
Notably, the Crimea, which had originally been a territory of the RSFSR until 1954, supported the referendum by a 54 percent majority.
Over 80 percent of the population of Eastern Ukraine voted for independence.
Ukraine's independence was almost immediately recognized by the international community.
Ukraine's new-found independence was the first time in the 20th century that Ukrainian independence had not been attempted without either foreign intervention or civil war.
In the 1991 Ukrainian presidential election 62 percent of Ukrainians voted for Leonid Kravchuk, who had been vested with presidential powers since the Supreme Soviet's declaration of independence.
The secession of the second most powerful republic in the Soviet Union ended any realistic chance of the Soviet Union staying together even on a limited scale.
A week after Kravchuk's victory, on 8 December, he and his Russian and Belarusian counterparts signed the Belovezha Accords, which declared that the Soviet Union had effectively ceased to exist and forming the Commonwealth of Independent States as a replacement.
They were joined by eight of the remaining 12 republics (all except Georgia) on 21 December in signing the Alma-Ata Protocol, which reiterated that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist.
The Soviet Union formally dissolved on 26 December.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: UKRAINE SSR
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Politics and government
The Ukrainian SSR's system of government was based on a one-party communist system ruled by the Communist Party of Ukraine, a branch of the Communist Party of Soviet Union (KPSS).
The republic was one of 15 constituent republics composing the Soviet Union from its entry into the union in 1922 until its dissolution in 1991.
All of the political power and authority in the USSR was in the hands of Communist Party authorities, with little real power being concentrated in official government bodies and organs.
In such a system, lower-level authorities directly reported to higher level authorities and so on, with the bulk of the power being held at the highest echelons of the Communist Party.
Originally, the legislative authority was vested in the Congress of Soviets of Ukraine, whose Central Executive Committee was for many years headed by Grigoriy Petrovsky.
Soon after publishing a Stalinist constitution, the Congress of Soviets was transformed into the Supreme Soviet (and the Central Executive Committee into its Presidium), which consisted of 450 deputies.
The Supreme Soviet had the authority to enact legislation, amend the constitution, adopt new administrative and territorial boundaries, adopt the budget, and establish political and economic development plans.
In addition, parliament also had to authority to elect the republic's executive branch, the Council of Ministers as well as the power to appoint judges to the Supreme Court.
Legislative sessions were short and were conducted for only a few weeks out of the year.
In spite of this, the Supreme Soviet elected the Presidium, the Chairman, 3 deputy chairmen, a secretary, and couple of other government members to carry out the official functions and duties in between legislative sessions.
Chairman of the Presidium was a powerful position in the republic's higher echelons of power, and could nominally be considered the equivalent of head of state, although most executive authority would be concentrated in the Communist Party's politburo and its First Secretary.
Full universal suffrage was granted for all eligible citizens aged 18 and over, excluding prisoners and those deprived of freedom.
Although they could not be considered free and were of a symbolic nature, elections to the Supreme Soviet were contested every five years.
Nominees from electoral districts from around the republic, typically consisting of an average of 110,000 inhabitants, were directly chosen by party authorities, providing little opportunity for political change, since all political authority was directly subordinate to the higher level above it.
With the beginning of Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika reforms towards the mid-late 1980s, electoral reform laws were passed in 1989, liberalising the nominating procedures and allowing multiple candidates to stand for election in a district.
Accordingly, the first relatively free elections in the Ukrainian SSR were contested in March 1990.
111 deputies from the Democratic Bloc, a loose association of small pro-Ukrainian and pro-sovereignty parties and the instrumental People's Movement of Ukraine (colloquially known as Rukh in Ukrainian) were elected to the parliament.
Although the Communist Party retained its majority with 331 deputies, large support for the Democratic Bloc demonstrated the people's distrust of the Communist authorities, which would eventually boil down to Ukrainian independence in 1991.
Ukraine is the legal successor of the Ukrainian SSR and it stated to fulfill "those rights and duties pursuant to international agreements of Union SSR which do not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine and interests of the Republic" on 5 October 1991.
After Ukrainian independence the Ukrainian SSR's parliament was changed from Supreme Soviet to its current name Verkhovna Rada, the Verkhovna Rada is still Ukraine's parliament.
Ukraine also has refused to recognize exclusive Russian claims to succession of the Soviet Union and claimed such status for Ukraine as well, which was stated in Articles 7 and 8 of On Legal Succession of Ukraine, issued in 1991.
Following independence, Ukraine has continued to pursue claims against the Russian Federation in foreign courts, seeking to recover its share of the foreign property that was owned by the Soviet Union.
It also retained its seat in the United Nations, held since 1945.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Politics and government
The Ukrainian SSR's system of government was based on a one-party communist system ruled by the Communist Party of Ukraine, a branch of the Communist Party of Soviet Union (KPSS).
The republic was one of 15 constituent republics composing the Soviet Union from its entry into the union in 1922 until its dissolution in 1991.
All of the political power and authority in the USSR was in the hands of Communist Party authorities, with little real power being concentrated in official government bodies and organs.
In such a system, lower-level authorities directly reported to higher level authorities and so on, with the bulk of the power being held at the highest echelons of the Communist Party.
Originally, the legislative authority was vested in the Congress of Soviets of Ukraine, whose Central Executive Committee was for many years headed by Grigoriy Petrovsky.
Soon after publishing a Stalinist constitution, the Congress of Soviets was transformed into the Supreme Soviet (and the Central Executive Committee into its Presidium), which consisted of 450 deputies.
The Supreme Soviet had the authority to enact legislation, amend the constitution, adopt new administrative and territorial boundaries, adopt the budget, and establish political and economic development plans.
In addition, parliament also had to authority to elect the republic's executive branch, the Council of Ministers as well as the power to appoint judges to the Supreme Court.
Legislative sessions were short and were conducted for only a few weeks out of the year.
In spite of this, the Supreme Soviet elected the Presidium, the Chairman, 3 deputy chairmen, a secretary, and couple of other government members to carry out the official functions and duties in between legislative sessions.
Chairman of the Presidium was a powerful position in the republic's higher echelons of power, and could nominally be considered the equivalent of head of state, although most executive authority would be concentrated in the Communist Party's politburo and its First Secretary.
Full universal suffrage was granted for all eligible citizens aged 18 and over, excluding prisoners and those deprived of freedom.
Although they could not be considered free and were of a symbolic nature, elections to the Supreme Soviet were contested every five years.
Nominees from electoral districts from around the republic, typically consisting of an average of 110,000 inhabitants, were directly chosen by party authorities, providing little opportunity for political change, since all political authority was directly subordinate to the higher level above it.
With the beginning of Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika reforms towards the mid-late 1980s, electoral reform laws were passed in 1989, liberalising the nominating procedures and allowing multiple candidates to stand for election in a district.
Accordingly, the first relatively free elections in the Ukrainian SSR were contested in March 1990.
111 deputies from the Democratic Bloc, a loose association of small pro-Ukrainian and pro-sovereignty parties and the instrumental People's Movement of Ukraine (colloquially known as Rukh in Ukrainian) were elected to the parliament.
Although the Communist Party retained its majority with 331 deputies, large support for the Democratic Bloc demonstrated the people's distrust of the Communist authorities, which would eventually boil down to Ukrainian independence in 1991.
Ukraine is the legal successor of the Ukrainian SSR and it stated to fulfill "those rights and duties pursuant to international agreements of Union SSR which do not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine and interests of the Republic" on 5 October 1991.
After Ukrainian independence the Ukrainian SSR's parliament was changed from Supreme Soviet to its current name Verkhovna Rada, the Verkhovna Rada is still Ukraine's parliament.
Ukraine also has refused to recognize exclusive Russian claims to succession of the Soviet Union and claimed such status for Ukraine as well, which was stated in Articles 7 and 8 of On Legal Succession of Ukraine, issued in 1991.
Following independence, Ukraine has continued to pursue claims against the Russian Federation in foreign courts, seeking to recover its share of the foreign property that was owned by the Soviet Union.
It also retained its seat in the United Nations, held since 1945.
TO BE CONTINUED ...