Day of the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

After the collapse of the Russian Empire, a new state appeared on the world map At the Congress of Soviets of Peasants, Workers and Red Army Soldiers on December 30, 1922, a decision was made to annex three others - Belarusian, Ukrainian and Transcaucasian - to the Russian Soviet Federative Republic This became possible after the revolution of 1917 Despite the fact that Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were annexed in 1925-1929, and Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova only in 1940, the Day of the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is celebrated on 30 December in memory of the events of 1922 The USSR, located on 1/6 of the landmass, ranked second in the world in economic and military power In terms of population, the country is second only to India and China In 1990, more than 287 million people lived in the Soviet Union More than 180 nations and nationalities living on the territory of the state were divided into republics and autonomous regions with subordination to Moscow and the Politburo of the Communist Party However, the USSR gradually replenished with human resources Some republics appeared in its composition as a result of national-state demarcation Thus, the Transcaucasian SFSR, 14 years after its inclusion in the Union, was divided into 3 parts - the Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan and Georgian In 1936, the Kazakh and Kirghiz SSRs were separated In total, the union until its collapse in 1991 included 15 republics Their mottos were located on the coat of arms of the USSR; each of them had its own anthem, constitution, flag and other attributes This is interesting: There were not always 15 Union republics As a result of the war with Finland and the signing of a peace treaty in March 1940, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was formed It had all the attributes of statehood: an anthem, the Supreme Council, the Academy of Sciences, etc 16 The republic did not last long and was abolished in 1956 The alliance of “fifteen sisters” included peoples and territories united both economically and ideologically under the banner of communism There is an ambiguous assessment of the role of the USSR for a number of republics, which still make claims of their colonial exploitation by the “big brother” However, it cannot be denied that it was thanks to the Union that the peoples of Central Asia received an alphabet, the population increased their level of literacy, and the economy of the republics from agrarian became industrial A similar effect from the introduction of socialist culture was observed among residents of the Far North This is interesting: In Soviet times there was a running joke: “A chicken is not a bird, Bulgaria is not a foreign country” Indeed, the country was considered very friendly to the Soviet Union In 1960, its head Todor Zhikov raised the question of including Bulgaria into the USSR But the state with its capital in Sofia was denied the status of a union republic 69 years after its founding, the USSR ceased to exist Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Georgia announced their withdrawal from its membership and categorical refusal to join the Commonwealth of Independent States The remaining 11 former republics became part of the CIS in December 1991 However, as a union state, this de facto unification did not take place, because national isolation turned out to be very important for the population of the “fifteen sisters” The collapse of the Soviet Union does not detract from its historical role in the lives of citizens of the former republics and the world community, which is why the Day of the Formation of the USSR is celebrated on December 30