| Karelian Autonomous SovietSocialist Republic Карельская Автономная СоветскаяСоциалистическая Республика Karjalan autonominen sosialistinen neuvostotasavalta | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASSR of theRussian SFSR | |||||||||||||
| 1923–1940 1956–1991 | |||||||||||||
 Location of Karelian ASSR within RSFSR and Soviet Union (1956-1991) | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Petrozavodsk | ||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
| • Coordinates | 61°47′00″N34°21′00″E / 61.783333°N 34.35°E /61.783333; 34.35 | ||||||||||||
• 1989 | 180,500 km2 (69,700 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
• 1989 | 790,150 | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • Type | Autonomous SovietSocialist Republic | ||||||||||||
| Chairman | |||||||||||||
• 1923–1935 (first) | Edvard Gylling | ||||||||||||
• 1990–1991 (last) | Viktor Stepanov | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
• Established | 25 July 1923 | ||||||||||||
| 31 March 1940 | |||||||||||||
• Demotion to ASSR | 6 July 1956 | ||||||||||||
• Sovereignty declared | 9 August 1990 | ||||||||||||
| 13 November 1991 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
TheKarelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic,[a]Karelian ASSR[b] for short, sometimes referred to asRussian Karelia,East Karelia or simplyKarelia, was anautonomous republic of theRussian SFSR within theSoviet Union, with its capital inPetrozavodsk. It existed from 25 July 1923 to 31 March 1940 and again from 6 July 1956 to 13 November 1991. It was succeeded by theRepublic of Karelia.
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Originally called theAutonomous Karelian Soviet Socialist Republic (AKSSR;Finnish:Autonominen Karjalan sosialistinen neuvostotasavalta,Russian: Автономная Карельская Социалистическая Советская Республика) until 1936, the Karelian ASSR was formed as a part of theRussian SFSR by the Resolution of the Presidium of theAll-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) of June 27, 1923 and by the Decree of the VTsIK and theCouncil of People's Commissars of July 25, 1923 from theKarelian Labor Commune.[1] In 1927, the ASSR was divided intodistricts,[2] which replaced the oldvolosts.
Prior to theGreat Purge andWorld War II, the leaders of the Karelian ASSR (most of which were socialist Finnish immigrants) were applying a significant policy ofindigenization 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, withRussian in second. It's believed that Gylling, a Finnish socialist, wished to create his ownRed Finland in Soviet Karelia following the defeat of theReds in theFinnish Civil War. Because of this, the Karelian ASSR was sometimes referred to as "the Gyllingian Empire" in Finnish propaganda.[3]
However, with the Great Purge and theFinnish 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 toRussification instead. Gylling was replaced byTver 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, theKandalakshsky District was transferred from the Karelian ASSR to theMurmansk Oblast.
From 1940 to 1956,territory annexed from Finland (which had briefly constituted a puppetFinnish Democratic Republic) was incorporated with the Karelian ASSR to form theKarelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, 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 ofKarelian orFinnish ethnic background.[nb 1] The K-FSSR was alsode facto fully underMoscow's control. Some later historians believe that this unorthodox upgrade was likely a "convenient means for facilitating the possible incorporation of additional Finnish territory"[6] (or all of Finland[7]) or "at least a way to keep Finland continuously under the gun".[7] The K-FSSR was also conflicted with the criteria outlined by Stalin in his address introducing the then-current1936 Soviet Constitution,[8] 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 aunion republic to anautonomous republic, 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.[9] 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 ofPoyakonda was transferred to the Murmansk Oblast.
Beginning on August 9, 1990, the Karelian ASSR declared state sovereignty and was renamed to theKarelian Soviet Socialist Republic.[c] The Karelian SSR was renamed to theRepublic of Karelia on November 13, 1991, and remains afederal subject of Russia.
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