Republics of The Soviet Union - The Republics and The Dissolution of The Soviet Union

The Republics and The Dissolution of The Soviet Union

In the final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics and they were called Soviet republics. The republics played an important role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, glasnost and perestroika were intended to revive the Soviet Union. However, they had a number of effects which caused the power of the republics to increase. First, political liberalization allowed the governments within the republics to gain legitimacy by invoking democracy, nationalism or a combination of both. In addition, liberalization led to fractures within the party hierarchy which reduced Soviet control over the republics. Perestroika allowed the governments of the republics to control economic assets in their republics and withhold funds from the central government. Finally, by December 15th, all 15 republics declared independence.

Throughout the late 1980s, the Soviet government attempted to find a new structure which would reflect the increasing power of the republics. These efforts proved unsuccessful, and in 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed as the republic governments seceded. The republics then all became independent states, with the post-Soviet governments in most cases consisting largely of the government personnel of the former Soviet republics.

Map of the Union Republics from 1956-1991
Soviet
socialist
republic		 member
since		 population
(1989)
 pop./
USSR pop.
(%)		 area
(km²)
(1991)		 area/
USSR area
(%)		 capital

 independent
state
 No.
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 1922 7008147386000000000147,386,000 700151400000000000051.40 700717075400000000017,075,400 700176620000000000076.62 Moscow Russia 1
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic 1922 700751706746000000051,706,746 700118030000000000018.03 7005603700000000000603,700 70002710000000000002.71 Kiev
(Kharkov before 1934)		 Ukraine 2
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic 1924 700719906000000000019,906,000 70006940000000000006.94 7005447400000000000447,400 70002009999999999992.01 Tashkent
(Samarkand before 1930)		 Uzbekistan 4
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic 1936 700716711900000000016,711,900 70005830000000000005.83 70062727300000000002,727,300 700112240000000000012.24 Alma-Ata Kazakhstan 5
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic 1922 700710151806000000010,151,806 70003540000000000003.54 7005207600000000000207,600 69999300000000000000.93 Minsk Belarus 3
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic 1936 70067037900000000007,037,900 70002450000000000002.45 700486600000000000086,600 69993900000000000000.39 Baku Azerbaijan 7
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic 1936 70065400841000000005,400,841 70001880000000000001.88 700469700000000000069,700 69993100000000000000.31 Tbilisi Georgia 6
Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic 1929 70065112000000000005,112,000 70001780000000000001.78 7005143100000000000143,100 69996400000000000000.64 Dushanbe Tajikistan 12
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic 1940 70064337600000000004,337,600 70001510000000000001.51 700433843000000000033,843 69991500000000000000.15 Kishinev Moldova 9
Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic 1936 70064257800000000004,257,800 70001480000000000001.48 7005198500000000000198,500 69998900000000000000.89 Frunze Kyrgyzstan 11
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic 1940 70063689779000000003,689,779 70001290000000000001.29 700465200000000000065,200 69992899900000000000.29 Vilnius Lithuania 8
Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic 1924 70063522700000000003,522,700 70001230000000000001.23 7005488100000000000488,100 70002190000000000002.19 Ashkhabad Turkmenistan 14
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic 1936 70063287700000000003,287,700 70001150000000999991.15 700429800000000000029,800 69991300000000000000.13 Yerevan Armenia 13
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic 1940 70062666567000000002,666,567 69999300000000000000.93 700464589000000000064,589 69992899900000000000.29 Riga Latvia 10
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic 1940 70061565662000000001,565,662 69995500000000000000.55 700445226000000000045,226 69992000000000000000.20 Tallinn Estonia 15

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