Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia

Infobox SSR

name = SSR of Abkhazia
rus-name = Социалистическая Советская Республика Абхазия
full-name = Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia
loc-name =

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arms = Coat of arms of the Abkhazian SSR.png motto = Russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!

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capital = Sukhumi
language = Russian; other languages (including Abkhaz and Georgian) could be used in public insitutions per 1921 Constitution [1921 Constitution of Abkhazia http://abkhazia.narod.ru/constitution1.htm]
established = March 31 1921
ussr-start = December 30 1922
ussr-end = February 19 1931
area-rank = 10th and last
area = 8600
water = negligible
pop-rank = 10th and last
pop =
density =
currency = ruble
time-zone = +3
anthem =
medals =
year_start = 1921
year_end = 1931
p1 = Democratic Republic of Georgia
flag_p1 = Flag of Georgia (1990-2004).svg
s1 = Abkhaz ASSR
flag_s1 = Flag_of_Abkhazian_ASSR.svg

The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia (abbreviated SSRA or SSR of Abkhazia) (Russian: Социалистическая Советская Республика Абхазия) was a short-lived Soviet Socialist Republic [but not a republic of USSR directly] [cite book |title= Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus|last= Cornell|first= Svante E.|year= 2001|publisher= Routledge|isbn= 0700711627|pages= 149] on the territory of Abkhazia from March 31 1921 to February 19 1931. It had a special status of a “contractual republic” associated with the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic through which Abkhazia was part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic [ [http://abkhazia.narod.ru/constitution1.htm 1925 Constitution of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia] : The Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia is united with the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia on the basis on special Union treaty, and through it, to the Trans-Caucasus Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...; 1927 Constitution of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia: The Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia enters the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia on the basis on special Union treaty, and through it, to the Trans-Caucasus Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.] (since March 12 1922) (Transcaucasian SFSR was part of the Soviet Union since December 30 1922). The SSR of Abkhazia was abolished in 1931 and transformed into the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian SSR.

Creation

Abkhazia, hitherto an autonomous province within the Democratic Republic of Georgia, came under the Soviet control in the course of the Soviet Russian Red Army invasion of February-March 1921. On March 4 1921, the Red Army, in conjunction with local revolutionary guerrillas, took control of Abkhazia’s capital, Sukhumi, where a provisional Soviet administration – the Abkhaz Revolutionary committee (Revkom) – was established. On March 31 1921, a special conference attended by Sergo Orjonikidze, Shalva Eliava, Efrem Eshba and Nestor Lakoba, declared the SSR of Abkhazia, but the question of the form of the republic's relations with both Georgia and Russia was left open. On May 21 1921, the Georgian Revkom welcomed the formation of the "independent Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia", and said the form of relations should be settled by the first Workers' Congresses of both republics. [ [http://www.rrc.ge/law/declar_1921_05_21_e.htm?lawid=112&lng_3=en Declaration of the Revolutionary Committee of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia on Independence of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia] . May 21 1921. "Regionalism Research Center", February 4, 2008.]

Status

Finally, on December 16 1921, Abkhazia signed a special treaty of alliance delegating some of its sovereign powers to the Georgian SSR. The treaty defined Abkhazia’s status as a “contractual republic” (Russian: договорная республика) and established a military, political and financial union between the two Soviet republics, subordinating the SSR of Abkhazia to the Georgian SSR in some of these areas. Thus, through the Georgian SSR, Abkhazia joined the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on March 12 1922 and the Soviet Union on December 30 1922. [Bell, Imogen (2002), "Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia", p. 176. Taylor & Francis, ISBN 1857431375.] [Jones, Stephen F. (Oct., 1988), The Establishment of Soviet Power in Transcaucasia: The Case of Georgia 1921-1928. "Soviet Studies", Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 616-639.]

Abkhazia's ambiguous status of a "contractual republic" was written down into that republic’s April 1 1925 Constitution which specified that "the SSR of Abkhazia, having united with the SSR of Georgia on the basis of a special treaty of union" was, through it, a part of the Transcaucasian SFSR and the USSR. [ [http://www.rrc.ge/law/konst_1992_01_04_e.htm?lawid=1398&lng_3=en Constitution of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia] . April 1 1925. "Regionalism Research Center", February 4, 2008.] However, the 1924 Soviet Constitution earlier referred to Abkhazia as an autonomous republic. [ru icon [http://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%83%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0_%281924%29_%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F Конституция СССР (1924) первоначальная редакция] . Wikisource [http://users.cyberone.com.au/myers/ussr1924.html (English translation)] . Retrieved on February 4, 2008. ]

On February 19 1931, Abkhazia’s republican status was downgraded, on the orders of Joseph Stalin, to that of an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian SSR, reputedly as punishment of the Abkhaz Communist leadership under Nestor Lakoba for their failure to overcome the peasants' resistance to collectivization.Lang, David Marshall (1962), "A Modern History of Georgia", p. 256. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.]

Notes