The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic ( Karelo-Finnish SSR ), also called Soviet Karelia or simply known as Karelia , was a republic of the Soviet Union . It existed from 31 March 1940 until it was made part of the Russian SFSR on 16 July 1956 as the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . The latter became the Republic of Karelia , a federal subject of Russia , on 13 November 1991.
16-797: The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was established by the Soviet government on 31 March 1940 by merging the KASSR with the Finnish Democratic Republic . The latter was created in territory ceded by Finland in the Winter War by the Moscow Peace Treaty , namely the Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia , including the cities of Viipuri and Sortavala . Virtually the entire Karelian population of
32-1842: A Union Republic to an ASSR, and retroceded to the Russian SFSR. Beginning on August 9, 1990, the Karelian ASSR declared state sovereignty and renamed to the Karelian Soviet Socialist Republic . The Karelian SSR was renamed to the Republic of Karelia on November 13, 1991, and remains a federal subject of Russia. 1918–24 Turkestan 1918–41 Volga German 1919–90 Bashkir 1920–25 Kirghiz 1920–90 Tatar 1921–91 Adjarian 1921–45 Crimean 1921–91 Dagestan 1921–24 Mountain 1921–90 Nakhichevan 1922–91 Yakut 1923–90 Buryat 1923–40 Karelian 1924–40 Moldavian 1924–29 Tajik 1925–92 Chuvash 1925–36 Kazakh 1926–36 Kirghiz 1931–92 Abkhaz 1932–92 Karakalpak 1934–90 Mordovian 1934–90 Udmurt 1935–43 Kalmyk 1936–44 Checheno-Ingush 1936–44 Kabardino-Balkarian 1936–90 Komi 1936–90 Mari 1936–90 North Ossetian 1944–57 Kabardin 1956–91 Karelian 1957–92 Checheno-Ingush 1957–91 Kabardino-Balkarian 1958–90 Kalmyk 1961–92 Tuvan 1990–91 Gorno-Altai 1991–92 Crimean Autonomous republics of
48-455: A small portion of the population of this region was of Karelian or Finnish ethnic background. Some later historians believe that this unorthodox upgrade was likely a "convenient means for facilitating the possible incorporation of additional Finnish territory" (or all of Finland ) or "at least a way to keep Finland continuously under the gun". On July 16, 1956, the SSR was downgraded from
64-661: The Porkkala Naval Base leased territory to full Finnish sovereignty (January 1956), and leasing Maly Vysotsky Island and the Soviet section of the Saimaa Canal (conquered by the USSR in 1940 and 1944) back to Finland (1963). The abolition of the Karelian SSR in 1956 was the only case in the history of the USSR (1922–1991) of merging a member republic of the USSR into another republic. The state emblem of
80-483: The history of the USSR . Some later historians believe that the elevation of Soviet Karelia from an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (within the RSFSR ) to an SSR was a political move as a "convenient means for facilitating the possible incorporation of additional Finnish territory" (or, possibly, the whole of Finland) into the USSR. In 1941, Finland retook the territory that it had lost in 1940 and occupied most of
96-643: The ASSR was divided into districts , which replaced the old volosts . From 1940 to 1956, territory annexed from Finland (which had briefly constituted a puppet Finnish Democratic Republic ) was incorporated with the previous Karelian Autonomous Republic to form the Karelo-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
112-521: The Karelian lands that had been within the USSR before 1940, including the capital Petrozavodsk (Petroskoi). In 1944, the Soviet Union recaptured the area. Soviet sovereignty was recognized by Finland in the Moscow Armistice and Paris Peace Treaty . The Finnish Karelians were evacuated to Finland again. In September 1944, the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg (Viipuri) was transferred from
128-760: The Karelo-Finnish SSR to the Leningrad Oblast of the RSFSR, but Ladoga Karelia remained a part of the republic. On 16 July 1956, the republic was incorporated into the Russian SFSR as the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. This move can perhaps be explained in the context of the general post-war improvement of Finno-Soviet relations , which also included such steps as the Soviets' return of
144-600: The Soviet Union An Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( ASSR , Russian : автономная советская социалистическая республика, АССР , romanized : avtonomnaya sovetskaya sotsialisticheskaya respublika ) was a type of administrative unit in the Soviet Union (USSR), created for certain ethnic groups to be the titular nations of. The ASSRs had a status lower than the constituent union republics of
160-698: The Soviet Union had to be changed to reflect this, with one of the 16 ribbons symbolizing constituent republics (that in the Finnish language) removed. Soviet banknotes bearing the emblem were also changed accordingly. In the last days of the USSR, the Karelian ASSR became the Republic of Karelia , a subdivision of the Russian Federation , on 13 November 1991. The chairman of the Karelo-Finnish Supreme Soviet (1940–1956)
176-692: The USSR, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs . In the Russian SFSR , for example, Chairmen of the Government of the ASSRs were officially members of the Government of the RSFSR . Unlike the union republics, the autonomous republics only had the right to disaffiliate themselves from the Union when the union republic containing them did so, as well as to choose to stay with
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#1732764857979192-494: The Union separately from them. The level of political, administrative and cultural autonomy they enjoyed varied with time—it was most substantial in the 1920s ( Korenizatsiya ), the 1950s after the death of Joseph Stalin , and in the Brezhnev Era . According to the constitution of the USSR , in case of a union republic voting on leaving the Soviet Union, autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs had
208-418: The ceded areas, about 422,000 people, was evacuated to Finland , and the territories were settled by peoples from other parts of the Soviet Union . Creating a new Republic of the Union for an ethnic group that was not large in absolute terms, nor constituted anything close to a majority in its territory, nor had been a separate independent nation before its incorporation into the USSR, was unprecedented in
224-768: The right, by means of a referendum , to independently resolve whether they will stay in the USSR or leave with the seceding union republic , as well as to raise the issue of their state-legal status. The 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR recognized sixteen autonomous republics within the RSFSR. Their status as of October 2007 within the Russian Federation is given in parentheses: Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast (now Altai Republic ), Adyghe Autonomous Oblast (now Republic of Adygea ), Karachay–Cherkess Autonomous Oblast (now Karachay–Cherkess Republic ) and Khakassian Autonomous Oblast (now Republic of Khakassia ) were all promoted in status to that of an ASSR in 1991, in
240-872: Was a Finnish communist Otto Wille Kuusinen . In the republic, there was also a separate Karelo-Finnish Communist Party led in the 1940s by G.N. Kupriyanov. Yuri Andropov served for some years as the first secretary of the republic's Komsomol branch, the Leninist Communist Youth League of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic . The Council of People's Commissars was renamed the Council of Ministers in 1946. Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , Karelian ASSR for short, sometimes referred to as Soviet Karelia or simply Karelia ,
256-922: Was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR , Soviet Union , with the capital in Petrozavodsk . The Karelian ASSR was formed as a part of the Russian SFSR by the Resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) of June 27, 1923 and by the Decree of the VTsIK and the Council of People's Commissars of July 25, 1923 from the Karelian Labor Commune . In 1927,
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