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Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic

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The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , shortened to Moldavian ASSR , was an autonomous republic of the Ukrainian SSR between 12 October 1924 and 2 August 1940, encompassing the modern territory of Transnistria (today de jure in Moldova , but de facto functioning as an independent state; see Transnistria conflict ) as well as much of the present-day Podilsk Raion of Ukraine . It was an artificial political creation inspired by the Bolshevik nationalities policy in the context of the loss of larger Bessarabia to Romania in April 1918. In such a manner, the Bolshevik leadership tried to radicalize pro-Soviet feelings in Bessarabia with the goal of setting up favorable conditions for the creation of a geopolitical "place d'armes" ( bridgehead ), in an attempt to execute a breakthrough in the direction of the Balkans by projecting influence upon Romanian Bessarabia, which would eventually be occupied and annexed in 1940 after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact .

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41-1080: The active propagandist of idea in creation of Moldavian autonomy on territory of Ukrainian Transnistria was Russian revolutionary and a native of Bessarabia Grigory Kotovsky (a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee ). In February 1924, a memorandum directed to the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) and the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine and signed by Grigory Kotovsky , Bădulescu Alexandru , Pavel Tcacenco , Solomon Tinkelman (Timov), Alexandru Nicolau , Alter Zalic , Ion Dic Dicescu (also known as Isidor Cantor), Theodor Diamandescu, Teodor Chioran, and Vladimir Popovici, all signatories being Bolshevik activists (several of them from Bucharest ). The memorandum emphasized on

82-567: A mausoleum in Birzula , which was renamed Kotovsk in 1935, a town included in the newly created Odessa Oblast . The mausoleum was later destroyed by Romanian troops during World War II - Transnistria (World War II) . In May 2016 Kotovsk was renamed Podilsk and Kotovsk Raion—Podilsk Raion in order to comply with the 2015 laws prohibiting names of Communist origin . Two other towns in the Soviet Union were also named Kotovsk. One of them

123-580: A reformed Cyrillic script was used to write the language, in contrast with the Latin script officially used in Romania. The linguist Leonid Madan was assigned the task of establishing a literary standard, based on the Moldavian dialects of Transnistria and Bessarabia, as well as Russian loanwords or Russian-based calque . In 1932, when in the entire Soviet Union there was a trend to move all languages to

164-510: A 10-man team of construction workers who were building a railroad. In 1913 he became a candidate for the amnesty commemorating the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty . However, it was decided not to release bandits on the day of the amnesty, and on February 27, 1913, Kotovsky managed to escape from katorga and return home to Bessarabia . At first he lived in secrecy, working as a loader and worker doing unskilled, heavy jobs. He then became

205-457: A chance that even Romania and the entire Balkans would be revolutionized. For the Soviets the republic was to be a way for winning over Bessarabians of Romania and the first step towards a revolution in Romania. This purpose is explained in an article of the newspaper Odessa Izvestia in 1924, in which a Russian politician, Vadeev says that "all the oppressed Moldavians from Bessarabia look at

246-615: A marked stuttering and was left-handed. At the age of 2, he lost his mother and, at 16, his father. Kotovsky was raised by his godmother, Sophia Challe, the daughter of a Belgian engineer and friend of Kotovsky's father, and a godfather, the landowner Manuk-bey. Manuk-bey aided and supported Kotovsky's enrollment and stay at the Cucuruzeni Agricultural College. He intended eventually to send his godson to Germany for advanced agricultural courses, but his dreams were cut short by his death in 1902. While studying at

287-687: A revolutionary battalion and helping the Bolsheviks gain control of Ukraine . He joined the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1920. In 1924, he took an active part in the foundation of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in Transnistria , as part of the Ukrainian SSR . He was killed near Odessa by his deputy and friend Seider Meyer in 1925. He was then buried in

328-1944: A stable Soviet republic. On August 2, 1940, the Soviet Union established the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR), which consisted of six counties of Bessarabia joined with the westernmost part (with an area of 4,118 km (1,590 sq mi)) of what had been the MASSR, effectively dissolving it. 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 Grigory Kotovsky Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky ( Russian : Григо́рий Ива́нович Кото́вский , Romanian : Grigore Kotovski ; June 24 [ O.S. June 12] 1881 – August 6, 1925)

369-763: Is still enforced in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria , where it is claimed to be returning the language to its roots. On June 26, 1940 the Soviet government issued an ultimatum to the Romanian minister in Moscow, demanding Romania to immediately cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina . Italy and Germany , which needed a stable Romania and access to its oil fields urged King Carol II to comply. Under duress, with no prospect of aid from France or Britain, Romania ceded those territories. On June 28, Soviet troops crossed

410-676: The Dniester and occupied Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . Territories where ethnic Ukrainians were the largest ethnic group (parts of Northern Bukovina and parts of Hotin , Cetatea Albă , and Izmail ), as well as some adjoining regions with a Romanian majority, such as the Hertsa region, were annexed to the Ukrainian SSR. The transfer of Bessarabia's Black Sea and Danube frontage to Ukraine ensured its control by

451-580: The Latin script , the Latin script and literary Romanian language was introduced in Moldavian schools and public use. Madan's books were removed from libraries and destroyed. This movement, however, was short lived, and in the second half of the 1940s a new trend of moving languages to the Cyrillic script started in the Soviet Union. In 1937, during the Soviet Great Purge , many intellectuals in

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492-709: The Romanian was heavily promoted in the republic. Modern linguists generally agree that there is little difference between the two, mainly in accent and vocabulary. The republic also promoted irredentism towards Romania, proclaiming that the Moldavians in Bessarabia were "oppressed by Romanian imperialists". As part of the effort to keep the language in Soviet Moldavia ("Moldavian Socialist culture") far from Romanian influences ("Romanian bourgeois culture"),

533-863: The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine on allocation of the Moldavian population into a special Autonomous republic as part of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic and obligated it to report already after a month about the course of the relevant work. The decision about creation of the Autonomous Moldavian Socialist Soviet Republic was accepted by the 8th convocation of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee at its 3rd session on 12 October 1924. The Moldavian ASSR

574-520: The Chisinau prison. On September 24, 1906, he was again arrested again and sentenced to 12 years of katorga . Kotovsky began serving his sentence at Nerchinsk katorga until 1911. He later spent more time in various prisons across the Russian Empire : (Yelizavetgrad Prison, Smolensk Prison, and Oryol Prison ). At katorga , Kotovsky cooperated with prison authorities and was put in charge of

615-500: The MASSR survived a famine. In December 1927, Time reported a number of anti-Soviet uprisings among peasants and factory workers in Tiraspol and other cities ( Mogilev-Podolskiy , Kamyanets-Podolskiy ) of southern Ukrainian SSR. Troops from Moscow were sent to the region and suppressed the unrest, resulting in ca. 4000 deaths. The insurrections were at the time completely denied by the official Kremlin press. Collectivization in

656-476: The MASSR was integrated into the newly created Moldavian SSR , in 1940. The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was established inside the Ukrainian SSR, on 12 October 1924. The area was quickly industrialized, and because of the lack of a qualified workforce, a significant migration from other Soviet republics occurred, predominantly Ukrainians and Russians. In particular, in 1928, of 14,300 industrial workers only about 600 were Moldavians. In 1925,

697-511: The MASSR was even more fast-paced than in Ukraine and was reported to be complete by summer 1931. This was accompanied by the deportation of about 2,000 families to Kazakhstan . In 1932 and 1933 another famine, known as Holodomor in Ukraine, occurred, with tens of thousands of peasants dying of starvation. During the famine, thousands of inhabitants tried to escape over the Dniester, despite

738-654: The Moldavian ASSR, accused of being enemies of the people , bourgeois nationalist or Trotskyist , were removed from their positions and repressed, with a large number of them executed. In 1938 the Cyrillic script was again declared official for the Moldavian and the Latin script was banned. However, the literary language did not fully return to Madan's creation and remained closer to Romanian. After 1956, Madan's influences were entirely dropped from school books. This policy remained in effect until 1989. Use of Cyrillic

779-475: The agricultural college, Kotovsky became involved with the local political club of Socialist Revolutionaries . After graduation in 1900 he began work as an assistant to an estate manager, but not for long. Kotovsky was fired for various acts of theft, fraternization, and other misdeeds. With the start of the Russo-Japanese War , he failed to report to his military draft processing station. In 1905, he

820-460: The creation of the Moldavian ASSR, the Soviet Union also hoped to bolster its claim to Bessarabia. On March 7, 1924, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine recognized a political prudence in creation of autonomy, yet to the final untangling of the question it was decided to return after a careful ascertainment of situation in the region. The debated question

861-501: The creation of the autonomy inappropriate. However, in Moscow this position was ignored. The All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee (VUTsVK) yet went further and about a week later on 24 April 1924 it created the VUTsVK Central Commission on affairs of national minorities. Accepted on 29 July, the decision of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) contained categorical indication for

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902-437: The fact that on the left bank of Dniester compactly live from 500,000 to 800,000 Moldavians and that creation of Moldavian republic would play a role of powerful political and propaganda factor in solving the so-called Bessarabian question . Establishing the republic became a matter of dispute. Despite the objections of Soviet commissar of foreign relations Chicherin who argued that the new establishment would only strengthen

943-604: The front lines. Upon the abdication of Nicholas II , a riot took place at Odessa prison after which the prison became self-governed by inmates; the Russian Provisional Government announced a wide political amnesty for all prisoners to be released. During the last part of World War I , Kotovsky was sent to the Romanian front. In 1918, he sided with the Communists in Tiraspol , taking command of

984-400: The future Republic like at a lighthouse, which spreads the light of freedom and human dignity," as well as in a book published in Moscow, which claimed that "once the economic and cultural growth of Moldavia has begun, aristocracy-led Romania will not be able to maintain its hold on Bessarabia." While the creation of ethnic-based autonomous republics was a general Soviet policy at that time, with

1025-629: The leader of a local criminal gang of raiders. One of his most notorious feats was the successful theft of the State Treasury office in Bender, Moldova . On June 25, 1916 Kotovsky was unable to escape from police after another raid. He was surrounded by a squad of secret police and, after being wounded in the chest, he was arrested. The Odessa Military District court sentenced him to capital punishment and death by hanging . On death row , Kotovsky wrote letters of repentance and begged to be sent to

1066-563: The position of Romanians towards Bessarabia and able to activate "expansionist claims of Romanian chauvinism", Kremlin launched a campaign to create the autonomy attracting to it Bessarabian refugees and Romanian political emigrants who lived in Moscow and the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic . On the other hand, Kotovski held that a new republic would spread Communist ideas into neighboring Bessarabia, with

1107-511: The same congress was elected the People's Secretariat of Ukraine. On March 19, 1919, the committee issued a declaration, in which it passed most of its authority to the Sovnarkom of Ukraine at that time headed by Christian Rakovsky . The committee was first elected at the 1st All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets on December 24, 1917, under the name of TsVK of Soviet Ukraine. The first committee

1148-479: The same session of the congress was adopted the Constitution of Ukrainian SSR which established legal basis for the Soviet power in the state. The committee was named as VUTsVK (for All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee), but often was referred to as TsIKUK. The new committee was almost twice as big while the number of its members continued to grow from one convocation of the congress to another. The committee

1189-544: The status of an autonomous republic and included several other territories, including some with little Moldavian population, such as the Balta district (where the capital was located), which had only 2.52% Moldavians. The official capital was proclaimed the "temporarily occupied city of Kishinev (Chișinău)". Meanwhile, a provisional capital was established in Balta and moved to Tiraspol in 1929, where it remained until part of

1230-497: The threat of being shot. The most notable such incident happened near the village Olănești on February 23, 1932, when 40 persons were shot. This was reported in European newspapers by survivors. The Soviet side reported this as an escape of " kulak elements subverted by Romanian propaganda." On 30 October 1930, from an improvised studio in Tiraspol, started broadcasting in Romanian a Soviet radio of 4 kW whose main purpose

1271-577: Was 7,516 km (2,902 sq mi) and included 11 raions on the left bank of Dniester. According to the 1926 Soviet census, the Republic had a population of 572,339, of which: Despite this extensive territory allotted to the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, about 85,000 Moldavians remained in Ukraine outside the territory of MASSR. The tenet that the Moldavian is distinct from

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1312-456: Was a Russian citizen of Polish descent and his mother an ethnic Russian. By ancestry, Kotovsky hailed from an aristocratic Polish family from Kamyanets-Podilsky . His grandfather, because of connections with members of the Polish uprising, was dismissed from Russian service and eventually went bankrupt. His father was forced to move to Bessarabia and become a Russian burgess. Kotovsky suffered from

1353-667: Was a Soviet military officer and political activist, and participant in the Russian Civil War . He made a career from being a gangster and bank robber to eventually becoming a Red Army commander and member of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union . Kotovsky was born in the Bessarabia Governorate , the son of a mechanical engineer. Officially, Kotovsky claimed to be born in 1887 . He also had five siblings. His father

1394-819: Was a representative body of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets . It was the supreme legislative, administrative, executive controlling state power of Soviet Ukraine ( Ukrainian SSR ) between the sessions of the Congress of Soviets that acted between 1917 until 1938. In the very beginning this institution was established as the Central Executive Committee of Soviet of Ukraine at the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets in Kharkiv on December 24–25, 1917. At

1435-472: Was about a form in meeting the interests of Moldavian population (autonomous republic, autonomous oblast, district, or raion). Whereas in process of carried work it became clear that statistical data on the number of Moldavians presented by the Kotovsky's commission is inflated compared to official, on 18 April 1924 the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine approved to consider

1476-664: Was accounted for 41 members among which 35 were Bolsheviks and four were Left SRs . One of the members Yukhym Medvedev was the Ukrainian Social-Democratic Labour Party ( left deviation ). The committee did not last long and on April 18, 1918, was merged with the People's Secretariat into the Uprising Nine, a type of revkom . TsVK was reanimated once again by the 3rd All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets in Kharkiv on March 10, 1919. On

1517-547: Was arrested for evasion of military service and sent to the 19th Kostroma Infantry Regiment, headquartered in Zhytomyr . He soon deserted from the military and organized his own band of robbers, conducting raids and setting estates on fire. He was generally sheltered and supported by the peasants, who regarded him as a sort of Robin Hood . On January 18, 1906 Kotovsky was finally arrested, but managed to escape after six months in

1558-457: Was created from a territory previously administered as parts of the Odessa and Podolia Governorates of Ukraine. It accounted for two percent of the land and population of the Ukrainian SSR at the time. Initially (March 1924) organized as an oblast (Moldavian Autonomous Oblast), it had only four districts, all of them having a Moldavian majority: On 12 October 1924, the oblast was elevated to

1599-648: Was his native Hînceşti , which regained its former name in 1990. The other one is in Tambov Oblast , Russia . Kotovsky appears as an important character in the novel " Chapayev and Void " by postmodern Russian writer Viktor Pelevin . In this novel, Kotovsky is shown as a man who talks about philosophical questions and is addicted to cocaine . All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee ( Ukrainian : Всеукраїнський центральний виконавчий комітет , romanized :  Vseukrainskyi tsentralnyi vykonavchyi komitet )

1640-419: Was reorganized after the adoption of the Constitution of Ukrainian SSR of 1937. In total there were 14 convocations of the committee, 12 of which were taken place in Kharkiv . For almost 20 years from 1919 to 1938 head of the committee was Petrovsky. He however was overshadowed by more prominent Party leaders such as Vyacheslav Molotov , Lazar Kaganovich , Dmitriy Manuilsky , and others. The other chairmen of

1681-437: Was the anti- Romanian propaganda to Bessarabia between Prut and Dniester . In the context in which a new radio mast, M. Gorky, built in 1936 in Tiraspol, allowed a greater coverage of the territory of Moldavia, the Romanian state broadcaster started in 1937 to build Radio Basarabia , to counter Soviet propaganda . Moldavian ASSR had a mixed population, in which less than one third was Moldavian. At its creation, its area

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