First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union

Last updated

Promotional poster to the 1926 Census Census1926.jpg
Promotional poster to the 1926 Census

The First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union took place in December 1926. It was an important tool in the state-building of the USSR, provided the government with important ethnographic information, and helped in the transformation from Imperial Russian society to Soviet society. The decisions made by ethnographers in determining the ethnicity (narodnost) of individuals, whether in the Asiatic or European parts of the former Russian Empire, through the drawing up of the "List of Ethnicities of the USSR", and how borders were drawn in mixed areas had a significant influence on Soviet policies. Ethnographers, statisticians, and linguists were drawing up questionnaires and list of ethnicities for the census. However, they also had the more ambitious goal of deliberately transforming their identities according to the principles of Marxism-Leninism. As Anastas Mikoyan put it, the Soviet Union was: "creating and organising new nations". [1]

Soviet Union 1922–1991 country in Europe and Asia

The Soviet Union, officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a federal sovereign state in northern Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, in practice its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Other major urban centers were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It spanned over 10,000 kilometers (6,200 mi) east to west across 11 time zones, and over 7,200 kilometers (4,500 mi) north to south. Its territory included much of Eastern Europe, as well as part of Northern Europe and all of Northern and Central Asia. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert and mountains.

Ethnography is the systematic study of people and cultures. It is designed to explore cultural phenomena where the researcher observes society from the point of view of the subject of the study. An ethnography is a means to represent graphically and in writing the culture of a group. The word can thus be said to have a double meaning, which partly depends on whether it is used as a count noun or uncountable. The resulting field study or a case report reflects the knowledge and the system of meanings in the lives of a cultural group.

Russian Empire former country, 1721–1917

The Russian Empire was an empire that extended across Eurasia and North America from 1721, following the end of the Great Northern War, until the Republic was proclaimed by the Provisional Government that took power after the February Revolution of 1917.

Contents

Previous censuses

The First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union followed two partial censuses carried out by the Bolsheviks following their seizure of power in Russia. The first, the general census of 1920 , took place during the Civil War and the Soviet-Polish War. It was thus unable to deal with the Crimea, much of Transcaucasia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Far Eastern, Siberian, and Central Asian parts of the Soviet Union as well as with its Far Northern parts. Yet it is worth to note that there was only 15,000,000 population increase between 1920 and 1926 constituting in some 131,304,931 people according to the TIME magazine while is still undisclosed in Russian history. [2] The 1923 Census was restricted to cities. Prior to the Russian Revolution, the only Russian Empire Census was done in 1897.

Bolsheviks faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party

The Bolsheviks, also known in English as the Bolshevists, were a faction founded by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov that split from the Menshevik faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), a revolutionary socialist political party formed in 1898, at its Second Party Congress in 1903.

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Republic in the USSR (1922–1991) and sovereign state (1917–1922 and 1990–1991)

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, previously known as the Russian Soviet Republic and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, as well as being unofficially known as the Russian Federation, Soviet Russia, or simply Russia, was an independent state from 1917 to 1922, and afterwards the largest, most populous and most economically developed of the 15 Soviet socialist republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1922 to 1990, then a sovereign part of the Soviet Union with priority of Russian laws over Union-level legislation in 1990 and 1991, during the last two years of the existence of the USSR. The Russian Republic comprised sixteen smaller constituent units of autonomous republics, five autonomous oblasts, ten autonomous okrugs, six krais and forty oblasts. Russians formed the largest ethnic group. The capital of the Russian SFSR was Moscow and the other major urban centers included Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara.

Russian Civil War multi-party war in the former Russian Empire, November 1917-October 1922

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire immediately after the two Russian Revolutions of 1917, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. The two largest combatant groups were the Red Army, fighting for the Bolshevik form of socialism led by Vladimir Lenin, and the loosely allied forces known as the White Army, which included diverse interests favouring political monarchism, economic capitalism and alternative forms of socialism, each with democratic and anti-democratic variants. In addition, rival militant socialists and non-ideological Green armies fought against both the Bolsheviks and the Whites. Eight foreign nations intervened against the Red Army, notably the former Allied military forces from the World War and the pro-German armies. The Red Army eventually defeated the White Armed Forces of South Russia in Ukraine and the army led by Admiral Alexander Kolchak to the east in Siberia in 1919. The remains of the White forces commanded by Pyotr Wrangel were beaten in Crimea and evacuated in late 1920. Lesser battles of the war continued on the periphery for two more years, and minor skirmishes with the remnants of the White forces in the Far East continued well into 1923. The war ended in 1923 in the sense that Bolshevik communist control of the newly formed Soviet Union was now assured, although armed national resistance in Central Asia was not completely crushed until 1934. There were an estimated 7,000,000–12,000,000 casualties during the war, mostly civilians.

Methodology

By classifying the population in terms of narodnosti (nationalities)—as opposed to tribe or clan—along with policies which gave these nations land, resources, and rights, experts and local elites were encouraged to interfere with the information collecting.

List of ethnicities

This list, called Programmy i posobiya po razrabotke Vsesoyuznoy perepisi naseleniya 1926 goda, vol. 7, Perechen i slovar narodnostey, Moscow 1927, was developed by the Central Statistical Administration of the USSR. [3]

  1. Russian – 77 791 124
  2. Ukrainian – 31 194 976
  3. Belarusian – 4 738 923
  4. Polish – 782 334
  5. Czech
  6. Slovak
  7. Serb
  8. Bulgarian – 111 296
  9. Latvian – 151 410
  10. Lithuanian – 41 463
  11. Latgalian
  12. Samogitian (Zhmud)
  13. German – 1 238 549
  14. British
  15. Swedish
  16. Dutch
  17. Italian
  18. French
  19. Romanian – 278 903
  20. Moldovan – 278 903
  21. Greek – 213 765
  22. Albanian (Arnaut)
  23. Jewish (Ashkenazi) – 2,599,973 [4]
  24. Crimean Jewish – 6,383
  25. Mountain Jewish (Dag Chufut) – 25,974
  26. Georgian Jewish – 21,471
  27. Bukharan Jewish (Dzhugur) – 18,698
  28. Karaim – 8,324
  29. Finnish
  30. Leningrad Finnish (Chukhon)
  31. Karelian
  32. Tavastian
  33. Estonian – 154 666
  34. Vepsian (Chud)
  35. Vod (Vote)
  36. Izhorian (Ingrian)
  37. Kven
  38. Lopar (Sami people)
  39. Zyrian
  40. Permyak
  41. Udmurt (Votiak)
  42. Besermyan
  43. Mari (Cheremis)
  44. Mordva (Moksha, Erzya, Teryukhan, Karatai)
  45. Magyar (Hungarian)
  46. Gagauz
  47. Chuvash – 1 117 419
  48. Tatar – 2 916 536
  49. Mishar (Meshcheriak)
  50. Bashkir – 713 693
  51. Nagaybak
  52. Nogai
  53. Gypsy
  54. Kalmyk
  55. Mongol
  56. Buryat
  57. Sart-Kalmyk
  58. Mansi (Vogul)
  59. Khanty (Ostyak)
  60. Selkup (Ostyak-Samoyed)
  61. Nenets (Samoyed)
  62. Yurak
  63. Soyot (Uriankhai)
  64. Barabin (Barbara Tartar)
  65. Bukharan (Bukharlyk)
  66. Chernevyy Tatar (Tubalar, Tuba-Kizhi)
  67. Altai (Altai-Kizhi, Mountain or White Kalmyk)
  68. Teleut
  69. Telengit (Telengut)
  70. Kumandin (Lebedin, Ku-Kohzi)
  71. Shors
  72. Kharagas (Tuba, Kharagaz)
  73. Kızıl (Kyzyl)
  74. Kachin
  75. Sagai
  76. Koybal
  77. Beltir
  78. Dolgan (Dolgan-Iakut)
  79. Yakut (Sakha, Urangkhai-Sakha) – 240 709
  80. Tungus (Ovenk, Murchen)
  81. Lamut
  82. Orochon
  83. Goldai (Nanai)
  84. Olchi (Mangun, Ulchi)
  85. Negidal (Negda, Eleke Beye)
  86. Orochi
  87. Udegei (Ude)
  88. Orok
  89. Manegir
  90. Samogir
  91. Manchurian
  92. Chukchi
  93. Koryaks
  94. Kamchadal (Itel'men)
  95. Gilyak (Nivkhi)
  96. Yukagir
  97. Chuvan
  98. Aleut
  99. Eskimo
  100. Enisei (Ket, Enisei Ostiak)
  101. Aino (Ainu, Kuchi)
  102. Chinese
  103. Korean
  104. Japanese
  105. Georgian (Kartvelian) – 1 821 184
  106. Ajar
  107. Megeli (Mingrelian)
  108. Laz (Chan)
  109. Svan (Svanetian)
  110. Abkhaz (Abkhazian) – 56 957
  111. Cherkess (Adyghe)
  112. Beskesek-Abaza (Abazin)
  113. Kabard
  114. Ubykh
  115. Chechen (Nakh, Nakhchuo)
  116. Ingush (Galgai, Kist)
  117. Batsbi (Tsova-Tish, Batswa)
  118. Maistvei
  119. Lezgin
  120. Tabasaran
  121. Agul
  122. Archi
  123. Rutul (Mykhad)
  124. Tsakhur
  125. Khinalug
  126. Dzhek (Dzhektsy)
  127. Khaput (Gaputlin,Khaputlin)
  128. Kryz
  129. Budukh (Budug)
  130. Udin
  131. Dargin
  132. Kubachin (Ughbug)
  133. Lak (Kazi-Kumukh)
  134. Avar (Avartsy, Khunzal)
  135. Andi (Andiitsy, Kwanally)
  136. Botlog (Buikhatli)
  137. Godoberi
  138. Karatai
  139. Akhvakh
  140. Bagulal (Kvanandin)
  141. Chamalal
  142. Tindi (Tindal, Idera)
  143. Didoi (Tsez)
  144. Kvarshi
  145. Kapuchin (Bezheta)
  146. Khunzal (Enzebi, Nakhad)
  147. Armenian – 1 567 568
  148. Hemshin
  149. Arab
  150. Aisor (Assyrian, Syriac, Chaldean)
  151. Kaytak (Karakaitak)
  152. Bosha (Karachi, Armenian Gypsy)
  153. Ossetian – 272 272
  154. Kurd
  155. Yazid
  156. Talysh
  157. Tat
  158. Persian
  159. Karachai
  160. Kumyk
  161. Balkar (Mountain Tartar, Malkar)
  162. Karakalpak
  163. Turk
  164. Ottoman Turk (Osmanli)
  165. Samarkand and Fergana Turk
  166. Turkmen – 763 940
  167. Kirgiz (Kyrgyz, Kara-Kirgiz)
  168. Karakalpak – 146 317
  169. Kypchak
  170. Kashgar
  171. Taranchi
  172. Kazakh (Kirgiz-Kazakh, Kirgiz-Kaisak) – 3 968 289
  173. Kurama
  174. Uzbek – 3 904 622
  175. Dungan
  176. Afghan
  177. Tajik – 978 680
  178. Vakhan
  179. Ishkashim
  180. Shugnan
  181. Yagnob
  182. Yazgul
  183. Iranian
  184. Jemshid
  185. Beludji
  186. Berber
  187. Khazara
  188. Hindu (Indian)
  189. Other Ethnicities
  190. Ethnicities not noted or noted inexactly
a) Tavlin
b) Kryashen
c) Teptyar
d) Uigar
e) Oirot
f) Khakass
g) Others

191. Foreign subjects

Composition of the USSR

No.Soviet
Republic
Territory (km2)PopulationUrban PopulationMale PopulationEthnic RussiansEthnic UkrainiansTitular Ethnicity
1 RSFSR 19 651 446100 891 24417 442 65548 170 63574 072 0967 873 331
2 UkSSR 451 58429 018 1875 373 55314 094 5922 677 16623 218 860
3 BSSR 126 7924 983 240847 8302 439 801383 80634 6814 017 301
4 Transcaucasian SFSR 185 1915 861 5291 410 8763 009 046336 17835 4231 797 960
5 Uzbek SSR 311 4765 272 8011 102 2182 797 420246 52125 8043 475 340
6 Turkmen SSR 449 6981 000 914136 982531 85875 3576877719 792
Total21 176 187147 027 91526 314 11471 043 35277 791 12431 194 976

For the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Georgians were considered the Titular Nationality.

Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic constituent republic of the Soviet Union

The Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, also known as the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union that existed from 1922 to 1936. It comprised Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. As they were separated from Russia by the Caucasus Mountains, they were known traditionally as the Transcaucasian Republics. Created ostensibly to consolidate the economic situation of the region, the TSFSR was also useful in consolidating Bolshevik control over the states. It was one of the four republics to sign the treaty establishing the Soviet Union in 1922.

Georgians Caucasian ethnic group that are indigenous to Georgia

The Georgians or Kartvelians are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, Greece, Iran, Ukraine, United States, and throughout the European Union.

Population of the USSR sorted by most common nationalities in 1926

      USSR            RSFSR       Ukrainian SSR Byelorussian SSR       TSFSR       Uzbek SSR Turkmen SSR
Total147,027,915100,623,00029,018,1874,983,2405,861,5295,272,8011,000,914
Russians 77,791,12474,072,0002,677,166383,806336,178246,52175,357
Ukrainians 31,194,9767,873,00023,218,86034,68135,42325,8046,877
Belorussians 4,738,923638,00075,8424,017,0313,7673,515864
Georgians 1,821,18421,0001,265521,797,960697258
Armenians 1,567,568195,00010,631991,332,59314,97613,859
Turks 1,706,60528,0005601,652,76821,5654,229
Uzbeks 3,904,622325,000230723,475,340104,971
Turkmen 763,94018,00021110225,954719,792
Kazakhs 3,968,2893,852,000981861106,9809,471
Kirghiz 762,736672,0003611090,7430
Tatars 2,916,5362,846,73422,2813,77710,57428,4014,769
Chuvash 1,117,4191,114,81390573992315555
Bashkirs 713,693712,000114814765426
Yakuts 240,709240,687141034
Karakalpaks 146,317118,21700026,5631,537
Tajiks 978,68010,385001967,728566
Ossetians 272,272157,00018418114,45023438
Talysh 77,32300077,32300
Tats 28,70522335028,44304
Kurds 69,18414,7011052,17312,308
Mordva 1,340,4151,334,7001,1711,0511,2381,805491
Mari 428,192428,00012218141918
Karelians 248,120248,0306019713
Udmurts 514,187514,00091456198
Komi 226,383226,30042211855
Permyaks 149,488149,400363100
Buryats 237,501237,00031201
Kalmyks 132,114131,7579218182
Germans 1,238,549806,301393,9247,07525,3274,6461,276
Jews 2,599,973566,9171,574,391407,05931,17519,6111,820
Poles 782,334197,827476,43597,4986,3243,411839
Greeks 213,76550,649104,6665557,935347113
Vainakhs 392,600390,0005178452
Moldavians 278,90320,525257,7946331617324
Bulgarians 111,29618,64492,0782220332128
Latvians 151,410126,2779,13114,061951737232
Lithuanians 41,46326,8566,7956,85357231165
Abkhazians 56,957988056,85100

Population by republics

Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic

The Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, abbreviated as Kazak ASSR and simply Kazakhstan, was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) existing from 1925 until 1936.

Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1926–36)

The Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union within the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic existing from 1926 until 1936.

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic one of fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1922 to 1991

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from the Union's inception in 1922 to its breakup in 1991. The republic was governed by the Communist Party of Ukraine as a unitary one-party socialist soviet republic.

Related Research Articles

Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic One of the republics in the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1991

The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was one of the transcontinental constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1991 in northern Central Asia. It was created on 5 December 1936 from the Kazakh ASSR, an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR.

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic union republic of the Soviet Union

Uzbekistan is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic and later, the Republic of Uzbekistan, that refers to the period of Uzbekistan from 1924 to 1991. as one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Uzbek branch of the Soviet Communist Party, the only legal political party, from 1925 until 1990. From 1990 to 1991, it was a sovereign part of the Soviet Union with its own legislation. Sometimes, that period is also referred to as Soviet Uzbekistan.

An Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a type of administrative unit in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) created for certain nations. The ASSRs had a status lower than the union republics of the USSR, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs.

The Flags of the Soviet Socialist Republics were all defaced versions of the flag of the Soviet Union, which featured a golden hammer and sickle,, and a gold-bordered red star on a red field.

Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast was created on February 19, 1925 by separating lands of the ethnic Karakalpaks from the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Khorezm People's Soviet Republic.

Khorezm Peoples Soviet Republic former country

The Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was the state created as the successor to the Khanate of Khiva in February 1920, when the Khan abdicated in response to pressure and officially declared by the First Khorezm Kurultay (Assembly) on 26 April 1920. On 20 October 1923, it was transformed into the Khorezm Socialist Soviet Republic.

The State Prizes of the Soviet Republics were each republic counterpart to the USSR State Prize. Each republic granted several different prizes, generally named after writers or artists from the republic, as well as a blanket Komsomol prize for young artists.

Autonomous oblasts of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were administrative units created for a number of smaller nations, which were given autonomy within the fifteen republics of the USSR.

Russians in Kazakhstan Ethnic group in Kazakhstan

There has been a substantial population of Russian Kazakhstanis since the 19th century. Although their numbers have been reduced since the breakup of the Soviet Union, they remain prominent in Kazakh society today. Russians formed a plurality of the Kazakh SSR's population for several decades.

National delimitation in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the process of creating well-defined national territorial units from the ethnic diversity of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its subregions. The Russian term for this Soviet state policy is razmezhevanie, which is variously translated in English-language literature as national-territorial delimitation, demarcation, or partition. National delimitation is part of a broader process of changes in administrative-territorial division, which also changes the boundaries of territorial units, but is not necessarily linked to national or ethnic considerations. National delimitation in the USSR is distinct from nation-building, which typically refers to the policies and actions implemented by the government of a national territorial unit after delimitation. In most cases national delimitation in the USSR was followed by korenizatsiya.

Soviet Central Asia section of Central Asia formerly controlled by the Soviet Union

Soviet Central Asia refers to the section of Central Asia formerly controlled by the Soviet Union, as well as the time period of Soviet administration (1918–1991). Central Asian SSRs declared independence in 1991. In terms of area, it is nearly synonymous with Russian Turkestan, the name for the region during the Russian Empire. Soviet Central Asia went through many territorial divisions before the current borders were created in the 1920s and 1930s.

Emblem of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic coat of arms

The coat of arms of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on March 26, 1937, by the government of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. The coat of arms is based on the coat of arms of the Soviet Union.

Sergey Efimovich Malov was a Russian Turkologist who made important contributions to the documentation of archaic and contemporary Turkic languages, classification of the Turkic alphabets, and the deciphering of the Turkic Orkhon script.

Deportation of the Chechens and Ingush

The Deportation of the Chechens and Ingush, also known as Aardakh, Operation Lentil was the Soviet forced transfer of the whole of the Vainakh populations of the North Caucasus to Central Asia on February 23, 1944, during World War II. The expulsion, preceded by the 1940–44 insurgency in Chechnya, was ordered by NKVD chief Lavrentiy Beria after approval by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, as a part of a Soviet forced settlement program and population transfer that affected several million members of non-Russian Soviet ethnic minorities between the 1930s and the 1950s.

Yuri Alexeyevich Zuev or Zuyev was a Russian-born Kazakh sinologist and turkologist.

The Siberian Bukharans are an ethnographic and sociocultural group in Siberia. Their ancestors came from the Khanate of Bukhara, and they constituted a significant part of the Siberian Tatars.

Treaty on the Creation of the USSR 1922 document establishing the Soviet Union

The Treaty on the Creation of the USSR officially created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union. It de jure legalised a union of several Soviet republics that had existed since 1919 and created a new centralised federal government where key functions were centralised in Moscow.

Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic autonomous soviet socialist republic of a union republic of the Soviet Union

The Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous republic within the Uzbek SSR in the Soviet Union. It was created in October 1924 by a series of legal acts that partitioned the three existing regional entities in Central Asia – Turkestan ASSR, Bukharan People's Soviet Republic, and Khorezm People's Soviet Republic – into five new entities based on ethnic principles: Uzbek SSR, Turkmen SSR, Tajik ASSR, Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast, and Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast.

Bukharan Peoples Soviet Republic former country

The Bukharan People's Soviet Republic was a short-lived Soviet state that governed the former Emirate of Bukhara during the years immediately following the Russian Revolution. In 1924, its name was changed to the Bukharan Socialist Soviet Republic. After the redrawing of regional borders, its territory was assigned mostly to the Uzbek SSR and some to the Turkmen SSR.

References

  1. "Национальный вопрос и национальная култура в Северо-Кавказском крае (Итоги и перспективы): К предстоящему съезду горских народов" (Natsionalny vopros i natsionalnaya kultura v Severo-Kavkazskom kraye (Itogi i perspektivy): K predstoyashchemu syezdu gorskikh narodov), Rostov-on-Don, 1926.
  2. Russia:Decennial. Overview of Russian life 10 years after the revolution by the TIME magazine (in English)
  3. Empire of Nations: Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union by Francine Hirsch, Cornell University Press, 2005, pp. 329–333
  4. The total population of the six different Jewish recognized groups was 2,680,823; Ashkenazim were listed simply as "Jewish", being seen as default. James Stuart Olson, An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994. pp. 317-321 etc.

Further reading