The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic,[a]Karelian ASSR[b] for short, sometimes referred to as Soviet Karelia, East Karelia or simply Karelia, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union, with its capital in Petrozavodsk. It existed from 25 July 1923 to 31 March 1940 and again from 6 July 1956 to 13 November 1991. It was succeeded by the Republic of Karelia.
Originally called the Autonomous Karelian Soviet Socialist Republic (AKSSR; Finnish: Autonominen Karjalan sosialistinen neuvostotasavalta,Russian: Автономная Карельская Социалистическая Советская Республика) until 1936, 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 June27, 1923 and by the Decree of the VTsIK and the Council of People's Commissars of July25, 1923 from the Karelian Labor Commune.[1] In 1927, the ASSR was divided into districts,[2] which replaced the old volosts.
Prior to the Great Purge and World War II, the leaders of the Karelian ASSR (most of which were socialist Finnish immigrants) were applying a significant policy of indigenization over the ASSR. This was mainly taken care of by the long-time leader of the Karelian ASSR, Edvard Gylling. Finnish was used as the primary language for education and administration, with Russian in second. It's believed that Gylling, a Finnish socialist, wished to create his own Red Finland in Soviet Karelia following the defeat of the Reds in the Finnish Civil War. Because of this, the Karelian ASSR was sometimes referred to as "the Gyllingian Empire" in Finnish propaganda.[3]
However, with the Great Purge and the Finnish Operation of the NKVD, Gylling, among the rest of the Finnish leadership, was removed in 1935 and later executed. Consequently, any indigenization process and effort faded away, giving way to Russification instead. Gylling was replaced by Tver Karelian Pavel Bushuev, who soon also got framed and then purged. Pjotr Soljakov, a Russian politician, replaced Bushuev, and he served as the chairman of the Karelian ASSR until it ceased to exist in 1940.
From 1940 to 1956, territory annexed from Finland (which had briefly constituted a puppet Finnish Democratic Republic) was incorporated with the Karelian ASSR 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 a small portion of the population of this region was of Karelian or Finnish ethnic background.[nb 1] The K-FSSR was also de facto fully under Moscow's control. Some later historians believe that this unorthodox upgrade was likely a "convenient means for facilitating the possible incorporation of additional Finnish territory"[6] (or all of Finland[7]) or "at least a way to keep Finland continuously under the gun".[7] The K-FSSR was also conflicted with the criteria outlined by Stalin in his address introducing the then-current 1936 Soviet Constitution,[8] as its population never reached a million, and as stated earlier, neither Karelians or Finns formed a majority in it.
On July 16, 1956, it was downgraded from a union republic to an autonomous republic, and retroceded to the Russian SFSR. Due to the ethnic composition, it was also decided in 1958 to abolish the compulsory study of the Finnish language within the KASSR.[9] Finnish retained its status as an official language, however, but its influence and use had now shrunk to a very minor point in comparison to earlier times.
The last territorial change of the Karelian ASSR happened in 1987, when the locality of Poyakonda was transferred to the Murmansk Oblast.
Beginning on August 9, 1990, the Karelian ASSR declared state sovereignty and was renamed to the Karelian Soviet Socialist Republic.[c] The Karelian SSR was renamed to the Republic of Karelia on November 13, 1991, and remains a federal subject of Russia.
Administration
Stamp, Capitals of autonomous republics, Karelian ASSR, Petrozavodsk 1960Stamp "50 years of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic" Mail USSR 1970
Архивный отдел Администрации Мурманской области. Государственный Архив Мурманской области. (1995). Административно-территориальное деление Мурманской области (1920–1993 гг.). Справочник. Мурманск: Мурманское издательско-полиграфическое предприятие "Север".
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