Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia
43°00′N 41°01′E / 43.000°N 41.017°E
Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921–1931 | |||||||||
.svg) State emblem | |||||||||
| Motto: Socialist republic | |||||||||
| Legislature | Congress of Soviets | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 31 March 1921 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 19 February 1931 | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1926[1] | 201,016 | ||||||||
| Currency | Ruble | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia (SSR Abkhazia)
During its existence, the SSR Abkhazia was led by Nestor Lakoba, who served officially as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars but controlled the republic to such an extent that it was jokingly referred to as "Lakobistan". Due to Lakoba's close relationship with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, collectivisation was delayed until after Abkhazia was incorporated into Georgia. Abkhazia remained a major tobacco producer in this era, growing over half of the USSR's supply. It also produced other agricultural produce, including tea, wine, and citrus fruits, leading to Abkhazia being one of the wealthiest regions in the Soviet Union. Its sub-tropical climate also made it a prime holiday destination, with Stalin and other Soviet leaders owning dachas (holiday homes) in the region and spending considerable time there.
An ethnically diverse region, Abkhazia was nominally led by the
History
Background
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The
The status of Abkhazia was confirmed in the Georgian constitution of 1921. Article 107 guaranteed "Abkhazeti
Formation
On 15 February 1921, the
Status
The Abkhaz Revkom, in a position of power, was reluctant to schedule a congress to determine the future status of Abkhazia because it would mean relinquishing control over the region. The Kavbiuro forced the Revkom to act and negotiations for a treaty between Abkhazia and Georgia began in October 1921.[19] The result, signed on 16 December 1921, was a two-article treaty:
1. SSR Georgia and SSR Abkhazia enter into political, military and financial-economic union.
2. In order to fulfill the aforementioned goal both governments declare the merging of the following Commissariats: a) military, b) finance, c) peoples' agriculture, d) post and telegraph, e) ChKa, f) RKI, g) People's Commissariat of Justice, and h) [Commissariat of] Sea Transport.— Union Treaty between SSR Georgia and SSR Abkhazia[20]
The treaty united the two states, leaving Abkhazia as a "treaty republic" nominally subservient to Georgia.
The union with Georgia was not popular among the Abkhaz populace or leadership.[12] It was also received poorly in Georgia, where it was regarded as a ploy by the Bolsheviks to divert Georgian hostility from the authorities in Moscow towards the Abkhaz, as the Georgians were one of the most hostile groups towards the Bolsheviks.[27] As the only "treaty republic" in the USSR, the exact status of the SSR Abkhazia concerned the Soviet and Georgian authorities, which did not want other regions to demand a similar status.[28] To resolve this it was decided to downgrade Abkhazia, and on 19 February 1931, it was re-formed as the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, subservient to the Georgian SSR while remaining a member of the TSFSR.[29] The move was met with public protests, the first large-scale protests in Abkhazia against the Soviet authorities.[30]
Politics
Initially, the Abkhaz Revkom, led by its chairman Efrem Eshba, controlled Abkhazia until a more permanent body could be established.[18] On 17 February 1922 the Council of People's Commissars was established, and Nestor Lakoba was elected its Chairman, becoming the head of government of the republic; this was a formality for Lakoba, who had effectively been in control of Abkhazia since the Bolsheviks took control in 1921.[31][32] Alongside Eshba, he had been a leading Bolshevik in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Lakoba and Eshba led two abortive attempts to seize Abkhazia in February and April 1918. After the latter attempt failed, they both fled, only returning in March 1921 after Bolshevik control had been consolidated; Eshba was soon transferred to other positions, leaving Lakoba alone as the head of Abkhazia.[33]
Lakoba effectively controlled Abkhazia as a personal fiefdom, which was jokingly referred to as "Lakobistan", and his status as supreme leader of the republic was never contested or challenged.[34] He resisted many of the repressive policies that were being implemented elsewhere in the Soviet Union, including collectivization. Lakoba also financially supported the Abkhaz nobility, which he was able to do because of his close personal relationship with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.[35]
Economy
Abkhazia was a major producer of tobacco during the Soviet era. In the 1930s, it was responsible for up to 52 per cent of the Soviet Union's tobacco exports.[36] Other agricultural products, including tea, wine, and citrus fruits—especially tangerines—were produced in large quantities, making Abkhazia one of the most well-off regions in the entire Soviet Union, and considerably richer than Georgia.[37] The export of these resources turned the region into "an island of prosperity in a war-ravaged Caucasus".[38] Several factories were also built in the region as part of the overall development of the Soviet Union, though they had less impact on the overall economic strength of Abkhazia.[39]
Abkhazia was also prized as a major holiday destination for both the Soviet elite and the general population. Stalin visited annually throughout the 1920s and was joined by his associates from the
Throughout the SSR's existence, the Soviet ruble was its official currency.[45]
Demographics
The SSR Abkhazia was an ethnically diverse region, whose demographics changed considerably in the decades after its annexation by Russia. Up to 100,000 Abkhaz had been deported in the late nineteenth century, mainly to the
The script used for the Abkhaz language was modified during the era of the SSR Abkhazia. Under korenizatsiia the Abkhaz were not considered one of the "advanced" peoples in the USSR, and thus saw an increased focus on their national language and cultural development.[48] As part of these policies, Abkhaz—along with many other regional languages in the USSR—was Latinized in 1928, moving it away from the original Cyrillic-based script.[49] Emphasis was placed on developing Abkhaz culture, which was heavily promoted and financed.[39] To further this, an Abkhazian Scientific Society was created in 1922, while an Academy of Abkhazian Language and Literature was founded in 1925.[50]
In recognition of the multiple ethnic groups within Abkhazia, Article 8 of the 1925 Abkhaz constitution called for three official languages—Abkhaz, Georgian, and Russian—while a later amendment stated, "all nationalities populating the SSR Abkhazia are guaranteed the right of free development and use of the native language both in national-cultural and in general state agencies".[51][52] Most of the population did not understand Abkhaz so Russian was the dominant language of government while local regions used the language that was most prevalent there.[53]
Legacy
The exact status of Abkhazia as a "treaty republic" was never clarified during its existence, and historian Arsène Saparov has suggested even officials at the time did not know what the phrase meant.[54] The status had symbolic meaning to the Abkhaz people, who never forgot they had, at least in theory, an independent state.[55] With the advent of glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s, calls for Abkhazia to restore its status began. An assembly at Lykhny in 1989 called for the Soviet authorities to make Abkhazia a full union republic, claiming the SSR Abkhazia as a precedent for this move.[56] When Abkhazia declared independence in 1990, it requested the restoration of the 1925 constitution, which called for Abkhazia and Georgia to unite, allowing for the possibility of a future union between the two states.[57] The restoration of the 1925 constitution was a pretext for the 1992–1993 war and the ensuing dispute over the status of Abkhazia, which has led to Abkhazia being de facto independent of Georgia since 1992.[44]
Notes
- ^ Abkhaz: Социалисттә Советтә Республика Аҧсны, ССР Аҧсны; Sociālicṭṭw Soveṭṭw Resṗubliḳā Āpsnə
Georgian: საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა აფხაზეთი, სსრ აფხაზეთი; Sabch'ota Sotsialist'uri Resp'ublika Apkhazeti
Russian: Социалистическая Советская Республика Абхазия, ССР Абхазия; Sotsialisticheskaya Sovetskaya Respublika Abkhaziya - ^ Abkhazia is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Abkhazia and Georgia. The Republic of Abkhazia unilaterally declared independence on 23 July 1992, but Georgia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. Abkhazia has received formal recognition as an independent state from 7 out of 193 United Nations member states, 2 of which has subsequently withdrawn its recognition.
- ^ The Georgian language version of Abkhazia is used in English translations of the 1921 Constitution.
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Müller 1998, p. 231
- ^ Lak'oba 1998a, pp. 89–101
- ^ kartuli sabch'ota entsiklopedia 1985, p. 504
- ^ Lak'oba 1998a, p. 84
- ^ Müller 1998, pp. 220–225
- ^ Blauvelt 2007, p. 206
- ^ Saparov 2015, p. 43
- ^ Blauvelt 2012b, p. 81
- ^ Lakoba 1990, p. 63
- ^ Papuashvili 2012, p. 48
- ^ Welt 2012, pp. 214–215
- ^ a b Blauvelt 2014, p. 26
- ^ Suny 1994, p. 207
- ^ Saparov 2015, p. 48
- ^ Hewitt 2013, p. 39
- ^ Saparov 2015, p. 49
- ^ a b Saparov 2015, p. 50
- ^ a b Saparov 2015, p. 51
- ^ Saparov 2015, p. 52
- ^ Saparov 2015, p. 54
- ^ Saparov 2015, p. 55
- ^ Saparov 2015, pp. 55, 57
- ^ Hewitt 1993, p. 271
- ^ Saparov 2015, pp. 50–56
- ^ a b Saparov 2015, p. 56
- ^ Hewitt 2013, p. 40
- ^ Smith 2013, p. 344
- ^ Saparov 2015, p. 60
- ^ Blauvelt 2007, p. 212
- ^ Lakoba 1995, p. 99
- ^ Bgazhba 1965, p. 39
- ^ Blauvelt 2007, p. 207
- ^ Blauvelt 2014, pp. 24–25
- ^ Lakoba 2004, pp. 100–101
- ^ Lak'oba 1998b, p. 71
- ^ Suny 1994, p. 268
- ^ Zürcher 2007, pp. 120–121
- ^ Rayfield 2004, p. 95
- ^ a b Anchabadze & Argun 2012, p. 90
- ^ Blauvelt 2007, p. 202
- ^ Scott 2016, p. 96
- ^ Marshall 2010, p. 239
- ^ Rayfield 2004, p. 30
- ^ a b Derluguian 1998, p. 266
- ^ Blauvelt 2007, p. 211
- ^ Hewitt 2013, p. 25
- ^ Jones 1988, pp. 617–618
- ^ Martin 2001, pp. 23–24
- ^ Jones 1988, p. 617
- ^ Blauvelt 2012a, p. 252
- ^ Blauvelt 2012a, pp. 241–242
- ^ Saparov 2015, pp. 58–59
- ^ Blauvelt 2012a, pp. 240–246
- ^ Saparov 2015, pp. 61–62
- ^ Saparov 2015, p. 62
- ^ Anchabadze 1998, p. 132
- ^ Cornell 1998, p. 52
Sources
- Anchabadze, Jurij (1998), "History: the modern period", in ISBN 978-0-31-221975-8
- Anchabadze, Yu. D.; Argun, Yu. G. (2012), Абхазы (The Abkhazians) (in Russian), Moscow: Nauka, ISBN 978-5-02-035538-5
- Bgazhba, Mikhail (1965), Нестор Лакоба (Nestor Lakoba) (in Russian), Tbilisi: Sabtchota Saqartvelo
- S2CID 128803263
- Blauvelt, Timothy (2012a), "'From words to action!': Nationality policy in Soviet Abkhazia (1921–38)", in Jones, Stephen F. (ed.), The Making of Modern Georgia, 1918–2012: The first Georgian Republic and its successors, New York City: Routledge, pp. 232–262, ISBN 978-0-41-559238-3
- Blauvelt, Timothy K. (2012b), "Resistance and Accommodation in the Stalinist Periphery: A Peasant Uprising in Abkhazia", Ab Imperio, 2012 (3): 78–108, S2CID 154386436
- Blauvelt, Timothy K. (2014), "The Establishment of Soviet Power in Abkhazia: Ethnicity, Contestation and Clientalism in the Revolutionary Periphery", Revolutionary Russia, 27 (1): 22–46, S2CID 144974460
- ISBN 978-0-87-725198-9
- Hewitt, B.G. (1993), "Abkhazia: a problem of identity and ownership", Central Asian Survey, 12 (3): 267–323,
- Hewitt, George (2013), Discordant Neighbours: A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian Conflicts, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, ISBN 978-9-00-424892-2
- kartuli sabch'ota entsiklopedia (1985), "Sukhumi okrug", kartuli sabch'ota entsiklopedia (Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia) (in Georgian), vol. 9, Tbilisi: Kartuli Sabch'ota Entsiklopedia
- ISBN 978-0-31-221975-8
- Lak'oba, Stanislav (1998b), "History: 1917–1989", in Hewitt, George (ed.), The Abkhazians: A Handbook, New York City: St. Martin's Press, pp. 67–88, ISBN 978-0-31-221975-8
- Lakoba, Stanislav (1990), Очерки Политической Истории Абхазии (Essays on the Political History of Abkhazia) (in Russian), Sukhumi, Abkhazia: Alashara
- Lakoba, Stanislav (1995), "Abkhazia is Abkhazia", Central Asian Survey, 14 (1): 97–105,
- Lakoba, Stanislav (2004), Абхазия после двух империй. XIX–XXI вв. (Abkhazia after two empires: XIX–XXI centuries) (in Russian), Moscow: Materik, ISBN 5-85646-146-0
- Marshall, Alex (2010), The Caucasus Under Soviet Rule, New York City: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-41-541012-0
- Martin, Terry (2001), The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923–1939, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, ISBN 978-0-80-143813-4
- Müller, Daniel (1998), "Demography: ethno-demographic history, 1886–1989", in Hewitt, George (ed.), The Abkhazians: A Handbook, New York City: St. Martin's Press, pp. 218–231, ISBN 978-0-31-221975-8
- Papuashvili, George, ed. (2012), The 1921 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, Batumi, Georgia: Constitutional Court of Georgia, ISBN 978-9941-0-3458-9
- ISBN 978-0-37-575771-6
- Saparov, Arsène (2015), From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus: The Soviet Union and the making of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, New York City: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-41-565802-7
- Scott, Erik R. (2016), Familiar Strangers: The Georgian Diaspora and the Evolution of Soviet Empire, Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-939637-5
- Smith, Jeremy (2013), Red Nations: The Nationalities Experience in and after the USSR, Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-52-112870-4
- ISBN 978-0-25-320915-3
- Welt, Cory (2012), "A Fateful Moment: Ethnic Autonomy and Revolutionary Violence in the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921)", in Jones, Stephen F. (ed.), The Making of Modern Georgia, 1918–2012: The first Georgian Republic and its successors, New York City: Routledge, pp. 205–231, ISBN 978-0-41-559238-3
- ISBN 978-0-81-479709-9
Further reading
- Blauvelt, Timothy K. (2021), Clientelism and Nationality in an Early Soviet Fiefdom: The Trials of Nestor Lakoba, Milton Park, Abingdon: Routledge, ISBN 978-1-032-01000-7
External links
Media related to Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia at Wikimedia Commons
