Union of Sovereign States
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The Union of Sovereign States ( Russian: Сою́з Сувере́нных Госуда́рств (ССГ) Soyuz Suwerennych Gossudarstw (SSG) ) was the name proposed by Mikhail Gorbachev for a reorganized Soviet Union as a confederation .
One day before the signing of the treaty to form the Union, the August coup in Moscow took place on August 19, 1991, as a result of which the treaty was not signed and the Soviet Union fell apart.
The Commonwealth of Independent States then emerged from the idea of a confederation .
history
The new treaty was intended to replace the 1922 treaty establishing the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union itself with a new, supranational entity . Gorbachev's main concern was to stop the collapse of the Soviet Union and to fundamentally reform it. The preparations for the formation of the new confederation of states, especially in the successor states of the Soviet Union, based on the residence of the Soviet president, became known as the Novo-Ogaryovo process , as this was where the main negotiations between the heads of government of the Union republics and Gorbachev took place.
The first proposal for the formation of a decentralized, federal Soviet Union was presented by Gorbachev in July 1990 at the 28th Congress of the CPSU . The draft was sent to the Supreme Soviet on November 23, 1990, which then formed a committee to revise the text. This started work on January 1, 1991. Already at this point it was foreseeable that the Soviet Union would not be able to survive in its entirety. Since the Armenian SSR , the Estonian SSR , the Georgian SSR , the Latvian SSR , the Lithuanian SSR and the Moldovan SSR were striving for independence, their representatives refused to cooperate on the text.
The Supreme Soviet finally approved the text on March 6, which was then forwarded to the Soviets of the Union Republics for ratification . On March 17th, a referendum was held in nine union republics, which resulted in an approval of 76% and a majority in all nine republics for the continuation of the chosen path. The referendum was largely boycotted in the six independent republics.
On April 23, the Joint Declaration on the Continuity of the Soviet Union (9 + 1 Agreement) between the nine Union Republics and the Soviet Central Government was signed in Novo-Ogaryovo. It was agreed that the Soviet Union should be transformed into a confederation of independent states with a common president, common foreign policy and common armed forces.
By August, eight of the nine republics had ratified the treaty. Ukraine did not agree to the terms of the treaty or only under the terms of its declaration of independence, which was also reflected in the referendum on March 17.
Although the treaty was intended to strengthen the Union, the communists feared that some smaller member states, particularly Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, would now insist on complete independence.
One day before the planned solemn signing of the treaty by the President of the Russian SFSR , Boris Yeltsin , the August coup took place in Moscow, the crushing of which dashed hopes for the continued existence of a state union, albeit a decentralized one.
designation
In the first draft of the agreement was for the state union of the name Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics ( Russian Союз Советских Суверенных Республик Soyuz Sowjetskich Suwerennych Respublik ) proposed bringing the abbreviation Soviet Union and the reduction USSR or СССР would be preserved.
By November 1991 it became clear that the continued existence of any kind of communist state was unrealistic. Thus the new name Union of Sovereign States ( Russian Сою́з Сувере́нных Госуда́рств (ССГ) ) was created. Later it became the Commonwealth of Independent States ( Содружество Независимых Государств (СНГ) / Sodruschestvo Nesawissimych Gossudarstw (SNG) ).
Participating states
map | flag | Name of the Union Republic | Today's flag | Today's state |
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Azerbaijani SSR Азәрбајҹан ССР |
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Republic of Azerbaijan Azərbaycan Respublikası |
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Kazakh SSR Қазақ КСР |
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Republic of Kazakhstan Қазақстан Республикасы |
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Kyrgyz SSR Кыргыз ССР |
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Kyrgyz Republic Кыргыз Республикасы Kırgız Respublikası |
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Russian SFSR Российская СФСР |
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Russian Federation * Российская Федерация |
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Tajik SSR РСС Тоҷикистон |
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Republic of Tajikistan Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон Jumhurii Todschikiston |
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Turkmen SSR Түркменистан ССР |
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Republic of Turkmenistan, Turkmenistan Jumhuriyäti |
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Ukrainian SSR Українська РСР |
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Ukraine Україна |
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Uzbek SSR Ўзбекистон ССР |
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Republic of Uzbekistan Oʻzbekiston Respublikasi |
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Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic Беларуская ССР |
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Republic of Belarus Рэспубліка Беларусь |
Non-participating states
map | flag | Name of the Union Republic | Today's flag | Today's state |
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Armenian SSR Հայկական ՍՍՀ |
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Republic of Armenia Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն |
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Estonian SSR Eesti NSV |
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Republic of Estonia Eesti Vabariik |
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Georgian SSR საქართველოს სსრ |
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Georgia საქართველო |
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Latvian SSR Latvijas PSR |
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Republic of Latvia Latvijas Republika |
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Lithuanian SSR Lietuvos TSR |
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Republic of Lithuania Lietuvos Respublika |
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Moldovan SSR РСС Молдовеняскэ RSS Moldovenească |
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Republic of Moldova Republica Moldova |
swell
- Dr Robert F. Miller: The USSR in 1991: The Implosion of a Superpower. ( txt ) eserver.org, accessed on August 25, 2010 (English).
- Diplomatic Bluebook, Section 4. The Soviet Union. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 1991, accessed August 25, 2010 .