The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelo-Finnish SSR; fi, ; rus, Каре́ло-Фи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика, r=Karelo-Finskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika), also called Soviet Karelia or simply known as Karelia, was a republic of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. It existed from 1940 until it was made part of the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

in 1956 as the

Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( rus, Каре́льская Автоно́мная Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика, r=Karelskaya Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respub ...

. The latter became the Republic of Karelia, a

federal subject The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, on 13 November 1991.

History

The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was established by the Soviet government on 31 March 1940 by merging the KASSR with the

Finnish Democratic Republic The Finnish Democratic Republic ( fi, Suomen kansanvaltainen tasavalta or ''Suomen kansantasavalta'', sv, Demokratiska Republiken Finland, Russian: ''Финляндская Демократическая Республика''), also known as t ...

. The latter was created in territory ceded by

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

by the

Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...

, namely the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...

and

Ladoga Karelia Ladoga Karelia ( fi, Laatokan Karjala, russian: Ладожская Карелия, Ladožskaja Karelija, Карельское Приладожье, ''Karelskoje Priladožje'' or Северное Приладожье, ''Severnoje Priladožje'') is a ...

, including the cities of Viipuri and

Sortavala Sortavala (russian: Сортавала; Finnish and krl, Sortavala; sv, Sordavala); till 1918 Serdobol (russian: Сердоболь) is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finnish bor ...

. Virtually the entire Karelian population of the ceded areas, about 422,000 people, was evacuated to

, and the territories were settled by peoples from other parts of the

. Creating a new Republic of the Union for an ethnic group that was not large in absolute terms, nor constituted anything close to a majority in its territory, nor had been a separate independent nation before its incorporation into the USSR, was unprecedented in the history of the USSR. Some later historians believe that the elevation of Soviet Karelia from an

Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic An Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR, russian: автономная советская социалистическая республика, АССР) was a type of administrative unit in the Soviet Union (USSR) created for certain nat ...

(within the RSFSR) to an SSR was a political move as a "convenient means for facilitating the possible incorporation of additional Finnish territory" (or, possibly, the whole of Finland) into the USSR.''Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev''. Edited by Sergeĭ Khrushchev. Published by Penn State Press, 2007. . Page 871 (biographic note on O. Kuusinen)
On Google Books
/ref> Suomalais-karjalainen neuvostotasavalta

In 1941, Finland liberated the territory that it had lost in 1940 and

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

most of the Karelian lands that had been within the USSR before 1940, including the capital

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...

(Petroskoi). In 1944, the Soviet Union recaptured the area. Soviet sovereignty was recognized by Finland in the

Moscow Armistice The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of mo ...

and

Paris Peace Treaty The Paris Peace Treaties (french: Traités de Paris) were signed on 10 February 1947 following the end of World War II in 1945. The Paris Peace Conference lasted from 29 July until 15 October 1946. The victorious wartime Allied powers (princi ...

. The Finnish Karelians were evacuated to Finland again. In September 1944, the

with

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

(Viipuri) was transferred from the Karelo-Finnish SSR to the

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 194 ...

of the RSFSR, but

remained a part of the republic. On 16 July 1956, the republic was incorporated into the Russian SFSR as the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. This move can perhaps be explained in the context of the general post-war improvement of Finno-Soviet relations, which also included such steps as the Soviets' return of the

Porkkala Naval Base Porkkala Naval Base was a Soviet naval base operational from 1944–1956 in the municipalities of Kirkkonummi, Ingå and Siuntio on the Porkkala peninsula, 30 kilometers (19 mi) ''west'' of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. The area was le ...

leased territory to full Finnish sovereignty (January 1956), and leasing

Maly Vysotsky Island Maly Vysotsky Island or Malyj Vysotskij Island (, ) is an island in northwest Russia, that was leased to Finland. It is located in Vyborg Bay, next to Vysotsk, 12 km (7 miles) southwest of Vyborg. Between 1918 and 1940, the island was a pa ...

and the Soviet section of the

Saimaa Canal The Saimaa Canal ( fi, Saimaan kanava; sv, Saima kanal; russian: Сайменский канал) is a transportation canal that connects lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg, Russia. The canal was built from 1845 to 1856 and opene ...

(conquered by the USSR in 1940 and 1944) back to Finland (1963). The abolition of the Karelian SSR in 1956 was the only case in the history of the USSR (1922–1991) of merging a member republic of the USSR into another republic. The state emblem of the Soviet Union had to be changed to reflect this, with one of the 16 ribbons symbolizing constituent republics removed. Soviet rouble banknotes bearing the emblem were also changed accordingly. In the last days of the USSR, the Karelian ASSR became the Republic of Karelia, a subdivision of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, on 13 November 1991.

Politics

The chairman of the Karelo-Finnish Supreme Soviet (1940–1956) was a Finnish communist

Otto Wille Kuusinen Otto Wilhelm "Wille" Kuusinen (; russian: О́тто Вильге́льмович Ку́усинен, Otto Vilgelmovich Kuusinen; 4 October 1881 – 17 May 1964) was a Finnish-born Soviet communist and, later, Soviet politician, literary his ...

. In the republic, there was also a separate Karelo-Finnish Communist Party led in the 1940s by G.N. Kupriyanov.

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the p ...

served for some years as the first secretary of the republic's Komsomol branch, the

Leninist Communist Youth League of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic Leninist Communist Youth League of the Karelo-Finnish SSR (russian: Ленинский коммунистический союз молодежи Карело-Финской ССР, LKSM KFSSR) was the republican branch of the Komsomol, All Union Le ...

Chairmen of the Supreme Soviet

Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet

Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-10624-0003, Budapest, II

The Council of People's Commissars was renamed the Council of Ministers in 1946.

References