![1936 map of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/1936_map_of_The_Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics.jpg)
A soviet republic (from rus, links=1, Советская республика, Sovetskaya respublika) is a
republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
in which the government is formed of
soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
s (
workers' council
A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...
s) and politics are based on
soviet democracy
Soviet democracy, or council democracy, is a political system in which the rule of the population is exercised by directly elected '' soviets'' (Russian for "council"). The councils are directly responsible to their electors and bound by thei ...
.
Although the term is usually associated with
Soviet member-states, it was not initially used to represent the political organisation of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, but merely a form of
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
.
There were several revolutionary workers' movements in various areas of Europe which declared independence under the name of a soviet republic in the immediate aftermath of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Examples
Earliest known examples of workers' councils on a smaller scale occurred during the
1905 Russian Revolution, including the
Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905–1907)
A major part of the Russian Revolution of 1905 took place in the Russian Partition of Poland and lasted until 1907 (see Congress Poland and Privislinsky Krai). It was the largest wave of strikes and widest emancipatory movement that Poland had e ...
, which spread throughout the lands of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
; early soviets were active particularly in
Central Russia
Central Russia is, broadly, the various areas in European Russia.
Historically, the area of Central Russia varied based on the purpose for which it is being used. It may, for example, refer to European Russia (except the North Caucasus and ...
and
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
, where workers took over factories, districts, and sometimes even entire towns or regions before the tsarist authorities reclaimed control.
Nearing the end of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Soviet republics started appearing on a larger scale as short-lived communist revolutionary governments that were established in what had been the Russian Empire after the
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
and under its influence. These states included some such as the
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and the
Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic
The Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic ( lv, Latvijas Sociālistiskā Padomju Republika, LSPR) was a short-lived socialist republic formed during the Latvian War of Independence. It was proclaimed on 17 December 1918 with the political, econom ...
which won independence from Russia during the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
period. Others such as the
Ukrainian Soviet Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Republic (russian: Украинская Советская Республика, translit= Ukrainskaya Sovetskaya Respublika) was one of the earlier Soviet Ukrainian quasi-state formations (Ukrainian People's Republic of S ...
and the
Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia
The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia or Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus (SSRB; be, Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка Беларусь, Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika Biełaruś; russian: ...
later became
union republic
The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were national-based administrative units of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( ...
s of the Soviet Union and are now independent states. Still others such as the
Kuban Soviet Republic and the
Bukharan People's Soviet Republic were absorbed into other polities and no longer formally exist under those names.
In the turmoil following World War I, the Russian example inspired the formation of Soviet republics in other areas of Europe including
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
.
[Stephen A. Smith. "Towards a Global History of Communism." ''The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism''. Stephen A. Smith, ed. Oxford University Press, 2014. p. 8. ] Soviets also appeared within towns throughout Poland, known as
''rady delegatów robotniczych'' (councils of workers' delegates), mostly throughout 1918 and 1919. One year later a
Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee
Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee ( pl, Tymczasowy Komitet Rewolucyjny Polski, Polrewkom; russian: Польревком) (July–August 1920) was a revolutionary committee created under the patronage of Soviet Russia with the goal to e ...
was created under the patronage of Soviet Russia with the goal to establish a Soviet republic within
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
(it was later dissolved following the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
defeat in the
Polish–Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921)
* russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...
). Short-lived
Irish Soviets
The Irish soviets ( Irish: ''Sóivéidí na hÉireann'') were a series of self-declared soviets that formed in Ireland during the revolutionary period of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War (1919 to 1923), mainly in the prov ...
also briefly emerged during the
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
, most notably the
Limerick Soviet
The Limerick Soviet ( ga, Sóibhéid Luimnigh) was one of a number of self-declared Irish soviets that were formed around Ireland circa 1919. The Limerick Soviet existed for a two-week period from 15 to 27 April 1919. At the beginning of the Ir ...
. Soviet republics, most notably the
Chinese Soviet Republic
The Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was an East Asian proto-state in China, proclaimed on 7 November 1931 by Chinese communist leaders Mao Zedong and Zhu De in the early stages of the Chinese Civil War. The discontiguous territories of the ...
(Jiangxi Soviet), later appeared in China during the early stages of the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
. Other than these cases, "soviet republic" typically refers to the administrative
republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were National delimitation in the Soviet Union, national-based administrative units of ...
.
See also
*
People's republic
People's republic is an official title, usually used by some currently or formerly communist or left-wing states. It is mainly associated with soviet republics, socialist states following people's democracy, sovereign states with a democratic- ...
*
Soviet (council)
*
Workers' council
A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...
*
Direct democracy
Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
*
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
*
Representative democracy
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represen ...
*
Soviet democracy
Soviet democracy, or council democracy, is a political system in which the rule of the population is exercised by directly elected '' soviets'' (Russian for "council"). The councils are directly responsible to their electors and bound by thei ...
*
Presidential system
A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...
*
Semi-presidential republic
A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
*
:Early Soviet republics
*
Irish soviets
The Irish soviets ( Irish: ''Sóivéidí na hÉireann'') were a series of self-declared soviets that formed in Ireland during the revolutionary period of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War (1919 to 1923), mainly in the prov ...
References
Republic
Government of the Soviet Union
Socialism
Soviet republics
Types of democracy
Types of socialism
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