Crimean Tatars on a 1933 "Peoples of the Soviet Union" postage stamp
On 18 October 1921, the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic was created within the Russian SFSR on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula. It was renamed the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 5 December 1936 by the Eighth Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the USSR.[1]
In 1944, under the pretext[5] of alleged collaboration of the Crimean Tatars with the Nazi occupation regime, the Soviet government deported the Crimean Tatar people from Crimea, according to GKO Order No. 5859ss of Joseph Stalin and Lavrentiy Beria.[6] Actual collaboration in the military sense had been rather limited, with a recorded 9,225 Crimean Tatars serving in anti-Soviet Tatar Legions and other German formed battalions,[7]
but there was in fact a surprisingly high degree of co-operation between the occupation government and the local administration; this has been significantly due to Frauenfeld's unwillingness to implement the policy of brutality towards the local population pursued by ReichskommissarErich Koch, which led to a series of public conflict between the two men.[8] The constitutional rights of the forcibly-resettled Tatars were restored with a decree dated September 5, 1967, but they were not allowed to return until the last days of the Soviet Union.[9]
On 19 February 1954, the oblast was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR jurisdiction,[10] on the basis of "the integral character of the economy, the territorial proximity and the close economic and cultural ties between the Crimea Province and the Ukrainian SSR"[11] and to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Ukraine's union with Russia.[12][13]
With effect from 6 May 1992, the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was transformed into the Republic of Crimea within Ukraine. On 21 September 1994 it was renamed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea by Verkhovna Rada.[17] This name was used for Crimea (with the exception of the city of Sevastopol) in the new Ukrainian Constitution of 1996. The status of Sevastopol, due to its strategic importance as the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, remained disputed between Ukraine and Russia until 1997 when it was agreed that it should be treated as a "city with special status" within Ukraine.
Administrative divisions
Okrugs and raions of the Crimean ASSR in May 1921 (in Russian)
With the establishment of the autonomous republic in 1921, Crimea was divided into seven okrugs, which in turn were divided into 20 raions:
In November 1923, the okrugs were abolished and 15 raions were created instead, but in 1924, five of these were abolished. On 30 October 1930, the remaining ten raions were reorganized into 16 new ones, and four cities under direct republican control. In 1935, 10 new raions were added and one abolished. In 1937, one more raion was established. The raions had national status as for Crimean Tatars, Russians, Jews, Germans and Ukrainians. By the beginning of World War II, all of these raions had lost their national status.
Heads of State
Russian SFSR
Central Executive Committee
7 November 1921 – August 1924 Yuri Gaven (Janis Daumanis)
^Russian: Крымская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика, romanized: Krymskaya Avtonomnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Sovetskaya Respublika; Ukrainian: Автономна Кримська Соціалістична Радянська Республіка, romanized: Avtonomna Krymska Sotsialistychna Radyanska Respublika, lit. 'Autonomous Crimean Socialist Soviet Republic'
^Modern Crimean Tatar: Къырым Мухтар Совет Социалист Джумхуриети, romanized: Qırım Muhtar Sovet Sotsialist Cumhuriyeti; official Crimean Tatar name in the Yañalif: Qrьm Avtonomjalь Sovet Sotsialist Respuвlikasь; Russian: Крымская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика, romanized: Krymskaya Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika; Ukrainian: Кримська Автономна Радянська Соціалістична Республіка, romanized: Krymska Avtonomna Radyanska Sotsialistychna Respublika
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