An Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR, ) was a type of administrative unit in the Soviet Union (USSR), created for certain ethnic groups to be the titular nations of. The ASSRs had a status lower than the constituent union republics of the USSR, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs.
The level of political, administrative and cultural autonomy ASSRs enjoyed within the USSR varied with timeâÂÂit was most substantial in the 1920s (Korenizatsiya), in the 1950s after the death of Joseph Stalin, and in the Brezhnev Era (1964-82). In the Russian SFSR, for example, the various chairmen of the governments of the ASSRs were officially members of the Government of the Russian SFSR.
Unlike the union republics, the autonomous republics only had the right to disaffiliate themselves from the USSR when the union republic containing them did so; there was thus a right also to choose to remain a part of the USSR notwithstanding the departure of the seceding republic. According to the constitution of the USSR, where a union republic was voting to leave the Soviet Union, autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs had the right, by means of a referendum, to independently resolve whether they would stay in the USSR or leave with the seceding union republic, as well as broader rights to raise the issue of their state-legal status.
The 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR recognized sixteen autonomous republics within the RSFSR:
Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast (now Altai Republic), Adyghe Autonomous Oblast (now Republic of Adygea), KarachayâÂÂCherkess Autonomous Oblast (now KarachayâÂÂCherkess Republic) and Khakassian Autonomous Oblast (now Republic of Khakassia) were all promoted in status to that of an ASSR in 1991, in the last year of the Soviet Union. Only the Jewish Autonomous Oblast retained its autonomous oblast status in Russia.
Other autonomous republics also existed within the RSFSR at earlier points of the Soviet history:
Crimea Oblast was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR jurisdiction on 19 February 1954 and promoted to the ASSR status following a referendum held on January 20, 1991 (now the Autonomous Republic of Crimea / Republic of Crimea, territory disputed between Ukraine and the Russian Federation).
The Crimean Oblast was granted ASSR status on 12 February 1991 following a referendum held in January 1991.
Some ASSRs existed at earlier points of the Soviet history were promoted into full union republics of the Soviet Union.
Karelian ASSR was promoted to the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940 but demoted back in 1956.