National districts of the Soviet Union explained

National districts or national raions were special raions (administrative units) of the Soviet Union from 1924 up until the 1940s, created to meet the needs of minority ethnic and cultural populations within republics. They were part of the larger policy of korenizatsiia, or "indigenization" pursued during this time.^[1]

Background

The Soviet Russia that took over from the Russian Empire in 1917 was not a nation-state, nor was the Soviet leadership committed to turning their country into such a state. In the early Soviet period, even voluntary assimilation was actively discouraged, and the promotion of the national self-consciousness of the non-Russian populations was attempted. Each officially recognized ethnic minority, however small, was granted its own national territory where it enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy, national schools, and national elites.^[2]

List

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

For Poles in Belarus:^[3]

• Dzierżyńszczyzna (1932–1937), centered in Dzyarzhynsk

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

For Greeks in Russia:^[4]

• Greek Autonomous District (1930–1939), centered in Krymskaya (now Krymsk)

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

For Bulgarians in Ukraine:^[1]

• Blahoieve Raion, centered in Blahoieve (now Velykyi Buialyk)
• , centered in Kolarivka (now Sofiivka)
• Vilshanka Raion, centered in Vilshanka

For Germans in Ukraine:^[1]

• (1924–1939), centered in Luxemburg (now Rozivka)

For Jews in Ukraine:^[1]

• (1927–1958), centered in Velyka Seideminukha (now Kalynivske, Kherson Oblast)
• (1929–?), centered in
• (1930–?), centered in various settlements over the course of its existence

For Poles in Ukraine:^[5]

• Marchlewszczyzna (1925–1935), centered in Marchlewsk (now Dovbysh)

For Russians in Ukraine:^[1]

• Chuhuiv Raion (1927–present), centered in Chuhuiv
• (1930–?), centered in various settlements over the course of its existence
• Putyvl Raion (1927–2020), centered in Putyvl
• Sorokyne Raion (1927–2020), centered in Sorokyne
• Stanytsia-Luhanska Raion (1927–2020), centered in Stanytsia Luhanska
• Velyka Pysarivka Raion (1927–2020), centered in Velyka Pysarivka

See also

• Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union
• Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics
• National districts of the Russian Federation
• Polish National District

Notes and References

1. Web site: НАЦІОНАЛЬНЕ АДМІНІСТРАТИВНО-ТЕРИТОРІАЛЬНЕ БУДІВНИЦТВО В УСРР/УРСР 1924–1940 . 2023-12-10 . resource.history.org.ua. https://web.archive.org/web/20231210172546/http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=DOP&P21DBN=EIU&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=eiu_all&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=TRN=&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21STR=Natsionalni_rajony. 10 December 2023.
2. Martin . Terry. December 1998 . The Origins of Soviet Ethnic Cleansing. https://web.archive.org/web/20201215195403/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/235168 . 2020-12-15. The Journal of Modern History. 70. 4. 813–861.
3. http://xn--e1aajfpcds8ay4h.com.ua/pages/view/208 "ПОЛЬСКИЕ НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫЕ АДМИНИСТРАТИВНО-ТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНЫЕ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ В БССР В 1930-е гг."
4. News: 5 May 2008 . Репрессии в 1930-1950 гг. по отношению к грекам СССР . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230422010722/http://www.greek.ru/news/diaspora/31749/ . 22 April 2023.
5. News: Kabachiy . Roman . Polish in Polissia. The Ukrainian Week. 29 May 2009.