The Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic lasted 14 years. It was she who became one of the republics participating in the establishment of the USSR. The creation of the ZSFSR was dictated by the political need to preserve and strengthen Soviet power in the Transcaucasus, to strengthen ties between Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early stages of the creation of a new USSR state.
National issue
In Transcaucasia, the most important issue requiring an early resolution was the national relations between large and small peoples inhabiting its territory. The only solution, according to the Bolsheviks, was the creation of federations, which would include national minorities on the rights of autonomies, whose rights would be reliably protected at the level of laws. This idea was embodied in the creation of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
According to Lenin, only the preservation of Soviet power could provide an opportunity to solve these complex and confusing issues. According to him, only a federal union would prevent attempts to restore the bourgeois system. The most difficult situation at that time was Georgia. Residents of Abkhazia, Ossetia, Adjara did not want to be under her rule. The seizure of their territory in 1918 led to national clashes.
For the normal restoration and development of the Transcaucasian republics, it was necessary to ensure external and internal security and restore the economy, which was destroyed during the Civil War. For the successful implementation of this, three conditions were required:
- Combining military and foreign policy efforts.
- Association of economic resources.
- The complete destruction of national chauvinism as an inheritance of bourgeois-nationalist governments.
Georgian national deviators
Georgian national-deviators opposed the unification and creation of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. This political movement arose in the ranks of the Communist Party of Georgia after the victory of the October Revolution. It was a product of the new economic policy, when the petty-bourgeois elements roamed around the economy and social relations, revived nationalism and chauvinism.
The petty-bourgeois environment influenced ideology, shaped bourgeois nationalism in a country where different peoples lived, who in this situation wanted to go their own way, did not want to endure oppression from the Georgian authorities. This was contrary to the socialist principles of equality of peoples. The Communists saw a different path of development, which was expressed in the federal international structure of the state, where each people was given equal rights. This could be given by the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Association of economic bodies
The emergence of national deviation in the Communist Party of Georgia could be explained by the fact that 87% of its members came from non-proletarian sections of the population who were far from the ideas of internationalism. This was facilitated by the fact that Georgia and other republics of Transcaucasia inherited remnants of nationalism and chauvinism.
A lot of work was done to clarify the policy on the federalization of the Transcaucasian republics. In the city of Tiflis and other cities of Transcaucasia, numerous rallies were held with the participation of prominent political figures. An explanatory work was carried out among the masses. Sergo Ordzhonikidze played a large role in this. They gave their results. Lenin in April 1921 made a proposal to create a single economic body in Transcaucasia.
For this, a union of foreign trade and railways was conducted here. 11/03/1921 the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) of the Caucasian Bureau was held, at which a decision is made to unite the republics of Transcaucasia on the basis of federations. It was noted that the separation of the republics of Transcaucasia makes them weak before economic problems and the intervention of bourgeois countries. Their political union will serve as a defense against the intervention of the forces of counter-revolution and will root Soviet power.
Political union
At the plenary session, it was emphasized that only a political union would create a strong economic union. Attempts to create it were made repeatedly. The disunity of the republics can only aggravate the difficult economic situation, the ruin and impoverishment of peoples, misunderstanding and misunderstandings between them. Transcaucasia is a single economic entity, and economic development in the republics can proceed only under the sign of an economic association. Therefore, it was proposed to immediately work on the creation of the Transcaucasian SFSR.
The existence of numerous economic bodies and people's commissariats often led to duplication of decisions and actions, absorbed a lot of funds and forces in the young and fragile republics. The general administration of the most important sectors in the economy should accelerate development and make the work of the Soviet bodies more efficient.
Creation of a federal republic
The Georgian national deviators, supported by Trotsky and Bukharin, did not find a response in the party masses and resigned. 11/08/1921 in Tbilisi, a meeting of party district committees was held, which condemned the national deviators and fully supported the idea of creating a ZSFSR. History has shown the correctness of the decisions made.
12.16.1921, the Union Treaty was signed between the Union republics of Abkhazia, Georgia. According to him, Abkhazia unites with Georgia on a federal basis.
03/12/1922 in Tbilisi, an agreement was signed on the establishment of the ZSFSR. This happened at a conference of representatives of three Soviet Socialist Republics - Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani.
On December 13, 1922, the First Congress of the Transcaucasus, held in Baku, carried out the process of transformation into the ZSFSR. At the same time, the independence of the republics included in it was preserved. The Constitution was approved, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the ZSFSR were created. The capital was Tiflis.