The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (MSSR) was one of the 15 state entities that were components of the USSR. Its peculiarity was that it became part of the Soviet Union much later than other republics. Let’s follow how the history of this state formation developed.
MASSR - an autonomous republic within Ukraine
At the end of World War I, Romania in 1919 annexed Bessarabia (the territory of modern Moldova), which was previously part of the Russian Empire.
At the same time, in October 1924, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as an integral part of the Ukrainian SSR on the left-bank side of the Dniester, in a territory with a significant but not predominant number of ethnic Moldovans. One of the main initiators of the creation of this subject was Grigory Kotovsky. Among the reasons that contributed to the birth of this republic was the desire of the Soviet leadership to claim the entire territory of Bessarabia.
The capital of the MASSR was alternately Balta, Birzula and Tiraspol. The last settlement remained the central city of the republic for the longest time.
After the unified Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was formed in August 1940, autonomy ceased to exist.
Education MSSR
In the summer of 1940, the Soviet Union put forward a demand for Romania to transfer Bessarabia, the former province of the Russian Empire, to it. Official Bucharest was forced to agree with this ultimatum, as it did not find support from its allies.
Already on August 2, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR voted to create a new union republic on the territory of Bessarabia, which was called the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. The capital of this state is Chisinau. The republic also included a large part of the MASSR, which was previously the autonomy of the Ukrainian SSR.
State Symbols of the MSSR
Probably, the symbolism of not a single Soviet republic was as similar to the all-Union as the attributes possessed by the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. The flag was almost identical to the banner of the USSR. The main difference was the green stripe, which ran horizontally through its center.
The Moldavian coat of arms was also not very different from the All-Union. True, there was no image of the globe on it, but clusters of grapes were added.
Control system
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was administratively divided into districts. At different times, their number ranged from 17 to 60. The largest cities, except the capital of Chisinau, were Tiraspol, Bender, Balti, Rybnitsa.
The nominal legislative functions belonged to the Supreme Council of the republic, which delegated from its composition the Presidium, which is the executive branch of government. But in reality, all issues within the MSSR were decided by the Communist Party of Moldova, which, in turn, was subordinate to the CPSU.
The abolition of socialism in Moldova
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic lasted until the twentieth of August 1991. On this date, the decision of the Supreme Council on the independence of Moldova. It was a natural process through which all the former republics of the USSR went through during its collapse. After the proclamation of this act, the MSSR ceased to exist, but a new state appeared - the Republic of Moldova, which faced many new tasks.
Thus, as can be clearly seen, the MSSR in 1940 was created from two rather different territorial units. One of them was originally part of the USSR, and among the population a significant proportion were Russians and Ukrainians. The second part from 1918 and at the very moment of the formation of the MSSR was annexed by Romania. Here the population was mono-ethnic, and Moldavians numerically prevailed over other nations.
Under the Soviet regime, with the help of ideology and tough administrative methods of management, these differences were successfully managed to smooth out. But as soon as Moldova gained independence, all the contradictions between these two constituent parts spilled out in the form of the Transnistrian conflict.