The Transcaucasian Soviet Federative 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 TSFSR 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 creating a new state of the USSR.
National question
In Transcaucasia, the most important issue requiring a quick solution was national relations between large and small peoples inhabiting its territory. The only way out, according to the Bolsheviks, was the creation of federations, which would include national minorities as autonomies, whose rights would be reliably protected at the level of laws. It was this idea that was embodied in the creation of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
According to Lenin, onlythe preservation of Soviet power could make it possible to resolve these complex and intricate questions. As he believed, only a federal union would prevent attempts to restore the bourgeois system. The most difficult situation at that time was in Georgia. The inhabitants of Abkhazia, Ossetia, Adzharia 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.
- Combining economic resources.
- Complete destruction of national chauvinism as a legacy of bourgeois-nationalist governments.
Georgian national deviationists
Georgian national deviators opposed the unification and creation of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. This political current 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 were rampant, engulfing the economy and social relations, reviving nationalism and chauvinism.
The petty-bourgeois environment influenced ideology, formed 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 fromGeorgian authorities. This was contrary to the socialist principles of the 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 have been given by the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Association of economic bodies
The emergence of national deviationism in the Communist Party of Georgia could be explained by the fact that 87% of its members came from non-proletarian strata of the population, who were far from the ideas of internationalism. This was facilitated by the fact that Georgia and other republics of the Transcaucasus inherited remnants of nationalism and chauvinism.
A lot of work has been done to explain the policy of federalization of the Transcaucasian republics. Numerous rallies were held in the city of Tiflis and other cities of Transcaucasia with the participation of prominent political figures. Explanatory work was carried out among the masses. Sergo Ordzhonikidze played a big role in this. They gave their results. Lenin in April 1921 proposed the creation of a single economic body in Transcaucasia.
To do this, a union of foreign trade and railways was carried out here. On November 3, 1921, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) of the Caucasian Bureau was held, at which a decision was made to unite the republics of Transcaucasia on the basis of federations. It was noted that the isolation of the republics of Transcaucasia makes them weak in the face of economic problems and the intervention of bourgeois countries. Their political union will serve as a defense againstinterference of counter-revolutionary forces and root the Soviet power.
Political association
It was stressed at the plenary session that only a political unification would make it possible to 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 the peoples, misunderstanding and misunderstanding between them. Transcaucasia is a single economic entity, and economic development in the republics can proceed only under the sign of 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, absorbing a lot of money and effort in young and fragile republics. The general administration of the most important sectors in the economy should accelerate development and make the work of Soviet bodies more efficient.
Creation of a federal republic
The national deviationists of Georgia, who were supported by Trotsky and Bukharin, did not find a response in the party masses and resigned. On 1921-08-11, a meeting of party committees of the districts was held in the city of Tbilisi, which condemned the national deviationists and fully supported the ideas of creating the ZSFSR. History has shown the correctness of the decisions made.
16.12.1921 the Union Treaty was signed between the union republics of Abkhazia and Georgia. According to it, Abkhazia is united with Georgia on a federal basis.
12.03.1922 was approved in Tbilisiagreement on the creation of the ZSFSR. This happened at a conference of representatives of the three Soviet Socialist Republics - Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijan.
13.12.1922 The First Congress of Transcaucasia, held in Baku, carried out the procedure of transformation into the TSFSR. At the same time, the independence of the republics included in it was preserved. The Constitution was approved, the CEC and the Council of People's Commissars of the TSFSR were created. Tiflis became the capital.
