To the 100th anniversary of the formation of the republics within the RSFSR: projects and creation of national republics among the Muslim peoples of the former Russian Empire in 1917-1920
This article is devoted to the 100th anniversary of the formation of the republics within the RSFSR, when the projects were formulated and national republics among the Muslim peoples of the former Russian Empire were created in 1917-1920. The highest point in the development of the statehood of the Muslim peoples of the former Russian Empire was the Declaration of independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on May 28, 1918. Anti-Bolshevik governments: Komuch, the provisional Siberian government, and the governments of Kolchak and Denikin refused to recognize the territorial autonomy of the non-Russian peoples, at least until the Constituent Assembly was called. The Soviet regime preferred to recognize the regimes created by the national departments of the Nationalities Commissariat of the RSFSR. However, even in this case, priority was given to autonomies for one ethnic group, rather than several ethnic groups that had territorial and economic unity. The main problem of legitimacy for the Soviet regime was the minority of Muslims in the Soviets. Muslims were a minority in the city-administrative centers. Both in the Provisional government and in the Soviets, starting in March 1917, Muslims were a minority. The most important achievement of 1920 a number of territorial autonomies of Muslim peoples were declared, but the center left key issues of politics, economy, and military Affairs under control, especially in large urban centers.