... of the Soviet Union and replacing it with the Commonwealth of Independent States. In this essay we will trace the development of the nationalities policy in the USSR and identify why these polices ultimately failed. THE STRUCTURE OF THE USSR In the 1989 census, 102 nations and ethnic groups were identified in the Soviet Union; of these 16 had populations of less than 5,000. The 1924 Constitution established the federal structure of the USSR and from this emerged a hierachical system of administration which discarded 'the equality and sovereignty of the people's of Russia' proclaimed after the October Revolution. At the top of the administrative tier sat the fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR's). Among these the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was by far the largest comprising roughly 80% of the territory. The SSR's usually had a population of over one million people and, according to the 1977 Constitution, had the right, in ...

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