Political-Administrative Divisions of the U.S.S.R., 1945

Abstract

O N October 17, 1945, in connection with the recent elections to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the Moscow newspaper Pravda published an official list of the election districts of the country. This list provides the most recent and authoritative data on the administrativeterritorial organization of the Soviet Union.' According to this information, the dynamism inherent in the Soviet administrative structure since its inception continued to manifest itself even during the recent war period. Territorial units ranging from the minute selsovet2 (village council) to the large oblast (region) were created, only to be altered or even abolished to make room for newly formed divisions. This development, which has been in progress ever since the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, has kept the political geography of the U.S.S.R. in constant flux and, much to the dismay of students of the Soviet Union, has made newly published Soviet maps obsolete overnight. However, in addition to these routine changes, recent years have witnessed the unprecedented abrogation of five Soviet national autonomous units and, as a result of the Red Army's victorious campaigns both in Europe and in Asia, a considerable territorial aggrandizement of the U.S.S.R. The present article is intended to provide a review of the most important recent changes and a map of the present administrative-territorial divisions of the U.S.S.R.