Parade of sovereignties

The parade of sovereignties (Russian: Парад суверенитетов, romanizedParad suverenitetov) was a series of declarations of sovereignty of various degrees by the republics of the Soviet Union and autonomous units within the republics (autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs) from 1988 to 1991. The declarations stated the priority of the constituent republic power in its territory over the central power, which led to the War of Laws between the centre and the republics. The process followed the loosened power grip of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as a result of demokratizatsiya and perestroika policies under Mikhail Gorbachev. Despite the efforts of Gorbachev to preserve the union under a new treaty in the form of the Union of Sovereign States, many constituents soon declared their full independence. The process resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[1]

The first top-level Soviet republic to declare independence was Estonia (November 16, 1988: Estonian Sovereignty Declaration, March 30, 1990: decree on the transition to the restoration of the Estonian statehood,[2] May 8, 1990: Law on the State Symbols, which declared the independence,[3] August 20, 1991: Law of the Estonian restoration of Independence).

The first lower-level subdivision to declare independence was the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (January 19, 1990 although Heydar Aliyev, the leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, having roots in Nakhchivan, managed to keep Nakhchivan within Azerbaijan).[4]

The massive secessionist event has served as a testbench for various theories of secession.[5][6]

  1. ^ The Revenge of the Past: Nationalism, Revolution, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union, Ronald Grigor Suny, Stanford University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8047-2247-1 Retrieved on 2009-04-25
  2. ^  Russian Wikisource has original text related to this article: Постановление ВС ЭССР от 30.03.1990
  3. ^  Russian Wikisource has original text related to this article: Закон ЭССР от 08.05.1990 О символике Эстонии
  4. ^ "Крах большевистской империи: как гласность «довела» СССР" Archived 2021-08-21 at the Wayback Machine, Znak, January 20, 2017
  5. ^ Henry E. Hale, "The Parade of Sovereignties: Testing Theories of Secession in the Soviet Setting", British Journal of Political ScienceVol. 30, No. 1, 2000, pp. 31-56
  6. ^ Emizet F. Kisangani, Vicki L. Hesli, "The Disposition to Secede: An Analysis of the Soviet Case", Comparative Political Studies vol. 27, January 1995, doi:10.1177/0010414095027004002

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