The First Congress of Soviets adopted the Declaration and Treaty establishing the USSR from the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR and Transcaucasian SFSR. The founding texts promised voluntary...
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and the Transcaucasian Federation signed the treaty forming the USSR. The union promised formally equal republics, but central party authority and Russian institutional...
The USSR was constituted as a union of republics after revolution and civil war. Stalin had argued for a more centralized arrangement; the final federal structure preserved republic institutions while...