Republics of the Soviet Union
As a Union Republic is called a republic, who belongs to a union ( Confederation or State). Commonly used was the Word, especially for the last fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Republics
The original four, in between sixteen and last fifteen Soviet republics (of Russian совет = Rat) had - unlike the U.S. states, which was readily emphasized by the communist Soviet regime - the law (de jure ) to leave the Union. In Sect. 8/Art. 72 of the Soviet Constitution is this:
" Each Union Republic retains the right to free exit from the USSR reserved. "
The constitutional context made it clear that a one-sided "free" declaration of intention to resign was not possible. This was possible only in accordance with the Union or the Union Republics, however, ultimately depends on the policy of the leadership in Moscow. It was not until 1990, the time allotted for a withdrawal procedure was finally defined by a Union law, to which, however, none of the 1991, held for more independent explanatory Union republics.
Each union republic had its own constitution and its own capital. Moscow had a special national capital status within the entire Soviet Union, and only in second place at the same time as the capital of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( RSFSR ). The central state government with its headquarters in Moscow had actually ( de facto) pulled out all the major powers in itself; their political decisions had to be accepted and executed by the Soviet Union.
*) The Russian Federation since 1991, carries the rights and obligations of the former RSFSR and successor of the former USSR.
The present state name is not always the same as the Union Republic. After the country's independence the Cyrillic alphabet was abolished and replaced by the Latin in some of the earlier Union republics. In the Moldavian this change in the written language has already been conducted in 1989.
Other Union Republics
In the history of the Soviet Union, there were at times other Union republics:
Other territories
No union republics in the true sense were founded by Soviet republics: