Soviet Union

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USSR, CCCP, and Soviet redirect here. For other uses, see USSR (disambiguation),
CCCP (disambiguation), and Soviet (disambiguation).
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik
19221991[1]
Flag
Flag
State Emblem
State Emblem
Motto
Workers of the world, unite!
?????????? ???? ?????, ????????????!
(Proletarii vsekh stran, soyedinyaytes!
Literally Proletarians of all countries, unite!)
Anthem
The Internationale
(19221944)
MENU000

State Anthem of the Soviet Union

(19441977)
MENU000

State Anthem of the Soviet Union

(modified version)
(19771991)
MENU000

The Soviet Union after World War II

Capital Moscow
Languages Russian2
Demonym Soviet, Russian[2]
Government
MarxistLeninist one-party socialist state (19221990)[3][4][5][6]
semi-presidential republic (19901991)[7]
General Secretary
19221952 Joseph Stalin (first)
1991 Vladimir Ivashko (last)
Head of state
19221938 Mikhail Kalinin (first)
19881991 Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
Head of government
19221924 Vladimir Lenin (first)
1991 Ivan Silayev (last)
Legislature Supreme Soviet
Upper house Soviet of the Union
Lower house Soviet of Nationalities
Historical era 20th century
Treaty of Creation 30 December 1922
Admitted to the United Nations 25 October 1945
Constitution adopted 9 October 1977
Union dissolved 26 December 1991[1]
Area
1991 22,402,200 km2 (8,649,500 sq mi)
Population
1991 est. 293,047,571
 Density 13km2 (34sq mi)
Currency Soviet ruble (???) (SUR)
Internet TLD .su1
Calling code +7
Preceded by Succeeded by
Russian SFSR
Transcaucasian SFSR
Ukrainian SSR
Byelorussian SSR
Bukharan People's Soviet Republic
Khorezm People's Soviet Republic
Second Polish Republic
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Kingdom of Romania
Tuvan People's Republic
Russian Federation
Ukraine
Belarus
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Estonia
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Moldova
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Notes
^ Assigned on 19 September 1990, existing onwards.
^ All-union official since 1990, constituent republics had right to declare their
own official languages
The Soviet Union,[8] officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics[9] (USSR,
Russian ????), was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991.
Nominally a union of multiple equal national Soviet republics,[a] its government
and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by
the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian
Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The Russian nation had constitutionally equal
status among the many nations of the union but exerted de facto dominance in
various respects.[10] Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Alma-
Ata and Novosibirsk. The Soviet Union was one of the five recognized nuclear
weapons states and possessed the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
[11] It was a founding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as
well as a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
and the leading member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and the
Warsaw Pact.

The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917, when the
Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Russian Provisional Government
which had replaced Tsar Nicholas II during World War I. In 1922, the Soviet Union
was formed with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian and
Byelorussian republics. Following Lenin's death in 1924 and a brief power struggle,
Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin committed the state's ideology
to MarxismLeninism (which he created) and initiated a centrally planned economy
which led to a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization. During this
period of totalitarian rule, political paranoia fermented; the late-1930s Great
Purge removed Stalin's opponents within and outside of the party via arbitrary
arrests and persecutions of many people. Suppression of political critics, forced
labor and famines were carried out by Stalin's government; in 1933, a major famine
struck Soviet Ukraine, causing the deaths of over 7 million people.

Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the MolotovRibbentrop Pact agreeing to
non-aggression with Nazi Germany, after which the two countries invaded Poland in
September 1939. In June 1941, the pact collapsed as Germany turned to attack to the
Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theatre of war in history. Soviet
war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort
of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at intense battles such as Stalingrad
and Kursk. The territories overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the
USSR; the postwar division of Europe into capitalist and communist halves would
lead to increased tensions with the West, led by the United States.

The Cold War emerged by 1947, as the Eastern Bloc, united under the Warsaw Pact in
1955, confronted the Western Bloc, united under NATO in 1949. On 5 March 1953,
Stalin died and was quickly succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, who in 1956 denounced
Stalin and began the De-Stalinization of Soviet society through the Khrushchev
Thaw. The Soviet Union took an early lead in the Space Race, with the first
artificial satellite and the first human spaceflight. Khrushchev was removed from
power by his colleagues in 1964 and was succeeded as head of state by Leonid
Brezhnev. In the 1970s, there was a brief dtente of relations with the United
States, but tensions resumed with the SovietAfghan War in 1979. In the mid-1980s,
the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the
economy through his policies of glasnost and perestroika. Under Gorbachev, the role
of the Communist Party in governing the state was removed from the constitution,
causing a surge of severe political instability to set in. The Cold War ended
during his tenure, and in 1989, Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe overthrew
their respective communist governments.

With the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR's
republics, Gorbachev tried to avert a dissolution of the Soviet Union in the post-
Cold War era. A March 1991 referendum, boycotted by some republics, resulted in a
majority of participating citizens voting in favor of preserving the union as a
renewed federation. Gorbachev's power was greatly diminished after Russian
President Boris Yeltsin played a high-profile role in facing down an abortive
August 1991 coup d'tat attempted by Communist Party hardliners. On 25 December
1991, Gorbachev resigned and the remaining twelve constituent republics emerged as
independent post-Soviet states. The Russian Federationformerly the Russian
SFSRassumed the Soviet Union's rights and obligations and is recognized as the
primary legal successor of the Soviet Union.[12][13][14] In summing up the
international ramifications of these events, Vladislav Zubok stated The collapse of
the Soviet empire was an event of epochal geopolitical, military, ideological and
economic significance.[15]

Contents [hide]
1 Name
2 Geography, climate and environment
3 History
3.1 Revolution and foundation
3.2 Unification of republics
3.3 Stalin era
3.4 Khrushchev era
3.5 Era of Stagnation
3.6 Gorbachev era
3.7 Dissolution
4 Politics
4.1 Communist Party
4.2 Government
4.3 Separation of power and reform
4.4 Judicial system
5 Administrative divisions
6 Economy
6.1 Energy
6.2 Science and technology
6.3 Transport
7 Demographics
7.1 Education
7.2 Ethnic groups
7.3 Health
7.4 Language
7.5 Religion
8 Culture
9 Sport
10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
13 Bibliography
14 Further reading
14.1 Surveys
14.2 Lenin and Leninism
14.3 Stalin and Stalinism
14.4 World War II
14.5 Cold War
14.6 Collapse
14.7 Specialty studies
15 External links