The Soviet Union (short for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR) was a single-party communist state. It existed from 1922 until 1991. It was the first country to declare itself socialist and build towards a communist society. It was a union of 14 Soviet Socialist Republics and one Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russia).
The Soviet Union was created about five years after the Russian Revolution. It was announced after Vladimir Lenin overthrew Alexander Kerensky as Russian leader. The communist government developed industry and over time became a major, powerful union. The largest country in the Union was Russia, and Kazakhstan was the second. The capital city of the Soviet Union was Moscow. The Soviet Union expanded its political control greatly after World War II. It took over the whole of Eastern Europe. Those countries were not made part of the Soviet Union, but they were controlled by the Soviet Union indirectly. These countries, like Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany, were called satellite states.
Although the constitution said the Republics could leave the Union if they wanted, in practice it was a completely centralized government, with no states' rights for the member countries.
The Union was formed with the professed idea to give everyone equal social and economic rights. There was virtually no private property - everything belonged to the state. 'Soviets', or workers' councils were created to speak for the workers, and served as an elite group to govern them. It was successful in many fields; putting the first man and satellite into space and winning World War II alongside the United States and United Kingdom. However, its centralized government found innovation and change difficult to handle. The union collapsed in 1991, partly due to the efforts at reform by its leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.
Contents:
Soviet Leaders
Wars
Soviet Policies
Cold War
Struggles of the Soviet Union in the 1980s
Fall of Communism in Soviet Union
- Gorbachev, Mikhail
- Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe
- Soviet Economy Collapse
See also:
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