Soviet Union (A 20th Century Future)

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics abbreviated to USSR or the Soviet Union is a constitutionally socialist nation which was founded in 1922, it is ruled as a Communist single party state. It is a union of 15 sub-national Soviet Republics and several space Soviets and orbital autonomous socialist zones. In practice, the Soviet Union was highly centralized until recent reforms. The largest ethnic group, the Russians, have political, cultural and economic control over the Union. However, an increasing amount of ethnic minorities are seeking greater say in their republics. The Soviet Union is the largest nation by area and the fourth largest by population.

History
Following the January 22nd 1969, Assasination of Lenoid Brezhnev (General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and de-facto leader of the USSR) Alexei Kosygin was left in his position as "most powerful man in Russia" however unlike Brezhnev he prefered to distribute his power into a collective leadership (a form of inner-Party Democracy that lasts to this day). Between 1969 and 1980 this Collective leadership modernized the Soviet Economy while strengthening the Marxist-Leninist Political Process and Power of the Party. Following Kosygin's death former KGB head Yuri Andropov initiated a four year (1980-1984) anti-corruption campaign that eliminated much cronyism and favoritism. Mikhail Gorbachev's administration that followed (1984-1999) was known for his aggressive policy towards the West known as the "Gorbachev Doctrine".

Government
The current General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is Gannady Zyuganov.



Economy


Alexei Kosygin reformed the command economy within a socialist framework. In 1965 Kosygin initiated an economic reform widely referred to as the "Kosygin reform". Kosygin sought to make Soviet industry more efficient by including some market measures common in the First World such as profit making for instance, he also tried to increase quantity of production, increase incentives for managers and workers, and freeing managers from centralised state bureaucracy.

The salary for Soviet citizens increased abruptly by almost 2.5 times during the plan. Real wages in 1980 amounted to 232.7 rubles, compared to 166.3 rubles before the 1965 Soviet economic reform and the Eight-Five Year Plan. The first period, 1960–1964, was characterised by low growth, while the second period, 1965–1981, had a stronger growth rate. The second period vividly demonstrated the success of the Kosygin reform, with the average annual growth in retail turnover being 11.2 billion rubles, 1.8 times higher than in the first period and 1.2 times higher than the third period (1981–1985). Consumption of goods and daily demand also increased. The consumption of home appliances greatly increased. Refrigerators increased from a low of 109,000 in 1964 to 440,000 units by 1973; consumption declined during the reversal of the reform. Car production increased, and would continue to do so

The Eighth Five-Year Plan (1966–1970) is considered to be one of the most successful periods for the Soviet economy and the most successful when it comes to consumer production (see The "Kosygin" reform).[9] The 23rd Party Congress and the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1971–1975) had been postponed by Brezhnev due to a power struggle within the Soviet leadership.[19] At the 23rd Party Congress Kosygin promised that the Ninth Five-Year Plan would increase the supply of food, clothing and other household appliances up to 50 percent.[38] The plan envisaged a massive increase in the Soviet standard of living, with Kosygin proclaiming a growth of 40 percent for the population's cash income in his speech to the congress.[39]

The Tenth Five-Year Plan (1976–1981) was referred to by Kosygin as the "plan of quality". Kosygin's plan called for producing more consumer goods during the Tenth Five-Year Plan. Kosygin's son-in-law notes that Kosygin was furious with the the military, and proclaimed increased defence expenditure would become the Soviet Union's "complete ruin". Therefore spending in this area was slashed while still maintaining a troops throughout Eastern Europe. The plan was even more ambitious than its predecessors, with targets of national industrial growth significantly higher than what the rest of the world had already achieved. Soviet agriculture improved steadily during this period.

Foreign policy and military
The Soviet Union is one of the most important nations in the world and is the leader of the Eastern Bloc nations which are centered around the Eastern European nation. Yugoslavia, Romania, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary are all members. Albania has stubbornly refused accusing the Soviet Union as revisionist and instead allying with North Korea.

The Soviet Union is the second largest source of space-based orbital weapons platforms (behind the United States ahead of West Germany and China)

Science and Technology
On April 11th 1961 the Soviet Union launched Yuri Gagarin, the first man to Orbit the Earth and reach Space. Vostok 2 through 6 launched in 1961-1963 followed by the three person Voskhod 1 in 1964 and EVA performing Voskhod 2 in 1965. The Soyuz spacecraft immedietly followed after a fatal test launch in 1967 and a successful Earth Orbit docking missions in 1968 and 69. By 1969 the Soyuz 7K-L1 performed Manned Circumlunar spaceflights around the Moon prior to Apollo-11's eventual landing. In 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974 Salyut 1 through 4 were launched in succession becoming the first Manned Space Stations in human history.

With the first successful launch of the N-1 superbooster in November 1972 manned missions to land on the Moon quickly followed as the USSR re-entered the Space Race.

Begining in 1975 the Soviets began construction of Zvezda, the first permanent lunar base. The initial nine modules were pre-equipped in the factory for specialized functions: command module, laboratory/warehouse module, workshop module, midpoint module, medical/gymnasium module, galley module with dining room, and three living modules. In 1975 the inital crew complement was just 9.

These units on the moon had a false windows, showing scenes of the Earth countryside that would change to correspond with the season back in Moscow. The exercise bicycle was equipped with a synchronized film projector, that allowed the cosmonaut to take a 'ride' out of Moscow with return. These psychological measures were felt important to maintain the crew's mental health.

Recently there has been increasing cooperation with the United States in Space Exploration including joint work on Space Station V and the Alexei Leonov Jupiter Mission.

Demographics
Population Population: 310,740,821 (2013)

Population growth rate 0.7% (2013)

Crude birth rate 18 births/1,000 population (2013)

Crude death rate 10 deaths/1,000 population (2013)

Net migration rate[edit] 0 migrants/1,000 population (2013)

Infant mortality rate 24 deaths/1,000 live births (2013)

Life expectancy at birth 65 years male, 74 years female (2013)

Total fertility rate 2.4 children born/woman (2013)

Nationality noun - Soviet(s); adjective - Soviet

Literacy 99.9%

Labor force 172,300,000 civilians; 80% industry and other nonagricultural fields, 20% agriculture; shortage of skilled labor (2013)

Organized labor 98% of workers are union members; all trade unions are organized within the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (AUCCTU) and conduct their work under guidance of the Communist party