Soviet Union (Differently)

**Union of Soviet Socialist Republics**
	Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Flag	Coat of arms
	Anthem; Гимн Советского Союза; (Russian: National Anthem of the Soviet Union); https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/File:Soviet_Union_national_anthem_instrumental_1977.ogg
Capital	Moscow
Government	Federal one-party socialist republic; (1922–1924); Federal Leninist one-party socialist republic under a totalitarian dictatorship; (1924–1927); Federal Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic under a Stalinist totalitarian dictatorship; (1927–1953); Federal Marxist–Leninist one-party directorial parliamentary socialist republic; (1953–1982) under a military dictatorship; (1972–1982);
	Leader
History
	Area
	Population
Density	12.6 /km² (32.6 /sq mi)
Currency	Soviet ruble (руб) (SUR)
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	1922:; Russia
	Ukraine
	Byelorussia
	Finland
	Georgia
	Azerbaijan
	Armenia
	Alaska
	1924:; Estland
	1927:; Lithuania
	1935:; Latvia
West Russia
East Russia
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Chagatai
Uzbekistan
Estland
Latvia
Lithuania
Finland

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or simply the Soviet Union, was a vast socialist federation in Eurasia and North America that existed from 1922, when it was formed during the Russian Revolution, until its dissolution in 1982, with a continuation as East Russia by now. It was a union of seventeen Soviet republics, the biggest and most important of them being Russia.

The USSR bordered Norway, Sweden, Poland, Danubia and Vlachia to the west; West Persia and East Persia to the southwest; China and Mongolia to the southeast; and Canada to the east. It was bounded by numerous bodies of water, including the Baltic Sea, the Arctic Sea, the the Black Sea, Caspian Sea and the North Pacific.

The Union covered a total of 23 million square kilometers (or about 8 million square miles), being one of the largest sovereign states in history. This territory encompassed five climate zones such as tundra, taiga, steppes, desert, and mountains. In its last year of existence, it had a population of about 290 million people. Its highly diverse population was collectively known as the Soviet people. During most of its existence, the country had the world's largest economy and largest standing military.

The Soviet Union had a highly centralized government and economy. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian SFSR. Other major urban centers were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata and Novosibirsk.

Politics and hierarchy[]

There were three power hierarchies in the Soviet Union: the legislature represented by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the government represented by the Council of Ministers, and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only legal party and the final policymaker in the country.

History[]

Origins and Lenin's rule (1917–24)[]

The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 when the Bolsheviks, headed by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the republic that had earlier replaced the Russian tsarist monarchy, after the former ruling Romanovs went into exile. They established the Russian Soviet Republic, beginning a civil war between the Bolshevik Red Army and many anti-Bolshevik forces across the former empire, among whom the largest faction was the White Guard. The disastrous distractive effect of the war and the Bolshevik policies led to 5 million deaths during the 1921–1922 famine in the region of Povolzhye. The Red Army expanded and helped local Communists take power, establishing soviets, repressing their political opponents and rebellious peasants through the policies of Red Terror and War Communism. In 1922, the Communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian and Byelorussian republics. The New Economic Policy (NEP) which was introduced by Lenin, led to a partial return of a free market and private property, resulting in a period of economic recovery and rapid industrialization. At that time, the recently ended Great War had left Europe in ruins and economic crisis, weakening the European powers and creating a power vacuum. The common opinion was that the Soviet Union and the United States were emerging superpowers that would eventually supersede Europe. This is generally thought to be the start of the Cold War.

During the first post-Civil War years, the Soviet Union rebuilt and expanded its economy and influence. It took effective control over most of the countries of Eastern Europe, turning them into satellite states, which it bound in a military alliance and economic organization. It also instituted trading arrangements deliberately designed to favor the country. Moscow aided the communist parties that ruled the satellite states, and they followed orders from the Kremlin. Later, the Soviets supplied aid to the eventually victorious communists that formed the Confederation of American Socialist States, and its influence grew elsewhere in the world. Fearing its ambitions, countries with political and economical ideologies opposing that of the Soviet Union around the world became its enemies. In the ensuing Cold War, the two sides clashed indirectly in proxy wars.

Stalin's rule (1924–53)[]

Following Lenin's death in 1924, a troika and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all political opposition to his rule inside the Communist Party, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism and ended the NEP, initiating a centrally planned economy. As a result, the industrialization continued even faster, but the country underwent a period of forced collectivization, which led to a significant economic growth, but also led to a man-made famine in 1932–1933 and expanded the Gulag labor camp system founded back in 1918. Stalin also fomented political paranoia and, in order to eradicate accused "enemies of the working class", conducted the "Great Purge" to remove opponents of his from the Party through the mass arbitrary arrest of many people (military leaders, Communist Party members and ordinary citizens alike) who were then sent to correctional labor camps or sentenced to death. Over a million were imprisoned and at least 700,000 executed between 1934 and 1939. By 1937, Stalin had complete personal control over the party and state.

Stalin's government promoted Marxism–Leninism abroad through the Communist International and supported European anti-monarchist and anti-fascist movements during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, particularly in the Iberian War and the West Persian Revolution of 1951. He led the Soviet Union throughout many of its technological developments of the Cold War, including the initial push towards astronautics.

Widely considered one of the 20th century's most significant figures, Stalin was the subject of a pervasive personality cult within the international Marxist–Leninist movement, which revered him as a champion of the working class and socialism.

Khrushchev's rule (1953–65)[]

After Stalin's death in March 1953, a power struggle ensued in which Nikita Khrushchev emerged victorious upon consolidating his authority as First Secretary of the party's Central Committee. On 25 February 1956, at the 20th Party Congress, he delivered the "Secret Speech", which denounced Stalin's purges and ushered in a less repressive era in the Soviet Union.

A period known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchev Thaw occurred under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev. The country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. Moscow considered Eastern Europe to be a critically vital buffer zone for the forward defence of its western borders, in case of a major invasion. For this reason, the USSR sought to cement its control of the region by maintaining control over its satellite states, including Danubia, Vlachia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Japan, and North Korea. They were dependent upon and subservient to its leadership. Soviet military force was used to suppress several anti-Communist uprisings in Danubia and Poland during the 1950s.

During the mid to late 1950s, Soviet spies engaged in failed attempts to foment major socialist revolutions in China, Canada, and Germany, in an attempt to increase Soviet influence. Although most of the spies fled after their failure, others were found and executed for treachery. Despite that, the Soviet military succeeded in aiding North Vietnam for a long period during the Vietnam War, in which the communists had many chances of victory.

Despite failures, the Soviet Union did see its sphere of influence expand with successful socialist revolutions in nations such as Las Bahías and Aṉangu, creating a strong Soviet presence on the Australian continent.

Sputnik asm — Replica of the *Sputnik 1*, the first artificial satellite

Luna 17 moon landing — **Soviet** cosmonaut Georgy Dobrovolsky steps on lunar soil on 10 December 1970 during the Luna 17 mission, marking the first human visit to an astronomical body other than Earth.

In the late 1950s and the 1960s, the USSR dominated most of the Space Race, launching the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 in 1957; a living dog named Laika in 1957; the first human being, Yuri Gagarin in 1961; the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova in 1963; Alexei Leonov, the first person to walk in space in 1965; the first soft landing on the Moon by spacecraft Luna 9 in 1966; Venera 7, the first probe to land on another planet (Venus), and the promise that the Luna program would land humans on the moon by 1970. All this dwarfed the First World's attempts in the astronautic field in the 1950s and 1960s, as the European countries did not invest much in their space agencies at the time.

Khrushchev initiated "The Thaw", a complex shift in political, cultural and economic life in the country. This included some openness and contact with other nations and new social and economic policies with more emphasis on commodity goods, allowing a dramatic rise in living standards while maintaining high levels of economic growth. Censorship was relaxed as well. Khrushchev's reforms in agriculture and administration, however, were generally unproductive. Khrushchev ordered major cuts in conventional military forces, hoping eventually to rely on missiles for national defense. The Soviet Union also operated the world's oldest ministry of health and had a vibrant economy at the time.

Khrushchev died in an airplane crash in April 1965, while travelling from Moscow to Vienna in Danubia. Due to the advancements and glory achieved during his rule, he is remembered by many to have been the best leader the Soviet Union ever had, perhaps even better than Lenin. To this day, a huge statue of him stands in Kursk.

Brezhnev's rule (1965–72)[]

After Khrushchev's death, Leonid Brezhnev took over as First Secretary. Brezhnev's conservative, pragmatic approach to leadership significantly stabilized the position of the Soviet Union and its ruling party. In 1970, the Luna 17 space mission successfully landed on the moon, bringing the first ever astronauts to an astronomical body other than Earth. While Brezhnev's rule was characterized by this achievement, political stability and notable foreign policy successes, it was also marked by corruption, inefficiency, and later rapidly growing technological gaps with the West.

On the 2nd of July 1972 Brezhnev was assassinated by student Vladimar Huznikov. He was shot in the stomach and died three hours thereafter, while Huznikov was shot ten times in the chest and bled out a few minutes later. This tragic event appeared in news worldwide and helped to promote the idea that the Soviet Union was a dangerous and unstable country.

Ustinov's rule (1972–75)[]

E4096707-B032-48E2-B02D-E235F9E71E99 — Dmitry Ustinov

After Brezhnev's assassination, Andrei Gromyko became General Secretary - however, Marshal Dmitry Ustinov, who opposed Gromyko, ordered his forces to take control of Moscow and overthrow Gromyko. He was named General Secretary three days later.

Ustinov inherited an empire in decline. During his rule, Soviet achievements were far surpassed by the First World, which collectively realized the first landing on Mars. Furthermore, the Soviet economy was stagnated due to a number of factors, including their extremely expensive but failed attempts to reach Mars before the capitalist bloc, the expensive efforts in building and populating Ustinovgrad, while the economies of western countries were stable or growing. Between 1974 and 1975, Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe and allies throughout the world overthrew their respective communist regimes (exceptions included the Confederation of American Socialist States, which endured until its defeat on the American War in 1978). This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well. In the end of the year, seeing the situation of the Soviet Union deteriorated and without allies, Ustinov eventually resigned on October 1975.

Yazov's rule (1975–82)[]

Dissolution (1982)[]

Before the dissolution was officially agreed upon, there were agreements about how the union's fragmentation would occur. The outcomes were the following:

Soviet autonomy remained in Russian territory east of the Urals as East Russia;
The Soviet government west of the Urals was entirely transferred to the Russian republic as the new Russian Federation (then known as West Russia);
The republics of Latvia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Finland were restored as independent countries;
The monarchies of Estland and Georgia were restored after referendums.
The republics of Ukraine and Chagatai became new independent countries;
The republics of Belarus, Alaska and Kazakhstan were integrated into the new Russian Federation.

The dissolution of the federation, after agreed upon on a referendum, occurred officially on 4 December 1982.

Republics of the Soviet Union[]

Name	Capital	Year of Formation	Post-Soviet and de facto states
Alaskan Soviet Socialist Republic	Novo-Arkhangelsk	1922	East Russia
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic	Yerevan	1922	File:Armenia flag Differently.png Armenia
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic	Baku	1922	Azerbaijan
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic	Minsk	1922	Belarus
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic	Tallinn	1924	Estland
Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic	Helsinki	1922	Finland
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic	Tbilisi	1922	Georgia
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic	Almaty/Alma-Ata	1936	Kazakhstan
Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic	Bishkek/Frunze	1936	Chagatai
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic	Riga	1927	Latvia
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic	Vilnius	1935	Lithuania
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic	Chisinau/Kishinev	1940	Moldova (later Vlachia)
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic	Moscow	1922	West Russia
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic	Kyiv/Kiev	1922	Ukraine
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic	Tashkent	1924	Uzbekistan