the soviet union officially the union of
soviet socialist republics or ussr
was a federal socialist state in
northern eurasia that existed from 1922
to 1991 and was the largest country in
the world
nominally a union of multiple national
soviet republics
in practice its government and economy
were highly centralized
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 tashken alma atta
and novosibirsk it spanned over 10 000
kilometers
or 6200 miles east to west across 11
time zones
and over 7 200 kilometers or 4
500 miles north to south its territory
included much of eastern europe
as well as parts of northern europe and
all of northern and central asia
it had five climate zones such as tundra
taiga
steps desert and mountains
the ussr had its roots in the 1917
october revolution
when the bolsheviks led by vladimir
lenin overthrew the russian provincial
government
which had replaced the autocratic
constitutional monarchy of tsar nicholas
ii
during the february revolution of the
same year
in 1922 shortly before a civil war
ending in the bolsheviks victory
the union was formed by a treaty which
united the russian trans-caucasian
ukrainian and bio-russian republics
following lenin's death in 1924 and a
brief power struggle
joseph stalin came to power in the
mid-1920s
stalin formalized the party ideology of
marxism and leninism
and replaced the market economy with a
command economy
which led to a period of forced
industrialization and collectivization
during this period rapid economic
development resulted in dramatic
improvements
in the average standard of living
particularly in urban areas
despite these improvements significant
tragedies also occurred
in addition to drought which was a
primary factor in a long history of
regularly occurring famines in the
region
agricultural collectivization
contributed to a major famine in 1932
1932-1933
causing millions of deaths political
paranoia fermented
especially after the rise of the nazis
in germany in 1933
culminating in the great purge during
which hundreds of thousands of persons
accused of spying or sabotage were
arrested and executed without trial
on august 23 1939 after
unsuccessful efforts to form an
anti-fascist alliance with western
powers
the soviets signed the non-aggression
agreement with nazi germany
after the start of world war ii the
formerly neutral soviets
invaded and annexed territories of
several eastern european states
including eastern poland and the baltic
states in june 1941
germany invaded the ussr opening the
bloody eastern front
soviet casualties accounted for the
highest proportion of the war
in the effort of acquiring the upper
hand over the axis forces
at intense battles such as stalingrad
and cursed
in most of the territories occupied by
the red army after its westward advance
local communists assumed power and
formed governments
allied with the soviets the post-war
division
of europe into capitalist and communist
halves led to increased tensions
with the united states-led western bloc
known as the cold war
stalin died in 1953 and was eventually
seceded
by nikita khrushchev who denounced
stalin in 1956
and began a period of liberal reforms
known as destalinization
the cuban missile crisis which occurred
during khrushchev's rule
was among the many factors that led to
his removal in 1964
being replaced by leonid bresniff
in the early 1970s there was a brief de
taunt of relations with the united
states
but tensions resumed with the soviet
afghan war in 1979
after 1985 mikhail gorbachev the last
soviet premier
sought to reform and liberalize
political life and the economy through
new policies of glasnost
or openness and perestroika
restructuring
these policies caused political
instability arising from nationalist
and separatist movements in 1989
soviet allied states in eastern europe
were overthrown in a wave of revolutions
which ended communist rule as a part of
an attempt to prevent the country's
collapse
a referendum was held in march 1991
boycotted by three republics that
resulted in a majority favoring the
preservation of the union
as a renewed federation gorbachev's
power was greatly diminished
after russian president boris yeltsin's
high profile role
in facing down a coup d'etat by party
hardliners
in late 1991 gorbachev resigned
and the supreme soviet of the soviet
union met and formally dissolved the
union
the remaining 12 constituent republics
emerged as independent post-soviet
states
the russian federation formerly the
russian sfsr
assumed the ussr's rights and
obligations and became recognized as the
de facto successor state
at the same time ukraine declared by law
that it is a state successor of both the
ukrainian ssr
and the ussr today many post-soviet
states
have ongoing disputes both over formerly
soviet territory and property
the ussr produced many significant
social and technological achievements
and innovations of the 20th century
including the world's first ministry of
health first human-made satellite
the first humans in space and the first
probe to land on another planet
venus the country had the world's second
largest economy and the largest standing
military in the world
the ussr was recognized as one of the
five nuclear weapon states
it was a founding permanent member of
the united nations security council
as well as a member of the organization
for security and cooperation in europe
the world federation of trade unions and
the leading member of the council for
mutual economic assistance
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