Anthem of the Soviet Union

State Anthem of the Soviet Union

State anthem of Russian SFSR Soviet Union
Lyrics	Gabriel El-Registan, Sergey Mikhalkov (1943 and 1977)
Music	Alexander Alexandrov, 1938 (?)
Adopted	1 January 1944 1 September 1977 (modified version)
Relinquished	26 December 1991 (as anthem of the Soviet Union) 23 November 1990 (as anthem of the Russian SFSR)
Audio sample
State Anthem of the USSR (instrumental) file help

Slav’sya, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoye! (Russian: Славься, Отечество наше свободное!; Slavjsja, Otečestvo naše svobodnoje!, Russian pronunciation: [ˈslafʲsʲə, ɐˈtʲet͡ɕɪstvə ˈnaʂᵻ svɐˈbodnəjᵻ], lit. "Be glorious, our free Fatherland!"), officially known as the "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" (Russian: Государственный гимн СССР, tr. Gosudarstvenny Gimn SSSR) was introduced during World War II on 15 March 1944, replacing The Internationale as the official anthem of the Soviet Union and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The lyrics were written by Sergey Mikhalkov (1913–2009) in collaboration with Gabriel El-Registan (1899–1945) and the music was composed by Alexander Alexandrov (1883–1946). Although the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, its national anthem's melody continues to be used in the Russian Federation's national anthem, which has different lyrics from the version used in the Soviet Union.

The music was originally composed by Alexander Alexandrov in 1930 for the Hymn of the Bolshevik Party with lyrics by Vasily Lebedev-Kumach, adapted from an older song of Alexandrov's, Life Has Become Better. When came time for a new national anthem to replace The Internationale and boost the morale of Soviet forces fighting the threat of The Third Reich, Alexandrov used his pre-existing melody and had Gabriel El-Registan create new lyrics for the hymn of the united republics.