SSSR
| Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |
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Союз Советских Социалистических Республик Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik |
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Motto Workers of the world, unite! Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! Proletarii vsekh stran, soyedinyaytes! Literally: Proletarians of all countries, unite! |
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Anthem The Internationale (1922–1944) State Anthem of the Soviet Union (1944–1991) |
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.svg) The Soviet Union after World War II, not including aligned countries.
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| Capital | Moscow | |||||
| Languages | Russian (all-union official since 1990) | |||||
| Religion | None (state atheism)(see text) | |||||
| Demonym | Soviet, Russian (informal) | |||||
| Government |
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| General Secretary | ||||||
| • | 1922–1952 | Joseph Stalin (first) | ||||
| • | 1991 | Vladimir Ivashko (last) | ||||
| Head of state | ||||||
| • | 1922–1938 | Mikhail Kalinin (first) | ||||
| • | 1988–1991 | Mikhail Gorbachev (last) | ||||
| Head of government | ||||||
| • | 1922–1924 | Vladimir Lenin (first) | ||||
| • | 1991 | Ivan Silayev (last) | ||||
| Legislature | Supreme Soviet | |||||
| • | Upper house | Soviet of the Union | ||||
| • | Lower house | Soviet of Nationalities | ||||
| Historical era | 20th century | |||||
| • | Treaty of Creation | 30 December 1922 | ||||
| • | Admitted to the United Nations | 25 October 1945 | ||||
| • | Constitution adopted | 9 October 1977 | ||||
| • | Union dissolved | 26 December 1991 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| • | 1991 | 22,402,200 km² (8,649,538 sq mi) | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| • | 1991 est. | 293,047,571 | ||||
| Density | 13.1 /km² (33.9 /sq mi) | |||||
| Currency | Soviet ruble (руб) (SUR) | |||||
| Internet TLD | .su | |||||
| Calling code | +7 | |||||
| Today part of |
 Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus China Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova Mongolia Poland Russia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan
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Notes
For details on the succession of states see below. |
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For details on the succession of states see below.
The Soviet Union (Russian: Сове́тский Сою́з, tr. Sovetskiy Soyuz [sɐ'vʲetskʲɪj sɐˈjʉs]), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик (СССР), Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪsˈtʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪˈspublʲɪk]), was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple subnational Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized in a state that was unitary in most respects. The country was a one-party federation, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital.
The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917, when the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Russian Provisional Government which had replaced Tsar Nicholas II. This established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (Russian SFSR) and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary "Reds" and the counter-revolutionary "Whites." The Red Army entered several territories of the former Russian Empire and helped local communists take power through workers' councils called "soviets", which nominally acted on behalf of workers and peasants. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian republics. Following Lenin's death in 1924, a collective leadership (troika) and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Political opposition to his government was suppressed, and he committed the state's ideology to Marxism–Leninism (which he created), and initiated a centrally planned command economy. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Political paranoia was also fomented around Stalin, and the Great Purge was carried out to remove his opponents from the Communist Party through the arbitrary arrest of many people (military leaders, Communist Party members, and commoners) who were then either sentenced to death or sent to correctional labor camps.
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