Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Союз Советских Социалистических Республик Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik
1922–1991
Flag State Emblem
Motto Workers of the world, unite! Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! Proletarii vsekh stran, soyedinyaytes! Literally: Proletarians of all countries, unite!
Anthem The Internationale (1922–1944) State Anthem of the Soviet Union (1944–1991)
The Soviet Union after World War II, not including aligned countries.
Capital		Moscow
Languages		Russian
Religion		None (state atheism)(see text)
Demonym		Soviet, Russian
Government		Federal Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state (until 1990) Federal semi-presidential republic (after 1990)
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		Interwar period / World War II / Cold War
•	Treaty of Creation	30 December 1922
•	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
Preceded by Succeeded by Russian SFSR Transcaucasian SFSR Ukrainian SSR Byelorussian SSR Bukharan People's Soviet Republic Khorezm People's Soviet Republic Estonia Latvia Lithuania Tuvan People's Republic Russia Ukraine Belarus Armenia Azerbaijan Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Moldova Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
Today part of		Russia  Ukraine  Belarus  Abkhazia  Armenia  Azerbaijan  China (parts disputed)  Estonia  Georgia  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Latvia  Lithuania  Moldova  Mongolia  Nagorno-Karabakh Republic  South Ossetia  Tajikistan  Transnistria  Turkmenistan  Uzbekistan
Notes ^ Assigned on 19 September 1990, existing onwards. ^ Constituent republics had right to declare their own official languages ^ States with limited recognition. For details on the succession of states see below.

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. A union of multiple subnational republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The Soviet Union 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 that 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. Stalin suppressed all political opposition to his rule, committed the state 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. Stalin also fomented political paranoia, and conducted the Great Purge to remove opponents of his from the Communist 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 (gulags) or sentenced to death.