Soviet Union

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Protección del Palacio Tauride durante el Segundo Congreso Regional de los Soviets

Russian civil war in the west

Russia Famine Saratov 1921

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union, officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a federal sovereign state in northern Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, in practice its government and economy were highly centralized until its later years. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital within its largest and most populous republic, the Russian SFSR. Other major urban centers were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk.

History

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 during World War I. In 1922, the Soviet Union was officially established when the Russian SFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, and the Byelorussian SSR signed the Treaty of Creation of the USSR.

The Soviet Union was a major player on the global stage, particularly during the Cold War, when its rivalry with the United States dominated international relations. It was a founding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as well as a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and the leading member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) and the Warsaw Pact.

The economy of the Soviet Union was the world's second largest, after the United States, and was focused on a system of state ownership of industry managed through Gosplan (the State Planning Committee), Gosbank (the State Bank), and the Gossnab (State Commission for Materials and Equipment Supply). Despite significant achievements in the space race, exemplified by launching the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into space, the economy began to stagnate in the 1970s, leading to a period of economic and political stagnation known as the Era of Stagnation.

The Soviet Union's last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, introduced major reforms in the late 1980s, such as glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), in an attempt to modernize the economy and make the political system more transparent. However, these reforms accelerated the dissolution processes within the Soviet Union, leading to its collapse in 1991. The Russian Federation was recognized as its legal successor.

Politics

The Soviet Union was a one-party state, with the Communist Party holding all political power. The party's highest body was the Party Congress, which convened every five years. Between congresses, the Central Committee was the party's highest decision-making institution. The government was organized around a highly centralized Soviet system, with legislative power vested in the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, a bicameral body consisting of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities.

Economy

The Soviet economy was based on a system of state ownership of the means of production, collective farming, industrial manufacturing, and centralized administrative planning. The country was a major producer of steel, oil, and coal, as well as a wide range of manufactured goods and military equipment. The Five-Year Plans for the National Economy of the USSR were a series of nationwide centralized economic plans.

Culture

The culture of the Soviet Union was influenced by the government's promotion of a specific set of beliefs and practices which sought to promote the Communist ideology. This included the promotion of atheism, the endorsement of Russian language and culture at the expense of other national cultures, and the suppression of religious and national identities. Despite this, the Soviet Union was also a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities, with significant contributions to art, music, literature, and film.

Dissolution

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a result of a combination of economic stagnation, ethnic tensions, and the reforms of Gorbachev, which ultimately led to the independence of the constituent republics. The event marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the sole superpower in the world.