The USSR was a world power from 1917 to 1991, including Russia and adjacent states. Founded by a communist revolution, it was governed by the Communist Party and later led by Josef Stalin, responsible for the deaths of over 60 million people. The USSR became an ally of the US, France, and Great Britain in World War II, but tensions with the West led to the Cold War. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 due to citizens preferring capitalism, resulting in the creation of new nations. Relations between Russia and the West are tense but better than during the Cold War.
The Soviet Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is a former country that included today’s Russian Federation and a number of adjacent states, including the Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania), Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and others. The USSR was a major world power during its existence, which began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 and continued until its collapse in 1991. The Soviet Union and the United States were the main rivals from the end of World War II until the late 1980s, creating a conflict known as the “Cold War” in which superpowers fought each other by proxy. Many people believe that billions of people could have been killed if a nuclear war had broken out between the two countries, but thankfully it never happened.
The Soviet Union was founded in 1917, when Russian peasants got fed up with the monarchy, presided over by the uncharismatic Tsar Nicholas II. Some intellectuals in Russia embraced the idea of communism, a socialist philosophy promoted by the philosopher Karl Marx in his 1848 political manuscript, The Communist Manifesto. The basic idea of communism was to establish a classless and stateless society in which the means of production were owned by the people. Through revolutionary activity, these intellectuals eventually made their way, overthrowing the tsar and executing the entire royal family. While it seemed like a sound idea on paper, unfortunately the implementation of communism in the USSR was deeply corrupt and deadly for many.
The Soviet Union was founded around a revolution led by the Bolshevik Party, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. After five years of riots and purges between 1917 and 1922, it finally unified and was recognized by other nations around the world. The country was governed by only one party, the Communist Party. When Lenin died in 1924, he was replaced by Josef Stalin, who later became known as one of the most brutal mass murderers in history.
The Soviet Union under Stalin was a terrible time, characterized by artificial famines and the incarceration of millions in forced labor camps called gulags. It is estimated that Stalin’s actions led to the deaths of over 60 million people. When World War II broke out in the late 1930s, the USSR became an ally of the United States, France and Great Britain in the war against the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan). After a long campaign by the Nazis in an attempt to invade the country, Hitler’s forces were finally driven back, with most of the invaders killed.
After World War II, the Soviet Union consolidated its influence in Eastern Europe, an area that became known as “behind the Iron Curtain”, in part due to political repression and a media blackout. The West sided against the Soviet Union, starting the long Cold War. On a more positive note, this also ignited the Space Race, where the United States and the USSR competed to see who could achieve more space “firsts” than the other. The USSR managed to launch the first satellite and the first man into space, while the USA managed to put the first man on the moon.
The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 after its citizens decided they preferred capitalism. This has caused Moscow to give up several satellite states it previously controlled, resulting in the creation of a multiplicity of new nations. Today, relations between the Russian Federation and the West are a little tense, but better than they were during the Cold War.
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