Soviet Union: origin, leaders, conflicts and end

THE Unitysoviet or Unityof therepublicssocialistsSoviets (USSR) was a nation that existed between 1922 and 1991. The Soviet Union emerged as direct result of Russian revolution, which took place in 1917 and turned Russia into a nationsocialist. The transformations in this led to its unification with other Soviet republics in the early 1920s.

The Soviet Union was the world symbol of socialism and led the communist bloc during the years of Cold War. At the end of the decade of 1970, the Soviet Union started a strongcrisiseconomical that led the country into recession and a crisispolitics, which contributed to the fragmentation of the Soviet Union and your end, in 1991.

Know more: Russian Revolution—important starting point for the creation of the USSR

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Which countries were part of the Soviet Union

The USSR was composed of 15 different republics who gained their independence at the end of that nation in 1991. These were:

• Russia

• Ukraine

• Belarus

• Estonia

• Latvia

• Lithuania

• Armenia

• Georgia

• Moldavia

• Azerbaijan

• Kazakhstan

• Tajikistan

• Kyrgyzstan

• Turkmenistan

• Uzbekistan

Not all of these republics were part of the USSR from its inception, as somefrom them, such as the Baltic nations (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), wereattached to Soviet territory only from the decade of 1940. The Soviet republics encompassed a great ethnic and cultural diversity, and the Russia It was the bigger and more powerful Soviet nation.

That diversityethnic is even reflected in the Russiacurrent, the great heir of the Soviet legacy that has in its territory more than 20 autonomous republics, each with its own cultural and language traits, such as Chechnya.

Also access: Understand the conflict that existed in the Chechnya region

Formation of the Soviet Union

The origin of the USSR is directly related to the Russian Revolution of 1917.

THE origin of the Soviet Union is directly related to the Russian Revolution of 1917, the movement that consolidated the Bolsheviks' rise to power in Russia. You Bolsheviks, led by vladimirLenin, managed to unseat the Provisional Government, who had overthrown the tsarist monarchy in early 1917.

Soon after Lenin assumed power, the Russiasoviet and then began a period of civil war, when opposition forces, aided by foreign nations, began a counterrevolutionary reaction. THE WarCivilRussian extended from 1918 to 1921, leaving a balance of millionsindead it's the parentsdevastated.

During this conflict, the ArmyRed, with the object of defending the revolution from the international invasion. Once victorious in the civil war, the governmentcommunist used his troops to ensure the implantationofsocialism inside Soviet territory, and this contributed to the unification of a series innations who formed the USSR at the end of 1922.

Read too: Socialism — the current of thought that shaped Soviet ideology

The struggle for power

Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution and ruled the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924.

As soon as the Bolsheviks took power from Russia, the leadership of the country was exercised by vladimirLenin, until 1924. During this period, this performed transformations in Russia, while preserving structures to guarantee the governability of the war-torn country. In the economy, the New Economic Policy (NEP).

This economic plan was implemented from 1921, after it was approved at the 10th Congress of the Communist Party. This policy was a reintroduction ofmarket economy in the USSR as an emergency measure to recover the country's economy, destroyed after the war. It basically consisted of dismantling revolutionary measures taken between 1917 and 1921.

In 1922, however, a great shock hit the USSR: the Lenin's health deteriorated. The ruler of Soviet Russia (which would become the USSR at the end of that year) suffered a stroke and he had to withdraw from his duties to regain his health. Lenin's situation worsened even his death, in January 1924.

Lenin's declining health led to a power struggle in the USSR which focused on two big names in the Communist Party: josephStalin and LeonTrotsky. Other party names, such as grigoriZinoviev and LevKamenev, were involved in the dispute for power, but Stalin prevailed as general secretary of the USSR.

Altogether the USSR had sevenrulers many different. The list of Soviet rulers is as follows:

• Vladimir Lenin (1917-1924)

• Josef Stalin (1924-1953)

• Nikita Khrushchev (1953-1964)

• Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1982)

• Yuri Andropov (1982-1984)

• Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985)

• Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991)

Stalinism

Josef Stalin ruled the USSR from 1924 and 1953 and was marked by authoritarianism and persecution of opponents. [1]

O Stalinism was the period during which the USSR was ruled by Joseph Stalin. This happened between 1924 and 1953, and Stalin's rise, as mentioned, came after a power struggle with Trostky. The vision of power of the first defended the "socialism in one country”, an idea that clashed with the theory of permanent and international revolution defended by the latter.

Stalinism is understood by many historians as a totalitarian regime, given the high level of authoritarianism practiced during this period of Soviet history. The Stalinist regime was marked by the leader worship implemented from the 1930s and by the persecution of any kind of internal opposition.

During his rule, Stalin ordered the prison and execution of millions of people. Many of these arrests were the result of Stalin's paranoia, who believed that everyone was conspiring against him. Many of the prisoners were sent to forced labor camps, the gulags, places where they worked until exhaustion or were executed.

Stalin's action of eliminating any kind of internal opposition led him to expel Trotsky from the Soviet Union in 1929 and the order its execution in 1940, while he was in exile in Mexico. Even people who had been his allies, like Nikolai Bukharin, were executed at the behest of the Soviet dictator.

In addition to being responsible for the arrest and execution of millions, the Stalinist government was also responsible for the death of millions of people from starvation as a result of the collectivization of Soviet farms, that happened in the early 1930s. Peasants were forced to work on land taken by the state and hand over their entire production. Lack of food led to death of millions bystarvation, especially in Ukraine.

Stalinism also marked the massive investment in the country's industrial development through the plansQuinquennials. Historian Lewis Siegelbaum presents data showing that the Five-Year Plan sought to increase investment in industry by 228%, industrial production by 180%, electricity generation by 335%, and the industrial workforce by 39%.|1| Stalin ruled the Soviet Union even 1953,year of your death.

Read too: Discover the history of fascism in Italy

Soviet Union in World War II

In 1941, the Soviet Union was invaded by Nazi troops through Operation Barbarossa.

O Soviet Union involvement at Second World War was fundamental for the defeat of Nazism. In August 1939, the country signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Nazi Germany, which opened the way for the Germans to start their attack against poland. With this agreement, the Soviets also began their plans for invasion of Polish territory.

Between 1939 and 1941, the Soviets were involved in small war scenarios: a Battle of Khalkhin Gol and the WarinWinter. In addition, they were involved in the death of more than 20,000 Poles in the Katyn massacre, carried out by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD.

As of June 1941, the Soviet Union's entry into the war happened when the Nazis started the Operation Barbarossa, the plan of invasion and conquest of Soviet territory. Despite numerous warnings, Stalin left the USSRunprotected. The first months of the Soviets' battle against the Germans were marked by countlessdefeats.

You Soviets found themselves cornered on several fronts. In the north, the Germans surrounded Leningrad and left the city to starve; in the center, they were a few kilometers from Moscow; and in the South they invested heavily against Stalingrad and the Caucasus. THE resistancesoviet in Stalingrad during the battle that took place in that city was responsible for breaking the strength of the Nazi army.

Another important battle took place in Kursk when the Soviets forced the Nazis to halt their last offensive on the eastern battlefront. The Soviets ended up doing all the work of liberation of Eastern Europe from Nazi rule. The last battle of the Soviets against the Nazis took place during the battle of berlin, which marked Nazism's capitulation to the war.

Also access: See how the Soviets recaptured Budapest from Nazi hands

Cold War

After World War II, the USSR emerged as world power owning a big mightmilitary and economic, despite all the destruction and approximately 20 million deaths during World War II. The establishment of Soviet troops in the EastEuropean led to the emergence in that region of communist regimes that became part of the blockcommunist, which was led by the Soviets throughout the Cold War years.

The struggle of the Soviets for world hegemony, between 1947 and 1991, caused heavyinvestments were carried out in areas such as sport, industrywar and technology. THE space race, for example, was a field in which the Soviets vied for hegemony against the Americans.

O blockcommunist, in turn, was marked by the lack of political freedom evidenced by numerous authoritarian Soviet interventions in the communist bloc, such as those that took place in the Hungary, in 1956, and in the Czechoslovakia, in 1968. THE construction of the Berlin Wall it was also another demonstration of the authoritarian action of communist governments in preventing the population of East Germany from having the right to move to West Germany.

See more: Sputnik 1 - the Soviet program that sent the first satellite into space

De-Stalinization

Stalin died in 1953, and power in the USSR was transferred to NikitaKhrushchev. The new Soviet ruler was responsible for what became known as de-Stalinization. Khrushchev tried to put end Stalin's personality cult through denunciations of crimes committed by the Stalinist regime.

Among the measures taken by de-Stalinization was the rehabilitation of peoplewho had been condemned during the Stalinist government. The great symbol of the de-Stalinization of the USSR was a speech by Nikita Khrushchev during the 20th Congress of the Communist Party, which took place in 1956.

According to historian Gregory L. Freeze, Khrushchev, during this speech, "presented a devastating exposition of Stalin's crimes after Kirov's assassination in December 1934."|2| Khrushchev's speech commented on crimes carried out during the 1930s, during the war and in the postwar period.

Decadence

Leonid Brezhnev (left) was ruler of the USSR between 1964 and 1982, and his rule was marked by a period of stagnation. [2]

THE decay of the ussr started during the government of LeonidBrezhnev, president of the country between 1964 and 1982. The period when Brezhnev was at the head of the Soviet Union is considered to be a period of great stagnation that gave start to finish of the USSR. Brezhnev put an end to the reshuffling of government cadres and made administrative posts held by the same person for years.

This resulted in the aging of the average age of government members and impaired the quality of work performed in government positions. Gregory L. Freeze also mentioned that this, in the long run, contributed to rooting corruption among the ranks of the government, especially in high-level positions.|3|

Another negative point of the Brezhnev government was the economy. From the 1970s onwards, numerous indicators demonstrated the weakening of the Soviet economy. GDP growth declined dramatically and the number of available workers dropped significantly. Finally, crisis agriculture and the drop in industrial growth completed the picture of the Soviet economic crisis.

Despite a declining economy, the situation was masked by the amount of money that entered the country through the Petroleum It's from gold — two products that were at high prices on the international market at the time. This helped to hide the shortcomings of the Soviet economy, creating a feeling that the economy was doing well.

THE Soviet economy crisis worsened when the country decided invade Afghanistan to guarantee the support of the communist regime that existed in that country. Over a decade, this war cost billions of dollars and bled the economy of the USSR. When Brezhnev died in 1982, the USSR was in a huge economic crisis and opposition against the Soviet regime began to grow.

In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear accident it only aggravated the situation, as the USSR had to spend a large amount of money to contain the nuclear disaster from being greater. When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed the presidency in 1985, the situation was chaotic and he sought to carry out reforms in the country.

Read too: Cuban Revolution — Leaders, Causes and Consequences

Glasnost and Perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev was the last ruler of the USSR and carried out reforms that led to the dissolution of the country in 1991. [3]

MikhailGorbachev defended the need to reforms in order to re-establish the Soviet Union, and, to that end, it put into practice the perestroika (economic reconstruction) and the glasnost (political transparency). THE perestroika its principle was to reduce the involvement of the Soviet state with the economy and allowed, after decades, that private investments could be made in the country's economy.

THE glasnost, in turn, consisted of a kind of openingpolitics aimed at fight authoritarianism and lack of freedom that marked the country. With the glasnost, the publication of books that until then were prohibited was allowed; political prisoners were released; and criticism of the government began to be allowed. If you are interested, we suggest reading the text on this subject: Perestroika and glasnost in the USSR

End of USSR

The situation in the Soviet Union began to deteriorate rapidly during the Gorbachev's government, and economic reforms did not deliver the expected returns immediately. THE economy got worse and the internal situation worsened with the rise of self-determination movements in parts of Soviet territory.

The measures taken by Gorbachev (including the reforms carried out) were displeasing to a more traditional wing of the Communist Party, and in August 1991, a attempted coup d'etat, but that attempt failed and Gorbachev remained ahead of the USSR.

You self-determination movements and the declarations of independence that were carried out between 1990 and 1991 made the existence of the Soviet Union unsustainable, and on December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned. The next day, the Soviet Union dissolved and in Moscow the Soviet flag was replaced by the Russian flag.

Image credits

[1] chrisdorney and Shutterstock
[2] Olga Popova and Shutterstock
[3] Heide Pinkall and Shutterstock

Grades

|1| SIEGELBAUM, Lewis. The construction of Stalinism. In.: FREEZE, Gregory L. (org.). Russian history. Lisbon: Editions 70, 2017, p. 366.
|2| FREEZE, Gregory L. From Stalinism to stagnation. n.: FREEZE, Gregory L. (org.). Russian history. Lisbon: Editions 70, 2017, p. 435.
|3| Idem, p. 458.

By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History