THE USSR, which stands for Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was created on December 30, 1922 and dissolved on December 26, 1991.
The Soviet Union was formed by 15 republics which occupied half of Eastern Europe and a third of Northern Asia.
In the period in which it existed as a sovereign federal state, it was the second largest country in the world and the second world power.
Map of the Soviet Union after World War II
history of the Soviet Union
The roots of the USSR are in the 1917 revolution and in the Russian Civil War (1918 and 1921). Officially, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was created on December 30, 1922, at the end of the Congress of Soviets. These were a council that brought together workers, soldiers and peasants.
USSR flag
In the beginning, the union consisted of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Transcaucasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). The four republics emerged as a result of the collapse of the Russian Empire and the October Revolution of 1917.
Between 1956 and 1991, the USSR had 15 Soviet republics:
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Belarus
- Uzbekistan
- Kazakhstan
- Georgia
- Azerbaijan
- Lithuania
- Moldavia
- Latvia
- Kyrgyzstan
- Tajikistan
- Armenia
- Turkmenistan
- Estonia
The 15 republics represented the union of at least one hundred ethnic groups from Asia and Europe who had the right to self-determination as peoples.
The union contributed to the concentration of reconstruction efforts after World War I (1914-1918). The civil war also reduced Russian industrial production by 18% and agriculture by 30%.
As a result of the conflict, nine million people died, including civilians and soldiers. The end of the war was also marked by the replacement of the economic conception imposed by Lenin in 1917.
Coat of arms of the USSR
Economy in the Soviet Union
The NEP (New Economic Policy) was characterized by the coexistence of capitalist and socialist practices. It lasted until 1928, four years after Lenin's death, and with Stalin's victory over Trotsky. From that point onwards, the regime became a single socialist regime, under the command of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
The economic policy of Stalin it was based on the adoption of five-year plans, supervised by Gosplan. This was an economic planning commission responsible for planning the Soviet economy.
Under Stalin's command and supervision by Gosplan, the five-year plans provided for the encouragement of heavy industry and the collectivization of agriculture. Private property was replaced by state cooperatives and farms.
Initially, the collectivization of land caused great disruption in rural areas, as the peasants did not have the means to cultivate the land. Thousands of people starved to death as a result of this change in the property system.
In ten years, the five-year plans changed the economic and social profile of the Soviet Union. There was an increase in the production of energy, automobiles, weapons, oil and coal extraction.
Investments in training physicians, offering hospital beds, libraries and schools also increased. Until the revolution, there were 640 books for each group of 10,000 inhabitants of the countries that would form the USSR. The offer increased to 8,610 books for each group of 10,000 inhabitants in 1939.
The economic and social evolution of the USSR was considered fundamental to its performance in World War II, when 27 million people died.
At the same time, Stalin's opponents were either eliminated or expelled. The USSR was isolated from 1929 crisis and the Great Depression that followed in the 1930s.
WWII and Cold War
However, the country was not unscathed by the Second World War, losing 16.5 million people, including civilians and military.
Even though they fought on the side of the Allies, the USSR and the US drifted apart because of their political and economic differences. Thus, two blocks were created in the world, when the period called Cold War.
Berlin Wall
Socialist ideology was a counterpoint to capitalism polarized by the United States on the western side. The symbol of the division of the world between capitalist and socialist poles was the Berlin Wall.
The wall was erected in August 1961 and torn down in November 1989.
USSR after Stalin
It is during this period that the political model begins to wither as a consequence of the centralization imposed by Stalin. The Soviet leader was known for his concentration of power and abuse of authority.
After his death, in 1955, the successor Nikita Kruschev chose to reform the party and seek a timid opening with other countries.
Khrushchev would be responsible for revealing the political repression that took place during Stalin's government. In a speech before the party, he pointed out the arbitrary arrests and assassinations that Stalin used to eliminate his opponents.
The period is marked by the collapse of the urban housing system, food production and consumer goods. The degradation of the socialist bloc is accentuated in the 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev takes power.
Perestroika and Glasnost
Among the hallmarks of Gorbachev's leadership are programs Perestroika and Glasnot. Both had political and economic opening goals for the country.
Under the Gorbachev government, the USSR reduces military spending, aid to socialist countries and political interference in those nations.
End of USSR
The 1990s in the USSR is marked by independence movements in several republics. The result was the dissolution of the USSR at the end of 1991, after the creation of the CIS (Community of Independent States).
When it was dissolved, the USSR concentrated 22 million square kilometers and a population of 288.6 million people.
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