Soviet Union

This entity is not a country.

History

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union)

The Soviet Union, in full the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from Советский Союз, Sovetskiy Soyuz. A soviet is a council, the theoretical basis for the socialist society of the USSR.

Emerging from the Russian Empire after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War of 1918–1921, the USSR was a union of several Soviet republics, but the synecdoche Russia - after the Russian SFSR, its largest and most populous constituent state—continued to be commonly used throughout the country's existence. The geographic boundaries of the USSR varied with time, but after the last major territorial annexations of the Baltic states, eastern Poland, Bessarabia, and certain other territories during World War II, from 1945 until dissolution, the boundaries approximately corresponded to those of late Imperial Russia, with the notable exclusions of Poland and Finland.

Initially established as a union of four Soviet Socialist Republics, the USSR grew to contain 15 constituent or "union republics" by 1956: Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Byelorussian SSR, Estonian SSR, Georgian SSR, Kazakh SSR, Kirghiz SSR, Latvian SSR, Lithuanian SSR, Moldavian SSR, Russian SFSR, Tajik SSR, Turkmen SSR, Ukrainian SSR and Uzbek SSR. From annexation of the Estonian SSR on August 6, 1940 up to the reorganization of the Karelo-Finnish SSR into the Karelian ASSR on July 16, 1956, the count of union republics numbered 16. As the largest and oldest constitutional communist-led socialist state, the Soviet Union became the primary model for a number of ideologically close Marxist-Leninist nations during the Cold War. The government and the political organization of the country were defined by the Bolsheviks and their successor, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

From 1945 until dissolution in 1991 - a period known as the Cold War - the Soviet Union and the United States of America were the two world superpowers that dominated the global agenda of economic policy, foreign affairs, military operations, cultural exchange, scientific advancements including the pioneering of space exploration, and sports (including the Olympic Games and various world championships).

Russia, in full the Russian Federation, is the successor state to the USSR. Russia is the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States and a recognised global power, inheriting its foreign representatives and much of its military from the former Soviet Union.

The republics of the Soviet Union (from 1956 until its dissolution in 1989) - named now as the countries they turned into, are:

1. Armenian SSR - Armenia
2. Azerbaijan SSR - Azerbaijan
3. Byelorussian SSR - Belorussia
4. Estonian SSR - Estonia
5. Georgian SSR - Georgia
6. Kazakh SSR - Kazakhstan
7. Kirghiz SSR - Kyrgyzstan
8. Latvian SSR - Latvia
9. Lithuanian SSR - Lithuania
10. Moldavian SSR - Moldavia
11. Russian SFSR - Russia
12. Tajik SSR - Tajikistan
13. Turkmen SSR - Turkmenistan
14. Ukrainian SSR - Ukraine
15. Uzbek SSR - Uzbekistan

For more recent history see Commonwealth of Independent States

---

> Countries
>> Main Page