Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Союз Советских Социалистических Республик

Flag and Coat of Arms of the USSR
USSR State motto: Он контролирует прошлый контролирует будущее. Он контролирует настоящий момент контролирует прошлый. (He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.)
Land claims	Map
Continental expansion  - Africa  - Antarctica  - Asia  - Australia  - Europe  - North America  - South America	6.56% 2.34% 42.48% 6.08% 100% 37.45% 50.46%
Spoken Languages  - Official  - Unofficial	None on federative level Russian, French, Arabic, Spanish, Pacitalian, Dienstadi
Capital and largest city	Moscow (Map)
Premier	Vladimir Ivanovich Troskin (Image)
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union	Robert Pacitania (Image)
Population  - Total (2006)	3,305,000,000
Establishment  - Declared  - Recognised	December 30 1922 February 1 1924
Government type	Socialist state/Communist state
Nation type	Federation of Socialist republics
National animal English name	Ursus arctos Siberian Kodiak Bear
National flower English name	Perovskia atriplicifolia Russian Sage
National tree English name	Pinus sibirica Siberian Pine
GDP (2005)   - Total   - GDP/capita	$67,355,503,311,600.02 $24,133.11
Currency	1 ruble (Ъ) = 100 kopecks (ҝ)
Time Zone	UTC +2 to +13
International Abbreviations  - sport  - government	USSR CCCP, USSR
Pronunciation (IPA)	/ynyn ov soveet soshehlist reepublicks/
Naval Craft Classification   - Military   - Civilian	WPS SCC
National Anthem	Hymn of the Soviet Union
Internet TLD	.su
Calling Code	+7

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, abbreviated USSR (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик) (СССР); Transliteration of Russian into English: Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik [SSSR])), also called the Soviet Union (Сове́тский Сою́з); Transliteration of Russian into English: Sovetsky Soyuz) was an officially socialist state founded in 1922, centered on Russia. From 1945 onward it is considered to be a world superpower

The formation of the Soviet Union was the culmination of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which overthrew short-lived Russian Provisional Government (established after Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicated on March 15, 1917), and later the Red Army victory in violent the Russian Civil War from 1918-1920. The geographic boundaries of the Soviet Union have varied with time. As of now, it has holdings on all seven continents.

The Soviet Union, founded three decades before the Cold War, became a primary model for future Communist states; the socialist government and the political organization of the country were defined by the only permitted political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

History

The Soviet Union is traditionally considered to be the successor of the Russian Empire. The last Russian monarch, Tsar Nicholas II, ruled until March 1917 and was eventually executed. The Soviet Union was established in December 1922 as the union of the Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Transcaucasian Soviet republics ruled by Bolshevik parties.

By Soviet historiography, revolutionary activity in Russia began with the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, and although serfdom was abolished in 1861, its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to encourage revolutionaries. A parliament, the State Duma, was established in 1906, after the 1905 Revolution but political and social unrest continued and was aggravated during World War I by military defeat and food shortages.

A spontaneous popular uprising in Petrograd, in response to the wartime decay of Russia's physical well-being and morale, culminated in the toppling of the imperial government in March 1917 (see February Revolution). The autocracy was replaced by the Provisional Government, whose leaders intended to establish democracy in Russia and to continue participating on the side of the Allies in World War I. At the same time, to ensure the rights of the working class, workers' councils, known as soviets, sprang up across the country. The radical Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, agitated for socialist revolution in the soviets and on the streets. They seized power from the Provisional Government in November 1917 (see October Revolution). Only after the long and bloody Russian Civil War of (1918-1921), which included combat between government forces and foreign troops in several parts of Russia, was the new communist regime secure. In a related conflict, the "Peace of Riga" in early 1921 split disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and Soviet powers.

From its first years, government in the Soviet Union was based on the one-party rule of the Communist Party, as the Bolsheviks called themselves beginning in March 1918. After the extraordinary economic policy of war communism during the Civil War the Soviet government permitted some private enterprise to coexist with nationalized industry in the 1920s and total food requisition in the countryside was replaced by a food tax (see New Economic Policy). Debate over the future of the economy provided the background for Soviet leaders to contend for power in the years after Lenin's death in 1924. By gradually consolidating his influence and isolating his rivals within the party, notably Lenin's more obvious heir Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin became the sole leader of the Soviet Union by the end of the 1920s.

In 1928 Stalin introduced the First Five-Year Plan for building a socialist economy. In industry the state assumed control over all existing enterprises and undertook an intensive program of industrialization; in agriculture collective farms were established all over the country (see Collectivisation in the USSR). The Soviet Union became a major industrial power; but the plan's implementation produced widespread misery for some segments of the population. Collectivization met widespread resistance from peasants, resulting in a bitter struggle against the authorities in many areas, famine, and estimated millions of casualties. Social upheaval continued in the mid-1930s, when Stalin began a purge of the party (see Great Purges). Yet despite this turmoil, the Soviet Union developed a powerful industrial economy in the years before World War II.

Although Stalin tried to avert war with Germany by concluding the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in 1939, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. It has been debated that the Soviet Union had the intention of invading Germany once it was strong enough. The Red Army stopped the Nazi offensive, with the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 being the major turning point, and drove through Eastern Europe to Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945 (see Great Patriotic War). Although ravaged by the war, the Soviet Union emerged from the conflict as an acknowledged superpower.

During the immediate postwar period, the Soviet Union first rebuilt and then expanded its economy, while maintaining its strictly centralized control. The Soviet Union aided postwar reconstruction in Eastern Europe, set up the Warsaw Pact and Comecon, supplied aid to the eventually victorious communists in the People's Republic of China, and saw its influence grow elsewhere in the world. Meanwhile, the Cold War, turned the Soviet Union's wartime allies, the United Kingdom and the United States, into foes.

Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953. In the absence of an acceptable successor, the highest Communist Party officials opted to rule the Soviet Union jointly, although a struggle for power took place behind the facade of collective leadership. Nikita Khrushchev, who won the power struggle by the mid-1950s, denounced Stalin's use of repression and eased repressive controls over party and society (see de-Stalinization). During this period the Soviet Union launched the first satellite Sputnik 1 and man Yuri Gagarin into orbit. Khrushchev's reforms in agriculture and administration, however, were generally unproductive, and foreign policy toward China and the United States suffered reverses. Khrushchev's colleagues in the leadership removed him from power in 1964.

Following the ouster of Khrushchev, another period of rule by collective leadership ensued, lasting until Leonid Brezhnev established himself in the early 1970s as the preeminent figure in Soviet political life. Brezhnev presided over a period of Détente with the West while at the same time building up Soviet military strength; the arms buildup contributed to the demise of Détente in the late 1970s. Another contributing factor was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979.

After some experimentation with economic reforms in the mid-1960s, the Soviet leadership reverted to established means of economic management. Industry showed slow but steady gains during the 1970s, while agricultural development continued to lag. Throughout the period the Soviet Union maintained parity with the United States in the areas of military technology but this expansion ultimately crippled the economy. In contrast to the revolutionary spirit that accompanied the birth of the Soviet Union, the prevailing mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to change.

After Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Cherneko quickly took to power before Mikhail Gorbachev took power. During this time, the President of the United States had been requesting talks with Premier Gorbachev, but after a single meeting and President Reagan's allowing a comment to slip, relations between the USA and USSR spiralled downward. In August of 1983 - after the seizure of Peru and some Mexican territory - Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles were fired on the mid-western and southern states of America. Shortly after, President Ronald Reagan was assassinated by a lone gunman who managed to slip into the oval office. His name was Yuri Alexandrovitch Porchenkov. The Soviet Union has not been found guilty of the crime nor have they taken responsibility for it.

During this period, rebels in Mississippi began attacking American military bases. This caused further instability in America, ultimately leading to its downfall in March of 1985. Soon after this, Premier Alex Jerpovsky was elected. During his reign, conflicts in the Balkans caused him to push the Red Army into conflicts in Greece against the genocidal dictator who labeled himself 'Alexander the Great'. His campaigns in the Balkans gained support from international Communist Parties which eventually lead to the downfall of the tyrannical Greek government and the election of a Communist Party into rule. Four years after the conflict in 1989, the Premier died from a heart attack in his office in the Kremlin.

After his sudden death, Vasilli Vitimnov was elected as Premier. He was one of, if not the longst ruling Premiers in Soviet history. He reigned from 1989 to 2003 before dying at the age of 103. His death marked a new shift in the Soviet Union. Uniting with Ottoman Khaif to the south-west, the new Premier - Alexai Volin - caused great success in the Communist state before his retirement in early 2005.

Upon Premier Volin's resignation, a former Moscow State University intellectual was elected as Premier, Vladimir Troskin. As of now, the socially loved and intelligent ruler has created a stable enviroment in the Soviet Union. He has allowed for freedom of speech and sexual preference. He also seems to be seeking ties with the country of Brazil who seems to be shifting their political rule. Premier Troskin has gained alot of support from international organizations and groups in his spread of the Revolution and communist ideals. Shortly after he took to power, the other state that helped destroy the US fell into international invasions, famine, and revolt. The Mississippian Federation collapsed upon itself. Due to this, the USSR has been taking offensive strides against the fascist state's former allies. Soon after the collapse of the Mississippian Federation, it's closest ally - Kahta - fell to international invasions and the proletarian might.

Politics

The government of the Soviet Union administers the country's economy and society. It implemented decisions made by the leading political institution in the country, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).

In the late 1980s, the government appeared to have many characteristics in common with democratic political systems. For instance, a constitution established all organs of government and granted to citizens a series of political and civic rights. A legislative body, Supreme Soviet, represented the principle of popular sovereignty. The Supreme Soviet, which had an elected chairman who functioned as head of state, oversaw the Political Bureau, which acted as the executive branch of the government. The chairman of the Political Bureau, whose selection was approved by the Premier election, functioned as head of government. A constitutionally based judicial branch of government included a court system, headed by the Supreme Court, that was responsible for overseeing the observance of Soviet law by government bodies. According to the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the government had a federal structure, permitting the republics some authority over policy implementation and offering the national minorities the appearance of participation in the management of their own affairs.

In practice, however, the government differed markedly from Western systems. In the late 1980s, the CPSU performed many functions that governments of other countries usually perform. For example, the party decided on the policy alternatives that the government ultimately implemented. The government merely ratified the party's decisions to lend them an aura of legitimacy. The CPSU used a variety of mechanisms to ensure that the government adhered to its policies. The party, using its nomenklatura authority, placed its loyalists in leadership positions throughout the government, where they were subject to the norms of democratic centralism. Party bodies closely monitored the actions of government ministries, agencies, and legislative organs.

The content of the Soviet Constitution differs in many ways from typical Western constitutions. It generally describes existing political relationships, as determined by the CPSU, rather than prescribing an ideal set of political relationships. The Constitution is long and detailed, giving technical specifications for individual organs of government. The Constitution includes political statements, such as foreign policy goals, and provides a theoretical definition of the state within the ideological framework of Marxism-Leninism. The CPSU leadership can radically change the constitution or remake it completely, as it did several times throughout its history.

The Political Bureau acted as the executive body of the government. Its most important duties lay in the administration of the economy. The council was thoroughly under the control of the CPSU, and its chairman - the Soviet Premier - was always a member of the Politburo. The council, which in 1989 included more than 100 members.

According to the Constitution, as amended in 1988, the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union was the Supreme Soviet, which convened for the first time in May 1989. The main tasks of the congress were the drafting of legislature and as a wing of the executive branch. Theoretically, the Supreme Soviet wields enormous legislative power. In practice, however, the Supreme Soviet could only pass legislative decisions if the Politburo ratified it.

The judiciary was not independent. The Supreme Court supervised the lower courts and applied the law, as established by the Constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviews the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union lacks an adversarial court procedure known to common law jurisdictions. Rather, Soviet law utilises the system derived from Roman law, where judge, procurator and defense attorney worked collaboratively to establish the truth.

The Soviet Union is a federal state made up of fifty-eight republics joined together in a theoretically voluntary union. In turn, a series of territorial units made up the republics. The republics also contained jurisdictions intended to protect the interests of national minorities. The republics had their own constitutions, which, along with the all-union Constitution, provide the division of power in the Soviet Union.

Political Bureau

Main article here: Political Bureau

The term originates either from the Russian Politicheskoe Byuro, which contracts to Politbyuro, or from the German Politbüro. A Politburo is the executive organization for a number of political parties, most notably for Communist Parties.

In Marxist-Leninist states, the party is seen as the "vanguard of the people" and therefore usually has the power to control the state, and the non-state party officials in the politburo generally hold extreme power.

Commissariats

The Commissariats are much like Ministries. They are headed by a commissar who oversees each particular branch they are responsible for. The commissars also attend the Political Bureau meetings in order to helpd decide policy and be part of the executive body. They have been part of the Soviet Union ever since Lenin was Premier.

The following are the Commissariats and their corresponding commissars:

• Foreign Affairs: Alexai Vladimirmorov
• Military Affairs: Selene Seagrove
• Maritime Affairs: Admiral Nikolai Bushinko
• Interior: Alecsander Bovsky
• Labour: Maximilian Krulkov
• Social Security: Dr. Gregory Iosov
• Public Education: Martin Blakow
• Correspondence: Joseph Johaine
• Nationalities Affair: Vladimir Genrikobvich Kasparov
• Transport: Robert Hardey
• Agriculture: Karl Johnin
• Trade and Industry: Gustav Yionov
• Economics: Yuri Adrosky
• Public Health: Dr. Natalia Onotopp

Internal affairs

The Commissariat of the Interior oversees internal affairs along with law and order and the judicial system within the Soviet Union. The current Commissar of the Interior is Alecsander Bovsky. Beneath the jurisdiction of the Interior Commissariat are the Committee for State Security (KGB), Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), and the Troikas (Triumvirates).

Committee for State Security (KGB)

For more information please see the main article.

KGB (transliteration of "КГБ") is the Russian-language acronym for the Committee for State Security, (Russian: Комите́т Госуда́рственной Безопа́сности; transliteration: Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti), and was the umbrella organisation name for (i) the principal Soviet internal Security Agency, (ii) the principal intelligence agency, and (iii) the principal secret police agency, since March 13, 1954.

Roughly, the KGB's operational domain encompasses functions and powers like those exercised by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the counterintelligence (internal security) division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Federal Protective Service, and the US Secret Service.

The KGB's tasked responsibilities were external espionage, counter-espionage, the liquidation of anti-Soviet and counter-revolutionary organisations within the USSR, guarding the national borders, guarding the Communist Party and State leaders, and critical state property. Also, it investigated and prosecuted thieves of State and socialist property and white collar criminals. Unlike Western intelligence agencies, the KGB (theoretically) was uninterested in learning the enemy's intentions--only their capabilities; intentions were political decisions based upon Marxist theory.

Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU)

GRU is the English transliteration of the Russian acronym ГРУ, which stands for "Гла́вное Разве́дывательное Управле́ние" (Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie), meaning Main Intelligence Directorate. The full name is GRU GSh (GRU GenShtaba, i.e. "GRU of the General Staff". )The GRU was created in 1918 by Lenin, and given the task of handling all military intelligence. It operates residencies all over the world, along with the SIGINT (signal intelligence) station, in Lourdes, Cuba, and throughout the former Soviet bloc countries, especially in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

The GRU is totally independent of most other power centers in the Soviet Union, most famously the CPSU and KGB. At the time of the GRU's creation, Lenin ordered the Cheka (predecessor of the KGB) not to interfere with the GRU's operations. The rivalry between the GRU and KGB was even more intense than the rivalry between the FBI and CIA.

The Troikas (Triumvirates)

The Troikas, are allegedly commissions of three people employed as an additional instrument of extrajudicial punishment (внесудебная расправа, внесудебное преследование) introduced to supplement the legal system with a means for quick punishment of anti-Soviet elements. It began as an institution of the Cheka, then later became prominent again in the NKVD, when it was used during the Great Purge period in the Soviet Union.

Threesome commissions were of common usage in Bolshevik organizations. It was recognized that three persons is the minimal number required for collegiate decisions: this is a minimal number for which voting, a necessary instrument of democratic decisions, was reasonably possible. For example, the minimal size of a party cell was 3.

The very first "troika" of repressive type was instituted in 1918, the members being Felix Dzerzhinsky, Yakov Peters, and Left Eser V. Aleksandrovich.

First "operational troikas" (оперативная тройка) were introduced in the "center", in Moscow military okrug in 1929. The qualifier "operational" means that they were based on operational departments of OGPU. Gradually troika were introduced in other places of the Soviet Union, for various purposes, of different kinds: in addition to operational troikas there were "court troikas" (судебная тройка) and "extraordinary troikas" (чрезвычайная тройка), "special troikas" (специальная тройка).

Kulaks

A notable step was the KGB Order no. 00447 by July 30, 1937 О репрессировании бывших кулаков, уголовников и других антисоветских элементов ("About repression of former kulaks, criminals, and other anti-Soviet elements") undersigned by Nikolai Yezhov. By this order, troikas were created on the levels of republic; krai; oblast; and, at times, city. Investigation was to be performed by operative groups "in a speedy and simplified way", the results were to be delivered to troikas for trials.

The chairman of a troika was the chief of the corresponding territorial subdivision of KGB. Usually a troika included the prosecutor of the republic/krai/oblast in question; if not, he was allowed to be present at the session of a troika. The third person was usually the Communist Party secretary of the corresponding regional level. The staff of these troikas were personally specified in the Order # 00447.

Protocols of a troika session were passed to the corresponding operative group for executions of sentences. Times and places of executions of death sentences were ordered to be held in secret.

Records Bureau

The Records Bureau (Контора Показателей) is a mysterious bureau within the Interior Commissariat that has yet to be proven to exist. According to rumors and allegedly leaked information, the Records Bureau controls the publications of the Soviet Union. They are able to, and allegedly do, recall any newspaper, book, etc. they wish to edit and do so.

According to rumor, the Records Bureau his housed beneath the Federative Central Government complex in Moscow. It is allegedly housed hundreds of floors beneath the surface of the earth in underground bunkers, directly beneath the Kremlin. As of yet, proof of the Records Bureau has yet to surface.

According to conspiracy theorists, the Records Bureau is also responsible for editting history in favor of the Soviet Union. They also say, that the Records Bureau is part of a conspiracy to make it appear that the Soviet Union is always in a state of strife in order to keep its citizens under Party control.

Foreign relations

Once denied diplomatic recognition by the capitalist world, the Soviet Union had official relations with the majority of the nations of the world by the late 1980s. The Soviet Union also had progressed from being an outsider in international organizations and negotiations to being one of the arbiters of Europe's fate after World War II. A member of the United Nations at its foundation in 1945, the Soviet Union became one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council which gave it the right to veto any of its resolutions.

The Soviet Union emerged from World War II as one of the two major world powers, a position maintained for four decades through its hegemony in Eastern Europe , military strength, aid to developing countries, and scientific research, especially into space technology and weaponry. The Soviet Union's growing influence abroad in the postwar years helped lead to a socialist system of states in Eastern Europe united by military and economic agreements. Established in 1949 as an economic bloc of communist countries led by Moscow, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) served as a framework for cooperation among the planned economies of the Soviet Union, and, later, for trade and economic cooperation with the Third World. The military counterpart to the Comecon was the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet economy was also of major importance to Eastern Europe because of imports of vital natural resources from Russia, such as natural gas.

Moscow considered Eastern Europe to be a buffer zone for the forward defense of its western borders and ensured its control of the region by transforming the East European countries into stable allies. Soviet troops intervened in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and cited the Brezhnev Doctrine, the Soviet counterpart to the U.S. Johnson Doctrine and later Nixon Doctrine, and helped oust the Czechoslovak government in 1968.

The KGB (Committee for State Security), the Soviet counterpart to both the FBI and the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in the U.S., ran massive network of informants throughout the Soviet Union, which was used to monitor violations in law. The foreign wing of the KGB was used to gather intelligence in countries around the globe.

In the 1970s, the Soviet Union achieved rough nuclear parity with the United States, and surpassed it by the end of that decade with the deployment of the SS-18 missile. It perceived its own involvement as essential to the solution of any major international problem. Meanwhile, the Cold War gave way to Détente and a more complicated pattern of international relations in which the world was no longer clearly split into two clearly opposed blocs. Less powerful countries had more room to assert their independence, and the two superpowers were partially able to recognize their common interest in trying to check the further spread and proliferation of nuclear weapons .

By this time, the Soviet Union had concluded friendship and cooperation treaties with a number of states in the non-communist world, especially among Third World and Non-Aligned Movement states like India and Egypt. Notwithstanding some ideological obstacles, Moscow advanced state interests by gaining military footholds in strategically important areas throughout the Third World. Furthermore, the Soviet Union continued to provide military aid for revolutionary movements in the Third World. For all these reasons, Soviet foreign policy was of major importance to the non-communist world and helped determine the tenor of international relations.

As of now, the Soviet Union has steady - not always good - relations with the Island of Rose, Parthia, Pacitalia, FCD, Victoria, Camel Eaters, Praetonia, Ottoman Khaif, Sevaris, the Burnsian Desert, Upper Xen, Brydog, Communistturkerys, Communist Brazil, Delta Green, Schleswig Holstein, Hogsweat, and Doomingsland. The USSR is also a member of the Eastern Bloc, the Union of Socialist-Communist Nations, and the Worldwide Mir Initiative.

Republics

The Soviet Union is made up of fifty-eight socialist republics covering all seven continents. They also have three insular areas. Each republic was annexed through conglict or voluntary means.

• Omani SSR (Oman)
• Exetonian SSR (Exetoniae)
• South African SSR (South Africa)
• Peruvian SSR (Peru)
• Armenian SSR (Armenia)
• Azerbaijan SSR (Azerbaijan)
• Byelorussian SSR (Belarus)
• Estonian SSR (Estonia)
• Georgian SSR (Georgia)
• Kazakh SSR (Kazakhstan
• Kirghiz SSR (Kyrgyzstan)
• Latvian SSR (Latvia)
• Lithuanian SSR(Lithuania)
• Moldavian SSR (Moldova)
• Russian SFSR (Russia)
• Tadzhik SSR (Tajikistan)
• Turkmen SSR (Turkmenistan)
• Ukrainian SSR (Ukraine)
• Uzbek SSR (Uzbekistan)
• German SSR (Germany)
• Mongolian SSR (Mongolia)
• Korean SSR (Korea)
• Afghan SSR (Afghanistan)
• Polish SSR (Poland)
• Slovak SSR (Slovak Republic)
• Romanian SSR (Romania)
• French SSR (France)
• Italian SSR (Italy)
• Haitian SSR (Haiti)
• Dominican SSR (Dominican Republic)
• Louisianian SSR (Louisiana)
• Mississippian SSR (Mississippi)
• Alabamian SSR (Alabama)
• Quebecan SSR (Quebec)
• Ontarian SSR (Ontario)
• Newfoundlandian SSR (Newfoundland)
• Labradoran SSR (Labrador)
• Nova Scotian SSR (Nova Scotia)
• New Brunswickian SSR (New Brunswick)
• New Yorkian SSR (New York)
• Connecticutian SSR (Connecticut)
• Mainian SSR (Maine)
• Mssachusettian SSR (Massachusetts)
• New Hampshirian SSR (New Hampshire)
• Vermontian SSR (Vermont)
• Rhode Islandian SSR (Rhode Island)
• Bosnia-Herzegovinan SSR (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
• Hungarian SSR (Hungary)
• Austrian SSR (Austria)
• Slovenian SSR (Slovenia)
• Bulgarian SSR (Bulgaria)
• Greek SSR (Greece)
• Macedonian SSR (Macedonia)
• Albanian SSR (Albania)
• Croat SSR (Croatian)
• Serbian SSR (Serbia)
• Monteneg SSR (Montenegro)
• Czech SSR (Czech Republic)
• Irish SSR (Republic of Ireland)
• Cypre SSR (Cyprus)
• Portugalian SSR (Portugal)
• Spanish SSR (Spain)
• Swiss SSR (Switzerland)
• Danish SSR (Denmark)
• Norwegian SSR (Norway)
• Swedish SSR (Sweden)
• Andorran SSR (Andorra)
• Finnish SSR (Finland)
• Belgian SSR (Belgium)
• Liechten SSR (Liechtenstein)
• Luxembourgian SSR (Luxembourg)
• Maltan SSR (Malta)
• Dutch SSR (Netherlands)
• Welsh SSR (Wales)
• Scottish SSR (Scotland)
• English SSR (England)
• Marinan SSR (San Marino)
• Alaskan SSR (Alaska)
• Cuban SSR (Cuba)
• Swazi SSR (Swaziland)
• Lesoth SSR (Lesotho)
• Brazilian SSR) (Brazil)

Insular areas

Insular areas are locations within the USSR that are not subject to the Soviet Constitution. They are usually occupied and operated by the military. The following are Soviet insular areas:

• Isla Sablar
• Antarc Military Instalation
• Prince Edward Island

The Chairmen

The Chairmen are the president of each socialist republic within the Soviet Union. Each president serves as the sub-executive body within their specific republic. However, the Chairmen do not attend Political Bureau meetings or do they have to attend Supreme Soviet or Party Congress meetings. Below are listed the Chairman of each republic:

• Chairman of the Russian SFSR: Mikhail Slovadin
• Chairman of the Omanian SSR: Hassan al-Saad
• Chairman of the Exetonian SSR: Jackson Mullins
• Chairman of the Byelorussian SSR: Bernhard Axmann
• Chairman of the Latvian SSR: Albert Drittes
• Chairman of the Lithuanian SSR: Robert Bourdun
• Chairman of the Estonian SSR: Karl Sturm
• Chairman of the South African SSR: Mikhale Ilyach Gorbokov
• Chairman of the Peruvian SSR: Ernesto Martinez
• Chairman of the Armenian SSR: Franz Mossal
• Chairman of the Azerbaijan SSR: Shrider Al-Zadeir
• Chairman of the Georgian SSR: Marcus Frabruiller
• Chairman of the Kazakh SSR: Mohammod El-Canos
• Chairman of the Moldavian SSR: Iosif Ulyanin
• Chairman of the Ukrainian SSE: Peter Fenren
• Chairman of the Kirghiz SSR: Uzada Al-Bozer
• Chairman of the Tadzhik SSR: Yassir Cavrabon
• Chairman of the Turkmen SSR: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
• Chairman of the Uzbek SSR: Mossal Bazeraut
• Chairman of the German SSR: Albert Schmerbauch
• Chairman of the Mongolian SSR: Bahadi Sansasyn
• Chairman of the Korean SSR: Zoa Los* gni
• Chariman of the Afghan SSR: Sassan al-Sarei
• Chairman of the Polish SSR: Vincent Banderkoff
• Chairman of the Slovak SSR: Azem Milosevic
• Chairman of the Romanian SSR: Sacha Ceausescu
• Chairman of the French SSR: Edouard Balladur
• Chairman of the Italian SSR: Marcus Sicalia
• Chairman of the Haitian SSR: Malcom Josa
• Chairman of the Dominican SSR: Lionel Fernandez
• Chairman of the Louisianian SSR: Alex LeDanaria
• Chairman of the Mississippian SSR: Philip Fredrick
• Chairman of the Alabamian SSR: George Mullens
• Chairman of the Quebecan SSR: Matthew Demor
• Chairman of the Ontarian SSR: Shavo Brullis
• Chairman of the Newfoundlandian SSR: Sarah Denarius
• Chairman of the Labradoran SSR: Lisa Capers
• Chairman of the Nova Scotian SSR: Jacob Kieser
• Chairman of the New Brunswickian SSR: Mikhail Slovas
• Chairman of the New Yorkian SSR: Greg Herbert
• Chairman of the Connecticutian SSR: Frank Cachasalia
• Chairman of the Mainian SSR: Peter Jacobson
• Chairman of the Massachusettian SSR: Alica O'Riely
• Chairman of the Vermontian SSR: Matthew Weaver
• Chairman of the Rhode Islandian SSR: Stephen Zaproski
• Chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovinan SSR: Wilhim Reikijis
• Chairman of the Hungarian SSR: Zeljiko Arkakin
• Chairman of the Austrian SSR: Freidrich Slalvine
• Chairman of the Slovenian SSR: Josef Kernekine
• Chairman of the Bulgarian SSR: Boris Chernekos
• Chairman of the Greek SSR: Sarah Grisnoro
• Chairman of the Macedonian SSR: Pitor Crasniel
• Chairman of the Albanian SSR: Alexai Vladislav
• Chairman of the Croat SSR: Robert Selvajikis
• Chairman of the Serbian SSR: Alex Raznatovic
• Chairman of the Monteneg SSR: Nicholi Konietska
• Chairman of the Czech SSR: Albert Voivosky
• Chairman of the Irish SSR: Robert O'Connor
• Chairman of the Cypre SSR: Luciano Scalita
• Chairman of the Portugalian SSR: Francisco Faranka
• Chairman of the Spanish SSR: Grigorgi Harasma
• Chairman of the Swiss SSR: Albert Bergunstein
• Chairman of the Danish SSR: Viktor Fraina
• Chairman of the Norwegian SSR: Simon Bruinier
• Chairman of the Swedish SSR: Luka Reiner
• Chairman of the Andorran SSR: Phillipe Fruiss
• Chairman of the Finnish SSR: Ariel Ravstein
• Chairman of the Belgian SSR: Rex Fornara
• Chairman of the Liechten SSR: Weiss Krueiz
• Chairman of the Luxembourgian SSR: Phillip Vrenna
• Chairman of the Maltan SSR: Gregory Vienna
• Chairman of the Dutch SSR: Victor Olbrecht
• Chairman of the Welsh SSR: James Lockhart
• Chairman of the Scottish SSR: Mark Breiss
• Chairman of the English SSR: Timothy Gilmore
• Chairman of the Marinan SSR: Lucas Harrina
• Chairman of the Alaskan SSR: Mark Deltorny
• Chairman of the Cuban SSR: Fidel Castro
• Chairman of the Swazi SSR: Motobo Johan
• Chairman of the Lesoth SSR: Irel Herada
• Chairman of the Brazilian SSR: Fredruck Comperanda

Economy

The Soviet Union had the largest centrally directed economy in the world. The government established its economic priorities through central planning, a system under which administrative decisions rather than the market determined resource allocation and prices.

Since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the country grew from a largely underdeveloped peasant society with minimal industry to become the second largest industrial power in the world. According to Soviet statistics, the country's share in world industrial production grew from 4 percent to 20 percent between 1913 and 1980. Although many Western analysts considered these claims to be inflated, the Soviet achievement remained remarkable. Recovering from the calamitous events of World War II, the country's economy had maintained a continuous though uneven rate of growth. Living standards, although still modest for most inhabitants by Western standards, had improved.

Although these past achievements were impressive, in the mid-1980s Soviet leaders faced many problems. Production in the consumer and agricultural sectors was often inadequate (see Agriculture of the Soviet Union and shortage economy). Crises in the agricultural sector reaped catastrophic consequences in the 1930s, when collectivization met widespread resistance from the kulaks, resulting in a bitter struggle of many peasants against the authorities, famine, particularly in Ukraine, but also in the Volga River area and Kazakhstan. In the consumer and service sectors, a lack of investment resulted in black markets in some areas. Eventually, the collectivised farms did work and the service sector grew after the death of Stalin.

In addition, since the 1970s, the growth rate had grown substantially. Extensive economic development, based on vast inputs of materials and labor, were successful. Product quality improved. The economy of the Soviet Union has grown ever since.

Geography

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Ural mountain range

The Soviet Union occupies the eastern portion of the European continent and the northern portion of the Asian continent. Most of the country was north of 50° north latitude and covered a total area of approximately 22,402,200 square kilometres. Due to the sheer size of the state, the climate varied greatly from subtropical and continental to subarctic and polar. 11 percent of the land was arable, 16 percent was meadows and pasture, 41 percent was forest and woodland, and 32 percent was declared "other" (including tundra).

Including its mostly eastern portions, the Soviet Union has Central and Western European climate along with Middle Eastern, Far Eastern, African, tropical, and subtropical climates in many of its non-European republics.

Demographics and society

The Soviet Union has one of the world's most ethnically diverse countries, with more than 150 distinct ethnic groups within its borders. The total population is estimated at 2.77 billion in 2005. The majority of the population were Russians (50.78%), followed by Ukrainians (15.45%) and Uzbeks (5.84%). After all Soviet republics gained independence, Russia remained the largest country in the world by area, and still remains one of the most ethnically diverse.

Nationalities

The extensive multinational empire that the Bolsheviks inherited after their revolution was created by Tsarist expansion over some four centuries. Some nationality groups came into the empire voluntarily, others were brought in by force. Generally, the Russians and most of the non-Russian subjects of the empire shared little in common—culturally, religiously, or linguistically. More often than not, two or more diverse nationalities were collocated on the same territory.

For seventy years, Soviet leaders had maintained that frictions between the many nationalities of the Soviet Union had been eliminated and that the Soviet Union consisted of a family of nations living harmoniously together. This reality facing Gorbachev and his colleagues meant that, short of relying on the traditional use of force, they had to find alternative solutions in order to prevent the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Which they did and it has allowed for a peaceful national population.

The concessions granted national cultures and the limited autonomy tolerated in the union republics in the 1920s led to the development of national elites and a heightened sense of national identity.

Religious groups

Being almost entirely an atheist society, not many religious groups exist. What few that do are Christian (Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic), Islamic, and Jewish. However, with the passing of the Theological Ruination Act of 2005 religious groups have rapidly began to decrease in size and are almost non-existant in the public and political landscape.

Holidays

Related articles

List of Soviet Union related articles.

• Vladimir Ivanovich Troskin
• Communist Party of the Soviet Union
• First Great Balkan Conflict
• Second Great Balkan Conflict
• Communist Party of Pacitalia
• Dienstadi

External links

• Images of the Soviet Union - A collection of photos showing everyday life in the Soviet Union.
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - More information about the Soviet Union.
• Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Online headquarters of the CPSU.
• The Soviet Constitution - The translated text of the Soviet Constitution and recent legislature.
• Informant Form - A way for those seeking political asylum or wishing to help the Soviet Union.