Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics

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At its greachạy thử extent, between 1946 and 1991 (the figures và descriptions given below refer to lớn this period), the U.S.S.R. covered some 8,650,000 square miles (22,400,000 square kilometres), seven times the area of India and two and one-half times that of the United States. The country occupied nearly one-sixth of the Earth’s l& surface, including the eastern half of Europe & roughly the northern third of Asia.

The U.S.S.R. extended more than 6,800 miles (10,900 kilometres) from east lớn west, covering 11 of the world’s 24 time zones. The most westerly point was on the Baltic Sea, near Kaliningrad; the easternmost was Cape Dezhnev on the Bering Strait, nearly halfway around the world. From north to lớn south the U.S.S.R. extended some 2,800 miles from Cape Chelyuskin khổng lồ Kushka on the Afghan border. Nearly half the territory of the U.S.S.R. was north of 60° N, at the same latitude as Alaska, Baffin Isl&, & Greenland.


In addition to lớn having the world’s longest coastline, the U.S.S.R. had the longest frontiers. To the north the country was bounded by the seas of the Arctic Ocean, & khổng lồ the east were the seas of the Pacific. On the south the U.S.S.R. was bordered by North Korea, Mongolia, Đài Loan Trung Quốc, Afghanistung, Iran, và Turkey. On the southern frontier there were three seas: the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inl& sea, as well as the almost completely landlocked Blaông xã Sea & Sea of Azov. Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Pol&, Finland, & Norway lay lớn the west.

The U.S.S.R. was the successor lớn the Russian Empire of the tsars. Following the 1917 Revolution, four sociamenu republics were established on the territory of the former empire: the Russian và Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Sociamenu Republics và the Ukrainian và Belorussian Soviet Sociamenu Republics. On December 30, 1922, these constituent republics established the U.S.S.R. Additional union republics (Soviet Sociacác mục Republics) were mix up in subsequent years: the Turkmen & Uzbek S.S.R.’s in 1924, the Tadzhik S.S.R. in 1929, and the Kazakh và Kirgiz S.S.R.’s in 1936. In that year the Transcaucasian Republic was abolished & its territory was divided between three new republics: the Armenian, Azerbaijan, and Georgian S.S.R.’s. In 1940 the Karelo-Finnish, Moldavian, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian S.S.R.’s were established. The Karelo-Finnish S.S.R. became an autonomous republic in 1956, leaving a total of 15 union republics (soyuznye respubliki). In addition khổng lồ these, the U.S.S.R. as of 1990 was made up of 20 autonomous republics (avtonomnye respubliki), 8 autonomous provinces (avtonomnye oblasti), 10 autonomous districts (avtonomnye okruga), 6 regions (kraya), và 114 provinces (oblasti).

Under the constitution adopted in the 1930s & modified down lớn October 1977, the political foundation of the U.S.S.R. was formed by the Soviets (Councils) of People’s Deputies. These existed at all levels of the administrative sầu hierarchy, with the Soviet Union as a whole under the nominal control of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., located in Moscow. This toàn thân had two chambers—the Soviet of the Union, with 750 members elected on a single-member constituency basis; & the Soviet of Nationalities, with 750 members representing the various political divisions: 32 from each union republic, 11 from each autonomous republic, 5 from each autonomous region, & 1 from each autonomous district. In elections to lớn these bodies, the voters were rarely given any choice of candidate other than those presented by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), which, until the amendment of Article 6 of the constitution in March 1990, was the “leading and guiding force of Soviet society và the nucleus of its political system.” In theory, all legislation required the approval of both chambers of the Supreme Soviet; in practice, all decisions were made by the small group known as the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, itself strongly influenced by the Politburo of the CPSU, và were unanimously approved by the deputies. The role of the soviets in the individual republics và other territories was primarily khổng lồ put inlớn effect the decisions made by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.

The political system was thus authoritarian and highly centralized, và this also applied khổng lồ the economic system. The economic foundation of the U.S.S.R. was “Sociacác mục ownership of the means of production, distribution, & exchange,” và the economy of the entire country was controlled by a series of five-year plans that set targets for all forms of production.

Dramatic changes, both political và economic, occurred during the late 1980s & early ’90s, ushered in by the adoption of perestroika (“restructuring”) & glasnost (“openness”). On the economic side the planned, highly centralized command economy was to be replaced by the progressive introduction of elements of a market economy, a change that proved difficult khổng lồ achieve sầu and was accompanied by declining production in many sectors & increasing distribution problems. In the political sphere, amendments to lớn the constitution in 1988 replaced the old Supreme Soviet with the Congress of People’s Deputies of the U.S.S.R. The new congress had 2,250 members; one-third of these were elected on a constituency basis, one-third represented the political territories (as in the old Supreme Soviet), and the remaining third came from “all-union social organizations” such as the trade unions, the CPSU, and the Academy of Sciences. Voters were presented with a choice of candidates, and many non-Communists were elected. The Congress of People’s Deputies elected a new Supreme Soviet of 542 members and also chose the chairman of that body toàn thân, who was lớn be the executive president of the U.S.S.R. Congresses of People’s Deputies were also established in each republic.

These congresses could be legitimately described as parliaments, và they engaged in vigorous debate over the economic and political future of the country. From 1989, conflicts developed between the parliament of the U.S.S.R. and those of the individual republics, mainly over the respective powers of the centre (the U.S.S.R. government) & the republics. These conflicts were exacerbated by the resurgence of ethnic nationalism & increasing demands for autonomy và even for full independence. Following the abortive coup of August 1991, in which the CPSU was heavily implicated, the các buổi tiệc nhỏ itself was abolished.

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By December 1991 the Union of Soviet Sociacác mục Republics had virtually ceased khổng lồ exist, and the future of its territories & peoples was uncertain. Three republics—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—had achieved complete independence và were internationally recognized as sovereign states, and several others were demanding independence. Attempts were made, led by Mikhail Gorbachev, the president of the Soviet Union, lớn establish a new “Union of Sovereign States” with some degree of integration in foreign policy, defense, & economic affairs, but agreement among the remaining 12 republics was not achieved. Whatever the legal position, the union republics had begun khổng lồ act as if they were sovereign states and were negotiating with each other, bypassing the vestigial central government. This process culminated on December 8, 1991, in the signing of an agreement between the three Slav republics of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus for the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with an agreed common policy for foreign affairs và defense. The CIS later came khổng lồ include all the remaining republics except Georgia, but great difficulty was experienced in arriving at agreed policies. The future thus remained uncertain, but there could be no disagreement with the statement by the leaders of the Commonwealth that “the U.S.S.R. has ceased khổng lồ exist as a geopolitical reality.”

This article contains a history of the Union of Soviet Sociacác mục Republics from 1917 to lớn 1991. For the geography & history of the former Soviet Socialist republics, see the articles Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstung, Kyrgyzstung, Tajikistung, Turkmenischảy, Uzbekistan, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, & Ukraine.