Soviet Union Explained

Conventional Long Name:	Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Common Name:	Soviet Union
Life Span:	1922–1991
Government Type:	See Government of the Soviet Union
Event Pre:	October Revolution
Date Pre:	7 November 1917
Date Start:	30 December 1922
Event Start:	Treaty of Creation
Event1:	First constitution
Date Event1:	31 January 1924
Event2:	Second constitution
Date Event2:	5 December 1936
Event3:	Westward expansion
Date Event3:	1939–1940
Date Event4:	1941–1945
Date Event5:	24 October 1945
Event6:	De-Stalinization
Date Event6:	25 February 1956
Event7:	Last constitution
Date Event7:	9 October 1977
Date Event8:	1988–1991
Event9:	August Coup
Date Event9:	19–22 August 1991
Event End:	Belovezha Accords
Date End:	8 December 1991
Date Post:	26 December 1991
Area Water Km2:	2767198
Flag Type Article:	Flag of the Soviet Union
Flag Type:	Flag (1955–1991)
Flag:	Flag of the Soviet Union
Symbol Type Article:	State Emblem of the Soviet Union
Image Map Size:	250
Image Map Caption:	The Soviet Union in 1955
Capital:	Moscow
Coordinates:	55.75°N 74°W
Largest City:	capital
National Motto:	Russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! "Workers of the world, unite!"
Official Languages:	Russian
Ethnic Groups Year:	1989
Demonym:	Soviet
Currency:	Soviet ruble (Rbl)
Currency Code:	SUR
Title Leader:	Leader
Leader1:	Vladimir Lenin
Year Leader1:	1922–1924 (first)
Leader2:	Joseph Stalin
Year Leader2:	1924–1953
Leader3:	Georgy Malenkov
Year Leader3:	1953
Leader4:	Nikita Khrushchev
Year Leader4:	1953–1964
Leader5:	Leonid Brezhnev
Year Leader5:	1964–1982
Leader6:	Yuri Andropov
Year Leader6:	1982–1984
Leader7:	Konstantin Chernenko
Year Leader7:	1984–1985
Leader8:	Mikhail Gorbachev
Year Leader8:	1985–1991 (last)
Leader9:	Gennady Yanayev (acting, disputed)
Year Leader9:	1991
Representative1:	Mikhail Kalinin
Representative2:	Mikhail Gorbachev
Year Representative1:	1922–1946 (first)
Year Representative2:	1988–1991 (last)
Title Representative:	Head of State
Deputy1:	Vladimir Lenin
Deputy2:	Ivan Silayev
Year Deputy1:	1922–1924 (first)
Year Deputy2:	1991 (last)
Title Deputy:	Premier
House2:	Soviet of the Union (1936–1991)
Area Km2:	22,402,200
Population Census:	286,730,819^[1]
Population Census Year:	1989
Population Census Rank:	3rd
Population Density Km2:	12.7
P1:	Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic1922: Russian SFSR
Flag P1:	Flag RSFSR 1918.svg
P2:	Ukrainian Soviet Socialist RepublicUkrainian SSR
Flag P2:	Flag of the Ukrainian SSR (1919-1929).svg
P3:	Byelorussian Soviet Socialist RepublicByelorussian SSR
Flag P3:	Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919-1927).svg
P4:	Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet RepublicTranscaucasian SFSR
Flag P4:	Flag of the Transcaucasian SFSR (variant).svg
P5:	History of Estonia (1920–1939)1940: Estonia
Flag P5:	Flag of Estonia.svg
P6:	Latvia
Flag P6:	Flag of Latvia.svg
P7:	Lithuania
Flag P7:	Flag of Lithuania (1918–1940).svg
S1:	Lithuania1990: Lithuania
Flag S1:	Flag of Lithuania (1988–2004).svg
S2:	Latvia
Flag S2:	Flag of Latvia.svg
S3:	Georgia (country)1991: Georgia
Flag S3:	Flag of Georgia (1990–2004).svg
S4:	Estonia
Flag S4:	Flag of Estonia.svg
S5:	Ukraine
Flag S5:	Flag of Ukraine (Soviet shades).svg
S6:	Belarus
Flag S6:	Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991–1995).svg
S7:	Moldova
Flag S7:	Flag of Moldova.svg
S8:	Kyrgyzstan
Flag S8:	Flag of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
S9:	Uzbekistan
Flag S9:	Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
S10:	Tajikistan
Flag S10:	Flag of Tajikistan (1991–1992).svg
S11:	Armenia
Flag S11:	Flag of Armenia.svg
S12:	Azerbaijan
Flag S12:	Flag of Azerbaijan (1991–2013).svg
S13:	Turkmenistan
Flag S13:	Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
S14:	RussiaRussian Federation
Flag S14:	Flag of Russia (1991–1993).svg
S15:	Kazakhstan
Flag S15:	Flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
S16:	Commonwealth of Independent StatesCIS
Flag S16:	Flag of the CIS (UEFA Euro 1992).svg
Footnotes:	With the exception of the CIS – an intergovernmental organization and legal successor to the Soviet Union – only states that are former Soviet republics, now members of the United Nations, are listed as successors.
Gdp Ppp:	$2.7 trillion
Gdp Ppp Rank:	2nd
Gdp Ppp Year:	1990
Gdp Ppp Per Capita:	$9,000
Gdp Nominal:	$2.7 trillion^[2]
Gdp Nominal Year:	1990
Gdp Nominal Rank:	2nd
Gdp Nominal Per Capita:	$9,000
Gdp Nominal Per Capita Rank:	28th
Gini:	0.275
Gini Year:	1989
Gini Change:	low
Cctld:	.su
Drives On:	right
Calling Code:	+7
Time Zone:	(UTC+2 to +12)
Iso3166code:	SU
Area Rank:	1st
Percent Water:	12.3
Hdi:	0.920
Hdi Year:	1990 formula
Hdi Ref:	^[3]

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. It was the largest country by area, extending across eleven time zones and sharing borders with twelve countries, and the third-most populous country. An overall successor to the Russian Empire, it was nominally organized as a federal union of fifteen national republics, the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR. In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, it was a flagship communist state. Its capital and largest city was Moscow.

The Soviet Union's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917. The new government, led by Vladimir Lenin, established the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the world's first constitutionally socialist state. The revolution was not accepted by all within the Russian Republic, resulting in the Russian Civil War. The RSFSR and subordinate Soviet republics were merged into the Soviet Union in 1922. Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin came to power, inaugurating rapid industrialization and forced collectivization that led to significant economic growth, but contributed to a famine between 1930 and 1933 that killed millions. The forced labour camp system of the Gulag was expanded. During the late 1930s, Stalin conducted the Great Purge to remove opponents, resulting in mass death, imprisonment, and deportation. In 1939, the USSR and Nazi Germany signed a nonaggression pact but in 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest land invasion in history, opening the Eastern Front of World War II. The Soviets played a decisive role in defeating the Axis powers, suffering an estimated 27 million casualties, which accounted for most Allied losses. In the aftermath of the war, the Soviet Union consolidated the territory occupied by the Red Army, forming satellite states, and undertook rapid economic development which cemented its status as a superpower.

Ideological tensions with the US led to the Cold War. The American-led Western Bloc coalesced into NATO in 1949, prompting the Soviet Union to form its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955. Neither side engaged in direct military confrontation, and instead fought on an ideological basis and through proxy wars. In 1953, following Stalin's death, the Soviet Union undertook a campaign of de-Stalinization under Nikita Khrushchev, which saw reversals and rejections of Stalinist policies. This campaign caused tensions with Communist China. During the 1950s, the Soviet Union expanded its efforts in space exploration and took alead in the Space Race with the first artificial satellite, the first human spaceflight, the first space station, and the first probe to land on another planet. In 1985, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform the country through his policies of glasnost and perestroika. In 1989, various countries of the Warsaw Pact overthrew their Soviet-backed regimes, and nationalist and separatist movements erupted across the Soviet Union. In 1991, amid efforts to preserve the country as a renewed federation, an attempted coup against Gorbachev by hardline communists prompted the largest republics—Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus—to secede. On December 26, Gorbachev officially recognized the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin, the leader of the RSFSR, oversaw its reconstitution into the Russian Federation, which became the Soviet Union's successor state; all other republics emerged as fully independent post-Soviet states.

During its existence, the Soviet Union produced many significant social and technological achievements and innovations. It had the world's second-largest economy and largest standing military. An NPT-designated state, it wielded the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. As an Allied nation, it was a founding member of the United Nations as well as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Before its dissolution, the USSR was one of the world's two superpowers through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, global diplomatic and ideological influence (particularly in the Global South), military and economic strengths, and scientific accomplishments.

Etymology

See main article: Official names of the Soviet Union.

See also: Names of Russia. The word soviet is derived from the Russian word Russian: sovet (Russian: link=no|совет), meaning 'council', 'assembly', 'advice', ultimately deriving from the proto-Slavic verbal stem of Slavic languages: vět-iti ('to inform'), related to Slavic Slavic languages: věst ('news'), English wise. The word sovietnik means 'councillor'.^[4] Some organizations in Russian history were called council (Russian: link=no|совет). In the Russian Empire, the State Council, which functioned from 1810 to 1917, was referred to as a Council of Ministers.

The Soviets as workers' councils first appeared during the 1905 Russian Revolution. Although they were quickly suppressed by the Imperial army, after the February Revolution of 1917, workers' and soldiers' Soviets emerged throughout the country and shared power with the Russian Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, demanded that all power be transferred to the Soviets, and gained support from the workers and soldiers.^[5] After the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks seized power from the Provisional Government in the name of the Soviets,^{[6] [7]} Lenin proclaimed the formation of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic (RSFSR).

During the Georgian Affair of 1922, Lenin called for the Russian SFSR and other national Soviet republics to form a greater union which he initially named as the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia (Russian: links=no|Союз Советских Республик Европы и Азии|Soyuz Sovyetskikh Respublik Evropy i Azii). Joseph Stalin initially resisted Lenin's proposal but ultimately accepted it, and with Lenin's agreement he changed the name to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), although all republics began as socialist soviet and did not change to the other order until 1936. In addition, in the regional languages of several republics, the word council or conciliar in the respective language was only quite late changed to an adaptation of the Russian soviet and never in others, e.g. Ukrainian SSR.

Russian: СССР (in the Latin alphabet: SSSR) is the abbreviation of the Russian-language cognate of USSR, as written in Cyrillic letters. The Soviets used this abbreviation so frequently that audiences worldwide became familiar with its meaning. After this, the most common Russian initialization is Russian: Союз ССР (transliteration: Russian: Soyuz SSR) which essentially translates to Union of SSRs in English. In addition, the Russian short form name Russian: Советский Союз (transliteration: Russian: Sovyetsky Soyuz, which literally means Soviet Union) is also commonly used, but only in its unabbreviated form. Since the start of the Great Patriotic War at the latest, abbreviating the Russian name of the Soviet Union as Russian: СС has been taboo, the reason being that Russian: СС as a Russian Cyrillic abbreviation is associated with the infamous German: [[Schutzstaffel]] of Nazi Germany, just as SS is in English.

In English-language media, the state was referred to as the Soviet Union or the USSR. The Russian SFSR dominated the Soviet Union to such an extent that for most of the Soviet Union's existence, it was commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as Russia.

History

See main article: History of the Soviet Union.

See also: History of Russia. The history of the Soviet Union began with the ideals of the Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, the Soviet Union quickly became a one-party state under the Communist Party. Its early years under Lenin were marked by the implementation of socialist policies and the New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed for market-oriented reforms.

The rise of Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s ushered in an era of intense centralization and totalitarianism. Stalin's rule was characterized by the forced collectivization of agriculture, rapid industrialization, and the Great Purge, which eliminated perceived enemies of the state. The Soviet Union played a crucial role in the Allied victory in World War II, but at a tremendous human cost, with millions of Soviet citizens perishing in the conflict.

The Soviet Union emerged as one of the world's two superpowers, leading the Eastern Bloc in opposition to the Western Bloc during the Cold War. This period saw the USSR engage in an arms race, the Space Race, and proxy wars around the globe. The post-Stalin leadership, particularly under Nikita Khrushchev, initiated a de-Stalinization process, leading to a period of liberalization and relative openness known as the Khrushchev Thaw. However, the subsequent era under Leonid Brezhnev, referred to as the Era of Stagnation, was marked by economic decline, political corruption, and a rigid gerontocracy. Despite efforts to maintain the Soviet Union's superpower status, the economy struggled due to its centralized nature, technological backwardness, and inefficiencies. The vast military expenditures and burdens of maintaining the Eastern Bloc, further strained the Soviet economy.

In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) aimed to revitalize the Soviet system but instead accelerated its unraveling. Nationalist movements gained momentum across the Soviet republics, and the control of the Communist Party weakened. The failed coup attempt in August 1991 against Gorbachev by hardline communists hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union, which formally dissolved on December 26, 1991, ending nearly seven decades of Soviet rule.

Geography

See main article: Geography of the Soviet Union.

See also: Geography of Russia. With an area of, the Soviet Union was the world's largest country,^[8] a status that is retained by the Russian Federation.^[9] Covering a sixth of Earth's land surface, its size was comparable to that of North America.^[10] Two other successor states, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, rank among the top 10 countries by land area, and the largest country entirely in Europe, respectively. The European portion accounted for a quarter of the country's area and was the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in Asia extended to the Pacific Ocean to the east and Afghanistan to the south, and, except some areas in Central Asia, was much less populous. It spanned over east to west across 11 time zones, and over north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert and mountains.

The USSR, like Russia, had the world's longest border, measuring over, or circumferences of Earth. Two-thirds of it was a coastline. The country bordered Afghanistan, the People's Republic of China, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Mongolia, North Korea, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Turkey from 1945 to 1991. The Bering Strait separated the USSR from the United States.

The country's highest mountain was Communism Peak (now Ismoil Somoni Peak) in Tajikistan, at . The USSR also included most of the world's largest lakes; the Caspian Sea (shared with Iran), and Lake Baikal, the world's largest (by volume) and deepest freshwater lake that is also an internal body of water in Russia.

Neighbouring countries were aware of the high levels of pollution in the Soviet Union^{[11] [12]} but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was discovered that its environmental problems were greater than what the Soviet authorities admitted.^[13] The Soviet Union was the world's second largest producer of harmful emissions. In 1988, total emissions in the Soviet Union were about 79% of those in the United States. But since the Soviet GNP was only 54% of that of the United States, this means that the Soviet Union generated 1.5 times more pollution than the United States per unit of GNP.^[14]

The Soviet Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was the first major accident at a civilian nuclear power plant.^{[15] [16] [17]} Unparalleled in the world, it resulted in a large number of radioactive isotopes being released into the atmosphere. Radioactive doses were scattered relatively far.^[18] Although long-term effects of the accident were unknown, 4,000 new cases of thyroid cancer which resulted from the accident's contamination were reported at the time of the accident, but this led to a relatively low number of deaths (WHO data, 2005).^[19] Another major radioactive accident was the Kyshtym disaster.^[20]

The Kola Peninsula was one of the places with major problems.^[21] Around the industrial cities of Monchegorsk and Norilsk, where nickel, for example, is mined, all forests have been destroyed by contamination, while the northern and other parts of Russia have been affected by emissions.^[22] During the 1990s, people in the West were also interested in the radioactive hazards of nuclear facilities, decommissioned nuclear submarines, and the processing of nuclear waste or spent nuclear fuel.^{[23] [24]} It was also known in the early 1990s that the USSR had transported radioactive material to the Barents Sea and Kara Sea, which was later confirmed by the Russian parliament. The crash of the K-141 Kursk submarine in 2000 in the west further raised concerns.^[25] In the past, there were accidents involving submarines K-19, K-8, a K-129, K-27, K-219 and K-278 Komsomolets.^{[26] [27] [28] [29]}

Government and politics

See main article: Politics of the Soviet Union and Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. There were three power hierarchies in the Soviet Union: the legislature represented by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the government represented by the Council of Ministers, and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only legal party and the final policymaker in the country.^[30]

Communist Party

See main article: Communist Party of the Soviet Union. At the top of the Communist Party was the Central Committee, elected at Party Congresses and Conferences. In turn, the Central Committee voted for a Politburo (called the Presidium between 1952 and 1966), Secretariat and the general secretary (First Secretary from 1953 to 1966), the de facto highest office in the Soviet Union.^[31] Depending on the degree of power consolidation, it was either the Politburo as a collective body or the General Secretary, who always was one of the Politburo members, that effectively led the party and the country^[32] (except for the period of the highly personalized authority of Stalin, exercised directly through his position in the Council of Ministers rather than the Politburo after 1941).^[33] They were not controlled by the general party membership, as the key principle of the party organization was democratic centralism, demanding strict subordination to higher bodies, and elections went uncontested, endorsing the candidates proposed from above.^[34]

The Communist Party maintained its dominance over the state mainly through its control over the system of appointments. All senior government officials and most deputies of the Supreme Soviet were members of the CPSU. Of the party heads themselves, Stalin (1941–1953) and Khrushchev (1958–1964) were Premiers. Upon the forced retirement of Khrushchev, the party leader was prohibited from this kind of double membership,^[35] but the later General Secretaries for at least some part of their tenure occupied the mostly ceremonial position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the nominal head of state. The institutions at lower levels were overseen and at times supplanted by primary party organizations.^[36]

However, in practice the degree of control the party was able to exercise over the state bureaucracy, particularly after the death of Stalin, was far from total, with the bureaucracy pursuing different interests that were at times in conflict with the party,^[37] nor was the party itself monolithic from top to bottom, although factions were officially banned.^[38]

Government

See main article: Government of the Soviet Union. The Supreme Soviet (successor of the Congress of Soviets) was nominally the highest state body for most of the Soviet history,^[39] at first acting as a rubber stamp institution, approving and implementing all decisions made by the party. However, its powers and functions were extended in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including the creation of new state commissions and committees. It gained additional powers relating to the approval of the Five-Year Plans and the government budget.^[40] The Supreme Soviet elected a Presidium (successor of the Central Executive Committee) to wield its power between plenary sessions, ordinarily held twice a year, and appointed the Supreme Court,^[41] the Procurator General^[42] and the Council of Ministers (known before 1946 as the Council of People's Commissars), headed by the Chairman (Premier) and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society.^[43] State and party structures of the constituent republics largely emulated the structure of the central institutions, although the Russian SFSR, unlike the other constituent republics, for most of its history had no republican branch of the CPSU, being ruled directly by the union-wide party until 1990. Local authorities were organized likewise into party committees, local Soviets and executive committees. While the state system was nominally federal, the party was unitary.^[44]

The state security police (the KGB and its predecessor agencies) played an important role in Soviet politics. It was instrumental in the Red Terror and Great Purge,^[45] but was brought under strict party control after Stalin's death. Under Yuri Andropov, the KGB engaged in the suppression of political dissent and maintained an extensive network of informers, reasserting itself as a political actor to some extent independent of the party-state structure,^[46] culminating in the anti-corruption campaign targeting high-ranking party officials in the late 1970s and early 1980s.^[47]

Separation of power and reform

See main article: Perestroika. The constitution, which was promulgated in 1924, 1936 and 1977,^[48] did not limit state power. No formal separation of powers existed between the Party, Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers^[49] that represented executive and legislative branches of the government. The system was governed less by statute than by informal conventions, and no settled mechanism of leadership succession existed. Bitter and at times deadly power struggles took place in the Politburo after the deaths of Lenin^[50] and Stalin,^[51] as well as after Khrushchev's dismissal,^[52] itself due to a decision by both the Politburo and the Central Committee. All leaders of the Communist Party before Gorbachev died in office, except Georgy Malenkov^[53] and Khrushchev, both dismissed from the party leadership amid internal struggle within the party.^[54]

Between 1988 and 1990, facing considerable opposition, Mikhail Gorbachev enacted reforms shifting power away from the highest bodies of the party and making the Supreme Soviet less dependent on them. The Congress of People's Deputies was established, the majority of whose members were directly elected in competitive elections held in March 1989, the first in Soviet history. The Congress now elected the Supreme Soviet, which became a full-time parliament, and much stronger than before. For the first time since the 1920s, it refused to rubber stamp proposals from the party and Council of Ministers.^[55] In 1990, Gorbachev introduced and assumed the position of the President of the Soviet Union, concentrated power in his executive office, independent of the party, and subordinated the government,^[56] now renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, to himself.^[57]

Tensions grew between the Union-wide authorities under Gorbachev, reformists led in Russia by Boris Yeltsin and controlling the newly elected Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, and communist hardliners. On 19–21 August 1991, a group of hardliners staged a coup attempt. The coup failed, and the State Council of the Soviet Union became the highest organ of state power 'in the period of transition'.^[58] Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary, only remaining President for the final months of the existence of the USSR.^[59]

Judicial system

See main article: Law of the Soviet Union.

See also: Socialist law. The judiciary was not independent of the other branches of government. The Supreme Court supervised the lower courts (People's Court) and applied the law as established by the constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviewed the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union used the inquisitorial system of Roman law, where the judge, procurator, and defence attorney collaborate to "establish the truth".^[60]

Human rights

See main article: Human rights in the Soviet Union. Human rights in the Soviet Union were severely limited. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state from 1927 until 1953^{[61] [62] [63] [64]} and a one-party state until 1990.^[65] Freedom of speech was suppressed and dissent was punished. Independent political activities were not tolerated, whether these involved participation in free labor unions, private corporations, independent churches or opposition political parties. The freedom of movement within and especially outside the country was limited. The state restricted rights of citizens to private property.

The Soviet conception of human rights was very different from international law. According to Soviet legal theory, "it is the government who is the beneficiary of human rights which are to be asserted against the individual".^[66] The Soviet state was considered as the source of human rights.^[67] Therefore, the Soviet legal system regarded law as an arm of politics and courts as agencies of the government. Extensive extrajudicial powers were given to the Soviet secret police agencies. The Soviet government in practice significantly curbed the rule of law, civil liberties, protection of law, freedom of movement^[68] and guarantees of property,^[69] which were considered as examples of "bourgeois morality" by Soviet law theorists such as Andrey Vyshinsky.^[70] According to Vladimir Lenin, the purpose of socialist courts was "not to eliminate terror ... but to substantiate it and legitimize it in principle".^[71]

The Soviet Union signed legally-binding human rights documents, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973, but they were neither widely known or accessible to people living under Communist rule, nor were they taken seriously by the Communist authorities.^[72]

Foreign relations

See main article: Foreign relations of the Soviet Union. During his rule, Stalin always made the final policy decisions. Otherwise, Soviet foreign policy was set by the commission on the Foreign Policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, or by the party's highest body the Politburo. Operations were handled by the separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was known as the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (or Narkomindel), until 1946. The most influential spokesmen were Georgy Chicherin (1872–1936), Maxim Litvinov (1876–1951), Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), Andrey Vyshinsky (1883–1954) and Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989). Intellectuals were based in the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.^[73]

• Comintern (1919–1943), or Communist International, was an international communist organization based in the Kremlin that advocated world communism. The Comintern intended to 'struggle by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the state'.^[74] It was abolished as a conciliatory measure toward Britain and the United States.^[75]
• Comecon, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Russian: Совет Экономической Взаимопомощи, Sovet Ekonomicheskoy Vzaimopomoshchi, СЭВ, SEV) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under Soviet control that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with several communist states elsewhere in the world. Moscow was concerned about the Marshall Plan, and Comecon was meant to prevent countries in the Soviets' sphere of influence from moving towards that of the Americans and Southeast Asia. Comecon was the Eastern Bloc's reply to the formation in Western Europe of the Organization for European Economic Co-Operation (OEEC),^{[76] [77]}
• The Warsaw Pact was a collective defence alliance formed in 1955 among the USSR and its satellite states in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.^{[78] [79]} The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Comecon, the regional economic organization for the socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into NATO.^[80] Although nominally a "defensive" alliance, the Pact's primary function was to safeguard the Soviet Union's hegemony over its Eastern European satellites, with the Pact's only direct military actions having been the invasions of its own member states to keep them from breaking away.^{[81] [82] [83]}
• The Cominform (1947–1956), informally the Communist Information Bureau and officially the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties, was the first official agency of the international Marxist-Leninist movement since the dissolution of the Comintern in 1943. Its role was to coordinate actions between Marxist-Leninist parties under Soviet direction. Stalin used it to order Western European communist parties to abandon their exclusively parliamentarian line and instead concentrate on politically impeding the operations of the Marshall Plan, the U.S. program of rebuilding Europe after the war and developing its economy.^[84] It also coordinated international aid to Marxist-Leninist insurgents during the Greek Civil War in 1947–1949.^[85] It expelled Yugoslavia in 1948 after Josip Broz Tito insisted on an independent program. Its newspaper, For a Lasting Peace, for a People's Democracy!, promoted Stalin's positions. The Cominform's concentration on Europe meant a deemphasis on world revolution in Soviet foreign policy. By enunciating a uniform ideology, it allowed the constituent parties to focus on personalities rather than issues.^[86]

Early policies (1919–1939)

The Marxist-Leninist leadership of the Soviet Union intensely debated foreign policy issues and changed directions several times. Even after Stalin assumed dictatorial control in the late 1920s, there were debates, and he frequently changed positions.^[87]

During the country's early period, it was assumed that Communist revolutions would break out soon in every major industrial country, and it was the Russian responsibility to assist them. The Comintern was the weapon of choice. A few revolutions did break out, but they were quickly suppressed (the longest lasting one was in Hungary)—the Hungarian Soviet Republic—lasted only from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919. The Russian Bolsheviks were in no position to give any help.

By 1921, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin realized that capitalism had stabilized itself in Europe and there would not be any widespread revolutions anytime soon. It became the duty of the Russian Bolsheviks to protect what they had in Russia, and avoid military confrontations that might destroy their bridgehead. Russia was now a pariah state, along with Germany. The two came to terms in 1922 with the Treaty of Rapallo that settled long-standing grievances. At the same time, the two countries secretly set up training programs for the illegal German army and air force operations at hidden camps in the USSR.^[88]

Moscow eventually stopped threatening other states, and instead worked to open peaceful relationships in terms of trade, and diplomatic recognition. The United Kingdom dismissed the warnings of Winston Churchill and a few others about a continuing Marxist-Leninist threat, and opened trade relations and de facto diplomatic recognition in 1922. There was hope for a settlement of the pre-war Tsarist debts, but it was repeatedly postponed. Formal recognition came when the new Labour Party came to power in 1924.^[89] All the other countries followed suit in opening trade relations. Henry Ford opened large-scale business relations with the Soviets in the late 1920s, hoping that it would lead to long-term peace. Finally, in 1933, the United States officially recognized the USSR, a decision backed by the public opinion and especially by US business interests that expected an opening of a new profitable market.^[90]

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin ordered Marxist-Leninist parties across the world to strongly oppose non-Marxist political parties, labor unions or other organizations on the left, which they labelled social fascists. In the usage of the Soviet Union, and of the Comintern and its affiliated parties in this period, the epithet fascist was used to describe capitalist society in general and virtually any anti-Soviet or anti-Stalinist activity or opinion.^[91] Stalin reversed himself in 1934 with the Popular Front program that called on all Marxist parties to join with all anti-Fascist political, labor, and organizational forces that were opposed to fascism, especially of the Nazi variety.^{[92] [93]}

The rapid growth of power in Nazi Germany encouraged both Paris and Moscow to form a military alliance, and the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed in May 1935. A firm believer in collective security, Stalin's foreign minister Maxim Litvinov worked very hard to form a closer relationship with France and Britain.^[94]

In 1939, half a year after the Munich Agreement, the USSR attempted to form an anti-Nazi alliance with France and Britain.^[95] Adolf Hitler proposed a better deal, which would give the USSR control over much of Eastern Europe through the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In September, Germany invaded Poland, and the USSR also invaded later that month, resulting in the partition of Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II.^[96]

World War II (1939–1945)

See main article: Causes of World War II. Up until his death in 1953, Joseph Stalin controlled all foreign relations of the Soviet Union during the interwar period. Despite the increasing build-up of Germany's war machine and the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Soviet Union did not cooperate with any other nation, choosing to follow its own path.^[97] However, after Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet Union's priorities changed. Despite previous conflict with the United Kingdom, Vyacheslav Molotov dropped his post war border demands.^[98]

Cold War (1945–1991)

See main article: Origins of the Cold War and Cold War. The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, which began following World War II in 1945. The term cold war is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment, the struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, espionage, far-reaching embargoes, rivalry at sports events and technological competitions such as the Space Race.

Administrative divisions

See main article: Subdivisions of the Soviet Union, Soviet republic (system of government) and Republics of the Soviet Union. Constitutionally, the USSR was a federation of constituent Union Republics, which were either unitary states, such as Ukraine or Byelorussia (SSRs), or federations, such as Russia or Transcaucasia (SFSRs), all four being the founding republics who signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR in December 1922. In 1924, during the national delimitation in Central Asia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were formed from parts of Russia's Turkestan ASSR and two Soviet dependencies, the Khorezm and Bukharan PSPs. In 1929, Tajikistan was split off from the Uzbekistan SSR. With the constitution of 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved, resulting in its constituent republics of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan being elevated to Union Republics, while Kazakhstan and Kirghizia were split off from the Russian SFSR, resulting in the same status.^[99] In August 1940, Moldavia was formed from parts of Ukraine and Soviet-occupied Bessarabia, and Ukrainian SSR. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were also annexed by the Soviet Union and turned into SSRs, which was not recognized by most of the international community and was considered an illegal occupation. After the Soviet invasion of Finland, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was formed on annexed territory as a Union Republic in March 1940 and then incorporated into Russia as the Karelian ASSR in 1956. Between July 1956 and September 1991, there were 15 union republics (see map below).^[100]

While nominally a union of equals, in practice the Soviet Union was dominated by Russians. The domination was so absolute that for most of its existence, the country was commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as 'Russia'. While the Russian SFSR was technically only one republic within the larger union, it was by far the largest (both in terms of population and area), most powerful, and most highly developed. The Russian SFSR was also the industrial center of the Soviet Union. Historian Matthew White wrote that it was an open secret that the country's federal structure was 'window dressing' for Russian dominance. For that reason, the people of the USSR were usually called 'Russians', not 'Soviets', since 'everyone knew who really ran the show'.^[101]

Military

See main article: Soviet Armed Forces.

See also: Red Army, Soviet Army, Soviet Navy, Soviet Air Forces, Lists of Heroes of the Soviet Union and Military history of the Soviet Union. Under the Military Law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of the Land Forces, the Air Force, the Navy, Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) and the Internal Troops.^[102] The OGPU later became independent and in 1934 joined the NKVD secret police, and so its internal troops were under the joint leadership of the defense and internal commissariats. After World War II, Strategic Missile Forces (1959), Air Defense Forces (1948) and National Civil Defense Forces (1970) were formed, which ranked first, third, and sixth in the official Soviet system of importance (ground forces were second, Air Force fourth, and Navy fifth).

The army had the greatest political influence. In 1989, there served two million soldiers divided between 150 motorized and 52 armored divisions. Until the early 1960s, the Soviet navy was a rather small military branch, but after the Caribbean crisis, under the leadership of Sergei Gorshkov, it expanded significantly. It became known for battlecruisers and submarines. In 1989, there served 500 000 men. The Soviet Air Force focused on a fleet of strategic bombers and during war situation was to eradicate enemy infrastructure and nuclear capacity. The air force also had a number of fighters and tactical bombers to support the army in the war. Strategic missile forces had more than 1,400 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), deployed between 28 bases and 300 command centers.

In the post-war period, the Soviet Army was directly involved in several military operations abroad.^{[103] [104]} These included the suppression of the uprising in East Germany (1953), Hungarian revolution (1956) and the invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968). The Soviet Union also participated in the war in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989.

In the Soviet Union, general conscription applied, meaning all able-bodied males aged 18 and older were drafted in the armed forces.^[105]

Economy

See main article: Economy of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union adopted a command economy, whereby production and distribution of goods were centralized and directed by the government. The first Bolshevik experience with a command economy was the policy of war communism, which involved the nationalization of industry, centralized distribution of output, coercive or forced requisition of agricultural production, and attempts to eliminate money circulation, private enterprises and free trade. The barrier troops were also used to enforce Bolshevik control over food supplies in areas controlled by the Red Army, a role which soon earned them the hatred of the Russian civilian population.^[106] After the severe economic collapse, Lenin replaced war communism by the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921, legalizing free trade and private ownership of small businesses. The economy steadily recovered as a result.^[107]

After a long debate among the members of the Politburo about the course of economic development, by 1928–1929, upon gaining control of the country, Stalin abandoned the NEP and pushed for full central planning, starting forced collectivization of agriculture and enacting draconian labor legislation. Resources were mobilized for rapid industrialization, which significantly expanded Soviet capacity in heavy industry and capital goods during the 1930s. The primary motivation for industrialization was preparation for war, mostly due to distrust of the outside capitalist world.^[108] As a result, the USSR was transformed from a largely agrarian economy into a great industrial power, leading the way for its emergence as a superpower after World War II.^[109] The war caused extensive devastation of the Soviet economy and infrastructure, which required massive reconstruction.^[110]

By the early 1940s, the Soviet economy had become relatively self-sufficient; for most of the period until the creation of Comecon, only a tiny share of domestic products was traded internationally.^[111] After the creation of the Eastern Bloc, external trade rose rapidly. However, the influence of the world economy on the USSR was limited by fixed domestic prices and a state monopoly on foreign trade.^[112] Grain and sophisticated consumer manufactures became major import articles from around the 1960s. During the arms race of the Cold War, the Soviet economy was burdened by military expenditures, heavily lobbied for by a powerful bureaucracy dependent on the arms industry. At the same time, the USSR became the largest arms exporter to the Third World. A portion of Soviet resources during the Cold War were allocated in aid to the Soviet-aligned states. The Soviet Union's military budget in the 1970s was gigantic, forming 40–60% of the entire federal budget and accounting to 15% of the USSR's GDP (13% in the 1980s).^[113]

From the 1930s until its dissolution in late 1991, the way the Soviet economy operated remained essentially unchanged. The economy was formally directed by central planning, carried out by Gosplan and organized in five-year plans. However, in practice, the plans were highly aggregated and provisional, subject to ad hoc intervention by superiors. All critical economic decisions were taken by the political leadership. Allocated resources and plan targets were usually denominated in rubles rather than in physical goods. Credit was discouraged, but widespread. The final allocation of output was achieved through relatively decentralized, unplanned contracting. Although in theory prices were legally set from above, in practice they were often negotiated, and informal horizontal links (e.g. between producer factories) were widespread.

A number of basic services were state-funded, such as education and health care. In the manufacturing sector, heavy industry and defence were prioritized over consumer goods. Consumer goods, particularly outside large cities, were often scarce, of poor quality and limited variety. Under the command economy, consumers had almost no influence on production, and the changing demands of a population with growing incomes could not be satisfied by supplies at rigidly fixed prices.^[114] A massive unplanned second economy grew up at low levels alongside the planned one, providing some of the goods and services that the planners could not. The legalization of some elements of the decentralized economy was attempted with the reform of 1965.

Although statistics of the Soviet economy are notoriously unreliable and its economic growth difficult to estimate precisely,^{[115] [116]} by most accounts, the economy continued to expand until the mid-1980s. During the 1950s and 1960s, it had comparatively high growth and was catching up to the West.^[117] However, after 1970, the growth, while still positive, steadily declined much more quickly and consistently than in other countries, despite a rapid increase in the capital stock (the rate of capital increase was only surpassed by Japan).Overall, the growth rate of per capita income in the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1989 was slightly above the world average (based on 102 countries). A 1986 study published in the American Journal of Public Health claimed that, citing World Bank data, the Soviet model provided a better quality of life and human development than market economies at the same level of economic development in most cases.^[118] According to Stanley Fischer and William Easterly, growth could have been faster. By their calculation, per capita income in 1989 should have been twice higher than it was, considering the amount of investment, education and population. The authors attribute this poor performance to the low productivity of capital. Steven Rosefielde states that the standard of living declined due to Stalin's despotism. While there was a brief improvement after his death, it lapsed into stagnation.^[119]

In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to reform and revitalize the economy with his program of perestroika. His policies relaxed state control over enterprises but did not replace it by market incentives, resulting in a sharp decline in output. The economy, already suffering from reduced petroleum export revenues, started to collapse. Prices were still fixed, and the property was still largely state-owned until after the country's dissolution. For most of the period after World War II until its collapse, Soviet GDP (PPP) was the second-largest in the world, and third during the second half of the 1980s,^[120] although on a per-capita basis, it was behind that of First World countries.^[121] Compared to countries with similar per-capita GDP in 1928, the Soviet Union experienced significant growth.

In 1990, the country had a Human Development Index of 0.920, placing it in the 'high' category of human development. It was the third-highest in the Eastern Bloc, behind Czechoslovakia and East Germany, and the 25th in the world of 130 countries.^[122]

Energy

See main article: Energy policy of the Soviet Union. The need for fuel declined in the Soviet Union from the 1970s to the 1980s, both per ruble of gross social product and per ruble of industrial product. At the start, this decline grew very rapidly but gradually slowed down between 1970 and 1975. From 1975 and 1980, it grew even slower, only 2.6%. David Wilson, a historian, believed that the gas industry would account for 40% of Soviet fuel production by the end of the century. His theory did not come to fruition because of the USSR's collapse. The USSR, in theory, would have continued to have an economic growth rate of 2–2.5% during the 1990s because of Soviet energy fields. However, the energy sector faced many difficulties, among them the country's high military expenditure and hostile relations with the First World.

In 1991, the Soviet Union had a pipeline network of 82000km (51,000miles) for crude oil and another 206500km (128,300miles) for natural gas. Petroleum and petroleum-based products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a variety of manufactured goods, primarily machinery, arms and military equipment, were exported.^[123] In the 1970s and 1980s, the USSR heavily relied on fossil fuel exports to earn hard currency. At its peak in 1988, it was the largest producer and second-largest exporter of crude oil, surpassed only by Saudi Arabia.^[124]

Science and technology

See main article: Science and technology in the Soviet Union.

See also: Cybernetics in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union placed great emphasis on science and technology within its economy,^{[125] [126]} however, the most remarkable Soviet successes in technology, such as producing the world's first space satellite, typically were the responsibility of the military.^[127] Lenin believed that the USSR would never overtake the developed world if it remained as technologically backward as it was upon its founding. Soviet authorities proved their commitment to Lenin's belief by developing massive networks, research and development organizations. In the early 1960s, the Soviets awarded 40% of chemistry PhDs to women, compared to only 5% in the United States.^[128] By 1989, Soviet scientists were among the world's best-trained specialists in several areas, such as Energy physics, selected areas of medicine, mathematics, welding and military technologies. Due to rigid state planning and bureaucracy, the Soviets remained far behind technologically in chemistry, biology, and computers when compared to the First World. The Soviet government opposed and persecuted geneticists in favour of Lysenkoism, a pseudoscience rejected by the scientific community in the Soviet Union and abroad but supported by Stalin's inner circles. Implemented in the USSR and China, it resulted in reduced crop yields and is widely believed to have contributed to the Great Chinese Famine.^[129] The Soviet Union also had more scientists and engineers, relative to the world population, than any other major country due to the strong levels of state support for scientific developments by the 1980s.^[130]

Under the Reagan administration, Project Socrates determined that the Soviet Union addressed the acquisition of science and technology in a manner that was radically different from what the US was using. In the case of the US, economic prioritization was being used for indigenous research and development as the means to acquire science and technology in both the private and public sectors. In contrast, the USSR was offensively and defensively maneuvering in the acquisition and use of the worldwide technology, to increase the competitive advantage that they acquired from the technology while preventing the US from acquiring a competitive advantage. However, technology-based planning was executed in a centralized, government-centric manner that greatly hindered its flexibility. This was exploited by the US to undermine the strength of the Soviet Union and thus foster its reform.^{[131] [132] [133]}

Space program

See main article: Soviet space program and Nedelin catastrophe. At the end of the 1950s, the USSR constructed the first satellite—Sputnik 1, which marked the beginning of the Space Race—a competition to achieve superior spaceflight capability with the United States.^[134] This was followed by other successful satellites, most notably Sputnik 5, where test dogs were sent to space. On 12 April 1961, the USSR launched Vostok 1, which carried Yuri Gagarin, making him the first human to ever be launched into space and complete a space journey.^[135] The first plans for space shuttles and orbital stations were drawn up in Soviet design offices, but personal disputes between designers and management prevented their development.

In terms of the Luna program, the USSR only had automated spacecraft launches with no crewed spacecraft, passing on the 'Moon' part of Space Race, which was won by the Americans. The Soviet public's reaction to the American moon-landing was mixed. The Soviet government limited the release of information about it, which affected the reaction. A portion of the populace did not give it attention, and another portion was angered.^{[136] [137]}

In the 1970s, specific proposals for the design of a space shuttle emerged, but shortcomings, especially in the electronics industry (rapid overheating of electronics), postponed it till the end of the 1980s. The first shuttle, the Buran, flew in 1988, but without a human crew. Another, Ptichka, endured prolonged construction and was canceled in 1991. For their launch into space, there is today an unused superpower rocket, Energia, which is the most powerful in the world.^[138]

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union built the Mir orbital station. It was built on the construction of Salyut stations and its only role was civilian-grade research tasks.^[139] Mir was the only orbital station in operation from 1986 to 1998. Gradually, other modules were added to it, including American modules. However, the station deteriorated rapidly after a fire on board, so in 2001 it was decided to bring it into the atmosphere where it burned down.^[140]

Transport

See main article: Transport in the Soviet Union. Transport was a vital component of the country's economy. The economic centralization of the late 1920s and 1930s led to the development of infrastructure on a massive scale, most notably the establishment of Aeroflot, an aviation enterprise.^[141] The country had a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air. However, due to inadequate maintenance, much of the road, water and Soviet civil aviation transport were outdated and technologically backward compared to the First World.

Soviet rail transport was the largest and most intensively used in the world; it was also better developed than most of its Western counterparts. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Soviet economists were calling for the construction of more roads to alleviate some of the burdens from the railways and to improve the Soviet government budget. The street network and automotive industry remained underdeveloped, and dirt roads were common outside major cities. Soviet maintenance projects proved unable to take care of even the few roads the country had. By the early-to-mid-1980s, the Soviet authorities tried to solve the road problem by ordering the construction of new ones. Meanwhile, the automobile industry was growing at a faster rate than road construction. The underdeveloped road network led to a growing demand for public transport.^[142]

Despite improvements, several aspects of the transport sector were still riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure, lack of investment, corruption and bad decision-making. Soviet authorities were unable to meet the growing demand for transport infrastructure and services.

The Soviet merchant navy was one of the largest in the world.^[143]

Demographics

See main article: Demographics of the Soviet Union. Excess deaths throughout World War I and the Russian Civil War (including the famine of 1921–1922 that was triggered by Lenin's war communism policies)^[144] amounted to a combined total of 18 million,^[145] some 10 million in the 1930s,^[146] and more than 20 million in 1941–1945. The postwar Soviet population was 45 to 50 million smaller than it would have been if pre-war demographic growth had continued.^[147] According to Catherine Merridale, '...reasonable estimate would place the total number of excess deaths for the whole period somewhere around 60 million.'^[148]

The birth rate of the USSR decreased from 44.0 per thousand in 1926 to 18.0 in 1974, mainly due to increasing urbanization and the rising average age of marriages. The mortality rate demonstrated a gradual decrease as well—from 23.7 per thousand in 1926 to 8.7 in 1974. In general, the birth rates of the southern republics in Transcaucasia and Central Asia were considerably higher than those in the northern parts of the Soviet Union, and in some cases even increased in the post–World War II period, a phenomenon partly attributed to slower rates of urbanization and traditionally earlier marriages in the southern republics.^[149] Soviet Europe moved towards sub-replacement fertility, while Soviet Central Asia continued to exhibit population growth well above replacement-level fertility.^[150]

The late 1960s and the 1970s witnessed a reversal of the declining trajectory of the rate of mortality in the USSR, and was especially notable among men of working age, but was also prevalent in Russia and other predominantly Slavic areas of the country.^[151] An analysis of the official data from the late 1980s showed that after worsening in the late-1970s and the early 1980s, adult mortality began to improve again.^[152] The infant mortality rate increased from 24.7 in 1970 to 27.9 in 1974. Some researchers regarded the rise as mostly real, a consequence of worsening health conditions and services.^[153] The rises in both adult and infant mortality were not explained or defended by Soviet officials, and the Soviet government stopped publishing all mortality statistics for ten years. Soviet demographers and health specialists remained silent about the mortality increases until the late-1980s, when the publication of mortality data resumed, and researchers could delve into the real causes.^[154]

Urbanism

The Soviet Union imposed heavy control on city growth, preventing some cities from reaching their full potential while promoting others.^{[155] [156]}

For the entirety of its existence, the most populous cities were Moscow and Leningrad (both in Russian SFSR), with the third far place taken by Kiev (Ukrainian SSR). At its inception, the Top 5 was completed by Kharkov (Ukrainian SSR) and Baku (Azerbaijan SSR), but, by the end of the century, Tashkent (Uzbek SSR), which had assumed the position of capital of Soviet Central Asia, had risen to fourth place. Another city worth mentioning is Minsk (Byelorussian SSR), which saw rapid growth during the 20th century, rising from the 32nd most populous in the union to the 7th.^{[157] [158]}

Women and fertility

See also: LGBT history in Russia. Under Lenin, the state made explicit commitments to promote the equality of men and women. Many early Russian feminists and ordinary Russian working women actively participated in the Revolution, and many more were affected by the events of that period and the new policies. Beginning in October 1918, Lenin's government liberalized divorce and abortion laws, decriminalized homosexuality (re-criminalized in 1932), permitted cohabitation, and ushered in a host of reforms.^[159] However, without birth control, the new system produced many broken marriages, as well as countless out-of-wedlock children.^[160] The epidemic of divorces and extramarital affairs created social hardships when Soviet leaders wanted people to concentrate their efforts on growing the economy. Giving women control over their fertility also led to a precipitous decline in the birth rate, perceived as a threat to their country's military power. By 1936, Stalin reversed most of the liberal laws, ushering in a pronatalist era that lasted for decades.^[161]

By 1917, Russia became the first great power to grant women the right to vote.^[162] After heavy casualties in World War I and II, women outnumbered men in Russia by a 4:3 ratio.^[163] This contributed to the larger role women played in Russian society compared to other great powers at the time.

Education

See main article: Education in the Soviet Union. Anatoly Lunacharsky became the first People's Commissar for Education of Soviet Russia. In the beginning, the Soviet authorities placed great emphasis on the elimination of illiteracy. All left-handed children were forced to write with their right hand in the Soviet school system.^{[164] [165] [166] [167]} Literate people were automatically hired as teachers. For a short period, quality was sacrificed for quantity. By 1940, Stalin could announce that illiteracy had been eliminated. Throughout the 1930s, social mobility rose sharply, which has been attributed to reforms in education.^[168] In the aftermath of World War II, the country's educational system expanded dramatically, which had a tremendous effect. In the 1960s, nearly all children had access to education, the only exception being those living in remote areas. Nikita Khrushchev tried to make education more accessible, making it clear to children that education was closely linked to the needs of society. Education also became important in giving rise to the New Man.^[169] Citizens directly entering the workforce had the constitutional right to a job and to free vocational training.

The education system was highly centralized and universally accessible to all citizens, with affirmative action for applicants from nations associated with cultural backwardness. However, as part of a general antisemitic policy, an unofficial Jewish quota was applied in the leading institutions of higher education by subjecting Jewish applicants to harsher entrance examinations.^{[170] [171] [172] [173]} The Brezhnev era also introduced a rule that required all university applicants to present a reference from the local Komsomol party secretary.^[174] According to statistics from 1986, the number of higher education students per the population of 10,000 was 181 for the USSR, compared to 517 for the US.^[175]

Nationalities and ethnic groups

See main article: Islam in the Soviet Union, National delimitation in the Soviet Union, Korenizatsiia and Soviet Central Asia. The Soviet Union was an ethnically diverse country, with more than 100 distinct ethnic groups. The total population of the country was estimated at 293 million in 1991. According to a 1990 estimate, the majority of the population were Russians (50.78%), followed by Ukrainians (15.45%) and Uzbeks (5.84%).^[176] Overall, in 1989 the ethnic demography of the country showed that 69.8% was East Slavic, 17.5% was Turkic, 1.6% were Armenians, 1.6% were Balts, 1.5% were Finnic, 1.5% were Tajik, 1.4% were Georgian, 1.2% were Moldovan and 4.1% were of other various ethnic groups.^[177]

All citizens of the USSR had their own ethnic affiliation. The ethnicity of a person was chosen at the age of sixteen by the child's parents. If the parents did not agree, the child was automatically assigned the ethnicity of the father. Partly due to Soviet policies, some of the smaller minority ethnic groups were considered part of larger ones, such as the Mingrelians of Georgia, who were classified with the linguistically related Georgians. Some ethnic groups voluntarily assimilated, while others were brought in by force. Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians, who were all East Slavic and Orthodox, shared close cultural, ethnic, and religious ties, while other groups did not. With multiple nationalities living in the same territory, ethnic antagonisms developed over the years.^[178]

Members of various ethnicities participated in legislative bodies. Organs of power like the Politburo, the Secretariat of the Central Committee etc., were formally ethnically neutral, but in reality, ethnic Russians were overrepresented, although there were also non-Russian leaders in the Soviet leadership, such as Joseph Stalin, Grigory Zinoviev, Nikolai Podgorny or Andrei Gromyko. During the Soviet era, a significant number of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians migrated to other Soviet republics, and many of them settled there. According to the last census in 1989, the Russian 'diaspora' in the Soviet republics had reached 25 million.^[179]

Health

In 1917, before the revolution, health conditions were significantly behind those of developed countries. As Lenin later noted, "Either the lice will defeat socialism, or socialism will defeat the lice". The Soviet health care system was conceived by the People's Commissariat for Health in 1918. Under the Semashko model, health care was to be controlled by the state and would be provided to its citizens free of charge, a revolutionary concept at the time. Article 42 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution gave all citizens the right to health protection and free access to any health institutions in the USSR. Before Leonid Brezhnev became general secretary, the Soviet healthcare system was held in high esteem by many foreign specialists. This changed, however, from Brezhnev's accession and Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure as leader, during which the health care system was heavily criticized for many basic faults, such as the quality of service and the unevenness in its provision. Minister of Health Yevgeniy Chazov, during the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, while highlighting such successes as having the most doctors and hospitals in the world, recognized the system's areas for improvement and felt that billions of rubles were squandered.

After the revolution, life expectancy for all age groups went up. This statistic in itself was seen by some that the socialist system was superior to the capitalist system. These improvements continued into the 1960s when statistics indicated that the life expectancy briefly surpassed that of the United States. Life expectancy started to decline in the 1970s, possibly because of alcohol abuse. At the same time, infant mortality began to rise. After 1974, the government stopped publishing statistics on the matter. This trend can be partly explained by the number of pregnancies rising drastically in the Asian part of the country where infant mortality was the highest while declining markedly in the more developed European part of the Soviet Union.^[180]

Dentistry

Soviet dental technology and dental health were considered notoriously bad. In 1991, the average 35-year-old had 12 to 14 cavities, fillings or missing teeth. Toothpaste was often not available, and toothbrushes did not conform to standards of modern dentistry.^{[181] [182]}

Language

See main article: Languages of the Soviet Union and Reforms of Russian orthography. Under Lenin, the government gave small language groups their own writing systems. The development of these writing systems was highly successful, even though some flaws were detected. During the later days of the USSR, countries with the same multilingual situation implemented similar policies. A serious problem when creating these writing systems was that the languages differed dialectally greatly from each other. When a language had been given a writing system and appeared in a notable publication, it would attain 'official language' status. There were many minority languages which never received their own writing system; therefore, their speakers were forced to have a second language. There are examples where the government retreated from this policy, most notably under Stalin where education was discontinued in languages that were not widespread. These languages were then assimilated into another language, mostly Russian. During World War II, some minority languages were banned, and their speakers accused of collaborating with the enemy.

As the most widely spoken of the Soviet Union's many languages, Russian de facto functioned as an official language, as the 'language of interethnic communication' (Russian: link=no|язык межнационального общения), but only assumed the de jure status as the official national language in 1990.^[183]

Religion

See main article: Religion in the Soviet Union. Christianity and Islam had the highest number of adherents among the religious citizens.^[184] Eastern Christianity predominated among Christians, with Russia's traditional Russian Orthodox Church being the largest Christian denomination. About 90% of the Soviet Union's Muslims were Sunnis, with Shias being concentrated in the Azerbaijan SSR. Smaller groups included Roman Catholics, Jews, Buddhists, and a variety of Protestant denominations (especially Baptists and Lutherans).

Religious influence had been strong in the Russian Empire. The Russian Orthodox Church enjoyed a privileged status as the church of the monarchy and took part in carrying out official state functions.^[185] The immediate period following the establishment of the Soviet state included a struggle against the Orthodox Church, which the revolutionaries considered an ally of the former ruling classes.

In Soviet law, the 'freedom to hold religious services' was constitutionally guaranteed, although the ruling Communist Party regarded religion as incompatible with the Marxist spirit of scientific materialism. In practice, the Soviet system subscribed to a narrow interpretation of this right, and in fact used a range of official measures to discourage religion and curb the activities of religious groups.

The 1918 Council of People's Commissars decree establishing the Russian SFSR as a secular state also decreed that 'the teaching of religion in all [places] where subjects of general instruction are taught, is forbidden. Citizens may teach and may be taught religion privately.' Among further restrictions, those adopted in 1929 included express prohibitions on a range of church activities, including meetings for organized Bible study. Both Christian and non-Christian establishments were shut down by the thousands in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1940, as many as 90% of the churches, synagogues, and mosques that had been operating in 1917 were closed; the majority of them were demolished or re-purposed for state needs with little concern for their historic and cultural value.^[186]

More than 85,000 Orthodox priests were shot in 1937 alone.^[187] Only a twelfth of the Russian Orthodox Church's priests were left functioning in their parishes by 1941.^[188] In the period between 1927 and 1940, the number of Orthodox Churches in Russia fell from 29,584 to less than 500 (1.7%).^[189]

The Soviet Union was officially a secular state,^{[190] [191]} but a 'government-sponsored program of forced conversion to atheism' was conducted under the doctrine of state atheism.^{[192] [193] [194]} The government targeted religions based on state interests, and while most organized religions were never outlawed, religious property was confiscated, believers were harassed, and religion was ridiculed while atheism was propagated in schools.^[195] In 1925, the government founded the League of Militant Atheists to intensify the propaganda campaign.^[196] Accordingly, although personal expressions of religious faith were not explicitly banned, a strong sense of social stigma was imposed on them by the formal structures and mass media, and it was generally considered unacceptable for members of certain professions (teachers, state bureaucrats, soldiers) to be openly religious. While persecution accelerated following Stalin's rise to power, a revival of Orthodoxy was fostered by the government during World War II and the Soviet authorities sought to control the Russian Orthodox Church rather than liquidate it. During the first five years of Soviet power, the Bolsheviks executed 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and over 1,200 Russian Orthodox priests. Many others were imprisoned or exiled. Believers were harassed and persecuted. Most seminaries were closed, and the publication of most religious material was prohibited. By 1941, only 500 churches remained open out of about 54,000 in existence before World War I.

Convinced that religious anti-Sovietism had become a thing of the past, and with the looming threat of war, the Stalin administration began shifting to a more moderate religion policy in the late 1930s. Soviet religious establishments overwhelmingly rallied to support the war effort during World War II. Amid other accommodations to religious faith after the German invasion, churches were reopened. Radio Moscow began broadcasting a religious hour, and a historic meeting between Stalin and Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Sergius of Moscow was held in 1943. Stalin had the support of the majority of the religious people in the USSR even through the late 1980s. The general tendency of this period was an increase in religious activity among believers of all faiths.^[197]

Under Nikita Khrushchev, the state leadership clashed with the churches in 1958–1964, a period when atheism was emphasized in the educational curriculum, and numerous state publications promoted atheistic views. During this period, the number of churches fell from 20,000 to 10,000 from 1959 to 1965, and the number of synagogues dropped from 500 to 97.^[198] The number of working mosques also declined, falling from 1,500 to 500 within a decade.

Religious institutions remained monitored by the Soviet government, but churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques were all given more leeway in the Brezhnev era.^[199] Official relations between the Orthodox Church and the government again warmed to the point that the Brezhnev government twice honored Orthodox Patriarch Alexy I with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour. A poll conducted by Soviet authorities in 1982 recorded 20% of the Soviet population as 'active religious believers.'^[200]

Culture

See main article: Culture of the Soviet Union.

See also: Soviet cuisine, Music of the Soviet Union, Fashion in the Soviet Union, Broadcasting in the Soviet Union, Printed media in the Soviet Union and Samizdat. The culture of the Soviet Union passed through several stages during the USSR's existence. During the first decade following the revolution, there was relative freedom and artists experimented with several different styles to find a distinctive Soviet style of art. Lenin wanted art to be accessible to the Russian people. On the other hand, hundreds of intellectuals, writers, and artists were exiled or executed, and their work banned, such as Nikolay Gumilyov who was shot for alleged conspiracy against the Bolsheviks, and Yevgeny Zamyatin.^[201]

The government encouraged a variety of trends. In art and literature, numerous schools, some traditional and others radically experimental, proliferated. Communist writers Maxim Gorky and Vladimir Mayakovsky were active during this time. As a means of influencing a largely illiterate society, films received encouragement from the state, and much of director Sergei Eisenstein's best work dates from this period.

During Stalin's rule, the Soviet culture was characterized by the rise and domination of the government-imposed style of socialist realism, with all other trends being severely repressed, with rare exceptions, such as Mikhail Bulgakov's works. Many writers were imprisoned and killed.

Following the Khrushchev Thaw, censorship was diminished. During this time, a distinctive period of Soviet culture developed, characterized by conformist public life and an intense focus on personal life. Greater experimentation in art forms was again permissible, resulting in the production of more sophisticated and subtly critical work. The government loosened its emphasis on socialist realism; thus, for instance, many protagonists of the novels of author Yury Trifonov concerned themselves with problems of daily life rather than with building socialism. Underground dissident literature, known as samizdat, developed during this late period. In architecture, the Khrushchev era mostly focused on functional design as opposed to the highly decorated style of Stalin's epoch. In music, in response to the increasing popularity of forms of popular music like jazz in the West, many jazz orchestras were permitted throughout the USSR, notably the Melodiya Ensemble, named after the principle record label in the USSR.

In the second half of the 1980s, Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost significantly expanded freedom of expression throughout the country in the media and the press.^[202]

Sport

See also: Voluntary Sports Societies of the Soviet Union, CSKA Moscow, Soviet Union at the Olympics and Soviet Union men's national ice hockey team. In summer of 1923 in Moscow was established the Proletarian Sports Society "Dynamo" as a sports organization of Soviet secret police Cheka.

On 13 July 1925 the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) adopted a statement "About the party's tasks in sphere of physical culture". In the statement was determined the role of physical culture in Soviet society and the party's tasks in political leadership of physical culture movement in the country.

The Soviet Olympic Committee formed on 21 April 1951, and the IOC recognized the new body in its 45th session. In the same year, when the Soviet representative Konstantin Andrianov became an IOC member, the USSR officially joined the Olympic Movement. The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki thus became first Olympic Games for Soviet athletes. The Soviet Union was the biggest rival to the United States at the Summer Olympics, winning six of its nine appearances at the games and also topping the medal tally at the Winter Olympics six times. The Soviet Union's Olympics success has been attributed to its large investment in sports to demonstrate its superpower image and political influence on a global stage.^[203]

The Soviet Union national ice hockey team won nearly every world championship and Olympic tournament between 1954 and 1991 and never failed to medal in any International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournament in which they competed.

Soviet Olympic team was notorious for skirting the edge of amateur rules. All Soviet athletes held some nominal jobs, but were in fact state-sponsored and trained full-time. According to many experts, that gave the Soviet Union a huge advantage over the United States and other Western countries, whose athletes were students or real amateurs.^{[204] [205]} Indeed, the Soviet Union monopolized the top place in the medal standings after 1968, and, until its collapse, placed second only once, in the 1984 Winter games, after another Eastern bloc nation, the GDR. Amateur rules were relaxed only in the late 1980s and were almost completely abolished in the 1990s, after the fall of the USSR.^{[206] [207]}

According to British journalist Andrew Jennings, a KGB colonel stated that the agency's officers had posed as anti-doping authorities from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to undermine doping tests and that Soviet athletes were "rescued with [these] tremendous efforts".^{[208] [209]} Documents obtained in 2016 revealed the Soviet Union's plans for a statewide doping system in track and field in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Dated prior to the country's decision to boycott the Games, the document detailed the existing steroids operations of the program, along with suggestions for further enhancements.^[210]

Legacy

See also: Neo-Sovietism and Nostalgia for the Soviet Union. The legacy of the USSR remains a controversial topic. The socio-economic nature of communist states such as the USSR, especially under Stalin, has also been much debated, varyingly being labelled a form of bureaucratic collectivism, state capitalism, state socialism, or a totally unique mode of production.^[211] The USSR implemented a broad range of policies over a long period of time, with a large amount of conflicting policies being implemented by different leaders. Some have a positive view of it whilst others are critical towards the country, calling it a repressive oligarchy.^[212] The opinions on the USSR are complex and have changed over time, with different generations having different views on the matter as well as on Soviet policies corresponding to separate time periods during its history.^[213]

Western academicians published various analyses of the post-Soviet states' development, claiming that the dissolution was followed by a severe drop in economic and social conditions in these countries,^{[214] [215]} including a rapid increase in poverty,^{[216] [217] [218]} crime,^[219] corruption,^{[220] [221]} unemployment,^{[222] [223]} homelessness,^{[224] [225]} rates of disease,^{[226] [227] [228]} infant mortality and domestic violence,^[229] as well as demographic losses,^[230] income inequality and the rise of an oligarchical class,^{[231] [232]} along with decreases in calorie intake, life expectancy, adult literacy, and income.^[233] Between 1988 and 1989 and 1993–1995, the Gini ratio increased by an average of 9 points for all former Soviet republics. According to Western analysis, the economic shocks that accompanied wholesale privatization were associated with sharp increases in mortality,^[234] Russia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia saw a tripling of unemployment and a 42% increase in male death rates between 1991 and 1994,^{[235] [236]} and in the following decades, only five or six of the post-communist states are on a path to joining the wealthy capitalist West while most are falling behind, some to such an extent that it will take over fifty years to catch up to where they were before the fall of the Soviet Bloc.^{[237] [238]} However, virtually all the former Soviet republics were able to turn their economies around and increase GDP to multiple times what it was under the USSR,^[239] though with large wealth disparities, and many post-soviet economies described as oligarchic.^[240]

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, annual polling by the Levada Center has shown that over 50% of Russia's population regretted this event, with the only exception to this being in the year 2012 when support for the Soviet Union dipped below 50 percent.^[241] A 2018 poll showed that 66% of Russians regretted the fall of the Soviet Union, setting a 15-year record, and the majority of these regretting opinions came from people older than 55.^{[241] [242]} In 2020, polls conducted by the Levada Center found that 75% of Russians agreed that the Soviet era was the greatest era in their country's history.^[243]

According to the New Russia Barometer (NRB) polls by the Centre for the Study of Public Policy, 50% of Russian respondents reported a positive impression of the Soviet Union in 1991.^[244] This increased to about 75% of NRB respondents in 2000, dropping slightly to 71% in 2009.^[244] Throughout the 2000s, an average of 32% of NRB respondents supported the restoration of the Soviet Union.^[244]

In a 2021 poll, a record 70% of Russians indicated they had a mostly/very favourable view of Joseph Stalin.^[245] In Armenia, 12% of respondents said the USSR collapse did good, while 66% said it did harm. In Kyrgyzstan, 16% of respondents said the collapse of the USSR did good, while 61% said it did harm.^[246] In a 2018 Rating Sociological Group poll, 47% of Ukrainian respondents had a positive opinion of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who ruled the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, while viewing Lenin, Stalin, and Gorbachev very negatively.^[247] A 2021 poll conducted by the Levada Center found that 49% of Russians prefer the USSR's political system, while 18% prefer the current political system and 16% would prefer a Western democracy. A further 62% of people polled preferred the Soviet system of central planning, while 24% prefer a market-based system.^[248] According to the Levada Center's polls, the primary reasons cited for Soviet nostalgia are the advantages of the shared economic union between the Soviet republics, including perceived financial stability.^[249] This was referenced by up to 53% of respondents in 2016.^[249] At least 43% also lamented the loss of the Soviet Union's global political superpower status.^[249] About 31% cited the loss of social trust and capital.^[250] The remainder of the respondents cited a mix of reasons ranging from practical travel difficulties to a sense of national displacement.^[249]

The 1941–1945 period of World War II is still known in Russia as the 'Great Patriotic War'. The war became a topic of great importance in cinema, literature, history lessons at school, the mass media, and the arts. As a result of the massive losses suffered by the military and civilians during the conflict, Victory Day celebrated on 9 May is still one of the most important and emotional dates in Russia.^[251] Catherine Wanner asserts that Victory Day commemorations are a vehicle for Soviet nostalgia, as they "kept alive a mythology of Soviet grandeur, of solidarity among the Sovietskii narod, and of a sense of self as citizen of a superpower state".^[252]

Russian Victory Day parades are organized annually in most cities, with the central military parade taking place in Moscow (just as during the Soviet times).^{[253] [254]} Additionally, the recently introduced Immortal Regiment on May 9 sees millions of Russians carry the portraits of their relatives who fought in the war.^[255] Russia also retains other Soviet holidays, such as the Defender of the Fatherland Day (February 23), International Women's Day (March 8), and International Workers' Day.^[256]

In the former Soviet republics

See also: Anti-Sovietism, Anti-Russian sentiment and Decommunization in Ukraine. In some post-Soviet republics, there is a more negative view of the USSR, although there is no unanimity on the matter. In large part due to the Holodomor, ethnic Ukrainians have a negative view of the Soviet Union.^[257] Russian-speaking Ukrainians of Ukraine's southern and eastern regions have a more positive view of the USSR. In some countries with internal conflict, there is also nostalgia for the USSR, especially for refugees of the post-Soviet conflicts who have been forced to flee their homes and have been displaced. The many Russian enclaves in the former USSR republics such as Transnistria have in a general a positive remembrance of it.^[258]

By the political left

The left's view of the USSR is complex. While some leftists regard the USSR as an example of state capitalism or that it was an oligarchical state, other leftists admire Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Revolution.^[259] Council communists generally view the USSR as failing to create class consciousness, turning into a corrupt state in which the elite controlled society.

Trotskyists believe that the ascendancy of the Stalinist bureaucracy ensured a degenerated or deformed workers' state, where the capitalist elite have been replaced by an unaccountable bureaucratic elite and there is no true democracy or workers' control of industry.^[260] In particular, American Trotskyist David North noted that the generation of bureaucrats that rose to power under Stalin's tutelage presided over the stagnation and breakdown of the Soviet Union.^[261]

Many anti-Stalinist leftists such as anarchists are extremely critical of Soviet authoritarianism and repression. Much of the criticism it receives is centered around massacres in the Soviet Union, the centralized hierarchy present in the USSR and mass political repression as well as violence towards government critics and political dissidents such as other leftists. Critics also point towards its failure to implement any substantial worker cooperatives or implementing worker liberation, as well as corruption and the Soviet authoritarian nature.

Anarchists are also critical of the country, labeling the Soviet system as red fascism. Factors contributing to the anarchist animosity towards the USSR included the Soviet destruction of the Makhnovist movement after an initial alliance, the suppression of the anarchist Kronstadt rebellion, and the defeat of the rival anarchist factions by the Soviet-supported Communist faction during the Spanish Civil War.^[262]

Maoists also have a mixed opinion on the USSR, viewing it negatively during the Sino-Soviet Split and denouncing it as revisionist and reverted to capitalism. The Chinese government in 1963 articulated its criticism of the USSR's system and promoted China's ideological line as an alternative.^{[263] [264]}

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) released a press statement titled "We welcome the end of a party which embodied the historical evil of great power chauvinism and hegemonism".^[265]

Noam Chomsky called the collapse of the Soviet Union "a small victory for socialism, not only because of the fall of one of the most anti-socialist states in the world, where working people had fewer rights than in the West, but also because it freed the term 'socialism' from the burden of being associated in the propaganda systems of East and West with Soviet tyranny — for the East, in order to benefit from the aura of authentic socialism, for the West, in order to demonize the concept."^[266]

See also

• Baltic states under Soviet rule (1944–1991)
• Ideocracy
• Index of Soviet Union–related articles
• Neo-Stalinism
• Orphans in the Soviet Union
• Russification
• Second Cold War
• Sovietization
• Soviet patriotism

Bibliography

See also: Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War, Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union, Bibliography of the post-Stalinist Soviet Union and Bibliography of the Cold War.

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• Book: Davies . Robert. Robert William Davies . Wheatcroft . Stephen. Stephen G. Wheatcroft . The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia Volume 5: The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture 1931–1933 . 2004 . . 978-0-230-23855-8.
• Book: Fischer, Louis . Louis Fischer . 1964 . The Life of Lenin . Weidenfeld and Nicolson . London.
• Web site: Fischer . Stanley . Stanley Fischer . Easterly . William . William Easterly . The Soviet Economic Decline, Historical and Republican Data . . 1994 . 23 October 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110301162126/http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/1994/04/01/000009265_3961006063138/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf . 1 March 2011 . live.
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• Book: Lee, Stephen J. . 2003 . Lenin and Revolutionary Russia . London . . 978-0-415-28718-0.
• Book: Leggett, George . 1981 . The Cheka: Lenin's Political Police . Oxford . . 978-0-19-822552-2 . registration .
• Book: Lewin, Moshe . Moshe Lewin . 1969 . Lenin's Last Struggle . Faber and Faber . London . Sheridan Smith . A. M. . Alan Sheridan.
• Libman . Alexander . Obydenkova . Anastassia V. . 2019 . Historical Legacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Inequality: Evidence from Post-Communist Regions . Post-Communist Economies . 31 . 6 . 699–724. 10.1080/14631377.2019.1607440 . 10261/201912 . free .
• Book: Mccauley, Martin . Martin McCauley (historian) . The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union . . 2014 . 978-1-317-86783-8.
• Book: Michalski . Tomasz . Hlynskyy . Nazar . 2009 . Economic transformation disparity in European post-Soviet countries in the period of transformation . The Problems of Development and International Cooperation in the Region of the Southern Baltic . Tadeusz . Palmowski . Stasys . Vaitekūnas . 978-83-7380-819-5 . 134–143. Wydawnictwo "Bernardinum .
• Book: Ovcharova . Lilia . Biryukova . Svetlana . 2018 . Poverty and the Poor in Post-Soviet Russia . Poverty, Politics and the Poverty of Politics . Daniel . Rauhut . Neelambar . Hatti . B.R. Publishing Corporation . 157–183.
• Book: Pons . Silvio . Silvio Pons . Service . Robert . Robert Service (historian) . A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism . . 2010 . 978-1-4008-3452-5.
• Book: Rayfield, Donald . Stalin and His Hangmen: An Authoritative Portrait of a Tyrant and Those Who Served Him . . 2004 . 978-0-375-75771-6. Donald Rayfield. Stalin and His Hangmen.
• Book: Read, Christopher . Christopher Read . From Tsar to Soviets . . 2005 . 978-1-135-36625-4.
• Russell . Martin . April 2018 . Socioeconomic inequality in Russia . European Parliament.
• Book: Ryan, James . 2012 . Lenin's Terror: The Ideological Origins of Early Soviet State Violence . London . . 978-1138815681 .
• Book: Service, Robert . Robert Service (historian) . 2000 . Lenin: A Biography . Macmillan . London . 978-0-333-72625-9 . Lenin: A Biography.
• Book: Service, Robert . Robert Service (historian) . 2005 . A History of Modern Russia from Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin . . 978-0-674-01801-3.
• Book: Simon, Gerard . 1974 . Church, State, and Opposition in the U.S.S.R . Berkeley and Los Angeles . . 978-0-520-02612-4.
• Book: Stewart . Susan . Klein . Margarete . Schmitz . Andrea . Schröder . Hans-Henning . 2012 . Introduction . Presidents, Oligarchs and Bureaucrats: Forms of Rule in the Post-Soviet Space . Susan . Stewart . Margarete . Klein . Hans-Henning . Schröder . . 9781138278790 . 1–14.
• Book: Volkogonov, Dmitri . Dmitri Volkogonov . 1994 . Lenin: Life and Legacy . Shukman . Harold . Harold Shukman . . London . 978-0-00-255123-6.
• Book: White, James D. . Lenin: The Practice and Theory of Revolution . 2001 . European History in Perspective . Palgrave . Basingstoke, England . 978-0-333-72157-5.
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External links

• • Impressions of Soviet Russia by John Dewey
• A Country Study: Soviet Union (PDF)

Notes and References

1. Almanaque Mundial 1996, Editorial América/Televisa, Mexico, 1995, pp. 548–552 (Demografía/Biometría table).
2. Web site: GDP – Million – Flags, Maps, Economy, Geography, Climate, Natural Resources, Current Issues, International Agreements, Population, Social Statistics, Political System . 29 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163518/https://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_million_1.html . 12 June 2018 . live .
3. Web site: Human Development Report 1990 . January 1990 . . 111 . 1 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190207194131/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf . 7 February 2019 . live.
4. Soviet . 1920 . Henri F. . Klein.
5. Encyclopedia: April Thesis . Encyclopædia Britannica . 27 December 2022 .
6. Encyclopedia: Soviet Union . Encyclopædia Britannica . Dewdney. John C. . Conquest . Robert . Pipes. Richard E. . McCauley. Martin . 27 December 2022 .
7. News: The causes of the October Revolution . BBC . dead . 31 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140805155250/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/russia/october/revision/4 . 5 August 2014.
8. Television documentary from CC&C Ideacom Production, "Apocalypse Never-Ending War 1918–1926", part 2, aired at Danish DR K on 22 October 2018.
9. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513251/Russia "Russia" – Encyclopædia Britannica
10. Web site: The Former Soviet Union: Physical Geography. https://web.archive.org/web/20120915090942/http://pages.towson.edu/thompson/Courses/Regional/Reference/SovietPhysical.pdf. dead. 15 September 2012. Virginia Thompson. Towson University: Department of Geography & Environmental Planning. 24 March 2016.
11. News: 1982-12-06 . Study Says Pollution in Arctic Could Originate From Soviet . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-11-19 . 0362-4331 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231119114918/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/06/world/study-says-pollution-in-arctic-could-originate-from-soviet.html . 2023-11-19 .
12. News: Mathews . Jessica . 1991-03-22 . The Union of Soviet Socialist Pollution . en-US . . 2023-11-19 . 0190-8286 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240115195207/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/03/22/the-union-of-soviet-socialist-pollution/b6af0952-f32b-4fba-89f1-776c54b069fb/ . Jan 15, 2024 .
13. Web site: 2016-02-19 . The Grim Pollution Picture in the Former Soviet Union . Armine . Sahakyan . 2023-11-19 . HuffPost . en.
14. Shahgedanova . Maria . Burt . Timothy P . 1994-09-01 . New data on air pollution in the former Soviet Union . Global Environmental Change . 4 . 3 . 201–227 . 10.1016/0959-3780(94)90003-5 . 1994GEC.....4..201S . 0959-3780.
15. Web site: 2019-05-17 . Chernobyl disaster facts and information . https://web.archive.org/web/20210220033148/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/chernobyl-disaster . dead . 20 February 2021 . 2023-11-19 . Culture . en.
16. Web site: Chernobyl Chernobyl Accident Chernobyl Disaster - World Nuclear Association . 2023-11-19 . world-nuclear.org.
17. News: 2021-04-26 . Unsealed Soviet archives reveal cover-ups at Chernobyl plant before disaster . en . Reuters . 2023-11-19.
18. News: Simmons . Michael . 2021-05-03 . Radiation high over Europe after Chernobyl disaster – archive, 1986 . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-11-19 . 0261-3077.
19. Web site: Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident . World Health Organization . 5 September 2005 . 7 October 2021 . en . 25 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180225095828/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr38/en/ . live .
20. Baverstock . Keith . Williams . Dillwyn . The Chernobyl Accident 20 Years on: An Assessment of the Health Consequences and the International Response . free . Environmental Health Perspectives . 2006 . 114 . 9 . 1312–1317 . 10.1289/ehp.9113 . 16966081 . 1570049.
21. Web site: Digges . Charles . Anna . Kireeva . 2021-01-04 . One of the Murmansk Region's most polluting facilities shuts down after more than seven decades . 2023-11-19 . Bellona.org . en-US.
22. Web site: 2021-12-10 . How Norilsk, in the Russian Arctic, became one of the most polluted places on Earth . Marianne . Lavelle . 2023-11-19 . NBC News . en.
23. News: Broad . William J. . 1993-04-27 . Russians describe extensive dumping of nuclear waste . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-11-19 . 0362-4331 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231119114918/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/27/science/russians-describe-extensive-dumping-of-nuclear-waste.html . 2023-11-19 .
24. Web site: Raymer . Steve . 1992-03-15 . Nuclear Pollution Plagues Former Soviet Union : Environment: A map marking non-military explosions shows scope of 'national disaster.' . 2023-11-19 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
25. Hønneland . Geir . Jørgensen . Anne-Kristin . Implementing Russia's International Environmental Commitments: Federal Prerogative or Regional Concern? . Europe-Asia Studies . December 2002 . 54 . 8 . 1223–1240 . 10.1080/0966813022000025862 . 826384 . 156340249.
26. Web site: Luhn . Alec . Russia's 'slow-motion Chernobyl' at sea . 1 September 2020 . 2023-11-19 . BBC . en.
27. Web site: Tiwari . Sakshi . 2023-10-10 . Armed With Nuke Payload, How Dangerous Is Russia's Nuclear-Armed Submarine Resting In Arctic Ocean? . 2023-11-19 . EurAsian Times . en-US . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231119114918/https://www.eurasiantimes.com/resting-with-nuke-payload-russias-sunken-nuclear-armed-submarine/ . 2023-11-19 .
28. News: Wastes of War: Rotting Nuclear Subs Pose Threat . David . Hoffman . November 16, 1998 . 2023-11-19 . Washington Post .
29. Web site: 2021-01-17 . The Terrifying History of Russia's Nuclear Submarine Graveyard . Cory . Graff . 2023-11-19 . Popular Mechanics . en-US.
30. Sakwa, Richard. Soviet Politics in Perspective. 2nd ed. London – N.Y.: Routledge, 1998.
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35. Book: Service, Robert . History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-first Century . . 2009 . 978-0-14-103797-4 . 378. Robert Service (historian). 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20110511090135/http://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ&dq. 11 May 2011. live.
36. Book: Конститутион оф тхе Руссиян Федератион: витх комментариес анд интерпретатион . Brunswick Publishing Corp . 1994 . 978-1-55618-142-9 . 82. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512045452/http://books.google.com/books?id=3mQjvzP8VSYC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
37. Book: Ōgushi, Atsushi . The Demise of the Soviet Communist Party . Routledge . 2008 . 31–32 . 978-0-415-43439-3. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512042443/http://books.google.com/books?id=N7mDUC1nOZsC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
38. Book: Taras, Ray. Raymond Taras . Leadership change in Communist states . Routledge . 1989 . 978-0-04-445277-5 . 132. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512053745/http://books.google.com/books?id=AlcVAAAAIAAJ&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
39. Book: F. Triska, Jan . Slusser, Robert M. . The Theory, Law, and Policy of Soviet Treaties . . 1962 . 63–64 . registration . 978-0-8047-0122-8. 20 June 2015.
40. Book: Deb, Kalipada . Soviet Union to Commonwealth: Transformation and Challenges . M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd . 1996 . 81 . 978-81-85880-95-2. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512053347/http://books.google.com/books?id=IvK6r-8Ogg0C&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
41. Book: The Communist World . Ardent Media . 2001 . 441 . 978-0-271-02170-6. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512051205/http://books.google.com/books?id=h9FFVgu-Ff0C&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
42. Book: Joseph Marie Feldbrugge, Ferdinand . Russian Law: The End of the Soviet System and the Role of Law . . 1993 . 205 . 978-0-7923-2358-7. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041218/http://books.google.com/books?id=JWt7MN3Dch8C&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
43. Book: Benson, Shirley . Nikita Khrushchev and the Creation of a Superpower . . 2001 . XIV . 978-0-271-02170-6. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150910233718/https://books.google.com/books?id=dQeahlZdM7sC&dq. 10 September 2015. live.
44. Book: White, Stephen . J. Gill, Graeme . Slider, Darrell . The Politics of Transition: Shaping a post-Soviet Future . Cambridge University Press . 1993 . 108 . registration . 978-0-521-44634-1. 20 June 2015.
45. Book: P. Hoffmann, Erik . Laird, Robin Frederick . The Soviet Polity in the Modern Era . . 1984 . 313–315 . 978-0-202-24165-4. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512045329/http://books.google.com/books?id=63_obglArrMC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
46. Book: P. Hoffmann, Erik . Laird, Robin Frederick . The Soviet Polity in the Modern Era . . 1984 . 315–319 . 978-0-202-24165-4. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512045329/http://books.google.com/books?id=63_obglArrMC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
47. The Soviet Polity in the Modern Era . . 2005 . 1 . 742.
48. Book: Sakwa, Richard . Soviet Politics in Perspective . Routledge . 1998 . 978-0-415-07153-6 . 106. Richard Sakwa. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512042437/http://books.google.com/books?id=vX1U5G_xnqcC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
49. Book: Kucherov, Samuel . The Organs of Soviet Administration of Justice: Their History and Operation . . 1970 . 31. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512060346/http://books.google.com/books?id=ssMUAAAAIAAJ&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
50. Book: Phillips, Steve . Lenin and the Russian Revolution . . 2000 . 978-0-435-32719-4 . 71. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512055812/http://books.google.com/books?id=_na0zfdhKQMC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
51. Encyclopedia: . 2005 . Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . . 1014.
52. Book: Service, Robert . History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-first Century . . 2009 . 379 . 978-0-14-103797-4. Robert Service (historian). 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20110511090135/http://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ&dq. 11 May 2011. live.
53. Book: Polley, Martin . A–Z of modern Europe since 1789 . Routledge . 2000 . registration . 978-0-415-18597-4 . 88. 20 June 2015.
54. Book: Khrushchev, Nikita . 2007 . Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, Volume 3: Statesman . . 978-0-271-02935-1 . 674. Nikita Khrushchev.
55. Web site: . Gorbachev's Reform Dilemma . 16 October 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20110623125043/http://countrystudies.us/russia/18.htm. 23 June 2011. live.
56. Book: Polmar, Norman . The Naval Institute Guide to the Soviet . . 1991 . 978-0-87021-241-3 . 1. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/https://books.google.com/books?id=tkGDkpkQh-sC&dq. 4 September 2015. live.
57. Book: McCauley, Martin . The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union . . 2007 . 978-0-582-78465-9 . 490. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/https://books.google.com/books?id=ycCZqmhhceMC&dq. 4 September 2015. live.
58. Web site: Government of the USSR. ru:УКАЗ: ПОЛОЖЕНИЕ О МИНИСТЕРСТВЕ ЮСТИЦИИ СССР . Law: About state governing bodies of USSR in a transition period on the bodies of state authority and administration of the USSR in Transition . http://www.sssr.su/zopp.html . 21 March 1972 . sssr.su . ru . https://web.archive.org/web/20130425162517/http://www.sssr.su/zopp.html . 25 April 2013 . live.
59. Book: Vincent Daniels, Robert . A Documentary History of Communism in Russia: From Lenin to Gorbachev . University Press of New England (UPNE) . 1993 . 978-0-87451-616-6 . 388. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041324/http://books.google.com/books?id=gTIZ2dvDKF0C&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
60. Web site: Encyclopædia Britannica . Inquisitorial procedure (law) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia . . 30 October 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101222225224/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/288956/inquisitorial-procedure . 22 December 2010 . live . Encyclopædia Britannica.
61. Web site: totalitarianism Definition, Examples, & Facts. 2021-01-03. Encyclopedia Britannica. en.
62. Book: Rutland, Peter (1993). The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union: The Role of Local Party Organs in Economic Management. 1993 . Cambridge University Press . 9. 978-0-521-39241-9 . after 1953 ...This was still an oppressive regime, but not a totalitarian one.".
63. Book: Krupnik, Igor (1995). "4. Soviet Cultural and Ethnic Policies Towards Jews: A Legacy Reassessed". In Ro'i, Yaacov (ed.). Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-714-64619-0. "The era of 'social engineering' in the Soviet Union ended with the death of Stalin in 1953 or soon after; and that was the close of the totalitarian regime itself.".
64. Book: von Beyme, Klaus (2014). On Political Culture, Cultural Policy, Art and Politics. 19 November 2013 . Springer . 65. 978-3-319-01559-0. The Soviet Union after the death of Stalin moved from totalitarianism to authoritarian rule..
65. Web site: 2017-10-10. Закон СССР от 14 марта 1990 г. N 1360-I "Об учреждении поста Президента СССР и внесении изменений и дополнений в Конституцию (Основной Закон) СССР". https://web.archive.org/web/20171010070843/http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1977/zakony/185465/. dead. 2017-10-10. 2021-01-04.
66. Lambelet, Doriane. "The Contradiction Between Soviet and American Human Rights Doctrine: Reconciliation Through Perestroika and Pragmatism." 7 Boston University International Law Journal. 1989. pp. 61–62.
67. Book: Shiman, David . Economic and Social Justice: A Human Rights Perspective . Amnesty International . 1999 . 978-0-9675334-0-7.
68. Web site: Regional Perspectives on Human Rights: The USSR and Russia, Part One. Bertrand M. Patenaude Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, Stanford University.
69. [Richard Pipes]
70. Book: Wyszyński, Andrzej. Teoria dowodów sądowych w prawie radzieckim. Biblioteka Zrzeszenia Prawników Demokratów. 1949. 153, 162. 29 December 2022. 29 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180729141510/https://echelon.pl/files/echelon/Wyszy%C5%84ski%20-%20Teoria%20dowod%C3%B3w%20s%C4%85dowych%20%28OCR%29.pdf. dead.
71. [Richard Pipes]
72. 7. 2. 110–141. Thomas. Daniel C.. Human Rights Ideas, the Demise of Communism, and the End of the Cold War. Journal of Cold War Studies. 2005. 10.1162/1520397053630600. 57570614.
73. Adam B. Ulam, Expansion and coexistence: the history of Soviet foreign policy, 1917–73 (1974)
74. Book: Harold Henry Fisher . The Communist Revolution: An Outline of Strategy and Tactics . 1955 . Stanford UP . 13.
75. Duncan Hallas, The Comintern: The History of the Third International (1985).
76. "Germany (East)", Library of Congress Country Study, Appendix B: The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
77. Michael C. Kaser, Comecon: Integration problems of the planned economies (Oxford University Press, 1967).
78. Book: Bob Reinalda . Routledge History of International Organizations: From 1815 to the Present Day . 2009 . Routledge . 978-1-134-02405-6 . 369 . 1 January 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160101212444/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln19AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA369 . 1 January 2016 . live.
79. Book: Amos Yoder . Communism in Transition: The End of the Soviet Empires . Taylor & Francis . 1993 . 978-0-8448-1738-5 . 58 . 1 January 2016 . registration.
80. Laurien Crump, The Warsaw Pact Reconsidered: International Relations in Eastern Europe, 1955–1969 (Routledge, 2015).
81. Web site: Warsaw Pact ends. HISTORY.
82. Laurien Crump (2015). The Warsaw Pact Reconsidered: International Relations in Eastern Europe, 1955–1969. Routledge. p. 1.
83. Laurien Crump (2015). The Warsaw Pact Reconsidered: International Relations in Eastern Europe, 1955–1969. Routledge. p. 17
84. Michał Jerzy Zacharias, "The Beginnings of the Cominform: The Policy of the Soviet Union towards European Communist Parties in Connection with the Political Initiatives of the United States of America in 1947." Acta Poloniae Historica 78 (1998): 161–200.
85. Nikos Marantzidis, "The Greek Civil War (1944–1949) and the International Communist System." Journal of Cold War Studies 15.4 (2013): 25–54.
86. Heinz Timmermann, "The cominform effects on Soviet foreign policy." Studies in Comparative Communism 18.1 (1985): 3–23.
87. Ulam, Expansion and Coexistence (1974) pp. 111–179.
88. 1986524 . Rapallo Reexamined: A New Look at Germany's Secret Military Collaboration with Russia in 1922 . Military Affairs . 40 . 3 . 109–117 . Mueller . Gordon H. . 1976 . 10.2307/1986524 .
89. Christine A. White, British and American Commercial Relations with Soviet Russia, 1918–1924 (UNC Press Books, 2017).
90. 42860014 . American Business and the Recognition of the Soviet Union . Social Science Quarterly . 52 . 2 . 349–368 . Wilson . J. H. . 1971.
91. Book: Richter, Michael . 2006 . Die doppelte Diktatur: Erfahrungen mit Diktatur in der DDR und Auswirkungen auf das Verhältnis zur Diktatur heute. Lasten diktatorischer Vergangenheit – Herausforderungen demokratischer Gegenwart . Besier . Gerhard . Stoklosa . Katarzyna. LIT Verlag . 195–208 . 978-3-8258-8789-6 .
92. Chris Ward, Stalin's Russia (2nd ed. 1999) pp. 148–188.
93. Barbara Jelavich, St.Petersburg and Moscow: Czarist and Soviet Foreign Policy, 1814–1974 (1974) pp. 342–346.
94. Haslam, Jonathan (1984). The Soviet Union and the Struggle for Collective Security in Europe, 1933–1939. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 52–53.
95. Book: Louise Grace Shaw . The British Political Elite and the Soviet Union, 1937–1939 . 2003 . 103 . Psychology Press . 978-0-7146-5398-3 . 17 September 2019 . 17 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200617200516/https://books.google.com/books?id=iAmDj-U-1fAC&pg=PA103 . live .
96. D.C. Watt, How War Came: the Immediate Origins of the Second World War 1938–1939 (1989).
97. Book: Beloff, Max . The Foreign Policy Of Soviet Russia (1929–1941), Volume Two . . 1949 . 2.
98. Web site: The Evolution of Stalin's Foreign Policy during World War Two . E-International Relations . Strachan . Frederick . 23 November 2011 . 12 February 2022 . 13 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220213005104/https://www.e-ir.info/2011/11/23/the-evolution-of-stalins-foreign-policy-during-word-war-two/ . live .
99. Book: Adams, Simon . Russian Republics . 2005 . 21 . Black Rabbit Books . 978-1-58340-606-9. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041101/http://books.google.com/books?id=LyqIDCc-cSsC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
100. Book: Feldbrugge, Ferdinand Joseph Maria . Russian Law: The Rnd of the Soviet system and the Role of Law . 1993 . 94 . . 978-0-7923-2358-7. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041218/http://books.google.com/books?id=JWt7MN3Dch8C&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
101. Book: White, Matthew . The Great Big Book of Horrible Things . . 2012 . 368 . 978-0-393-08192-3. The Great Big Book of Horrible Things.
102. Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, Westview Press, 1979, p.13
103. Scott and Scott (1979) p. 305
104. Web site: October 30, 1961 – The Tsar Bomba: CTBTO Preparatory Commission . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160319201753/http://ctbto.org/specials/testing-times/30-october-1961-the-tsar-bomba/ . 19 March 2016 . 29 August 2018.
105. Web site: Принят закон "О всеобщей воинской обязанности". A law on the mandatory military draft. prlib.ru. 12 October 1967.
106. Lih, Lars T., Bread and Authority in Russia, 1914–1921, University of California Press (1990), p. 131
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108. Book: Mawdsley, Evan . 30 . The Stalin Years: The Soviet Union, 1929–1953 . . 1998 . 978-0-7190-4600-1 . 25 May 2020 . 21 March 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210321215327/https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ . live .
109. Book: Wheatcroft, S. G. . Davies, R. W. . Cooper, J. M. . 30–32 . Soviet Industrialization Reconsidered: Some Preliminary Conclusions about Economic Development between 1926 and 1941 . . 1986 . 978-0-7190-4600-1 . 39 . 2 . 25 May 2020 . 21 March 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210321215327/https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ . live .
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111. Web site: Reconstruction and Cold War . . 23 October 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20170309155830/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0391%29. 9 March 2017. live.
112. Book: IMF . OECD . amp . A Study of the Soviet Economy . 1 . . 1991 . 9 . 978-0-14-103797-4.
113. Web site: Расходы на оборону и численность вооруженных сил СССР. Defense spending and size of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
114. Hanson, Philip. The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Economy: An Economic History of the USSR from 1945. London: Longman, 2003.
115. 10.1057/ces.1997.1 . Bergson, Abram . 1997 . How Big was the Soviet GDP? . Comparative Economic Studies . 39 . 1 . 1–14 . 155781882.
116. 10.1080/09668139308412080 . Harrison, Mark . 1993 . Soviet Economic Growth Since 1928: The Alternative Statistics of G. I. Khanin . Europe-Asia Studies . 45 . 1 . 141–167.
117. Book: Gvosdev, Nikolas . The Strange Death of Soviet communism: A Postscript . . 2008 . 978-1-4128-0698-5 . Nikolas Gvosdev . 25 May 2020 . 19 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200819204015/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_xTyZUEqkYC . live .
118. Cereseto. Shirley. June 1986. Economic Development, Political-Economic System, and the Physical Quality of Life. American Journal of Public Health. 76. 6. 661–666. 1646771. 3706593. 10.2105/ajph.76.6.661.
119. Rosefielde . Steven . 1996 . Stalinism in Post-Communist Perspective: New Evidence on Killings, Forced Labor and Economic Growth in the 1930s . 956–987 . Europe-Asia Studies . 48 . 6 . 152635 . The new evidence shows that administrative command planning and Stalin's forced industrialization strategies failed in the 1930s and beyond. The economic miracle chronicled in official hagiographies and until recently faithfully recounted in Western textbooks has no basis in fact. It is the statistical artefact not of index number relativity (the Gerschenkron effect) but of misapplying to the calculation of growth cost prices that do not accurately measure competitive value. The standard of living declined during the 1930s in response to Stalin's despotism, and after a brief improvement following his death, lapsed into stagnation. Glasnost and post-communist revelations interpreted as a whole thus provide no basis for Getty, Rittersporn & Zemskov's relatively favorable characterization of the methods, economic achievements and human costs of Stalinism. The evidence demonstrates that the suppression of markets and the oppression of vast segments of the population were economically counterproductive and humanly calamitous, just as anyone conversant with classical economic theory should have expected. . 10.1080/09668139608412393.
120. Web site: Central Intelligence Agency . GDP – Million 1990 . . 1991 . 12 June 2010. Central Intelligence Agency. https://web.archive.org/web/20151109124727/http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_million_1.html. 9 November 2015. live.
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122. Human Development Report 1990 Human Development Reports. hdr.undp.org. 1990. 18 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161019062220/http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1990. 19 October 2016. live.
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124. Book: Hardt, John Pearce . Hardt, John P. . Russia's Uncertain Economic Future: With a Comprehensive Subject Index . 233 . . 2003 . 978-0-7656-1208-3. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512044209/http://books.google.com/books?id=IvKF3PKGYAcC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
125. Web site: Science and Technology . . 23 October 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0413%29. 4 September 2015. dead.
126. Web site: 15 June 1992 . The Soviet Union and the United States – Revelations from the Russian Archives Exhibitions – Library of Congress . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170915012329/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html . 15 September 2017 . 12 November 2017 . www.loc.gov.
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130. Chan . Chi Ling . Fallen Behind: Science, Technology and Soviet Statism . Intersect: The Stanford Journal of Science, Technology, and Society . 11 June 2015 . 8 . 3 . en.
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134. Web site: 27 November 2021. Sputnik. live. Encyclopedia. 27 November 2021. 27 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127121715/https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/astronomy-and-space-exploration/space-exploration/sputnik.
135. Web site: 27 November 2021. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space. live. History.com. 27 November 2021. 23 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211123163507/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-man-in-space.
136. The Moon Landing through Soviet Eyes: A Q&A with Sergei Khrushchev, son of former premier Nikita Khrushchev. Scientific American. July 16, 2009. January 7, 2019. Das. Saswato R.. February 25, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210225085952/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/apollo-moon-khrushchev/. live.
137. Web site: 27 November 2021. The Soviet Manned Lunar Program. live. e-Prints. 27 November 2021. 23 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211223163134/https://spp.fas.org/eprint/lindroos_moon1.htm.
138. Web site: 27 November 2021. Energia, Soviet Launch Vehicle. live. Britannica. 27 November 2021. 27 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127121714/https://www.britannica.com/technology/Energia-Soviet-launch-vehicle.
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144. Encyclopedia: War Communism. Encyclopaedia Britannica. ((The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica)). 8 June 2023 .
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149. Book: Government of the USSR. ru:Большая советская энциклопедия . . 24 . 15 . 1977 . Moscow . . ru. Government of the USSR.
150. Book: Anderson, Barbara A. . Growth and Diversity of the Population of the Soviet Union . 510 . 155–77 . 1990 . Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences.
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152. Ryan . Michael . Life Expectancy and Mortality Data from the Soviet Union . 296 . 1, 513–1515 . 28 May 1988 . British Medical Journal. 6635 . 10.1136/bmj.296.6635.1513 . 3134093 . 2546027 .
153. Book: Davis, Christopher . Murray Feshbach . Feshbach, Murray . Rising Infant Mortality in the USSR in the 1970s . 95 . Washington, D.C. . United States Census Bureau.
154. Book: Krimins, Juris . The Changing Mortality Patterns in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: Experience of the Past Three Decades . 3–7 December 1990. Paper presented at the International Conference on Healthy, Morbidity and Mortality by Cause of Death in Europe.
155. Clayton . Elizabeth . Richardson . Thomas . Soviet Control of City Size . Economic Development and Cultural Change . University of Chicago Press . 38 . 1 . 1989 . 1154166 . 155–165 . 10.1086/451781 . 154477882 . 2024-02-23.
156. Book: Stronski, Paul . 2010 . Tashkent: Forging a Soviet City, 1930–1966 . University of Pittsburgh Press . 978-0-8229-4394-5.
157. Harris . Chauncy D. . The Cities of the Soviet Union . Geographical Review . 35 . 1 . 1945 . 10.2307/210935 . 119. 210935 . 1945GeoRv..35..107H .
158. Web site: Statistics For Everyone . istmat.info . 2018-02-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180620003708/http://istmat.info/files/uploads/17594/naselenie_sssr._po_dannym_vsesoyuznoy_perepisi_naseleniya_1989g.pdf . 2018-06-20 . dead . 2024-02-23.
159. Wendy Z. Goldman, Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917–1936. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993
160. Richard Stites, The Women's Liberation Movement in Russia: Feminism, Nihilism, and Bolshevism, 1860–1930 (1978)
161. Rebecca Balmas Neary, "Mothering Socialist Society: The Wife-Activists' Movement and the Soviet Culture of Daily Life, 1934–1941", Russian Review (58) 3, July 1999: 396–412
162. Web site: Figes . Orlando . From Tsar to U.S.S.R.: Russia's Chaotic Year of Revolution. . National Geographic . National Geographic Society . 28 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190322092654/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/09-10/russian-revolution-history-lenin/ . 22 March 2019 . dead . 25 October 2017.
163. Web site: Gao . George . Why the Former USSR Has Far Fewer Men than Women . Pew Research Center . 14 August 2015 . 28 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190328231028/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/14/why-the-former-ussr-has-far-fewer-men-than-women/ . 28 March 2019 . live.
164. А. П. Чуприков, В. Д. Мишиев. // Латеральность населения СССР в конце 70-х и начале 80-х годов. К истории латеральной нейропсихологии и нейропсихиатрии. Хрестоматия. Донецк, 2010, 192 с.
165. А. П. Чуприков, Е. А. Волков. // Мир леворуких. Киев. 2008.
166. Web site: In Russia, left isn't quite right Handedness: The official Moscow line is that lefties are OK, but suspicion of those who are different persists from the old Soviet days. . Englund . Will . baltimoresun.com. 24 June 2019. 24 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190624220243/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-03-27-1998086130-story.html. dead.
167. Wrong Hand/Wrong Children: Education of Left Handed Children in the Soviet Union . Linda . Daniela . Zanda . Rubene . Dace . Medne . 23 August 2016 . European Educational Research Association . 24 June 2019 . 13 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171013124517/https://eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/21/contribution/38628/ . live .
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169. Book: Law, David A. . Russian Civilization . Ardent Media . 1975 . 300–301 . 978-0-8422-0529-0 . 20 June 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150512055909/http://books.google.com/books?id=f3ky9qBavl4C&dq . 12 May 2015 . live.
170. Book: . You Failed Your Math Test, Comrade Einstein: Adventures and Misadventures of Young Mathematicians Or Test Your Skills in Almost Recreational Mathematics . World Scientific . 2005 . 978-981-270-116-9.
171. Edward Frenkel . The Fifth problem: math & anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union . October 2012 . The New Criterion . 12 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151207161404/http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/The-Fifth-problem--math---anti-Semitism-in-the-Soviet-Union-7446. 7 December 2015. live. Edward Frenkel.
172. News: More migrants please, especially the clever ones . London . . 11 October 2011 . Dominic Lawson. 14 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20120204140558/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-more-migrants-please-especially-the-clever-ones-2368622.html. 4 February 2012. live. Dominic Lawson.
173. Web site: Andre Geim . Biographical . Nobelprize.org . 2010 . 14 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170616114451/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/geim-bio.html. 16 June 2017. live. Andre Geim.
174. Book: Shlapentokh, Vladimir . Soviet Intellectuals and Political Power: The Post-Stalin Era . 26 . . 1990 . 978-1-85043-284-5 . 20 June 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041316/http://books.google.com/books?id=7VFqqE5995UC&dq . 12 May 2015 . live.
175. Book: Pejovich, Svetozar . The Economics of Property Rights: Towards a Theory of Comparative Systems . 130 . 1990 . . 978-0-7923-0878-2 . 25 May 2020 . 17 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200617225600/https://books.google.com/books?id=ocQKHRReKdcC . live .
176. Web site: Soviet Union – People . Central Intelligence Agency . . 1991 . 25 October 2010 . Central Intelligence Agency . https://web.archive.org/web/20101004135453/http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_people.html . 4 October 2010 . live.
177. Web site: Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей.. www.demoscope.ru.
178. Web site: Rulers and Victims: The Russians in the Soviet Union . Hosking, Geoffrey . 13 March 2006 . . 25 October 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110501085443/http://www.historytoday.com/geoffrey-hosking/rulers-and-victims-russians-soviet-union . 1 May 2011 . live. (pay-fee)
179. Pål Kolstø, "Political construction sites: Nation-building in Russia and the post-Soviet States". Boulder, Colorado: Westview press 2000, pp. 81–104uncorrected version, Chapter 2, par. "Nations and Nation-Building in Eastern Europe" and Chapter 5
180. Dinkel, R.H. . The Seeming Paradox of Increasing Mortality in a Highly Industrialized Nation: the Example of the Soviet Union . Population Studies . 155–177 . 1990 . 39 . 1 . 10.1080/0032472031000141296 . 11611752.
181. News: Niedowski . Dentistry in Russia is finally leaving the Dark Ages behind . Chicago Tribune . 2007 . 30 April 2021 . 5 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210405013455/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-03-04-0703040477-story.html . live .
182. Ferber & Bedrick . Dental survey of 620 Soviet immigrants . JADA . 1979 . 98 . 3 . 379–383 . 283158 . 14 July 2021 . 24 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221556/https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177%2879%2983017-2/pdf . live .
183. Web site: ru:ЗАКОН СССР ОТ 24 April 1990 О ЯЗЫКАХ НАРОДОВ СССР . . 24 April 1990 . http://legal-ussr.narod.ru/data01/tex10935.htm. Law of the USSR from 24 April 1990 on languages of the USSR. 24 October 2010 . ru. https://web.archive.org/web/20160508201331/http://legal-ussr.narod.ru/data01/tex10935.htm. 8 May 2016. dead.
184. Book: Eaton, Katherine Bliss . Daily life in the Soviet Union . . 2004 . registration . 978-0-313-31628-9 . 285 and 286. 20 June 2015.
185. Book: Silvio Ferrari . W. Cole Durham . Elizabeth A. Sewell . Law and religion in post-communist Europe . 2003 . Peeters Pub & Booksellers . 978-90-429-1262-5 . 261 . 25 May 2020 . 22 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200622083150/https://books.google.com/books?id=QEucgny-0k4C . live .
186. Book: Atwood, Craig D. . Always Reforming: A History of Christianity Since 1300 . Macon, Georgia . . 2001 . registration . 978-0-86554-679-0 . 311. 20 June 2015.
187. Web site: dead . The Globe and Mail (Canada) . 9 March 2001 . Johnson's Russia List #5141 - Why father of glasnost is despised in Russia . CDI . Geoffrey . York . https://web.archive.org/web/20120120105914/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5141.html . 2012-01-20 . In his new book, Maelstrom of Memory, Mr. Yakovlev lists some of the nightmares uncovered by his commission. More than 41 million Soviets were imprisoned from 1923 to 1953. More than 884,000 children were in internal exile by 1954. More than 85,000 Orthodox priests were shot in 1937 alone..
188. D. Pospielovsky, The Russian Orthodox Church under the Soviet Regime, vol. 1, p. 175.
189. Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988)
190. Web site: ARTICLE 124. . 4 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190102163245/http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/36cons04.html . 2 January 2019 . live.
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193. Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History, by Dilip Hiro. Penguin, 2009.
194. Book: Adappur, Abraham . Religion and the Cultural Crisis in India and the West . 14 July 2016 . 2000 . Intercultural Publications . 978-81-85574-47-9 . Forced Conversion under Atheistic Regimes: It might be added that the most modern example of forced "conversions" came not from any theocratic state, but from a professedly atheist government—that of the Soviet Union under the Communists.. https://web.archive.org/web/20170314065732/https://books.google.com/books?id=44DYAAAAMAAJ. 14 March 2017. live.
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197. Book: Ro'i, Yaacov . Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union . London . . 1995 . 978-0-7146-4619-0 . 263. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512055620/http://books.google.com/books?id=bJBH5pxzSyMC. 12 May 2015. live.
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200. Book: McKay, George . Williams, Christopher . Subcultures and New Religious Movements in Russia and East-Central Europe . . 2009 . 978-3-03911-921-9 . 231–232. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150512035801/http://books.google.com/books?id=xpNBm-z7aOYC&dq. 12 May 2015. live.
201. 'On the other hand...' See the index of Stalin and His Hangmen by Donald Rayfield, 2004, Random House
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203. Web site: The Role of Sports in the Soviet Union | Guided History . 8 March 2021 . 22 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141022002522/http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/russia-and-its-empires/tyler-benson/ . live .
204. News: Soviet Amateur Athlete: A Real Pro. The New York Times. 21 July 1974. Washburn. J. N..
205. Web site: Sports in Soviet Union Only for Elite : There Are Top Athletes, and then There Are Those Who Sunbathe and Watch Drawbridges Go up. Los Angeles Times. 22 July 1986.
206. Web site: The Role of Sports in The Soviet Union – Guided History. blogs.bu.edu.
207. Web site: Info . https://web.archive.org/web/20170123110037/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80-00810A005600130009-0.pdf . dead . January 23, 2017 . www.cia.gov .
208. Book: Hunt, Thomas M. . Drug Games: The International Olympic Committee and the Politics of Doping . 2011 . University of Texas Press . 978-0-292-73957-4 . 66 .
209. Web site: The 1980 Olympics Are The 'Cleanest' In History. Athletes Recall How Moscow Cheated The System. . Aleksandrov . Alexei . Aleksandrov . Grebeniuk . Runets . Volodymyr . July 22, 2020 . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . December 26, 2021.
210. News: The Soviet Doping Plan: Document Reveals Illicit Approach to '84 Olympics. Ruiz. Rebecca R.. 13 August 2016 . The New York Times . 0362-4331. 3 September 2016.
211. Book: Sandle, Mark . A Short History Of Soviet Socialism . Routledge . 2003-09-16 . 978-1-135-36640-7 . 10.4324/9780203500279 . 265–266.
212. The USSR: Oligarchy or Dictatorship? . Robert G. . Wesson . 26 June 1972 . Slavic Review . 31 . 2 . 314–322 . 10.2307/2494336 . 2494336 . 159910749 . free .
213. Integrative Complexity of American and Soviet Foreign Policy Rhetoric: A Time Series Analysis . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . December 1985 . 49 . 6 . 1565–1585 . Philip E. . Tetlock . 10.1037/0022-3514.49.6.1565 . 4 December 2020 . 24 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221555/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232446718_Integrative_Complexity_of_American_and_Soviet_Foreign_Policy_Rhetoric_A_Time-Series_Analysis . live .
214. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/966616.stm "Child poverty soars in eastern Europe"
215. Book: Parenti, Michael . Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism . 1997 . . 978-0-87286-329-3 . 118 . Michael Parenti . limited.
216. Book: McAaley, Alastair . Russia and the Baltics: Poverty and Poverty Research in a Changing World . 18 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170123224044/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3A8M3JFdbXA7sJ%3Awww.crop.org%2Fviewfile.aspx%3Fid%3D381+&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz . 23 January 2017 . live .
217. News: An epidemic of street kids overwhelms Russian cities . The Globe and Mail . live . 17 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160828195036/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/an-epidemic-of-street-kids-overwhelms-russian-cities/article4141933/ . 28 August 2016.
218. Book: Targ, Harry . Challenging Late Capitalism, Neoliberal Globalization, & Militarism . 2006.
219. Theodore P. Gerber & Michael Hout, "More Shock than Therapy: Market Transition, Employment, and Income in Russia, 1991–1995", AJS Volume 104 Number 1 (July 1998): 1–50.
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223. Book: Mattei, Clara E. . 2022 . The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism . 301–302 . . 978-0-226-81839-9.
224. Book: Alexander . Catharine . Urban Life in Post-Soviet Asia . Buchil . Victor . Humphrey . Caroline . 2007 . CRC Press.
225. Book: Smorodinskaya . Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Russian . Routledge.
226. Galazkaa . Artur . 2000 . Implications of the Diphtheria Epidemic in the Former Soviet Union for Immunization Programs . Journal of Infectious Diseases . 181 . 244–248 . 10.1086/315570 . 10657222 . free.
227. Web site: Shubnikov . Eugene . Non-communicable Diseases and Former Soviet Union countries . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20161011091551/http://www.pitt.edu/~super4/33011-34001/33991.ppt . 11 October 2016 . 18 July 2016.
228. Wharton . Melinda . Vitek . Charles . 1998 . Diphtheria in the Former Soviet Union: Reemergence of a Pandemic Disease . Emerging Infectious Diseases . 4 . 4 . 539–550 . 10.3201/eid0404.980404 . 2640235 . 9866730.
229. Book: Parenti, Michael . Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism . . 1997 . 978-0-87286-329-3 . San Francisco . 107, 115 . Michael Parenti.
230. News: Hudson . Michael . Michael Hudson (economist) . Sommers . Jeffrey . 20 December 2010 . Latvia provides no magic solution for indebted economies . . live . 24 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171025021924/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/dec/20/latvia-debt-economy-europe-austerity . 25 October 2017 . Neoliberal austerity has created demographic losses exceeding Stalin's deportations back in the 1940s (although without the latter's loss of life). As government cutbacks in education, healthcare and other basic social infrastructure threaten to undercut long-term development, young people are emigrating to better their lives rather than suffer in an economy without jobs. More than 12% of the overall population (and a much larger percentage of its labor force) now works abroad..
231. Hoepller . C . 2011 . Russian Demographics: The Role of the Collapse of the Soviet Union . live . Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences . 10 . 1 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160806005855/http://www.kon.org/urc/v10/hoeppler.html . 6 August 2016 . 18 July 2016.
232. Book: Scheidel, Walter . The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century . . 2017 . 978-0-691-16502-8 . Princeton . 51 & 222–223 . Walter Scheidel.
233. Web site: Poland . Marshall . Russian Economy in the Aftermath of the Collapse of the Soviet Union . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160708010129/http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/03-04/baker%20poland%20p1/ussr.htm . 8 July 2016 . 18 July 2016 . Needham K12.
234. Book: Ghodsee. Kristen. Orenstein. Mitchell A.. Kristen Ghodsee. 2021. Taking Stock of Shock: Social Consequences of the 1989 Revolutions. Oxford University Press. 83–85. 10.1093/oso/9780197549230.001.0001 . 978-0-19-754924-7.
235. David Stuckler, Lawrence King, and Martin McKee. "Mass privatisation and the post-communist mortality crisis: a cross-national analysis." The Lancet 373.9661 (2009): 399–407.
236. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7828901.stm Privatisation 'raised death rate'
237. Book: Ghodsee, Kristen . Red Hangover: Legacies of Twentieth-Century Communism . 2017 . . 978-0-8223-6949-3 . 63 . Kristen R. Ghodsee . 6 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180804180848/https://www.dukeupress.edu/red-hangover . 4 August 2018 . dead.
238. Milanović . Branko . Branko Milanović . 2015 . After the Wall Fell: The Poor Balance Sheet of the Transition to Capitalism . . 58 . 2 . 135–138 . 10.1080/05775132.2015.1012402 . 153398717.
239. News: End of the USSR: visualising how the former Soviet countries are doing, 20 years on . 21 January 2021 . . 28 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210128064905/https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/aug/17/ussr-soviet-countries-data . live.

240. ; ; ; ;

241. News: Ностальгия по СССР . Nostalgia for the USSR . ru . levada.ru . 19 December 2018.
242. News: Maza . Christina . 19 December 2018 . Russia vs. Ukraine: More Russians Want the Soviet Union and Communism Back Amid Continued Tensions . . 20 December 2018.
243. News: 75% of Russians Say Soviet Era Was 'Greatest Time' in Country's History – Poll . . Moscow . 20 March 2020 . 4 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230209105256/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/03/24/75-of-russians-say-soviet-era-was-greatest-time-in-countrys-history-poll-a69735 . 9 February 2023.
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245. News: Arkhipov . Ilya . 16 April 2019 . Russian Support for Stalin Surges to Record High, Poll Says . Bloomberg . 8 October 2020 . 3 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201003223316/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-16/russian-support-for-soviet-tyrant-stalin-hits-record-poll-shows . live .
246. Web site: Former Soviet Countries See More Harm From Breakup . 19 December 2013 . Gallup . 19 December 2013 . 11 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201111230251/https://news.gallup.com/poll/166538/former-soviet-countries-harm-breakup.aspx . live .
247. News: Survey shows Ukrainians most negatively regard Stalin, Lenin and Gorbachev . Kyiv Post . 20 November 2018 . 9 December 2020 . 8 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201108124647/https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/survey-shows-ukrainians-most-negatively-regard-stalin-lenin-and-gorbachev.html . live .
248. Web site: November 2021 . What Should Russia be in the View of Russians? . 4 March 2022 . Levada Center . 5 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220305061703/https://www.levada.ru/2021/09/10/kakoj-dolzhna-byt-rossiya-v-predstavlenii-rossiyan/ . live .
249. News: Why do so many people miss the Soviet Union? . . 21 December 2016.
250. News: The Fall of the Soviet Union . Levada.ru . 9 January 2017.
251. Web site: Ločmele . K. . Procevska . O. . Zelče . V. . 2011 . Celebrations, Commemorative Dates and Related Rituals: Soviet Experience, its Transformation and Contemporary Victory Day Celebrations in Russia and Latvia . Muižnieks . Nils . Nils Muižnieks . The Geopolitics of History in Latvian-Russian Relations . Riga . Academic Press of the University of Latvia . 9 December 2020 . 2 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210702115233/https://www.szf.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/szf_faili/Petnieciba/sppi/lat_un_starp/The%20Geopolitics%20of%20History%20in%20Latvian-Russian%20Relations.pdf . live .
252. Book: Wanner, Catherine. Burden of Dreams: History and Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine. 1998. 70, 160–167. The Pennsylvania State University Press. University Park, Pennsylvania. 978-0-271-01793-8.
253. News: Russia's Victory Day celebrations take on new importance for the Kremlin this year . NPR.
254. Web site: Victory Parade on Red Square . 9 May 2022.
255. Web site: The Immortal Regiment: the pride and prejudice of Russia.
256. Web site: U.S. & Russian Holidays in 2022 & 2023 . U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia.
257. Making Sense of Suffering : Holocaust and Holodomor in Ukrainian Historical Culture . Johan . Dietsch . 26 October 2006 . Lund University . thesis/docmono . lup.lub.lu.se . 26 October 2020 . 24 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221612/https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/publication/25786 . live.
258. Nostalgia and discontinuity of life: A multiple case study of older ex-Soviet refugees seeking psychotherapeutic help for immigration-related problems. . PhD . A. V. . Zinchenko . 26 October 2003 . 1 . eLibrary.ru . 26 October 2020 .
259. . 'State Capitalism' in the Soviet Union . M. C. . Howard . J.E. . King . 10.1080/10370196.2001.11733360 . 34 . 2001 . 1 . 110–126 . 10.1.1.691.8154 . 42809979 . CiteSeer . 8 October 2020 . 18 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210818055829/https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.691.8154&rep=rep1&type=pdf . live.
260. Book: Taaffe, Peter . Peter Taaffe . October 1995 . The Rise of Militant . Preface, and Trotsky and the Collapse of Stalinism . Bertrams . The Soviet bureaucracy and Western capitalism rested on mutually antagonistic social systems. . 978-0906582473 . https://web.archive.org/web/20021217071256/https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/militant/ . 17 December 2002 . live.
261. Book: North . David . In Defense of Leon Trotsky . 2010 . Mehring Books . 978-1-893638-05-1 . 172–173 . en.
262. Book: Berkman, Alexander . ABC of Anarchism . 1942 . Freedom Press . 2006 . 978-0-900384-03-5 . Zine Distro . 8 October 2020 . 5 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201105124142/http://assets.zinedistro.org/zines/pdfs/116.pdf . live.
263. Web site: A Proposal Concerning the General Line of the International Communist Movement . . 24 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160131074829/https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/sino-soviet-split/cpc/proposal.htm . 31 January 2016 . live.
264. Web site: Seven Letters Exchanged Between the Central Committees of the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . 21 October 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071225024740/http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/polemics/sevenlet.html . 25 December 2007 . dead . Etext Archives.
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266. News: Polychroniou . C. J. . 2016-07-17 . Noam Chomsky on Anarchism, Communism and Revolutions . 2023-06-21 . . en-US.