Soviet Union

The Soviet Union,[lower-alpha 18] officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics[lower-alpha 19] (USSR),[lower-alpha 20] was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics;[lower-alpha 21] in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad (Russian SFSR), Kiev (Ukrainian SSR), Minsk (Byelorussian SSR), Tashkent (Uzbek SSR), Alma-Ata (Kazakh SSR), and Novosibirsk (Russian SFSR). It was the largest country in the world, covering over 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi) and spanning eleven time zones.

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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Союз Советских Социалистических Республик Soyuz Sovyetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (in Russian; for names of the Soviet Union in other official languages, see this list)[1]
1922–1991
Flag (1955–1991) State Emblem (1956–1991)
Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! "Workers of the world, unite!"
Anthem: Интернационал "The Internationale" (1922–1944) Государственный гимн СССР[lower-alpha 1] "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" (1944–1991)
The Soviet Union during the Cold War
Capital and largest city	Moscow 55°45′N 37°37′E
Official languages	Russian[lower-alpha 2]
Recognised regional languages	Ukrainian Belarusian Uzbek Kazakh Georgian Azerbaijani Lithuanian Moldavian Latvian Kyrgyz Tajik Armenian Turkmen Estonian
Ethnic groups (1989)	70% East Slavs 17% Turkic 13% other
Religion	Secular state (de jure) State atheism (de facto)
Demonym(s)	Soviet
Government	See also: Government of the Soviet Union Federal one-party socialist republic (1922–1924) Federal Leninist one-party socialist republic (1924–1930) Federal Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic under a Stalinist totalitarian dictatorship[2][3] (1930–1953) Federal Marxist–Leninist one-party directorial parliamentary socialist republic[4] (1953–1990) Federal multi-party semi-presidential republic[5] (1990–1991)
Main Leader
• 1922–1924	Vladimir Lenin[lower-alpha 3]
• 1924–1953	Joseph Stalin[lower-alpha 4]
• 1953[lower-alpha 5]	Georgy Malenkov[lower-alpha 6]
• 1953–1964	Nikita Khrushchev[lower-alpha 7]
• 1964–1982	Leonid Brezhnev[lower-alpha 8]
• 1982–1984	Yuri Andropov
• 1984–1985	Konstantin Chernenko
• 1985–1991	Mikhail Gorbachev[lower-alpha 9]
Chairman/President
• 1922–1946 (first)	Mikhail Kalinin[lower-alpha 10]
• 1988–1991 (last)	Mikhail Gorbachev[lower-alpha 11]
Premier
• 1922–1924 (first)	Vladimir Lenin[lower-alpha 12]
• 1991 (last)	Ivan Silayev[lower-alpha 13]
Legislature	Congress of Soviets (1922–1936)[lower-alpha 14] Supreme Soviet (1936–1991)
• Upper house	Soviet of Nationalities (1936–1991) Soviet of Republics (1991)
• Lower house	Soviet of the Union (1936–1991)
Historical era	Interwar period World War II Cold War
• October Revolution	7 November 1917
• Treaty of Creation	30 December 1922
• End of the Civil War	16 June 1923
• First constitution	31 January 1924
• Second constitution	5 December 1936
• Westward expansion	1939–1940
• Great Patriotic War	1941–1945
• Foundation of the UN	24 October 1945
• De-Stalinization	25 February 1956
• Last constitution	9 October 1977
• Secession of Lithuania	11 March 1990
• August Coup	19–22 August 1991
• Belovezh Accords	8 December 1991[lower-alpha 15]
• Dissolution	26 December 1991[lower-alpha 16]
Area
• Total	22,402,200 km2 (8,649,500 sq mi) (1st)
• Water	2,767,198 km2 (1,068,421 sq mi)
• Water (%)	12.3
Population
• 1989 census	286,730,819[6] (3rd)
• Density	12.7/km2 (32.9/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	1990 estimate
• Total	$2.7 trillion (2nd)
• Per capita	$9,000
GDP (nominal)	1990 estimate
• Total	$2.7 trillion[7] (2nd)
• Per capita	$9,000 (28th)
Gini (1989)	0.275 low
HDI (1990 formula)	0.920[8] very high
Currency	Soviet ruble (Rbl) (SUR)
Time zone	(UTC+2 to +12)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+7
ISO 3166 code	SU
Internet TLD	.su[lower-alpha 17]
Preceded by Succeeded by 1922: Russian SFSR Ukrainian SSR Byelorussian SSR Transcaucasian SFSR 1923: Provisional Priamurye Government 1924: Bukharan SSR Khorezm SSR 1939: Poland (portion) 1940: Finland (portion) Romania (portion) Estonia Latvia Lithuania 1944: Tuva 1945: Germany (portion) Japan (portion) 1946: Czechoslovakia (portion) 1990: Lithuania 1991: Georgia Estonia Latvia Ukraine Moldova Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Tajikistan Armenia Azerbaijan Turkmenistan Belarus Russia Kazakhstan

Part of a series on the
History of the Soviet Union
Background Communism Bolshevism World revolution Russian Social Democratic Labour Party Bolshevik split Bolshevik Party Russian Empire World War I February Revolution
1917–1927: Establishment October Revolution Russian Civil War Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Red Terror War communism New Economic Policy Treaty on the Creation of the USSR National delimitation Death and funeral of Lenin
1927–1953: Stalinism Socialism in one country Collectivization Soviet famine of 1932–1933 Holodomor Kazakhstan famine of 1932–1933 Industrialization Cultural Revolution Great Purge Moscow Trials World War II Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact Great Patriotic War Operation Barbarossa Occupation of the Baltic states Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina Battle of Berlin Soviet invasion of Manchuria Soviet deportations Soviet famine of 1946–1947 Cold War Berlin Blockade Korean War First Indochina War Death and funeral of Stalin
1953–1964: Khrushchev Thaw East German uprising of 1953 Virgin Lands campaign 1954 transfer of Crimea Khrushchev Thaw De-Stalinization ""On the Cult of Personality" We will bury you 1956 Georgian demonstrations Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Wage reforms Peaceful coexistence Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution Sino-Soviet split Space program Cuban Missile Crisis
1964–1982: Era of Stagnation Brezhnev Doctrine Era of Stagnation 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide protests Six-Day War Détente Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Operation Menu Cambodian Civil War Fall of Saigon Yom Kippur War Prague Spring Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Wars in Africa Angolan War of Independence Angolan Civil War Mozambican War of Independence Mozambican Civil War South African Border War Rhodesian Bush War Cambodian–Vietnamese War Soviet–Afghan War 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic boycotts 1980 Olympic boycott 1984 Olympic boycott Polish strike Death and funeral of Brezhnev
1982–1991: Decline and collapse Invasion of Grenada Glasnost Perestroika Chernobyl disaster Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan Singing Revolution Estonian Sovereignty Declaration Baltic Way Lithuanian independence Economic blockade Latvian independence Revolutions of 1989 Pan-European Picnic Peaceful Revolution Fall of the Berlin Wall Velvet Revolution End of communist rule in Hungary Romanian Revolution German reunification Dissolution of the Soviet Union Jeltoqsan First Nagorno-Karabakh War April 9 tragedy Black January Osh riots War of Laws Dushanbe riots January Events The Barricades Referendum Union of Sovereign States August Coup Ukrainian independence referendum Belovezha Accords Alma-Ata Protocol
Soviet leadership Lenin Stalin Malenkov Khrushchev Brezhnev Andropov Chernenko Gorbachev List of troikas
Related topics Culture Economy Education Geography History Leadership Politics Soviet Empire Russia Soviet republics Post-Soviet states
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The country's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917, which saw the Bolsheviks overthrow the Russian Provisional Government that formed earlier that year following the February Revolution and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, marking the end of the Russian Empire. The new government, led by Vladimir Lenin, established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR), the world's first constitutionally guaranteed socialist state.[lower-alpha 22] Persisting internal tensions escalated into the brutal Russian Civil War. As the war progressed in the Bolsheviks' favor, the RSFSR began to incorporate land conquered from the war into nominally independent states, which were unified into the Soviet Union in December 1922. Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin came to power. Stalin inaugurated a period of rapid industrialization and forced collectivization that led to significant economic growth, but also contributed to a famine in 1930–1933 that killed millions. The forced labour camp system of the Gulag was also expanded in this period. Stalin conducted the Great Purge to remove his actual and perceived opponents. After the outbreak of World War II, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The combined Soviet civilian and military casualty count — estimated to be around 20 million people — accounted for the majority of losses of Allied forces. In the aftermath of World War II, the territory occupied by the Red Army formed various Soviet satellite states. In the postwar period until the 1960s, the Soviet Union experienced rapid economic development and achieved important "firsts" in the race to space.

The beginning of the Cold War saw the Eastern Bloc of the Soviet Union confront the Western Bloc of the United States, with the latter grouping becoming largely united in 1949 under NATO and the former grouping becoming largely united in 1955 under the Warsaw Pact. There was no direct military confrontation between the two organizations; instead, the conflict was fought on an ideological basis and through proxy wars. Both NATO and the Warsaw Pact led to the expansion of military forces and their integration into the respective blocs. The Warsaw Pact's largest military engagement was the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, its own member state, in August 1968 (with the participation of all pact nations except Albania and Romania), which, in part, resulted in Albania withdrawing from the pact less than one month later. Following Stalin's death in 1953, a period known as de-Stalinization occurred under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviets took an early lead in the Space Race with the first artificial satellite, the first human spaceflight, and the first probe to land on another planet (Venus).

In the 1970s, there was a brief détente in the Soviet Union's relationship with the United States, but tensions emerged again following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform the country through his policies of glasnost and perestroika. In 1989, during the closing stages of the Cold War, various countries of the Warsaw Pact overthrew their Marxist–Leninist regimes, which was accompanied by the outbreak of strong nationalist and separatist movements across the entire Soviet Union. In 1991, Gorbachev initiated a national referendum—boycotted by the Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova—that resulted in the majority of participating citizens voting in favour of preserving the country as a renewed federation. In August 1991, hardline members of the Communist Party staged a coup d'état against Gorbachev; the attempt failed, with Boris Yeltsin playing a high-profile role in facing down the unrest, and the Communist Party was subsequently banned. The Russian Federation became the Soviet Union's successor state, while all of the other republics emerged from the USSR's collapse as fully independent post-Soviet states.

The Soviet Union produced many significant social and technological achievements and innovations. It had the world's second-largest economy, and the Soviet Armed Forces comprised the largest standing military in the world. An NPT-designated state, it possessed the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. 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 the dissolution, the country had maintained its status as one of the world's two superpowers through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, military and economic strengths and scientific research.