The Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics (U.S.S.R.; Russian: Союз Советских Cуверенных Республик, Soyuz Sovetskikh Suverennykh Respublik; abbreviated С.С.С.Р., S.S.S.R.), commonly known as the Soviet Union (Советский Союз, Sovietsky Soyuz) and informally referred to simply as the Union (Союз, Soyuz) and Russia (Россия, Rossiya), is a federation comprised of 33 republics extending from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic Ocean to the Caspian Sea. The Soviet Union is the largest nation in the world by area, and is one of the two prominent superpowers in global politics and world culture (along with the United States). The Soviet Union was first established on December 30, 1922, as a unification of four Soviet Socialist Republics, forming one of the first communist nations. During World War II (known as the "Great Patriotic War" in the Soviet Union), the Soviets assist with the Allies in a decisive victory over the Axis Powers, but at a large cost of casualties.

After the war, the Soviet Union and the United States would emerge as the two superpowers. The conflict between Soviet and American interests would lead to the Cold War, which pitted the communist world and the non-communist world. Beginning in the mid 1980s, the Soviet Union would go threw political and economic change. Programs such as glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring") would help eliminate corruption in the USSR, leading to greater moral, and bring an end to the communist monopoly not just in the Soviet Union, but globally.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Reformation 2.2 Border conflicts 2.3 Roaring Nineties 2.4 War on Terror 3 Government and politics 3.1 Foreign relations 3.2 Military 4 Economy 4.1 Industry 4.2 Agriculture 4.3 Trade 4.4 Natural Resources 5 Political divisions 6 Demographics 6.1 Religion 7 Notes

Etymology Edit

Main article: Names of the Soviet Union

The word "soviet" is derived from the Russian word совет (sovet), which translates into English as council. The term would become synonymous with the Soviet Union during the Russian Revolution, in which a council acted as the governing body of the people. Several governments were established during the revolution, several of which would refer to themselves as a "Soviet Socialist Republic." Four of these SSRs would agree to unite themselves as a single nation in 1922. In a similar manner to the use of the "United States of America," these four republics were united under the "Treaty on the creation of the union of Soviet Socialist Republics."

The short form "Soviet Union" and the abbreviation "U.S.S.R." have becomes the standard for everyday use. Outside the Soviet Union, "Russia" continues to be used as the pars pro toto for the Soviet Union as a whole (similar to the use of "Holland" and "England" to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom respectively).

Upon the signing of the Treaty of the union of sovereign states, the term "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" was officially dropped as the official name. Several new names were proposed, but the most talked as the "Union of Sovereign States," which was officially used in the New Union Treaty. When the constitution was finalized in May 1992, the official name chose was the "Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics," to allow the continued use of the "Soviet Union" and the "USSR."

History Edit

Reformation Edit

On August 20, 1991, the republics of Belorussia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan would sign the New Union Treaty, establishing the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics. Addressing the nation, Gorbachev would make mention that a "Bright future is just around the corner." Over controversy, the break-away republic of Abkhazia was allowed to participate with Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan on signing the treaty on September 18. This action was taken negatively by Georgia, as well as other nations in western Europe. Despite rumors about the USSR annexing additional regions from the six republics, the USSR recognized the independence of Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Lativa, Lithuania, and Moldova on October 25. Abkhazia was not recognized as part of Georgia, while minor relations continued to exist on the break-away regions of Gagauzia, Pridnestrovie, and South Ossetia.

Despite the majority of the Union now having signed the treaty, the Ukraine was left in the dark. The Ukrainian government has already stated that they wanted to conduct research on the matter of whether the Ukraine would survive in a reformed Union. In late September, it was declared that a referendum would be held in December on whether they should declare independence. After the announcement, the people of the Crimea declared on boycotting the independence referendum on the desire to remain in the Union. The referendum was held on December 1, with about 56% of the voters rejecting independence. After which, newly elected Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk announced plans for the Ukraine to ratify the treaty in mid January the following year, and that all Ukrainians should look forward to the holidays. The last republic joined on January 10, 1992, with all remnants of the former Soviet Union now either independent or absorbed into the new government.

Border conflicts Edit

With the beginning of 1992, the Soviet Union hoped to bring peace between Moscow and the newly independent republics. Headway between Moscow and Yerevan when the two sides met in Tehran in December 1991. The Tehran Accords would bring an end to the Nagorno-Karabakh War war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Tensions between the USSR and the independent republics of Georgia and Moldavia seemed to only get more tensions as the months passed. Minor fighting broke out in South Ossetia in January 1992, with limited Soviet assistance on behalf of the South Ossetians. It has hoped that not engaging in war over South Ossetia would leave diplomatic options open.

The boiling point came in March 1992, when Moldavia (backed by neighboring Romania) launched an invasion of the break-away region of Pridnestrovie. Gorbachev ordered military aid to the Pridnestrovians, deploying the 14th Army involvement across the border. Russian, Ukrainian, and Don Cossack volunteers began the trek to the front. Days after the beginning of the war, Gagauzia and Pridnestrovie declared independence from Moldavia and requested admission into the Soviet Union. The conflict lasted only weeks, ending in a decisive Soviet victory. With pressure from the two republics, as well as pressure from South Ossetia on a potential invasion by Georgian forces, the three republics were granted admission into the USSR in April 1992.

With the announcement that South Ossetia has been granted admission, Georgian troops were ordered to the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Soviet troops were ordered to assist the regions in the event of a Georgian invasion. In hopes to prevent war, Gorbachev requested diplomatic reasoning to end the conflict. Georgia reluctantly agreed, and the two sides began talks in August. By the end of 1992, Georgia agreed to allow the transfer of Abkhazia and South Ossetia into the USSR, in exchange for economic assistance to the new nation. With one conflict over, another needed resolution. In 1994, Moldavia held a referendum on whether to merge with Romania. With an almost 80% vote for unification, Romania itself showed little interest in inheriting a border conflict with the USSR. Prior to the unification in 1995, Romania announced that the unification would only take place if Moldavia gave up Gagauzia and Pridnestrovie. This officially took place on December 31, 1994, one day prior to the official unification on January 1, 1995.

Roaring Nineties Edit

Just as in the case of the late 1980s, the early years of the 90s was gripped by a recession in the Soviet Union. Despite this, the standards of living was already higher than had been previously, and along with growing economic ties and cooperation with the United States, Western Europe, and Japan; the Soviet Union was slowly rising from the ashes of communism. By the time Nikolai Ryzhkov was elected President in 1995, the USSR's economy was beginning to surpass the previous decades in growth. The global importance of the ruble began to equal that of the British pound, the French franc, and the Deutschmark. By the turn of the millennium, the ruble would be equal to the status of the US dollar and the Japanese yen. Since 1995, the economy entered in a period of recovery, allowing industry, trade, investment, and agriculture to grow and develop in a rate the country has not seen it decades. Infrasturcture, public utilites, and transportation greatly improved during this period.

The 1990s also saw a rise in "Soviet nationalism," and the continued movement for new republics within the USSR. In 1993, the highly independent autonomous republics of Russia—Tatarstan and Vainakhia—were admitted as republics. Alania, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, and Karakalpakstan followed in 1994. But after the beginning of 1995, the issue of letting additional autonomous areas become republics became a concern for Russian politicians (especially Russian President Boris Yeltsin). Many of the areas were not populous enough to qualify as republics, but continued to express the desire. The issue was finally brought to the Supreme Soviet or Russia, in what would become known as the Leningrad Compromise. The compromise agreed to allow full republican status for Buryatia, Dagestan, Kalmykia, Karelia, Komia, Mari El, Mordovia, Tuva, Udmurtia, and Yakutia; and allowed the mergers Komi-Permyak Okrug with Komia and the mergers of the Agin-Buryat Okrug and the Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug with Buryatia; in exchange that a series of criteria be implemented in the USSR to help bring an end to the Parade of Sovereignties and prevent another outbreak of confusion from happening again. A second and final compromise would be made in 1998 which allowed the Circassia, Cossackia, and the Crimea to become republics.

The decade also showed a major boost for the Soviet space program. In 1993, the Federal Aviation and Space Agency (known simply as SAKA) was established. As was the case of NASA, SAKA was established to help end the military monopoly in the space program, and encourage more civilian and private activities. The major project for the new agency was the Buran program, the Soviet's answer to the US Shuttle program. In 1994, the first manned flight of the shuttles began operations. Buran missions to Mir began a year later.

War on Terror Edit

While the Soviet Union hoped to focus more on internal affairs during the Ryzhkov administration, the USSR continued to be pushed into more and more international situations. Ryzhkov's foreign policy centered around the Soviet Union moving away from their "aggressive image," while continuing to fulfill their roles as a superpower. The USSR would take a more active role in the United Nations, supporting non-aggressive actions against foreign nations.

The later years of the 20th century would become a turbulent time for both the Soviet Union and the United States. With the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and Islamic-lead terrorism, the two superpowers would be taken as the two "Great Satans." The global position of the USSR would come back to focus on September 11, 2001, in which four American airliners are hijacked and used as weapons against the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington (the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania). As was with the entire world, the Soviets grew concerned for their own protections, and for those lost. The Soviet Union would condemn these attacks, and would support the United States on their "War on Terror." The USSR voted in favor of actions against Sudan (which has been suspected to harbor and support the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, who took responsibility for the 9/11 attacks), and even offered a small amount of troops to be deployed to Africa.

Despite the positive intentions, it would soon become clear that the USSR was also targeted. In October 2003, a terrorist bomb rips across Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, killing over 200 (including a large number of Soviet citizens), followed months later by the infamous Metro bombings of three Moscow Metro trains, the Park Pobedy station, and followed weeks later by an attempted suicide bombing in Red Square.

For the first time in a decade, the Soviet Union would be going into war. With backing by the United Nations, the might of the Red Army would launch an attack on Somalia (which has been suspected of harboring Osama bin Laden since the invasion of Sudan in 2001). Despite the liberation of Mogadishu within months, insurgency continues in southern Somalia. The insurgency intensifies when the Soviet Union becomes the first nation to recognize the independence of Somaliland, gaining both opposition from the insurgents and the newly established Somali government.

The most recent front on the Soviet War on Terror was the capturing of the Moscow University in May 2010. The Marshal Shaposhnikov would retake the ship the following day, but would lead to public fears both in the Soviet Union and globally. The growth of piracy in Somalia has become a bigger threat for the Soviet Union and its allies in the Gulf of Aden.

Government and politics Edit

According to the Constitution of the Soviet Union, the country is a federation and semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics is fundamentally structured as a multi-party representative democracy, with the federal government composed of three branches:

• Legislative: The bicameral Supreme Soviet, made up of the 925-member Soviet of Republics and the 1035-member Soviet of the Union, adopts federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse and the power of impeachment of the President.
• Executive: The President is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
• Judiciary: The Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Arbitration and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Supreme Soviet on the recommendation of the President, interpret laws and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.

The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term, but not for a third consecutive term). Ministries of the government are composed of the Premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister (whereas the appointment of the latter requires the consent of the Supreme Soviet). Leading political parties in the Soviet Union include the Union of Social Democrats, the Communist Party, Democratic Unity, and the Liberal Party.

Foreign relations Edit

Main: Foreign relations of the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union continues to implement the international commitments of the former communist regime, and continues to hold a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, membership in other international organizations, the rights and obligations under international treaties, and property and debts. The USSR has a multifaceted foreign policy. As of 2009, it maintains diplomatic relations with 191 countries and has 144 embassies. The foreign policy is determined by the President and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the Soviet Union plays a major role in maintaining international peace and security. The country participates in the Quartet on the Middle East and the Six-party talks with North Korea. The USSR is a member of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, OSCE, and APEC. The USSR usually takes a leading role in regional organizations such as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Military Edit

The Soviet military is divided into the Army, Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service: Strategic Nuclear Forces, Military Space Forces, and the Airborne Troops. In 2006, the military had 2.246 million personnel on active duty.

The USSR has the the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. It has the second largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines and is the only country apart from the US with a modern strategic bomber force. The USSR's tank force is the largest in the world, its surface navy and air force are among the two strongest, the other being that of the united States.

The country has a large and fully indigenous arms industry, producing all of its own military equipment. The Soviet Union is the world's second top supplier of arms after the United States of America, accounting for around 35% of worldwide weapons sales and exporting weapons to about 100 countries.

Official government military spending for 2008 was $120 billion, the second largest in the world, though various sources have estimated Soviet military expenditures to be considerably higher.

It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–47 to be drafted for a year of service in Armed Forces; the government plans to increase the proportion of contract servicemen to 70% by 2010. Defense expenditure has quadrupled over the past six years. According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates, official government military spending for 2008 was around $120 billion, the second largest in the world, though various sources, including US intelligence, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, have estimated the USSR’s military expenditures to be considerably higher. Currently, the military is undergoing a major equipment upgrade worth about $800 billion between 2006 and 2015. Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov supervises the major reforms aimed to transform a mass mobilization army into a smaller, mobile force of professional soldiers.

Economy Edit

The Soviet Union enjoys high economic revenue, beneficial to all its member states. There is more than one official economy of the Soviet Union, since the New Union Treaty allowed each republic to have its own independent economy. Its joint currency, the Soviet ruble, has seen a steady rise over the years. Trade with China, the United States, Western Europe, and Japan has also increased since 2000, which has been profitable for all.

The Soviet Union is one of the world's most industrialized nations. During the late 1990's, increasing demand and improved state finance caused the country to emerge from the economic crisis. The industrial equipment has successfully been modernized, allowing more industrial capabilities in the country. It is also a major resource base, making natural resource imports a rare thing.

Industry Edit

One of its best industries is the one in defense. Defense has played a large role in the economy due to its large manufacturing capabilities (mostly machinery) and greatly offered its products to most of the USSR's allies. They are among the most competitive after the U.S. Defense industry. The industry employs 25% of all manufacturing jobs in the USSR. The country exports more conventional arms than any other country except the US. The most popular weaponry are Sukhoi and Mikoyan, air defense systems, helicopters, battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles.The air defense industry company Almaz-Antey is the most successful company followed by Sukhoi.

Aircraft manufacturing is an important industry sector in the USSR. The aircraft industry offers a variety of planes, military or civilian. Most of the companies make up half the country's arms exports. It also is known for its civilian aircraft, including the Antonov An-255, the world's largest plane, rivaling those of Boeing. Most of the military aircraft industry includes MiG-29s and Su-30s, while new projects like the Sukhoi superjet 100 hope to bring fortunes to the aircraft industries.

The Space Industry has also been vital top SAKA and the Buran program. RKK Energia, Khrunichev, and TsSKB Progress are the biggest companies of the industry and had supplied SAKA with space equipment, machinery, and shuttles. All of them are known to find the Buran program as well to gain support for their businesses, which is praised by the Supreme Soviet and the Buran program itself.

The Automotive Industry is the fastest growing industry to not only the big demand for cars in the country, bu also internationally. AvtoVAZ, GAZ, and KAMAZ have some of the best car models in the industry rivaling those from Japan and America. Presidents Gorbachev and Nikolai have taken steps to increase the industry due to it being rare during the days of the Soviet Union.

The electronic industry is the country's newest industry. Due to the inventions of computers and handheld devices, the Supreme Soviet has recognized the importance of this industry. Many companies including JCS Mikron, the Soviet "Apple", and Telesystems, have been recently new companies and have been making one of the best brands of electronics since those of Japan and America.

Agriculture Edit

The USSR has one of the best farmland in the world, with few countries matching or being close to its potential. The black belt, that stretches from the Ukraine Cossackia, Russia (including Siberian and European parts), Mordovia, Mari El, Udmurtia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kalmykia, Kazakhstan, Tuva, and Buryatia, has been the center of cereal crops. The country is the top producer of wheat, barley, buckwheat, rye, nad millet, and a major producer of potatoes, maize, sorghum, oats, and rice.

The Soviet Union has abandoned its colelctive system of farms in order to increase food production, which was met with great success. As a result, wheat and meat production has increased greatly. The expansion fo most of the country's farm plots have greatly increased fruit and vegetable production. Since then, the USSR no longer had to import food as it used to.

Trade Edit

The country's main trading partners are the US, the EU, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ethiopia, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. The country's growing ties to its former enemies (aka US, EU, and others) have helped the crippling Soviet economy and profited itself and others. The USSR's major exports include oil, iron and steel, electrical machinery, consumer goods (clothes, toys, furniture, etc.), power generation equipment, a variety of minerals, timber, aircraft, various arms, and foodstuffs. Its imports are electronic goods, aerospace equipment, consumer goods, andcutting edge machinery.

Natural Resources Edit

The Soviet Union is best known for being richly endowed with nearly every natural resource, including fossil fuels, varieties of metals and minerals, timber, hydroelectric sources, fishing, and its fertile soil. It vast resources makes the Soviet Union the top producer of oil, iron ore, manganese, uranium, manganese, coal, and asbestos, and a major producer of timber, gold, lead, zinc, nickel, mercury, potash, phosphates, and others.

Because of its great resource diversity, the USSR's resources are a powerful stimulus to the economy for industry and imports few minerals, making it the only country to claim they satisfy all requirements of its economy. Because most of this is underdeveloped, business have nearly unlimited opportunities to exploit this huge, yet dispersed resource base.

Because of the enormous abundance of fossil fuels, the USSR makes more of them than it needs, so it has built many pipelines connecting to European, East Asian, and North American countries to fulfill energy needs. This was the country's biggest industry during the early 1990's but since 1995, it had diversified the economy to other sectors. Since the European part of the country is drained of all fossil fuels, Soviet republics and businesses have made effort to exploit the other resources to the east by encouraging settlements to gain enough development to the area. Yet the weather and isolation makes this hard, so the opportunity is often limited.

Despite its massive fossil fuel resources, most of the country's rivers hold great hydroelectrical potential, and major uranium deposits make nuclear energy affordable. Construction of dams and nuclear power plants have been common to cultivate the resource, and they both make up 25% of energy needs. Although this is the fastest growing sector in energy use, solar and wind energy have also taken root in the country.

Political divisions Edit

Main: Republics of the Soviet Union and Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union is a federated state made up of 33 Union Republics and one Union City. Each republic runs itself as a sovereign nation, working on their own affairs, economy, presidents, and each have their own militias. All have agreed to unite under a single legislature, leader, currency, foreign affairs, and a united militia. Each republic holds the right to secede from the Union if they so do, which contributed to the reformation of the USSR in 1991.

Prior to the signing of the New Union Treaty, the Soviet Union was constitutionally a federation, but ran more as a centralist state in practice. Glasnost and Perestroika brought the centralist ideals out in the open, leading to the formation of a union of sovereign states.

Abkhazia Alania Artsakh Azerbaijan Bashkortostan Belorussia Buryatia Chuvashia Circassia Cossackia Crimea

Dagestan Gagauzia Kalmykia Karakalpakstan Karelia Kazakhstan Komia Kyrgyzstan Mari El Mordovia Ossetia

Pridnestrovie Russia Tajikistan Tatarstan Turkmenistan Tuva Udmurtia Ukraine Uzbekistan Vainakhia Yakutia

Demographics Edit

The Soviet Union is one of the world's most ethnically diverse countries, with more than 200 distinct ethnic groups within its borders. The total population was estimated at 310 million in 2000, the 4th most populous nation after China, India and the United States of America.

The majority of the population are Russians (60.78%), followed by Ukrainians (12.45%), and Uzbeks (4.84%). Other ethnic groups include Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Moldovans, Tajiks, and Turkmen as well as Abkhaz, Adyghes, Aleuts, Assyrians, Avars, Bashkirs, Bulgarians, Buryats, Chechens, Chinese, Chuvash, Cossacks, Evenks, Finns, Gagauz, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Ingush, Inuit, Jews, Kalmyks, Karakalpaks, Karelians, Kets, Koreans, Lezgins, Maris, Mongols, Mordvins, Nenets, Ossetians, Poles, Roma, Romanians, Tats, Tatars, Tuvans, Udmurts, Yakuts, and others.

Mainly because of differences in birth rates among the Soviet nationalities, the share of the population that was Russian steadily declined in the post-World War II period, but increased during the 1990s.

Religion Edit

Prior to Gorbachev's presidency, the Soviet government had banned all forms of religion in the country. However, during the period of Glasnost and Perestroika, nearly all restrictions on religion with completely relaxed. With religious freedom now in place, Orthodox Christianity had become the fastest growing religion in the Soviet Union, quickly spreading in the Caucasian republics, Siberian republics, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. In 1999, secularism accounted for 17% of the population, since religion had started to play more of a role in people's lives. In 2001, Christianity accounted for 47.3% of the population, while Islam accounted for 21.5%, Judaism accounted for 7%, Buddhism 5%, while other religions represent the rest of the population.

There are 9 factors of Christianity in the country, including the largest, the Russian Orthodox Church, followed by Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Catholicism (Both Roman and Ukrainian Greek), Protestantism, and others. Sunni Muslim is the largest Islamic factor followed by Shia Muslim. Both religions make up most of the population in Russian Central Asia and the Caucasus. Judaism also plays a role in most of the country's Jews.

Notes Edit

1. ↑ The use of the term "Russian" to describe all citizens of the Soviet Union is widely used outside the Soviet Union.

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