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The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)
The former USSR (commonly referred to as the Soviet Union)
was formed as the result a weak Russian monarchy, an economic crisis,
and over three years of unsuccessful fighting in World War I. Brilliantly
using this situation, Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution and
seized the government from the Tsarist regime in the Fall of 1917. Lenin
was a previously exiled Marxist authority who founded the Russian Communist
Party and became the first leader of the Soviet State until his death
in 1924. He was able to unite people in support of Bolsheviks under the
idea of “power for workers and peasants." His ideas of ending
an unpopular war and redistribution of national wealth were also very
popular.
The Bolshevik Revolution was followed by a brutal Civil
War which took millions of lives. The Revolution and Civil War tragically
divided the nation and millions of people left the country. Among these
were the brightest and most talented writers, scientists, and specialists
including the airplane designer Sikorskiy, the writers Bunin and Nabokov,
the singer Shalyapin, the artist Mark Chagal. The Soviet State was officially
founded at the end of 1922.
Joseph Stalin stepped in to Lenin's shoes as the dominant
ruler and instituted industrialization in the form of collective farming
and social reorganization. Some of these unpopular programs helped to
develop the country into a world power by World War II. Unfortunately,
collectivization led to the destruction of agriculture and the physical
elimination of millions of the most successful producers.
After the Bolshevik Revolution, the Communist (Bolshevik)
Party created an enormously powerful machine of suppression and terror
which included the KGB. Beginning the 1930's Stalin used this political
machine to wrongfully execute those that he thought were his enemies or
that did not support his leadership of the Communist Party. It is estimated
that fourteen to twenty million people were executed and died in GULAG
during these years. Under Stalin’s supreme power, the Soviet Union
was invaded by Hitler's armies in June of 1941. Four years of fierce battles
took lives of twenty to thirty million Soviet citizens and every Soviet
family lost relatives during the. The Soviet Union was the major power
that defeated Hitler's Germany. The enormous loss of lives and destruction
of the cities during World War II still has an effect on Russians and
it is a very touching subject even today.
After Stalin passed away in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev was
named First Secretary of the Communist Party after several months of political
turmoil. He reversed many of Stalin's policies as First Secretary, which
nearly caused him to be removed from office in 1957. In an 8-4 vote, the
Presidium voted to dismiss Khruschev. His response was "Certainty
in arithmetic two and two make four. But politics are not arithmetic.
They are something different." He used army transport planes from
the remote regions of the USSR to rush his supporters to Moscow and with
his new support he was able to retain his position and exile his critics.
Khrushchev strongly believed in the idea of peaceful coexistence
with the other world power, the United States, which he visited in 1959.
Under Khrushchev, United States and USSR relations were at an all time
high until an American U-2 spy plane was shot down by the Soviets and
the pilot was captured. This began the period in history known as the
"Cold War" where military and nuclear assets were increased.
Khrushchev's policies in the late 1950s and early 1960s
earned the name of “Ottepel” (“Thaw”). During
this time dissidents appeared on Soviet scene which brought fresh air
into Soviet life and culture. This time brought new works from famous
writers (Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak, and Aksenov), poets (Brodskiy, Galich,
and Voznesenskiy), sculptors (Neizvestnyy), and historians (Necrich and
Medvedev). Dissidents made major contributions to the fall of communism
at the end of 1980s.
During Khrushchev's rule the Soviet Union made major steps
in space exploration: in 1957 they launched the first Sputnik, and then
in 1961 Yuriy Gagarin became the first human in space. This was a great
advancement, but economically the USSR was in very bad shape and the life
of ordinary people was very tough.
Khrushchev was followed by Leonid Brezhnev (who gained
a reputation in the West as the best dressed leader) in 1964 when Khrushchev
was ousted. Brezhnev steadily began to eliminate the young and weak freedom
movement which was seeded by his predecessor. During this time the KGB
began to grow politically and it began to control everything. A new novel
of Solzhenitsyn was forbidden and soon he was send out of country. The
same fate was prepared for Necrich, Galich, Aksenov, and many other dissidents.
The physicist Sakharov (the father of Soviet H-bomb) was sent into exile
due to his “pacifists” views.
In 1968 Brezhnev sent Soviet troops to suppress democracy
in Czechoslovakia and in 1979 he began the invasion into Afghanistan.
At the same time Brezhnev met with Nixon in Moscow and signed the SALT
treaty, which was a step towards nuclear disarmament. During this time,
the economy continued to decline. It was a period when Russians would
joke that “you create impression that you pay, we create impression
that we work." Brezhnev's administration brought political humor
to an all time high.
Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko were party functionaries
and each served short terms as head of state followed by Mikhail Gorbachev
who was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee
in 1985. While in office, Gorbachev promoted his ideas of Glasnost (his
policy of openness in public regarding current and historical problems)
and Perestroika (establishing a market economy by establishing private
ownership) which gained him enormous popularity in the West. In 1989 he
ordered the withdrawal Soviet troops from Afghanistan after ten years
of war.
Eventually, the poor economy and the close of Soviet factories
led to his demise and the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 (some researches
consider the breakdown of the Soviet Union as coup). Boris Yeltsin became
the first president of the new Russian Federation on June 12, 1991 and
Gorbachev was ousted from his office in August. By the end of 1991 all
of the former Soviet Republics were independent. The Soviet Union was
no more.
This is a brief review of the political history of the
former USSR. Many westerners have negative impressions about this country
due to the politically biased media and movies. Classics such as James
Bond, “The Hunt for Red October”, and "Rocky IV"
paint the culture and politics of the former Soviet Union in a very poor
light.
The Soviet Union was known for excellent culture and education
including literature, art, music, ballet, and architecture. The authors
Michail Bulgakov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Valentin Kataev, and Yuriy Trifonov
(available in English) are highly recommended for their contributions
to literature. Russian movie makers Andrey Tarkovskiy, Alexander Sokurov,
and many others would amaze even Hollywood with their great works. Scientists
around the world know the names of the famous Russian scientists Landau,
Kapitsa, Gamov, Zeldovich, Sakharov, as well as many others. College education
and health care was free for all citizens. Although many material items
were lacking, most people were generally highly educated, kind, and interesting.
Before the breakdown, the Soviet Union was divided into
15 different union republics: Amenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia, Estonia,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. These republics are now separate
countries that have retained their unique language, culture, and natural
wealth.
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