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7/29/2019 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R)
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The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R)Dane Bracewell
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (commonly
abbreviated to the U.S.S.R or the Soviet Union) was
a constitutional socialist state that existed between
1922 and 1991, ruled by the Communist Party asa single party state with Moscow as the capital.
In 1941, during World War II, Nazi Germany
invaded the Soviet Union starting the largest and
bloodiest theatre of war in history and violating a
previous non-aggression pact between the two countries. The U.S.S.R suffered the largest loss of
life in the war but eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the end of the Second World War. Since
the Soviets player a critical role in the Allied victory in Europe, they established the Eastern Bloc
in much of Central and Eastern Europe and emerged as on of the worlds two superpowers after
the war.
Together with these new states, through which the Soviet Union established economic and
military pacts, which became involved in the prolonged political struggle against the Western
world, led by the other world superpower, the United States of America. The 1962 Cuban Missile
Crisis marked a period of great tension between the superpowers which was considered the
closest to a mutual nuclear war.
A referendum was held on 17 March 1991, with the majority of the voting population, voting for
the preservation of the Soviet Union in 9 out of the 15 republics. On 8 December 1991, the
presidents of Russian, Ukraine and Belarus signed an agreement which declared the U.S.S.R
dissolved and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) replacing it. On Christmas Day of1991, Gorbachev resigned as the President of the Soviet Union, declaring it extinct. The following
day, the Supreme Soviet the highest government body of the U.S.S.R, dissolved itself. This is most
generally recognized as marking the official dissolution of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
as a functioning state. The Soviet Army remained in place until early 1992, but was then
absorbed into different military forces for the newly independent states.
Following the abolishment of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991, Russia was recognised as
the legal successor on the international stage and therefore voluntarily accepted all Soviet
foreign debt and claimed all Soviet properties as its own. Under the 1992 Lisbon Protocol,
Russia also agreed to receive all nuclear weapons remaining in the territory of other former
republics.
The Soviet Union became the first country to adopt a planned economy, whereby the production
and distribution of goods was directed by the government. A number of basic services were
funded by the state such as education and healthcare.