7/29/2019 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R)

1/1

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.