Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Abar Proloy

2023-07-12T14:21:48Z

GrowJustIndiaMagazine: Developed an original article.

{{Infobox television
| image = Abar Proloy.jpg
| caption =
| genre = Crime drama
| creator =
| based_on =
| developer =
| writer = [[Raj Chakraborty]]
| screenplay =
| story =
| director = Raj Chakraborty
| creative_director = Sohini Dasgupta
| presenter =
| starring = {{Plainlist|
*[[Paran Bandopadhyay]]
*[[Saswata Chatterjee]]
*[[Ritwick Chakraborty]]
*[[June Maliah]]
*[[Koushani Mukherjee]]
*[[Gaurav Chakraborty]]
*[[Sohini Sengupta]]
}}
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| open_theme =
| endtheme =
| composer = Amit Chatterjee
| country = India
| language = Bengali
| num_seasons =
| num_episodes =
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = Mimeo Hhazra
| producer = Subhashree Ganguly
Raj Chakraborty
| editor = Md. Kalam
| location =
| cinematography = Manas Ganguly
| camera =
| runtime =
| company = Raj Chakraborty Entertainment
| channel = [[ZEE5]]
| picture_format =
| audio_format =
| released =
| last_aired =
| related =
}}
'''''Abar Proloy''''' is a 2023 Bengali crime drama web series directed by [[Raj Chakraborty]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=রাত ২টো ৪১! রাজ চক্রবর্তীর সেটে ‘সাদা-কালা..’ গেয়ে ‘হাওয়া’ গরম করলেন নুসরত |url=https://bengali.indianexpress.com/entertainment/nusraat-faria-at-raj-chakrabortys-abar-proloy-set-sang-sada-sada-kala-kala-550791/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Indian Express Bangla |language=bn}}</ref> and produced by Raj Chakraborty Entertainment and [[Subhashree Ganguly]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Acharya |first=Anindita |title=Raj Chakraborty Announces 'Abar Proloy' With Saswata & Saayoni |url=https://www.millenniumpost.in/features/raj-chakraborty-announces-abar-proloy-with-saswata-saayoni-502419 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=www.millenniumpost.in |language=en}}</ref> The show features an ensemble cast including [[Paran Bandopadhyay]], [[Saswata Chatterjee]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abar Proloy Teaser: আসছে 'আবার প্রলয়', টিজারমুক্তির দিনক্ষণ জানালেন পরিচালক |url=https://www.etvbharat.com/bengali/west-bengal/entertainment/movie/abar-proloy-teaser-release-date-is-out-now/wb20230629181623207207429 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=ETV Bharat News |language=bn}}</ref> [[Ritwick Chakraborty]], [[June Maliah]], [[Koushani Mukherjee]], [[Gaurav Chakrabarty]], [[Sohini Sengupta]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=First glimpse of Raj Chakraborty’s debut web series ‘Abar Proloy’ receives a mixed response |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/bengali/first-glimpse-of-raj-chakrabortys-debut-web-series-abar-proloy-receives-a-mixed-response/articleshow/101451688.cms |access-date=2023-07-12 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ডেস্ক |first=আনন্দবাজার অনলাইন |title=তামিল ছেড়ে এ বার হিন্দির ‘কপি’! ‘আবার প্রলয়’-এর ঝলক দেখে রাজের সমালোচনায় রাহুল |url=https://www.anandabazar.com/entertainment/actor-rahul-arunoday-banerjee-criticises-tollywood-director-raj-chakraborty-after-releasing-his-fist-web-series-abar-proloys-teaser-dgtl/cid/1441756 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=[[Anandabazar Patrika]] |language=bn}}</ref> The series serves as a spin-off of the 2013 film ''[[Proloy (film)|Proloy]]'' and is set to be released on the [[ZEE5]] OTT platform on 11 August 2023.''<ref>{{Cite news |title=Director Raj Chakraborty starts shooting for ‘Abar Proloy’ |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/bengali/director-raj-chakraborty-starts-shooting-for-abar-proloy/articleshow/97018892.cms |access-date=2023-07-12 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>''

== Plot ==
The story of ''Abar Proloy'' is set in the [[Sundarbans|Sundarban]] forest in [[West Bengal]]. It revolves around a critical problem arising in the Sundarban where a group of teenage boys manipulate young girls and women by luring them into a trap of love. The gang subsequently traffics the women to other states, leading to a surge in [[Human trafficking|women trafficking]] in Sundarban. In response to this issue, special crime branch officer Animesh Datta, portrayed by [[Saswata Chatterjee]], takes on the responsibility of rescuing the trapped girls and putting an end to the violence.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Dev, Rukmini and Srijit come together for a mystery project |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/try-this/social/dev-srijit-mukherji-and-rukmini-maitra-join-hands-for-2024-project/cid/1950770 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref>

== Cast ==

* [[Paran Bandopadhyay]] as Binod Behari
* [[Saswata Chatterjee]] as Animesh Dutta<ref name=":1" />
* [[Ritwick Chakraborty]] as Shombhu Baba
* [[June Maliah]] as Indrani
* [[Koushani Mukherjee]] as Mohini Maa
* [[Gaurav Chakrabarty]] as Kanu
* [[Sohini Sengupta]] as Madhabi

== Production ==
''Abar Proloy'' is produced by Raj Chakraborty Entertainment and [[Subhashree Ganguly]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abar Proloy: Rahul takes a jibe at Raj about Ritwick Chakraborty’s look |url=https://www.ottplay.com/news/abar-proloy-rahul-takes-a-jibe-at-raj-chakraborty-about-ritwick-chakrabortys-look/7d214595b2385 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=OTTPlay |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ঝড় আসছে, সবাই বাড়ি যান প্লিজ...! সোশ্যাল মিডিয়ায় শুভশ্রীর পোস্টে জল্পনা |url=https://eisamay.com/entertainment/tv-news/subhashree-ganguly-social-media-post-on-raj-chakraborty-web-series-abar-proloy/articleshow/101366894.cms |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Eisamay |language=bn}}</ref> The series is directed by Raj Chakraborty himself,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tollywood Inside: 'আজকেই ঝড় আসবে...', সন্ধে ছ'টায় কোন পূর্বাভাসের কথা জানালেন রাজ? |url=https://tv9bangla.com/entertainment/ott/raj-chakraborty-shared-a-new-update-on-abar-proloy-849190.html |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=TV9 Bangla |language=bn}}</ref> known for his work in the Bengali film industry. [[Raj Chakraborty]] has also written the screenplay for the series.<ref>{{Cite web |title=বিধায়ক রাজের সিরিজে অভিনয় রাজ্যের মন্ত্রীর! তাবড় তারকাদের টেক্কা দিতে নয়া চমক |url=https://bengali.news18.com/news/entertainment/minister-partha-bhowmick-may-act-in-raj-chakrabortys-abar-proloy-sank-970936.html |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=News18 Bengali |language=bn}}</ref> The music for the show is composed by Amit Chatterjee.

== Release and reception ==
The teaser for ''Abar Proloy'' was released on 1 July 2023,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Raj Chakraborty: 'অনিমেষ দত্ত'কে নিয়ে ওটিটিতে ডেবিউ রাজের , প্রকাশ্যে 'আবার প্রলয়' টিজার |url=https://bangla.aajtak.in/cinema-and-tv-serial-news/story/raj-chakraborty-directorial-first-web-series-subhashree-ganguly-produced-abar-proloy-teaser-released-tollywood-entertainment-news-sum-607252-2023-07-01 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Aaj Tak বাংলা |language=bn}}</ref> receiving a mixed response from the audience. The teaser introduces rowdy cop Animesh Dutta, played by [[Saswata Chatterjee]]. However, some viewers noted alleged similarities between one of the characters and [[Pankaj Tripathi|Guruji]] from the Hindi web series ''[[Sacred Games (TV series)|Sacred Games]],''<ref>{{Cite web |title=শত্রুদের শনি হয়ে হাজির অনিমেষ দত্ত, ‘আবার প্রলয়’-এর টিজারে ঝড় তুললেন শ্বাশত |url=https://www.sangbadpratidin.in/entertainment/cinema/here-is-the-official-teaser-of-raj-chakraborty-directed-saswata-chatterjee-starrer-abar-proloy/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=sangbadpratidin |language=en-US}}</ref> which drew negative remarks.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ananda |first=Hs3058795 P. |title=চরিত্রাভিনেতা নন, 'আবার প্রলয়'-এ অ্যাকশন হিরো শাশ্বত, চমক ঋত্বিকের লুকেও |url=https://bengali.abplive.com/entertainment/abar-proloy-web-series-abar-proloy-directed-by-raj-chakraborty-trailer-released-saswata-and-ritwick-stole-all-eyes-know-in-details-989356 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=bengali.abplive.com |language=bn}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='আবার প্রলয়' বিতর্কে রাহুলকে কটাক্ষ রানার, নাম না করে লিখলেন, ‘জবাব দিতেই হবে’ |url=https://bangla.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/rana-sarkar-stand-beside-raj-chakraborty-and-criticised-rahul-arunodoy-banerjee-for-his-post-on-abar-proloy-teaser-31688272293860.html |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Hindustantimes Bangla |language=bn}}</ref> ''Abar Proloy'' is set to be released on the ZEE5 OTT platform on 11 August 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sur |first=Binita |title=Abar Proloy To Roktokorobi: 6 Upcoming Bengali Web Series To Put In Your Watchlist |url=https://news.abplive.com/entertainment/web-series/abar-proloy-to-roktokorobi-6-upcoming-bengali-web-series-to-put-in-your-watchlist-1575196 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=news.abplive.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Track listing ==
{{Track listing
| headline =
| total_length =
| extra_column =
| title1 = Khela Hobe<ref>{{cite news |title=An industry can’t be made with just us and our uncles: Farooki |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/entertainment/tv-film/news/industry-cant-be-made-just-us-and-our-uncles-farooki-3365756 |work=The Daily Star |date=10 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
| lyrics1 =
| title2 = Kukur Ku
| lyrics2 =
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|id=28289518}}
* [https://www.zee5.com/web-series/details/abar-proloy/0-6-4z5387648 Abar Proloy] on [[ZEE5]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abar Proloy}}
[[Category:Indian web series]]
[[Category:Bengali-language web series]]
[[Category:Crime drama web series]]
[[Category:ZEE5 original programming]]

Angami Public Organization

2023-07-07T13:41:50Z

GrowJustIndiaMagazine: Added a new addition to the collection.

{{Short description|Indian public organization}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Angami Public Organization
| area_served = [[Angami Naga#Division|Angami Region]], India
| logo =
| type = Public Organization
| headquarters = [[Kohima]]
| native_name =
| method =
| revenue =
| num_volunteers =
| owner =
| Non-profit_slogan =
| founders =
| key_people = Razouvotuo Chatsu ''President''
| founded_date = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1972|04|08}}
| focus =
| footnotes =
}}
The '''Angami Public Organization''' is an Indian public organization. It is the apex organization of the [[Angami Naga|Angami]] [[Naga people|Naga]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Medolenuo|first=Ambrocia|url=https://www.eastmojo.com/nagaland/2022/04/06/nagaland-angami-public-organization-to-celebrate-50-yrs-on-april-8/|title=Angami Public Organization to celebrate 50 yrs on April 8|website=[[East Mojo]]|access-date=7 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nagalandpost.com/index.php/angami-public-organisation-apo-reaffirms-dec-2016-resolution-on-ulb-polls/|title=Angami Public Organisation (APO) reaffirms Dec 2016 resolution on ULB polls|website=[[Nagaland Post]]|access-date=7 July 2023}}</ref>

== History ==
Angami Public Organization was founded on 8 April 1972 with Zapuvisie Lhousa as its first president.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nagalandpage.com/angami-public-organisation-celebrates-golden-jubilee/|title=Angami Public Organisation celebrates golden jubilee|website=[[Nagaland Page]]|access-date=7 July 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Angami Women Organization]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

[[Category:Ethnic organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Naga people]]
[[Category:Kohima]]

{{India-org-stub}}

Coinage of India

2022-06-24T18:28:40Z

GrowJustIndiaMagazine: Just completed a comprehensive guide.

{{Short description|History of coinage in India}}
{{About|History of coinage in India|the coinage of the Republic of India|Coins of the Indian rupee}}
{{Use Indian English}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction =vertical
| header=Coinage of India
| total_width=250px
| image1 = Hoard of mostly Mauryan coins.jpg
| caption1 = Hoard of mostly [[Maurya Empire]] coins
}}
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
The '''Coinage of [[history of India|India]]''' began anywhere between early 1st millennium BCE to the 6th century BCE, and consisted mainly of [[copper]] and [[silver]] coins in its initial stage.<ref name="EBAllan&Stern">Allan & Stern (2008)</ref> The coins of this period were ''[[Karshapana]]s'' or ''Pana''.<ref>See P.L. Gupta: ''Coins'', New Delhi, National Book Trust, 1996, Chapter II.</ref> A variety of earliest Indian coins, however, unlike those circulated in West Asia, were stamped bars of metal, suggesting that the innovation of stamped currency was added to a pre-existing form of token currency which had already been present in the Janapadas and [[Mahajanapadas|Mahajanapada]] kingdoms of the [[History of India|Early historic India]]. The kingdoms that minted their own coins included [[Gandhara]], [[Kuntala country|Kuntala]], [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru]], [[Magadha]], [[Panchala]], [[Shakya]], [[Surasena]], [[Surashtra]] and [[Vidarbha]] etc.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-gandhara.html |title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Gandhara Janapada |publisher=Coinindia.com |access-date=2012-05-22 }} {{cite web |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-kuntala.html |title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Kuntala Janapada |publisher=Coinindia.com |access-date=2012-05-22 }} {{cite web |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-kuru.html |title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Kuru Janapada |publisher=Coinindia.com |access-date=2012-05-22 }} {{cite web |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-panchala.html |title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Panchala Janapada |publisher=Coinindia.com |access-date=2012-05-22 }} {{cite web |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-shakya.html |title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Shakya Janapada |publisher=Coinindia.com |access-date=2012-05-22 }} {{cite web |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-shurasena.html |title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Shurasena Janapada |publisher=Coinindia.com |access-date=2012-05-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605090747/http://coinindia.com/galleries-shurasena.html |archive-date=2012-06-05 }} {{cite web |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-surashtra.html |title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Surashtra Janapada |publisher=Coinindia.com |access-date=2012-05-22 }} {{cite web |url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-vidarbha.html |title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Vidarbha Janapada |publisher=Coinindia.com |access-date=2012-05-22 }}</ref>

The tradition of Indian coinage in the 2nd millennium evolved with [[Indo-Islamic architecture|Indo Islamic]] rule in India.<ref name="EBAllan&Stern">Allan & Stern (2008)</ref> and the [[British Raj]] in the 19th century.<ref name="Sutherland2008">Sutherland (2008)</ref>

== Origin of currency in Indian subcontinent ==

=== Prehistoric and Bronze Age origins ===
[[Cowry shell]]s were first used in India as commodity money.<ref>Kramer, ''History Begins at Sumer'', pp. 52–55.</ref> The [[Indus Valley civilisation]] may have used metals of fixed weights such as silver for trade activities which is evident from the DK area of Mohenjo Daro from the late Harappan period (dated 1900–1800 BC or 1750 BC).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reddy|first=Deme Raja|title=Explaining Monetary and Financial Innovation|chapter=The Emergence and Spread of Coins in Ancient India|work=Explaining Monetary and Financial Innovation: A Historical Analysis|pages=53–77|editor-last=Bernholz|editor-first=Peter|series=Financial and Monetary Policy Studies|volume=39|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-06109-2_4|isbn=978-3-319-06109-2|editor2-last=Vaubel|editor2-first=Roland}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Jafri|first=Saiyid Zaheer Husain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4SzQL1uds4C&pg=PA412|title=Recording the Progress of Indian History: Symposia Papers of the Indian History Congress, 1992-2010|publisher=Primus Books|isbn=978-93-80607-28-3|pages=412|language=en}}</ref> D.D Kosambi proposed a connection between Mohenjodaro class IV silver pieces and class D pieces with the Punch marked coins based on their remarkable similarity and identity between D-class weights.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chattopadhyaya|first=B. D.|title=D D Kosambi and the Study of Early Indian Coins|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=43|issue=30|pages=97–102|jstor=40277774|issn=0012-9976}}</ref> The remarkable similarities between Punch marked coin symbols with those appearing in the Indus seals have also been highlighted.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fábri|first=C. L.|title=The Punch-Marked Coins: A Survival of the Indus Civilization|journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=67|issue=2|pages=307–318|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00086482|jstor=25201111|s2cid=162603638 |issn=0035-869X}}</ref> Chalcolithic unmarked gold disc discovered from Eran have been dated to 1000 BC and due to their lack of ornamental use, it has been proposed that it was utilized as an object of money<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bajpai|first=K. D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&q=eran+coin+dhamapalasa&pg=PA6|title=Indian Numismatic Studies|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-035-8|language=en}}</ref> A similar gold token piece from [[Pandu Rajar Dhibi]] has also been interpreted as a coin, it is hammered on the edges and bears parallel marks, although weighing 14 grams, a quarter of the piece is missing hence its full weight of 21 grams would conform to the ancient coinage weight standards of India and confirm the vedic literary references of circulation of gold tokens in that period.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Paresh Chandra Das|url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.42371|title=Excavations at Pandu Rajar Dhibi|pages=33}}</ref> Similar interpretations have been made regarding the use of silver circular objects from the Gungeria hoard.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kumar|first=Krishna|title=The Silver Plates of the Gungeria Hoard: Their Monetary Significance|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|volume=35|issue=1|pages=72–94|doi=10.2307/3632688|jstor=3632688|issn=0022-4995}}</ref>

=== Weight standard ===
Since the Bronze Age, [[ratti]] (0.11 or 0.12 gram) or the weight of the [[Abrus precatorius|Gunja seeds]] have been used as a base unit for the measurement of mass in the Indus Valley civilization, the smallest weight of Indus was equal to 8 rattis (0.856 gram) and the binary system was used for the multiple of weights for instance 1:2:4:8:16:32, the 16th ratio being the standard regular weight (16 × smallest weight), etc. This weight system seems to have been replicated in the earliest Indian coins. The Masha coins were quarter Karshapanas, karshapanas themselves being the quarter value of Karsha (13.7 gram, 128 ratti) or 32 ratti which is the same as the regular weight used in the Indus Valley civilization, This standard (of 32 rattis) has been declared as Purana or Dharana by Kautilya.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Allchin|first=F. R.|title=An Inscribed Weight from Mathurā|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|volume=7|issue=2|pages=201–205|doi=10.2307/3596241|jstor=3596241|issn=0022-4995}}</ref> The Karsha weight differed based on the differing values of mashas, for instance arthashastra mentions a masha equal to 5 ratti as opposed to 8 ratti mashas which is described as the prevalent standard during Kautilya's time. The Gandharan quarter svarna coins conform to a different 5 ratti mashas system mentioned in the [[Arthashastra]] as do the copper punch marked coins (80 ratti, 146 grain, 9.46 gram).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hemmy|first=A. S.|title=The Weight Standards of Ancient Indian Coins|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=69|issue=1|pages=1–26|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00096106|jstor=25201443|s2cid=163304500 |issn=0035-869X}}</ref> A shatamana (lit. 100 units) weight system has been first mentioned in Satapatha Brahmana which is equal to 100 krishnalas, each krishnala being equal to one ratti. The weight of the ancient Indian silver Karshapana and satamana coin is given below;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ratti, State Bank of Pakistan|url=http://www.sbp.org.pk/Museum/coins_ratti.htm}}</ref>

1 Satamana = 100 Rattis / 11 grams of pure silver

1 Karshapana = 32 Rattis/ 3.3 grams of pure silver

½ Karshapana = 16 Rattis

¼ Karshapana (masha) = 8 Rattis

1/8 Karshapana = 4 Rattis

=== Early literary references ===
There is evidence of countable units of precious metal being used for exchange from the Vedic period onwards. A term ''Nishka'' appears in this sense in the [[Rigveda]]. Later texts speak of cows given as gifts being adorned with ''pādas'' of gold. A ''pāda'', literally a quarter, would have been a quarter of some standard weight. A unit called ''Śatamāna'', literally a 'hundred standard', representing 100 ''krishnalas'' is mentioned in [[Satapatha Brahmana]]. A later commentary on ''Katyayana Srautasutra'' explains that a ''Śatamāna'' could also be 100 [[ratti]]s. All these units referred to gold currency in some form but they were later adopted to silver currency.{{sfn|Mookerji, Chandragupta Maurya and His Times|1966|p=212}}{{sfn|Mukherjee, Money and Social Changes in India|2012|p=412}}

[[Panini (grammarian)|Panini]]'s grammar text indicates that these terms continued to be used into the historical period. He mentions that something worth a ''nishka'' is called ''naishka'' and something worth a ''Śatamāna'' is called a ''Śatamānam'' etc. The units were also used to represent the assets of individuals, ''naishka‐śatika'' or ''naishka‐sahasrika'' (some one worth a hundred ''nishkas'' or a thousand ''nishkas'').{{sfn|Mookerji, Chandragupta Maurya and His Times|1966|p=212}}

Panini uses the term ''rūpa'' to mean a piece of precious metal (typically silver) used as a coin, and a ''rūpya'' to mean a stamped piece of metal, a coin in the modern sense.{{sfn|Mookerji, Chandragupta Maurya and His Times|1966|p=214}} The term ''rūpya'' continues into the modern usage as the [[rupee]].

Ratti based measurement is the oldest measurement system in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. The smallest weight in the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus Valley civilization]] was equal to 8 rattis and were the bases for the weight standards for the first Indian coins in the seventh century BC. Ratti and is still used in India as Jewellers weight.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McIntosh|first=Jane|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC&q=ratti+indus+valley+civilization&pg=PA346|title=The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-907-2|pages=345–346|language=en}}</ref>

=== Theory of West Asian influences ===
[[File:The First South Asian coins 400-300 BCE, Room 33 exhibit of the British Museum.jpg|thumb|"The First South Asian coins", 400–300 BCE, [[British Museum]].<ref name="BM notice">{{cite web |title=British Museum notice. Asia, G33 South Asia |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/anthonyhuan/28173359458/in/photostream/ }}</ref> According to the British Museum, the first coins in South Asia were issued in Afghanistan {{Circa|400 BCE}}, and then spread to the sub-subcontinent.<ref name="BM notice"/>]]
Scholars remain divided over the origins of Indian [[Punch-marked coins|punch-marked coinage (PMC)]].<ref name="Dhavalikar" /> What is known, however, is that the earliest extant evidence, of [[silver]] [[currency]], are bent silver bars, in the North West of the sub-continent, and consistent with those found in Iran, from the 7th century BCE [[Noushijan|Nush-i-jan]] hoard,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bivar |first=A. D. H. |title=A Hoard of Ingot-Currency of the Median Period from Nūsh-i Jān, near Malayir |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4300441 |journal=Iran |volume=9 |pages=97–111 |doi=10.2307/4300441 |jstor=4300441 |issn=0578-6967}}</ref> and the 4th Century BCE, [[Kabul hoard|Chaman Huzuri (Kabul)]] hoard.<ref name="Dhavalikar" /> Extant exidence of the earliest [[Metal]] [[currency]] in the South and East of India is later than the North West,<ref name="Dhavalikar" /> and coeval with the [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] culture, minted before the [[Maurya Empire]] (322–185 BCE),<ref name="sellwood2008">Sellwood (2008)</ref> with [[radio carbon dating]] indicating post 5th century BCE dates.<ref name="Dhavalikar">Dhavalikar, M. K. (1975), "The beginning of coinage in India", World Archaeology, 6 (3): 330-338, Taylor & Francis, Ltd.</ref> According to some scholars minted coins spread to the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] from [[West Asia]].

According to [[Joe Cribb]] (2003),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cribb |first=Joe |title=The Origins of the Indian Coinage Tradition |url=https://www.academia.edu/1563408 |journal=South Asian Studies |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.1080/02666030.2003.9628617 |s2cid=191453065 |issn=0266-6030}}</ref> a "marriage between Greek coinage and Iranian bar currency" was at the origin of Indian [[punch-marked coins]], the earliest coins developed in India, which used minting technology derived from Greek coinage.<ref name="JC1983-95" /> [[Daniel Schlumberger]] also considers that punch-marked bars, similar to the many punch-marked bars found in northwestern India, initially originated in the Achaemenid Empire, rather than in the Indian heartland:

{{Blockquote|“The punch-marked bars were up to now considered to be Indian (...) However the weight standard is considered by some expert to be Persian, and now that we see them also being uncovered in the soil of Afghanistan, we must take into account the possibility that their country of origin should not be sought beyond the Indus, but rather in the oriental provinces of the Achaemenid Empire"|[[Daniel Schlumberger]], quoted from Trésors Monétaires, p.42.<ref name=OB308/>|title=|source=}}

The Western origins hypothesis had previously been proposed before any serious attempts were made in the study of PMC coins such as:
* [[John Allan (numismatist)|John Allan]] (1936), asserted "the idea of a coinage came to India in the late fifth or early fourth century B. C. from Achaemenid territory, conjecturing that the bent bar or wheel-marked coins "were struck on a Persian standard and represented double sigloi or staters....". Arguing no evidence coinage, in India, exists before the Nanda period, with the earliest finds from: Golakpur, Paila, and Set Mahet indicating the region in which local punch-marked coins originated.<ref name="Goyal 2000 153–168" />
* James Kennedy (1898), the PMC were copied form Babylonian originals as a result of trade between India and Babylon in the 6th century BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goyal |first=Shankar |title=Historiography of the Punch-Marked Coins |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41694610 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=81 |issue=1/4 |pages=153–168 |jstor=41694610 |issn=0378-1143}}</ref>
* [[James Prinsep|James Princep]] (1835), who proposed the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Greo-Bactrian (256-100 BCE)]] origin of the PMC coins, this was also supported by C.W King. Princep later admitted that due to the archaic nature of PMC, they were older than the Greo-Bactrian coinage.<ref name="Goyal 2000 153–168">{{Cite journal|last=Goyal|first=Shankar|title=Historiography of the Punch-Marked Coins|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|volume=81|issue=1/4|pages=153–168|jstor=41694610|issn=0378-1143}}</ref>

The weight standard of the Gandharan, Shatamana, Bent Bar coins is asserted, by like of Cribb, Allan, and Schlumberger, as twice the [[Achaemenid coinage|Sigloi]] weight and hence represent the Persian weight standards. Other scholars such as [[Vincent Arthur Smith|Vincent Smith]] recognised the Satamana as 100 [[ratti]] weight system of [[Iron Age in India]].<ref name="Goyal 2000 153–168"/>

Cunningham (1891) asserts that ancient India had an abundance of gold but little silver. The gold to silver ratio in India was 10 to 1 or 8 to 1. In contrast, in the neighbouring Persia, it was 13 to 1. This value differential would have incentivised the exchange of gold for silver, resulting in an increasing supply of silver in India.{{sfn|Cunningham, Coins of Ancient India|1891|pp=22–23}}

====Achaemenid coinage in northwestern India====
{{See also|Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|Achaemenid coinage|Kabul hoard}}
[[File:Achaemenid Empire coin. Uncertain mint in the Kabul Valley. Circa 500-380 BCE.jpg|thumb|Punch-marked coin minted in the Kabul Valley under the Achaemenid administration. {{Circa|500}}–380 BC, or {{Circa|350 BCE}}.<ref name="CNG 309874">[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=309874 "Extremely Rare Early Silver from the Kabul Valley", CNG 102, Lot:649], CNG Coins</ref><ref name="Bopearachchi & Cribb Chaman Hazouri">{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=57–59}}: "The most important and informative of these hoards is the Chaman Hazouri hoard from Kabul discovered in 1933, which contained royal Achaemenid sigloi from the western part of the Achaemenid Empire, together with a large number of Greek coins dating from the fifth and early fourth century BC, including a local imitation of an Athenian tetradrachm, all apparently taken from circulation in the region."</ref><ref name="Bopearchchi & Cribb local Achaemenid">{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=56–57}}: "In the same hoard there were also discovered two series of local silver coins which appear to be the product of the local Achaemenid administration. One series (no. 8) was made in the same way as the Greek coins in the hoard, but with novel designs of local origin, and the other (no. 9) had similar local design but made in a new way, which relates it to the silver punch-marked coins of India. It appears that it was these local coins, using technology adapted from Greek coins, which provided the prototypes for punch-marked coins, the earliest coins made in India." NB: Series No.8 refers to the cup-shaped coins, series no. 9 refers to the bent-bar punch-marked coins presented in this article.</ref>]]
Coin finds in the [[Chaman Hazouri hoard]] in [[Kabul]] or the Shaikhan Dehri hoard in [[Pushkalavati]] have revealed numerous [[Achaemenid]] coins as well as many [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] coins from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE were circulating in the area, at least as far as the [[Indus]] during the reign of the [[Achaemenids]], who were in control of the areas as far as [[Gandhara]].<ref name="OB300">{{cite book |last1=Bopearachchi |first1=Osmund |title=Coin Production and Circulation in Central Asia and North-West India (Before and after Alexander's Conquest) |pages=300–301 |url=https://www.academia.edu/15798938 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/afgh05-106.html |title=US Department of Defense |access-date=2018-07-29 |archive-date=2020-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610004813/https://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/afgh05-106.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="JC">{{cite book |last1=Errington |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Trust |first2=Ancient India and Iran |last3=Museum |first3=Fitzwilliam |title=The Crossroads of Asia: transformation in image and symbol in the art of ancient Afghanistan and Pakistan |publisher=Ancient India and Iran Trust |isbn=9780951839911 |pages=57–59 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfLpAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="OB308">{{cite book |last1=Bopearachchi |first1=Osmund |title=Coin Production and Circulation in Central Asia and North-West India (Before and after Alexander's Conquest) |pages=308– |url=https://www.academia.edu/15798938 |language=en}}</ref> In 2007 a small coin hoard was discovered at the site of ancient [[Pushkalavati]] (Shaikhan Dehri) in [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Greeks of India |url=http://www.suvarnamohur.com/articles/the_greeks_of_india.php |website=www.suvarnamohur.com |access-date=11 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref> The hoard contained a [[tetradrachm]] minted in [[Athens]] {{Circa|500}}/490-485/0 BCE, together with a number of local types as well as silver cast ingots. The Athens coin is the earliest known example of its type to be found so far to the east.<ref name="CNG Coins">{{Cite web |url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=199773 |title=CNG Coins |access-date=2019-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225205951/https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=199773 |archive-date=2019-12-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Early historic period (early 1st millennium BCE – 300 BCE) ==
[[File:Kosala Karshapana.jpg|thumb|[[Kosala]] karshapanas. Circa 525–465 BC. Average diameter 25 mm, average weight 2.70 gram. Each piece with a variety of separate punch-marks applied to both sides.|alt=|180x180px]]

=== Indian Punched mark Karshapana coins ===
{{See also|Punch-marked coins}}<section begin="IndianCoin" />Sometime around 600BC in the lower Ganges valley in eastern India a coin called a punchmarked [[Karshapana]] was created.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QOM2-rdspM8C&q=karshapana&pg=PA47|title=Coins of Ancient India: From the Earliest Times Down to the Seventh Century A. D.|last=Cunningham|first=Alexander|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120606067|language=en}}</ref> According to Hardaker, T.R. the origin of Indian coins can be placed at 575 BCE<ref>{{Cite journal|last=HARDAKER|first=TERRY R.|title=The origins of coinage in northern India|journal=The Numismatic Chronicle|volume=15|pages=200–203|jstor=42666515}}</ref> and according to P.L. Gupta in the seventh century BCE, proposals for its origins range from 1000 BCE to 500 BCE.<ref name="JC1983-95">{{cite book|last1=Cribb|first1=Joe|url=https://www.academia.edu/33456187|title=Investigating the introduction of coinage in India- a review of recent research, Journal of the Numismatic Society of India xlv (Varanasi 1983), pp.95-101|pages=85–86|language=en}}</ref> According to Page. E, [[Kingdom of Kashi|Kasi]], [[Kosala]] and [[Magadha]] coins can be the oldest ones from the Indian Subcontinent dating back to 7th century BC and [[kosambi]] findings indicate coin circulation towards the end of 7th century BC.<ref name=":0"/> It is also noted that some of the [[Janapada]]s like [[Shakya|shakiya]] during [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]'s time were minting coins both made of silver and copper with their own marks on them.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&q=dr+p+l+gupta+coin&pg=PA125|title=Indian Numismatic Studies|last=Bajpai|first=K. D.|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=9788170170358|language=en}}</ref>[[File:Kurus (Kurukshetras) circa 350-315 BCE.jpg|thumb|Kurus (Kurukshetras) circa 350–315 BCE|alt=|175x175px]]The study of the relative chronology of these coins has successfully established that the first punch-marked coins initially only had one or two punches, with the number of punches increasing over time.<ref name="JC1983-95" />

The first PMC coins in India may have been [[Mint (coin)|minted]] around the 6th century BCE by the [[Mahajanapadas]] of the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]], The coins of this period were punch-marked coins called ''Puranas'', old ''Karshapanas'' or ''Pana''. Several of these coins had a single symbol, for example, [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] had a humped bull, and Dakshin [[Panchala]] had a [[Swastika]]; Others, like [[Magadha]] had several symbols. These coins were made of [[silver]] of a standard weight but with an irregular shape. This was gained by cutting up silver bars and then making the correct weight by cutting the edges of the coin.<ref name="Goyala1994">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5caAAAAYAAJ|title=The Coinage of Ancient India|author=Śrīrāma Goyala|publisher=Kusumanjali Prakashan|year=1994}}</ref>

They are mentioned in the [[Manu Smriti|Manu]], [[Pāṇini|Panini]], and [[Buddhist]] [[Jataka]] stories and lasted three centuries longer in the south than the north (600 BCE – 300 CE).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/04/01/coin1.htm|title=Puranas or Punch-Marked Coins (circa 600 BC – circa 300 AD)|publisher=Government Museum Chhennai|access-date=2007-09-06}}</ref>[[File:Cast Coin - Copper - Circa 5-4th Century BCE-2nd Century CE - ACCN ASB 19 - Indian Museum - Kolkata 2014-04-04 4326.JPG|thumb|Cast Copper Coin C. 5-4th Century BCE-2nd Century CE|alt=|171x171px]]

=== Uninscribed Cast Copper Coins ===
A small square bronze coin recovered from [[Pandu Rajar Dhibi]] has a primitive human figure on obverse and striations on reverse and may recall striated coins of Lydia and Ionia in 700 BC may well be dated before the punch marked coins of ancient India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Paresh Chandra Das|url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.42371|title=Excavations at Pandu Rajar Dhibi|pages=81–82}}</ref> Cast copper coins along with punch marked coins are the earliest examples of coinage in India, archaeologist [[G. R. Sharma]] based on his analysis from Kausambi dates them to pre Punched Marked Coins (PMC) era between 855 and 815 BC on the basis of obtaining them from pre [[Northern Black Polished Ware|NBPW]] period,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sharma|first=G. R.|title=Excavations At Kausambi (1957-59)|publisher=The department of ancient history cultureand Archaeology, University of Allahabad|year=1960|pages=80–81}}</ref> while some date it to 500 BC and some date them to pre NBPW end of 7th century BC.<ref>Jha A. M, 409</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Page|first=John E.|title=Response to 'Punched marked coins - approaches to new research' by Joe Cribb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YUECwAAQBAJ&q=Kausambi+harappan+bronze&pg=PA93|journal=Oriental Numismatic Society Letter|pages=148|isbn=9781136176418}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Upinder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&q=uninscribed+cast+copper+coin+india&pg=PA53|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1120-0|pages=52|language=en}}</ref> Archaeological excavations have revealed these coins both from PMC and pre PMC era. The dating of these coins remain a controversy.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chakrabarty|first=Dilip K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPQtDwAAQBAJ&q=cast+copper+coins+india+gr+sharma&pg=PT402|title=India: An Archaeological History: Palaeolithic Beginnings to Early Historic Foundations|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199088140|language=en}}</ref>

=== Die struck coins ===
According to some scholars [[Punch marked coins]] were replaced at the fall of the Maurya Empire by cast, die-struck coins.<ref>Recent Perspectives of Early Indian History Book Review Trust, New Delhi, Popular Prakashan, 1995, p.151 [https://books.google.com/books?id=J4-kubt-SsoC&pg=PA151]</ref> The coin devices are Indian, but it is thought that this coin technology was introduced from the West, either from the [[Achaemenid Empire]] or from the neighboring [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]].<ref name="Brown">[[iarchive:TheCoinsOfIndia 201512|The Coins Of India, by Brown, C.J. pp.13–20]]</ref><section end="IndianCoin" />

==== Saurashtra die struck coins (5th century – 4th century BC) ====
[[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra Janapada]] coins are probably the earliest die-struck figurative coins from ancient India from 450 to 300 BCE which are also perhaps the earliest source of Hindu representational forms. Most coins from Surashtra are approximately 1 gram in weight. Rajgor believes they are therefore quarter karshapanas of 8 rattis, or 0.93 gm. Mashakas of 2 rattis and double mashakas of 4 rattis are also known.[[File:Indian Double-Die Ancient Coin.jpg|alt=Ancient Indian Coin from Taxila, India|thumb|Copper Die struck Coin from [[Gandhara]], c. 304–232 BC.|163x163px]]The coins appear to be uniface, in that there is a single die-struck symbol on one side. However, most of the coins appear to be overstruck over other Surashtra coins and thus there is often the remnant of a previous symbol on the reverse, as well as sometimes under the obverse symbol as well.<ref name="surashtra">{{Cite web|url=http://coinindia.com/galleries-surashtra.html|title=The COININDIA Coin Galleries: Surashtra Janapada|website=coinindia.com|access-date=2018-08-16}}</ref>

==== Uninscribed Die struck coins (4th century BC) ====
Uninscribed die struck coins appeared around 4th century BC in Taxila and Ujjain. These coins were mostly in copper and rarely in silver, the metal dies were cast carefully with the required designs. These coins had some symbols similar to Punch marked coins.<ref name=":1" />

=== Svarna coins ===
Quarter svarna coins have been excavated from [[gandhara]]. Besides svarna being a term for gold coins (called Svarna Rupa), it was also a weight standard which replaced Purana or Dharana in ancient India. According to [[Arthashastra]] one svarna or karsha was equal to 80 [[ratti]]s (based on 1 masha = 5 ratti standard) <ref>{{Cite book|last=Cunningham|first=Alexander|title=Coins of Ancient India from the Earliest Times Down to the Seventh Century A.D.|year=1891|pages=62}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bhandarkar|first=D. R.|title=Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics|pages=89–90}}</ref>
{{Multiple image
| align = center
| direction =
| total_width =
| image1 = Taxila gold coin 185-170 BC.jpg
| alt1 =
| caption1 = Taxila Quarter Svarna coin 185–170 BC weight 2.34 gm
| image2 =
| caption2 =
}} [[File:Gandhara bent bar.jpg|thumb|"Bent bar" Shatamana coin according to some experts were minted under Achaemenid administration, [[Gandhara]], {{Circa|350 BCE}}.<ref name="JC" /><ref>[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=309206 CNG Coins]</ref>|163x163px]]

==Classical period (300 BCE – 1100 CE)==

=== Mauryan Empire ===
The [[Mauryan Empire]] coins were punch marked with the royal standard to ascertain their authenticity.<ref name="prasad168">Prasad, 168</ref> The ''[[Arthashastra]]'', written by [[Kautilya]], mentions minting of coins but also indicates that the violation of the Imperial Maurya standards by private enterprises may have been an offence.<ref name=prasad168/> Kautilya also seemed to advocate a theory of ''bimetallism'' for coinage, which involved the use of two metals, copper and silver, under one government.<ref name="prasad166">Prasad, 166</ref> The Mauryan rule also saw a steady emergence of inscribed copper coins in India as evidenced by Tripuri coins in Ashokan brahmi script and various pre Satavahana coins dated 3rd-2nd century BC in Deccan.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Parmanand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LzHpZ5N5MhcC&q=tripuri+coin+ashokan+brahmi&pg=PA158|title=Geography from Ancient Indian Coins & Seals|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-248-4|pages=158|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bernholz|first1=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KFglBAAAQBAJ&q=andhra+punched+mark+pre+mauryan+coin&pg=PA61|title=Explaining Monetary and Financial Innovation: A Historical Analysis|last2=Vaubel|first2=Roland|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-06109-2|pages=68|language=en}}</ref> 
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;" align="center" cellpadding="3" colspan="1"
| colspan="1" align="center" style="background:#F4A460; font-size: 100%;" |'''[[Maurya Empire]] coinage'''
|-
|<gallery mode="packed" heights="100px">
Hoard of mostly Mauryan coins.jpg|Hoard of mostly Mauryan coins.
File:MauryanCoin.JPG|Silver punch mark coin of the Maurya empire, with symbols of wheel and elephant. 3rd century BCE.{{citation needed}}
File:Mauryan coin with arched hill symbol on reverse.jpg|Mauryan coin with arched hill symbol on reverse.{{citation needed}}
File:Mauryan Empire. Circa late 4th-2nd century BC.jpg|Mauryan Empire coin. Circa late 4th-2nd century BCE.{{citation needed}}
Mauryan Empire. temp. Salisuka or later. Circa 207-194 BC.jpg|Mauryan Empire, Emperor [[Salisuka]] or later. Circa 207-194 BCE.<ref>[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=304898 CNG Coins]</ref>
</gallery>
|}

=== The Indo-Greeks ===
[[File:Philoxenos.jpg|thumb|Silver tetradrachm of [[Indo-Greek]] king [[Philoxenus Anicetus|Philoxenus]]. '''Obv:''' Helmetted, diademed and draped bust of [[Philoxenus Anicetus|Philoxenus]]. Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΙΚΗΤΟΥ ΦΙΛΟΞΕΝΟΥ "Of the Invincible King Philoxenus" '''Rev:''' King on prancing horse in military dress. [[Kharoshti]] legend MAHARAJASA APADIHATASA PHILASINASA "Undefeatable King Philoxenus".]]
[[File:Apollodotus bull with nandipada.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Apollodotus I]], with a [[nandipada]] [[taurine]] symbol on the hump of the [[zebu]] bull. '''Obv:''' Elephant and Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΠΟΛΛΟΔΟΤΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ, "of Saviour King Apollodotus".]]
{{Further|Post-Mauryan coinage of Gandhara}}
The [[Indo-Greek]] kings introduced Greek types, and among them the portrait head, into the Indian coinage, and their example was followed for eight centuries.<ref name="Brown 1992">Brown C.J (1992)</ref> Every coin has some mark of authority in it, this is what known as "types". It appears on every Greek and Roman coin.<ref name="Brown 1992"/>
Demetrios was the first Bactrian king to strike square copper coins of the Indian type, with a legend in Greek on the obverse, and in Kharoshthi on the reverse.<ref name="Brown 1992"/> Copper coins, square for the most part, are very numerous. The devices are almost entirely Greek, and must have been engraved by Greeks, or Indians trained in the Greek traditions. The rare gold staters and the splendid tetradrachms of Bactria disappear.<ref name="Brown 1992"/> The silver coins of the Indo-Greeks, as these later princes may conveniently be called, are the didrachm and the hemidrachm. With the exception of certain square hemidrachms of Apollodotos and Philoxenos, they are all round, are struck to the Persian (or Indian) standard, and all have inscriptions in both Greek and Kharoshthi characters.<ref name="Brown 1992"/>

Coinage of [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]] began to increasingly influence coins from other regions of India by the 1st century BCE.<ref name="EBAllan&Stern"/> By this time a large number of tribes, dynasties and kingdoms began issuing their coins; [[Prakrit|Prākrit]] legends began to appear.<ref name="EBAllan&Stern"/>
The extensive coinage of the [[Kushan Empire]] (1st–3rd centuries CE) continued to influence the coinage of the [[Gupta empire|Guptas]] (320 to 550 CE) and the later rulers of [[Kashmir]].<ref name="EBAllan&Stern"/>

During the early rise of [[Roman trade with India]], up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from [[Myos Hormos]] to India.<ref name=Strabo1>{{cite web| title = The Geography of Strabo published in Vol. I of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1917|url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/2E1*.html}}</ref> [[Aureus|Gold coins]], used for this trade, was apparently being recycled by the Kushan empire for their own coinage. In the 1st century CE, the Roman writer [[Pliny the Elder]] complained about the vast sums of money leaving the Roman empire for India:

{{Cquote|India, China and the Arabian peninsula take one hundred million [[Sestertius|sesterces]] from our empire per annum at a conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us. For what percentage of these imports is intended for sacrifices to the gods or the spirits of the dead? - Pliny, ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia Naturalis]]'' 12.41.84.}}

The trade was particularly focused around the regions of [[Gujarat]], ruled by the [[Western Satraps]], and the tip of the Indian peninsular in Southern India. Large hoards of Roman coins have been found and especially in the busy maritime trading centers of South India.<ref name=Curtin1>Curtin, 100</ref> The South Indian kings reissued Roman-like coinage in their own name, either producing their own copies or defacing real ones in order to signify their sovereignty.<ref name=Kulke>Kulke & Rothermund, 108</ref>

=== The Sakas (200 BCE – 400 CE) ===

[[File:Rajuvula coin Northern Satrap with Greek legend and Athena Alkidemos.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Indo-Scythian]] [[Northern Satrap]] [[Rajuvula]]. '''Obv.''' Bust of king and Greek legend. '''Rev.''' [[Athena]] Alkidemos and [[Kharoshthi]] legend ''chatrapasa apratihatachakrasa rajuvulasa'' "the Satrap Rajuvula whose discus [cakra] is irresistible".The coins are derived from the [[Indo-Greek]] types of [[Strato II]].<ref name="Rosenfield">The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans, by John M. Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1967 p.135 [https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C&pg=PA135]</ref>]]
[[File:Coin of Kanishka I.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Kanishka]] in Greek script, with illustration of the [[Buddha]] on the reverse]]
During the [[Indo-Scythians]] period whose era begins from 200 BCE to 400 CE, a new kind of the coins of two dynasties were very popular in circulation in various parts of the then India and parts of central and northern South Asia (Sogdiana, Bactria, Arachosia, Gandhara, Sindh, Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar).<ref name="Brown 1992"/> These dynasties were [[Saka]] and The [[Pahlavas]].After the conquest of [[Bactria]] by the Sakas in 135 BCE there must have been considerable intercourse sometimes of a friendly, sometimes of a hostile character, between them and the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]], who occupied the neighboring territory.<ref name="Brown 1992"/>

Maues, whose coins are found only in the Punjab, was the first king of what may be called the Azes group of princes. His silver is not plentiful; the finest type is that with a "biga" (two-horsed chariot) on the obverse, and this type belongs to a square Hemi drachm, the only square aka silver coin known. His most common copper coins, with an elephant's head on the obverse and a "[[Caduceus]]" (staff of the god Hermes) on the reverse are imitated from a round copper coin of Demetrius. On another copper square coin of Maues the king is represented on horseback. This striking device is characteristic both of the [[Saka]] and [[Pahlava]] coinage; it first appears in a slightly different form on coins of the Indo-Greek Hippostratos; the Gupta kings adopted it for their "horseman" type, and it reappears in Medieval India on the coins of numerous Hindu kingdoms until the 14th century CE.<ref name="Brown 1992"/>

===Kanishka and Huvishka (100–200 CE)===
[[Kanishka]]'s copper coinage which came into the scene during 100–200 CE was of two types: one had the usual "standing king" obverse, and on the rarer second type the king is sitting on a throne. At about the same time there was [[Huvishka]]'s copper coinage which was more varied; on the reverse, as on Kanishka's copper, there was always one of the numerous deities; on the obverse the king was portrayed (1) riding on an elephant, or (2) reclining on a couch, or (3) seated cross-legged, or (4) seated with arms raised.

==Middle Kingdoms (230 BCE – 1206 CE)==
===Gupta Empire (320 – 480 CE)===
{{Further|Gupta art}}
[[File:Silver Coin of Chandragupta II.jpg|thumb|Silver coin of [[Chandragupta II]] of [[Gupta Empire]], in the style of the [[Western Satrap]], with pseudo-Greek script on the obverse, 400 CE]]
[[File:Two Gold coins of Chandragupta II.jpg|thumb|Gold coins of [[Chandragupta II]] of [[Gupta Empire]], 400 CE]]
The [[Gupta Empire]] produced large numbers of gold coins depicting the Gupta kings performing various rituals, as well as silver coins clearly influenced by those of the earlier Western Satraps by Chandragupta II.<ref name="EBAllan&Stern"/> The standard gold coin was the 8g Dīnāra ({{lang-sa|दीनार}}),<ref>{{cite web |title=Dinara, Dīnāra: 13 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/dinara |website=Wisdom Library |access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref> modelled after the Roman [[denarius]]. [[Skandagupta]] later introduced the 9.2g Suvarṇa ({{lang-sa|सुवर्ण}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Slatyer |first1=Will |title=Ebbs and Flows of Ancient Imperial Power, 3000 BC-AD 900: A Short History of Ancient Religion, War, Prosperity, and Debt |publisher=Partridge Publishing |isbn=9781482894479 |page=335 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mkikAwAAQBAJ |access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Suvarna, Suvarṇā, Suvarṇa: 38 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/suvarna |website=Wisdom Library |access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref> The silver Rūpaka ({{lang-sa|रूपक}}) was worth 1/16 of a Dinara, and weighed approximately 20 [[rati]]s (2.2678g).<ref>{{cite web |title=Rupaka, Rūpaka: 23 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/rupaka |website=Wisdom Library |access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref>

The splendid gold coinage of Guptas, with its many types and infinite varieties and its inscriptions in Sanskrit, are the finest examples of the purely Indian art that we possess.<ref name="Brown 1992"/> Their era starts from around 320 with Chandragupta I's accession to the throne.<ref name="Brown 1992"/> Son of [[Chandragupta I]]-[[Samudragupta]], the real founder of the Gupta Empire had coinage made of gold only.<ref name="Brown 1992"/> There were seven different varieties of coins that appeared during his reign.<ref name="Brown 1992"/> Out of them the archer type is the most common and characteristic type of the Gupta dynasty coins, which were struck by at least eight succeeding kings and was a standard type in the kingdom.<ref name="Brown 1992"/>

The silver coinage of Guptas starts with the overthrow of the Western Satraps by Chandragupta II. Kumaragupta and Skandagupta continued with the old type of coins (the Garuda and the Peacock types) and also introduced some other new types.<ref name="Brown 1992"/> The copper coinage was mostly confined to the era of Chandragupta II and was more original in design. Eight out of the nine types known to have been struck by him have a figure of Garuda and the name of the King on it. The gradual deterioration in design and execution of the gold coins and the disappearance of silver money, bear ample evidence to their curtailed territory.<ref name="Brown 1992"/> The percentage of gold in Indian coins under the reign of Gupta rulers showed a steady financial decline over the centuries as it decreases from 90% pure gold under [[Chandragupta I]] (319–335) to a mere 75–80% under [[Skandagupta]] (467).

===Indo-Sasanian coinage (530–1202 CE)===
{{Main|Indo-Sasanian coinage}}
There is a whole category of Indian coins, in the "Indo-Sassanian style", also sometimes called ''Gadhaiya paisa'', that were derived from the [[Sasanian coinage]] in a rather geometric fashion, among the [[Gurjara]]s, [[Pratiharas]], [[Chaulukya dynasty|Chaulukya]]-[[Paramara dynasty|Paramara]] and [[Pala Empire|Palas]] from {{Circa|530 CE}} to 1202 CE. Typically, the bust of the king on the obverse is highly simplified and geometric, and the design of the fire altar, with or without the two attendants, appears as a geometrical motif on the reverse of this type of coinage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ray |first1=Himanshu Prabha |title=Negotiating Cultural Identity: Landscapes in Early Medieval South Asian History |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000227932 |pages=162–163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qkyfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT162 |language=en}}</ref><ref>"The Indo-Sassanian coins, also termed as Gadahiya and circulated from 600 to 1200 A.D., are found in good numbers from Ahmadahad, Banaskantha, Bhavanagar, Junagarh, Kaira, Kutch, Mehsana, of Gujarat." in {{cite book |title=The Journal of Academy of Indian Numismatics & Sigillography |publisher=Academy of Indian Numismatics & Sigillography. |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEpmAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" widths="200px" heights="100px" perrow="4">
File:Sindh. Gurjura Confederacy. Circa AD 570-712.jpg|Coin of the [[Gurjaras|Gurjara Confederacy]], on the model of the Sasanian coinage of Sindh. [[Sindh]]. {{Circa|570}}–712 CE
File:Gurjara-Pratihara coinage.jpg|[[Gurjara-Pratihara]] coinage of Bhoja or Mihara, King of [[Kanauj]], 850–900 CE. Obv: Boar, incarnation of [[Vishnu]], and solar symbol. Rev: "Traces of Sasanian type". Legend: ''Srímad Ādi Varāha'' "The fortunate primaeval boar".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Vincent Arthur|last2=Edwardes|first2=S. M. (Stephen Meredyth)|title=The early history of India: from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan conquest, including the invasion of Alexander the Great|publisher=Oxford : Clarendon Press|page=Plate 2|url=https://archive.org/details/earlyhistoryofi00smit/page/76}}</ref>
File:Chaulukya-Paramara coin circa AD 950-1050.jpg|A [[Chaulukya dynasty|Chaulukya]]-[[Paramara dynasty|Paramara]] coin, circa 950–1050 CE. Stylized rendition of [[Chavda dynasty]] coins: [[Indo-Sassanian]] style bust right; pellets and ornaments around / Stylised fire altar; pellets around.<ref>[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=261205 Post-Gupta (Chaulukya-Paramara) coin], Classical Numismatic Group.</ref>
</gallery>

===Chola Empire (850–1279 CE)===
[[File:Chola coin with legend "Uttama" (south India).jpg|thumb|An early silver coin of [[Uththama Chola|Uttama Chola]] showing the tiger emblem of the Chola and in Nagari script]]
The coins of the Chola Empire bear similarities with other South Indian dynastic issue coins. Chola coins invariable display a tiger crest. The appearance of the fish and bow on Chola issue coins that were emblems associated with the Pandyas and Cheras respectively suggests successful political conquest of these powers as well as co-option of existing coin issuing practices.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|last=Singh|first=Upinder|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131711200|pages=54|language=en}}</ref>

===Rajput Kingdoms (900–1400 CE)===
The coins of various [[Rajput]] princes's ruling in Hindustan and Central India were usually of gold, copper or billon, very rarely silver. These coins had the familiar goddess of wealth, Lakshmi on the obverse. In these coins, the Goddess was shown with four arms than the usual two arms of the Gupta coins; the reverse carried the Nagari legend. The seated bull and horseman were almost invariable devices on Rajput copper and bullion coins.<ref name="Brown 1992"/>

===Eastern Ganga Empire (1038–1434 CE)===
The Eastern Ganga coinage consisted of gold fanams. The obverse typically depicts a couchant bull along with other symbols. The reverse features a symbol which represents the letter ''sa'' (for samvat, which means year) flanked by elephant goads or an elephant goad with a battle axe, along with a number below, which depicts the regnal year(anka year) of the reigning monarch. Some coins also carry the legend śrī rāma on the reverse above the letter ''sa''.

An interesting aspect of the Eastern Ganga coin dates is that these coins may be the earliest Hindu coins using decimal numbers for dating. Earlier dated coins, such as those of the Western Satraps, the Guptas etc., used the old Brahmic numbering system with separate symbols representing each of the single digits, separate symbols representing two-digit multiples of ten, such as 20, 30, 40, and so on, and further separate symbols representing three-digit numbers such as 100, 200, etc. Thus a number like 123 was written as 100-20-3. But the Eastern Ganga coins were written using the symbols for the single digits, with the position of the number indicating the value such as tens or hundreds, thus effectively using the Zero-place holder system.<ref name="Gold Fanams">{{citation |title=Tentative Attributions of some Gold Fanams of the Eastern Gangas |publisher=BU |url=https://www.academia.edu/2771794 |author=Pankaj Tandon |access-date=25 January 2021 }}</ref><ref name="Chodaganga">{{citation |title=Coins of the Eastern Gangas ruler Anantavarman Chodaganga |publisher=BU |url=https://www.academia.edu/32275350 |author=Pankaj Tandon |access-date=25 January 2021 }}</ref>

<gallery class="center" widths="200px" heights="100px" perrow="4">
File:Eastern Ganga fanam Chodaganga.png|Eastern Ganga fanam of Anantavarman Chodaganga (Anka year 63- 1128 CE)
File:Eastern Ganga Fanam.jpg|A Fanam (Coin) of Eastern Ganga Dynasty
</gallery>

===Ghaznavids===
[[File: Silver jitals of Mahmud of Ghazna with bilingual Arabic and Sanskrit minted in Lahore 1208.jpg|thumb|right|Silver ''jitals'' of Mahmud of Ghazni with bilingual Arabic and Sanskrit minted in Lahore 1028. Legend – verse: ''la ilaha illa'llah muhammad rasulullah sal allahu alayhi wa sallam''; reverse: ''avyaktam eka'' ''muhammada avatāra nrpati mahamuda''.]]
Some bilingual silver jitals were issued by the Ghaznavids from Lahore included both Arabic and Sanskrit inscriptions, with Sanskrit in [[Sharada script]].

== Late Medieval and Early Modern period (c. 1300–1858 CE) ==

=== Delhi Sultanate (c. 1206–1526 CE) ===

==== Razia Sultana ====
[[Razia Sultana]] was one of the few queens regnant in the history of India, and thus one of the few women to issue coins.

==== Alauddin Khalji ====
[[File:Deogir.jpg|thumb|Silver Tanka of [[Alauddin Khalji]].]]
[[Alauddin Khalji]] minted coins with the legend struck as ''Sikander Sani''. Sikander is [[Old Persian]] for 'victor', a title popularized by [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]. While sani is [[Arabic]] for to 'second'. The coin legend (''Sikander-e -Sani'') translates to 'Second Alexnder' in recognition of his military success. His coins omitted the mention of the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Khalifa]], replacing it with the self-laudatory title ''Sikander-us-sani Yamin-ul-Khilafat''.

==== Token currency of Muhammad bin Tughluq ====
The Sultan of Delhi, [[Muhammad bin Tughluq]], issued token currency; that is [[coins]] of [[brass]] and [[copper]] were minted whose value was equal to that of [[gold]] and [[silver]] coins. Historian [[Ziauddin Barani]] felt that this step was taken by Tughluq as he wanted to annex all the inhabited areas of the world for which a treasury was required to pay the army. Barani had also written that the sultan's treasury had been exhausted by his action of giving rewards and gifts in gold. This experiment failed, because, as said by Barani, "''the house of every'' [[Hindu]] ''became a mint''". During his time, most of the Hindu citizens were goldsmiths and hence they knew how to make coins. In the rural areas, officials like the ''[[muqaddam]]s'' paid the revenue in brass and copper coins and also used the same coins to purchase arms and horses. As a result, the value of coins decreased and, as said by [[Satish Chandra]], the coins became "''as worthless as stones''".

===Ahom Kingdom (1228–1826 CE)===
{{main|Ahom coinage}}
<gallery class="center" widths="200px" heights="100px" perrow="4">
File:Silver rupee of Rudra Simha.jpg|Rajmohuree (rupee) of [[Rudra Singha]]
File:Siu-nyut-pha coin.jpg|Coin of [[Udayaditya Singha]] in Ahom script
</gallery>

=== Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1336–1646 CE) ===
{{Main|Vijayanagara coinage}}

[[File:Coins of history Andhra Pradesh (Vijayanagara era).JPG|thumb|Coins of the Vijayanagara Empire on display]]
The standard coin issued by the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] was the gold [[Pagoda (coin)|Pagoda]] or [[Varaha]] of 3.4 g. The Varaha was also called the Hon, Gadyana or a Pon and came in the Ghattivaraha, Doddavaraha and Suddhavaraha coin. In the gold issue, the different coins came in Varaha, this is used as a reference for the other coins values. There were also other units of silver and copper based on their relationship with the Pagodagold.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://prabhu.50g.com/vijayngr/vij_coinage.html |title=Vijayanagara coins |publisher=Govindraya Prabhu S |access-date=2007-07-13 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909090227/http://prabhu.50g.com/vijayngr/vij_coinage.html|archive-date=9 September 2007}}</ref> Several gold [[ramatanka]]s (token coins), feature the scene of [[Rama]]'s incoronation, were also issued in the [[Vijayanagara Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |first=T. | last=Desikachari |title=South Indian Coins |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNx31XT747wC&pg=PA76 |year=1991 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0155-0 |page=76 }}</ref>

=== Koch Dynasty (c. 1515–1949 CE) ===
{{main|Koch coinage}}

=== Early Mughal Emperors (c. 1526–1540 CE) ===

[[File:Marks on Mughal coins.jpg|thumb|Marks on Mughal coins]]
The Mughal Emperor [[Babur]] issued standard Timurid currency coins known as the ''shahrukhi'', named after [[Shah Rukh|Shahrukh Mirza]], Timur's eldest son. The ''Shahrukhis'' were essentially thin broad-flanned coins imprinted with the Sunni [[Six Kalimas|''kalima'']] or credo on its obverse at the center with the names of the [[Rashidun Caliphate|first four caliphs]] around it. The reverse had the king's name and titles along with the date in the Hijri era and the name of the minting town. Babur's successor [[Humayun]] continued the minting of Shahrukhi-styled coins.

=== Sur Empire (c. 1540–1556 CE) ===
[[File:Sher_shah's_rupee.jpg|thumb|Silver Rupee introduced by [[Sher Shah Suri]].]]
The system of tri-metalism which came to characterize Mughal coinage was introduced by [[Sher Shah Suri]]. While the term ''rūpya'' had previously been used as a generic term for any silver coin, during his rule the term ''rūpee'' came to be used as the name for a silver coin of a standard weight of 178 grains, which was the precursor of the modern [[rupee]].

=== Later Mughal Emperors (c. 1555–1857 CE) ===

==== All Coins of [[Akbar]] ====
Political orders in [[Medieval India]] were based on a relationship and association of power by which the supreme ruler, especially a monarch was able to influence the actions of the subjects.<ref name="h">Himanshu, P. R. (2006)</ref> In order for the relationship to work, it had to be expressed and communicated in the best possible way.[[File:Silver Rupee Akbar.jpg|thumb|Silver Rupee of Akbar with inscriptions of the [[shahada|Islamic declaration of faith]], the inscription reads: "There is no god but Allah, and [[Muhammad]] is the messenger of Allah."]]In other words, power was by nature declarative from the point of view of its intelligibility and comprehensibility to the audience and required modes of communication to take effect by means of which sovereign power was articulated in the 16th century India.<ref name="h">Himanshu, P. R. (2006)</ref> An examination was done of a series of coins officially issued and circulated by the Mughal emperor [[Akbar]] (r. 1556–1605) to illustrate and project a particular view of time, religion, and political supremacy being fundamental and co-existing in nature. Coins constitute part of the evidence that project the transmission of religious and political ideas in the last quarter of the 16th century.The word 'Alf' refers to the millennium.<ref name="h">Himanshu, P. R. (2006)</ref>
The following are the extraordinary decisions, though bizarre, were taken by King Akbar.

* The date in coins were written in words and not in figures.
* If the intention was to refer to the year 1000 (yak hazar) of the Islamic calendar ([[Islamic calendar|hijri]] era) as is traditionally believed, the expression adopted for it (Alf) was unorthodox and eccentric.
* Akbar, ultimately and more importantly, commanded Alf to be imprinted on the coins in 990 hijri (1582 CE ), or ten years before the date (1000 hijri) was due.
The order was a major departure and extremely unconventional and eccentric from the norm of striking coins in medieval India. Till the advent of Alf, all gold and silver coins had been stuck with figure of the current hijri year.<ref name=h>Himanshu, P. R. (2006)</ref> Akbar's courtier and critic, Abdul Badani, presents and explains in brevity the motive for these unconventional decisions while describing the events that took place in 990 [[Hijri year|AH]] (1582 CE):

{{Blockquote|And having thus convinced himself that the thousand years from the prophethood of the apostle (B'isat I Paighambar) the duration for which [[Islam]] [lit. religion] would last was now over, and nothing prevented him from articulating the desires he so secretly held in his heart, and the space became empty of the theologians (ulema) and mystics (mashaikh) who had carried awe and dignity and no need was felt for them: he [Akbar] felt himself at liberty to refute the principles of Islam and to institute new regulations, obsolete and corrupt but considered precious by his pernicious beliefs. The first order, which was given to write the date Alf on coins (Dar Sikka tank half Navisand) and to write the Tarikh-i-Alfi [history of the millennium] from the demise (Rihlat) of the prophet (Badauni II: 301).<ref name=h>Himanshu, P. R. (2006)</ref>}}

The evidence, both textual and [[numismatics|numismatic]], actually makes it clear that Akbar's decisions to mint the Alf coins and commission the Tarikh-i-Alfi were based on a new communication and interpretation of the terminal dates of the Islamic millennium. What the evidence doesn't explain is the source of the idea as well as the reason for persisting with the same date on the imperial coinage even after the critical year had passed.<ref name="h">Himanshu, P. R. (2006)</ref>

==== Jahangir ====
[[Jahangir]] issued coins with the images of various zodiac signs to illustrate the date as well as portraits of himself with a cup of wine in his hand. This was resented by the clergy, as [[Aniconism in Islam|representation of living beings was forbidden in Islam]]. These coins were melted during the reign of [[Shah Jahan]], and only a few specimens survive today.

=== Maratha Empire ===
[[File:MWI3371-Sivaji-CNG73.1186-2.81g-7h.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Maratha Empire]], [[Chhatrapati Shivaji]], Gold hon, c. 1674–80 CE]]

The Marathas became powerful under leadership of Chatrapati Maharaj Shivaji who ascended to throne in 1674. The Marathas became very powerful and controlled vast territory of the Indian subcontinent by the early eighteenth century.
The Marathas issued Shivrai coins. The obverse of the coin had the inscription ' Sri Raja Shiv' in devanagari. The reverse of the coin had 'Chatrapati' in devanagari. The coins were issued in copper for the masses. Very few gold coins known as Shivrai hon were also issued.

== British Colonial period (c. 1858–1947 CE) ==
{{Main|Coins of British India}}
[[File:Rupee, 1840 - British India, Victoria.jpg|thumb|right|180px|1840 [[East India Company]] Rupee coin depicting [[Queen Victoria]]. It was minted in [[Bombay]], [[Calcutta]] and [[Madras]].]]
[[File:1 Indian rupee (1918).jpg|thumb|right|180px|1 Indian rupee (1918) featuring King [[George V]].]]
Uniform coinage was introduced in India by the British in 1835, with coins in the name of the East India Company, bearing the image of William IIII. In 1840, these were replaced by coins with an image of Queen Victoria, but the design otherwise remained the same. The next set of coins was minted in 1862 and had significant changes - East India Company was replaced by 'India'. The image of Queen Victoria was also changed, shown in a regal robe with a crown. In 1877, Victoria was declared the Empress of India - and her title on Indian coins changed as a result. This last design continued till 1938, with only the image of the ruler changing. Over this entire period, the weight of the Indian rupee and its purity remained constant at 11.66 grams and 91.7% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tezbid.com/blogs/blogs/evolution-of-the-rupee-1835-1948|title = Evolution of the Rupee - 1835-1947 – tezbid}}</ref>

=== Princely States ===
[[File:Pav Anna copper coins from the Princely state of Gwalior, during the reign of Scende dynasty.jpg|thumb|180px|Copper coins from the [[Gwalior State]], issued on the name of [[Madho Rao Scindia]].]]

==== Hyderabad State ====
The [[Hyderabadi rupee|Hyderabadi Rupee]] coins featured the [[Charminar]].

==== Travancore State ====
Issues of the [[Travancore Rupee]] often had the names or insignia of the reigning monarch in English. The reverse features inscriptions in the native language of [[Malayalam]]. The year, when printed on the coins was based on the [[Malayalam calendar]].

==== Baroda state ====
Gaekwads were officers in the Peshwa army. They proved their skills in the battlefield and rose to become generals. After the Marathas empire weakened Baroda became a semi independent state. The first coins issued by the Gaekwads were issued by Manaji Rao (r. 1789–93) and they followed the Maratha pattern of naming the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, distinguishing themselves only by the placement of an extra mark or letter to indicate the issuer.
After 1857, the designs were changed and coins were issued in the name of the Gaekwads. The legends on these coins were still in Persian and the coins themselves were still hand- struck. Later Nagari legends and different designs were introduced and milled coins featuring the portrait of the Gaekwad were issued.

== Post-Independence (c. 1947 CE – present) ==
{{Main|Coins of the Indian rupee|l1 = Coins of the Indian Rupee}}
[[File:5 Rupees coin of India commemorating the birth centenary of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.jpg|thumb|5 Rupees coin [[Commemorative coin|commemorating]] the birth centenary of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] in 1989.]]

=== Dominion of India (c. 1947–1950) ===
The newly independent [[Dominion of India]] retained the previous imperial currency with images of British monarchs.

=== Pre-Decimalization (c. 1950–1957) ===
On 26 January 1950, India became a sovereign republic. This series was introduced on 15 August 1950 and represented the first coinage of Republic India. The British monarch's portrait was replaced by the [[Lion Capital of Ashoka]].

=== Post-Decimalization (c. 1957 – present) ===

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Queen Kumaradevi and King Chandragupta I on a coin.jpg|Queen Kumar and King [[Chandragupta I]] on a coin of their son Samudragupta 380 CE.
File:KumaraguptaFightingLion.jpg|Gold coin of [[Gupta Empire|Gupta era]], depicting a Gupta king holding a bow, 300 CE.
File:Silver rupee of Rudra Simha.jpg|Silver Rupee coin of Rudra Simha of [[Ahom kingdom]], 1696 CE.
File:Silver rupee of Sayaji Rao III of Baroda.jpg|Silver Rupee of the Maratha [[Baroda State|Kingdom of Baroda]], Sayaji Rao III, 1870 CE.
File:Gold coin of Raja Raja Chola I.JPG|Gold coin of [[Raja Raja Chola I]], 985–1014 CE.
File:East India Company One Quarter Anna coin of 1835.jpg|One Quarter Anna of 1835, bearing the crest of [[East India Company]].
File:Security edges of the Indian 5 Rupee coins.jpg|Milled edges of the Indian five Rupee coins
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Money}}
*[[Coinage of Asia]]
*[[History of the rupee]]
*[[Indian rupee]]
*[[Coins of the Indian rupee]]
*[[Pre-modern coinage in Sri Lanka]]
*[[Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Himanshu Prabha Ray (2006), "Coins in India", {{ISBN|81-85026-73-4}}.
* Allan, J. & Stern, S. M. (2008), ''coin'', Encyclopædia Britannica.
* Agrawal, Ashvini (1989), ''Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas'', Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|81-208-0592-5}}.
* {{citation |last1=Bopearachchi |first1=Osmund |author-link=Osmund Bopearachchi|last2=Cribb |first2=Joe |article=Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia |editor1-last=Errington |editor1-first=Elizabeth |editor2-last=Cribb |editor2-first=Joe |editor3-last=Claringbull |editor3-first=Maggie |title=The Crossroads of Asia: transformation in image and symbol in the art of ancient Afghanistan and Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfLpAAAAMAAJ |pages=57–59|year=1992 |publisher=Ancient India and Iran Trust |isbn=978-0-9518399-1-1 |ref={{sfnref|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992}}}}
* Brown, C.J. (1992), ''The Coins of India'', Association Press(Y.M.C.A), {{ISBN|978-81-8090-192-8}}.
* Chaudhuri, K. N. (1985), ''Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean'', Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-28542-9}}.
* {{citation |last=Cunningham |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Cunningham |title=Coins of Ancient India: From the Earliest Times Down to the Seventh Century A. D. |url=https://archive.org/details/coinsancientind00cunngoog/page/n11 |year=1891 |publisher=B. Quaritch |location=London |ref={{sfnref|Cunningham, Coins of Ancient India|1891}}}}
* Curtin, Philip DeArmond etc. (1984), ''Cross-Cultural Trade in World History'', Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-26931-8}}.
* Dhavalikar, M. K. (1975), "The beginning of coinage in India", ''World Archaeology'', '''6''' (3): 330–338, Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
* Kulke, Hermann & Rothermund, Dietmar (2004), ''A History of India'', Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-32919-1}}.
* {{citation |last=Mookerji |first=Radhakumud |title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA27 |edition=Second |year=1966 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |orig-year=first published 1943 |isbn=978-81-208-0405-0 |ref={{sfnref|Mookerji, Chandragupta Maurya and His Times|1966}}}}
* {{citation |first=B.N. |last=Mukherjee |author-link=B. N. Mukherjee |chapter=Money and Social Changes in India (up to c. AD 1200) |editor=Saiyid Zaheer Husain Jafri |title=Recording the Progress of Indian History: Symposia Papers of the Indian History Congress, 1992-2010 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4SzQL1uds4C&pg=PA411 |year=2012 |publisher=Primus Books |isbn=978-93-80607-28-3 |pages=411– |ref={{sfnref|Mukherjee, Money and Social Changes in India|2012}}}}
* Prasad, P.C. (2003), ''Foreign trade and commerce in ancient India'', Abhinav Publications, {{ISBN|81-7017-053-2}}.
* Sellwood, D. G. J. (2008), ''coin'', Encyclopædia Britannica.
* Srivastava, A.L. & Alam, Muzaffar (2008), ''India'', Encyclopædia Britannica.
* Sutherland, C. H. V. (2008), ''coin'', Encyclopædia Britannica.
* Himanshu, P. R. (2006), ''Coins in India:Power and Communication'', J.J. Bhabha Marg Publication, {{ISBN|81-85026-73-4}}.

==External links==
*[https://en.numista.com/catalogue/inde-1.html Coins from India] at Numista
* [https://www.maunishshah.com Maunish Shah Coins]
* [http://inagnum.blogspot.in Persian & Devanagari Legends on Silver Rupees of India]
* [http://www.rbi.org.in/currency/museum/gallery.html Reserve Bank of India Monetary Museum (RBI)] at rbi.org.in
* [http://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=861 ''Oriental Coins Database''] at Zeno.ru
* [http://www.coinindia.com/ CoinIndia: The Virtual Museum of Indian Coins]
* [http://www.suvarnamohur.com Suvarna Mohur: Indian Coins and History] at Suvarna Mohur

{{Historic Indian currency and coinage}}

[[Category:Coins of India| ]]
[[Category:Ancient currencies]]
[[Category:Economic history of India]]

Soviet Union

2022-01-08T14:28:16Z

GrowJustIndiaMagazine: Shared a valuable article.

{{Short description|Country in Eurasia (1922–1991)}}
{{Very long}}
{{Redirect-several|USSR|CCCP|Soviet}}
{{About||the area sometimes called Soviet Russia|Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|other uses|Soviet Russia (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| common_name = Soviet Union
| native_name = {{Nowrap|{{small|{{native name list|tag1=ru|name1=Союз Советских Социалистических Республик|tag2=ru|name2=Soyuz Sovyetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik|paren1=no|paren2=no|postfix2= (in [[Russian language|Russian]]; see [[Official names of the Soviet Union|in other regional languages]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/ussr/soviet2.html|title=Language Policy in the former Soviet Union|work=H. Schiffman|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]]|date=19 November 2002}}</ref>}}}}}}
| life_span = 1922–1991
| religion = [[Secular state]] (''de jure'') [[State atheism]] (''de facto'')
| government_type = ''See also: [[Government of the Soviet Union]]''
----
{{Plainlist|
* [[Federation|Federal]] [[One-party state|one-party]] [[Socialist state|socialist republic]] (1922–1924)
* Federal [[Leninist]] one-party socialist republic under a [[totalitarianism|totalitarian dictatorship]] (1924–1927)
* Federal [[Marxist–Leninist]] one-party socialist republic under a [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] totalitarian dictatorship<ref>Hough, Jerry F. "The 'Dark Forces', the Totalitarian Model, and Soviet History". The Russian Review, vol. 46, no. 4, 1987, pp. 397–403.</ref><ref>Bergman, Jay. "Was the Soviet Union Totalitarian? The View of Soviet Dissidents and the Reformers of the Gorbachev Era." Studies in East European Thought, vol. 50, no. 4, 1998, pp. 247–281.</ref> (1927–1953)
* Federal Marxist–Leninist one-party [[directorial system|directorial]] [[parliamentary]] socialist republic<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1244&context=cilj |title=Crises in the USSR: Are the Constitutional and Legislative Changes Enough |journal=Cornell International Law Journal |volume=23 |issue=2 |access-date=24 April 2022 |archive-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319084237/https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&httpsredir=1&article=1244&context=cilj |url-status=live }}</ref> (1953–1990)
* Federal [[Semi-presidential system|semi-presidential republic]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1977/zakony/185465 |title=Law of the USSR of March 14, 1990 N 1360-I 'On the establishment of the office of the President of the USSR and the making of changes and additions to the Constitution (Basic Law) of the USSR' |publisher=Garant.ru |access-date=12 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010070843/http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1977/zakony/185465/|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=dead }}</ref> (1990–1991)}}
| era = {{hlist|[[Interwar period]]|[[World War II]]|[[Cold War]]}}
| event_pre = [[October Revolution]]
| date_pre = 7 November 1917
| date_start = 30 December 1922
| event_start = [[Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Treaty of Creation]]
| event1 = {{nowrap|End of the [[Russian Civil War|Civil War]]}}
| date_event1 = 16 June 1923
| event2 = [[1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union|First constitution]]
| date_event2 = 31 January 1924
| event3 = [[1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union|Second constitution]]
| date_event3 = 5 December 1936
| event4 = [[Military occupations by the Soviet Union|Westward expansion]]
| date_event4 = 1939–1940
| event5 = {{nowrap|[[Eastern Front (World War II)|Great Patriotic War]]}}
| date_event5 = 1941–1945
| event6 = {{nowrap|[[Charter of the United Nations|Foundation of]] [[United Nations|the UN]]}}
| date_event6 = 24 October 1945
| event7 = [[De-Stalinization]]
| date_event7 = 25 February 1956
| event8 = [[1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union|Last constitution]]
| date_event8 = 9 October 1977
| event9 = {{nowrap|[[Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania|Secession of]] [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]]}}
| date_event9 = 11 March 1990
| event10 = [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|August Coup]]
| date_event10 = 19–22 August 1991
| event_end = [[Belovezh Accords]]
| date_end = 8 December 1991{{efn|The [[Alma-Ata Protocol]] was signed by the remaining 11 of 12 republics on 21 December 1991.}}
| date_post = 26 December 1991{{efn|[[:s:ru:Декларация Совета Республик ВС СССР от 26.12.1991 № 142-Н|Declaration № 142-Н]] of the [[Soviet of Nationalities|Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]], formally establishing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a state and subject of international law {{in lang|ru}}.}}
| area_water_km2 = 2767198
| event_post = {{nowrap|[[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Dissolution]]}}
| image_flag = Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
| flag_type_article = [[Flag of the Soviet Union]]
| flag_type = [[Flag of the Soviet Union|Flag]] (1955–1991)
| flag = Flag of the Soviet Union
| image_coat = State Emblem of the Soviet Union.svg
| symbol_type_article = [[State Emblem of the Soviet Union]]
| symbol_type = [[State Emblem of the Soviet Union|State Emblem]] (1956–1991)
| image_map = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (orthographic projection).svg
| map_caption = The Soviet Union during the [[Cold War]]
| image_map_size = 250
| image_map_caption = The Soviet Union in 1955
| capital = [[Moscow]]
| coordinates = {{coord|55|45|N|37|37|E|type:city}}
| largest_city = capital|
| national_motto = {{lang|ru|Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!}} "[[Workers of the world, unite!]]"
| national_anthem = {{lang|ru|Интернационал}} "[[The Internationale]]" (1922–1944){{parabr}}{{center}}{{parabr}}[[File:Internationale-ru.ogg]]{{lang|ru|Государственный гимн СССР}}{{efn|The original lyrics used from 1944 to 1956 [[Stalin's cult of personality|praised Stalin]]. No lyrics were used from 1956 to 1977. Revised lyrics were used from 1977 to 1991.}} "[[State Anthem of the Soviet Union]]" (1944–1991){{parabr}}{{center|[[File:Soviet_Anthem_Instrumental_1955.ogg]]}}
| official_languages = [[Russian language|Russian]]{{efn|''De facto'', legally since 1990. [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Constituent republics]] had the right to declare their own regional languages.}}
| regional_languages = {{hlist|[[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]|[[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]|[[Uzbek language|Uzbek]]|[[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]|[[Georgian language|Georgian]]|[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]|[[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]|[[Moldovan language|Moldavian]]|[[Latvian language|Latvian]]|[[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]|[[Tajik language|Tajik]]|[[Armenian language|Armenian]]|[[Turkmen language|Turkmen]]|[[Estonian language|Estonian]]}}
| ethnic_groups = {{ubl|69.8% [[East Slavs]]|17.5% [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]]|12.7% other}}
| ethnic_groups_year = 1989
| demonym = [[Soviet people|Soviet]]
| currency = [[Soviet ruble]] (Rbl)
| currency_code = SUR
| title_leader = [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|Leader]]
| leader1 = [[Vladimir Lenin]]{{Efn|As chairman of the [[Council of People's Commissars]].}}
| year_leader1 = 1922–1924
| leader2 = [[Joseph Stalin]]{{Efn|As [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] and chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (then the [[Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union|Council of Ministers]]).}}
| year_leader2 = 1924–1953
| leader3 = [[Georgy Malenkov]]{{Efn|As chairman of the Council of Ministers.}}
| year_leader3 = 1953{{Efn|March–September.}}
| leader4 = [[Nikita Khrushchev]]{{Efn|As First Secretary of the Communist Party.}}
| year_leader4 = 1953–1964
| leader5 = [[Leonid Brezhnev]]{{Efn|As General Secretary of the Communist Party.}}
| year_leader5 = 1964–1982
| leader6 = [[Yuri Andropov]]
| year_leader6 = 1982–1984
| leader7 = [[Konstantin Chernenko]]
| year_leader7 = 1984–1985
| leader8 = [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]{{Efn|As General Secretary of the Communist Party and [[President of the Soviet Union]].}}
| year_leader8 = 1985–1991
| representative1 = [[Mikhail Kalinin]]
| representative2 = Mikhail Gorbachev
| year_representative1 = 1922–1946 (first)
| year_representative2 = 1988–1991 (last)
| title_representative = [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Head of state]]
| deputy1 = Vladimir Lenin
| deputy2 = [[Ivan Silayev]]
| year_deputy1 = 1922–1924 (first)
| year_deputy2 = 1991 (last)
| title_deputy = [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Head of government]]
| legislature = [[Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union|Congress of Soviets]] (1922–1936){{efn|Unicameral.}} [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet]] (1936–1991)
| house1 = [[Soviet of Nationalities]] (1936–1991) [[Soviet of Republics]] (1991)
| house2 = [[Soviet of the Union]] (1936–1991)
| area_km2 = 22,402,200
| population_census = {{increaseNeutral}} 286,730,819<ref>''Almanaque Mundial 1996'', Editorial América/Televisa, Mexico, 1995, pp. 548–552 (''Demografía/Biometría'' table).</ref>
| population_census_year = [[Soviet Census (1989)|1989]]
| population_census_rank = 3rd
| population_density_km2 = 12.7
| p1 = Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic{{!}}'''1922:''' Russian SFSR
| flag_p1 = Flag RSFSR 1918.svg
| p2 = Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}Ukrainian SSR
| flag_p2 = Flag of the Ukrainian SSR (1919-1929).svg
| p3 = Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic{{!}}Byelorussian SSR
| flag_p3 = Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919-1927).svg
| p4 = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic{{!}}Transcaucasian SFSR
| flag_p4 = Flag of the Transcaucasian SFSR (1925-1936).svg
| p5 = Provisional Priamurye Government{{!}}'''1923:''' Provisional Priamurye Government
| flag_p5 = Flag of Russia.svg
| p6 = Bukharan People's Soviet Republic{{!}}'''1924:''' Bukharan SSR
| flag_p6 = Flag of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.svg
| p7 = Khorezm People's Soviet Republic{{!}}Khorezm SSR
| flag_p7 = Flag of Khiva 1920-1923.svg
| p8 = Second Polish Republic{{!}}'''1939:''' Poland (portion)
| flag_p8 = Flag of Poland (1928–1980).svg
| p9 = Finland{{!}}'''1940:''' Finland (portion)
| flag_p9 = Flag of Finland.svg
| p10 = Kingdom of Romania{{!}}Romania (portion)
| flag_p10 = Flag of Romania.svg
| p11 = Estonia
| flag_p11 = Flag of Estonia.svg
| p12 = Latvia
| flag_p12 = Flag of Latvia.svg
| p13 = Lithuania
| flag_p13 = Flag of Lithuania (1918–1940).svg
| p14 = Tuvan People's Republic{{!}}'''1944:''' Tuva
| flag_p14 = Flag of the Tuvan People's Republic (1943-1944).svg
| p15 = Nazi Germany{{!}}'''1945:''' Germany (portion)
| flag_p15 = Flag of Germany (1935–1945).svg
| p16 = Empire of Japan{{!}}Japan (portion)
| flag_p16 = Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg
| p17 = Third Czechoslovak Republic{{!}}'''1946:''' Czechoslovakia (portion)
| flag_p17 = Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
| s1 = Lithuania{{!}}'''1990:''' Lithuania
| flag_s1 = Flag of Lithuania (1988–2004).svg
| s2 = Georgia (country){{!}}'''1991:''' Georgia
| flag_s2 = Flag of Georgia (1990–2004).svg
| s3 = Estonia
| flag_s3 = Flag of Estonia.svg
| s4 = Latvia
| flag_s4 = Flag of Latvia.svg
| s5 = Ukraine
| flag_s5 = Flag of Ukraine (Soviet shades).svg
| s6 = Moldova
| flag_s6 = Flag of Moldova.svg
| s7 = Kyrgyzstan
| flag_s7 = Flag of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
| s8 = Uzbekistan
| flag_s8 = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
| s9 = Tajikistan
| flag_s9 = Flag of Tajikistan (1991–1992).svg
| s10 = Armenia
| flag_s10 = Flag of Armenia.svg
| s11 = Azerbaijan
| flag_s11 = Flag of Azerbaijan.svg
| s12 = Turkmenistan
| flag_s12 = Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1973–1991).svg
| s13 = Belarus
| flag_s13 = Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991–1995).svg
| s14 = History_of_Russia_(1991–present){{!}}Russia
| flag_s14 = Flag of Russia (1991–1993).svg
| s15 = Kazakhstan
| flag_s15 = Flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
| footnotes =
| GDP_PPP = $2.7 trillion<ref name="theodora.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_million_1.html |title=GDP – Million – Flags, Maps, Economy, Geography, Climate, Natural Resources, Current Issues, International Agreements, Population, Social Statistics, Political System | access-date=29 August 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163518/https://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_million_1.html | archive-date=12 June 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_rank = 2nd
| GDP_PPP_year = 1990
| GDP_PPP_per_capita = $9,000
| GDP_nominal = $2.7 trillion<ref name="theodora.com" />
| GDP_nominal_year = 1990
| GDP_nominal_rank = 2nd
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $9,000
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 28th
| Gini = 0.275
| Gini_year = 1989
| Gini_rank =
| Gini_change = low
| cctld = [[.su]]{{efn|Assigned on 19 September 1990, existing onwards.}}
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = +7
| time_zone = ([[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]+2 to +12)
| iso3166code = SU
| area_rank = 1st
| percent_water = 12.3
| HDI = 0.920
| HDI_year = 1990 formula
| HDI_ref = <ref name="HDI">{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf |title=Human Development Report 1990 |publisher=[[Human Development Report|HDRO (Human Development Report Office)]] [[United Nations Development Programme]] |page=111 |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207194131/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf |archive-date=7 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
{{History of the Soviet Union}}

The '''Soviet Union''',{{efn|{{lang-rus|Советский Союз|Sovetsky Soyuz|sɐˈvʲetskʲɪj sɐˈjus|a=Ru-Советский Союз.ogg}}.}} officially the '''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics'''{{efn|{{lang-rus|Союз Советских Социалистических Республик|Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik|sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲetskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪˈsʲtʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪˈspublʲɪk|a=Ru-CCCP.ogg}}.}} ('''USSR'''),{{efn|{{lang-rus|СССР|SSSR}}.}} was a [[List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700|transcontinental country]] that spanned much of [[Eurasia]] from 1922 to 1991. A flagship [[communist state]], it was nominally a [[Federation|federal union]] of [[Republics of the Soviet Union|fifteen national republics]];{{efn|As outlined in Part III of the [[1977 Soviet Constitution]], "The National-State Structure of the USSR".}} in practice, both [[Government of the Soviet Union|its government]] and [[Economy of the Soviet Union|its economy]] were highly [[Soviet-type economic planning|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 Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]]. Other major cities included [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] (Russian SFSR), [[Kyiv|Kiev]] ([[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]]), [[Minsk]] ([[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]]), [[Tashkent]] ([[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbek SSR]]), [[Almaty|Alma-Ata]] ([[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]]), and [[Novosibirsk]] (Russian SFSR). It was the largest country in the world, covering over {{convert|22402200|km2|sqmi}} and spanning [[Time in Russia|eleven time zones]].

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 [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar Nicholas II]], marking the end of the [[Russian Empire]]. The new government, led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], established the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]] (RSFSR), the world's first constitutionally guaranteed [[socialist state]].{{efn|Named the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in 1918, then renamed the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1936.}} 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 [[Death and state funeral of Vladimir Lenin|Lenin's death]] in 1924, [[Joseph Stalin]] came to power. Stalin inaugurated a period of [[Industrialization in the Soviet Union|rapid industrialization]] and [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|forced collectivization]] that led to significant economic growth, but also contributed to a [[Soviet famine of 1930–1933|famine in 1930–1933]] that killed millions. The [[Forced labor in the Soviet Union|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 [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]]. The combined [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|Soviet civilian and military casualty count]]—estimated to be around 20 million people—accounted for the majority of losses of [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]]. In the [[aftermath of World War II]], the territory occupied by the Red Army formed various [[Soviet satellite states]].

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]]. As the Soviet Union already had an [[Soviet Empire|armed presence and political domination]] all over its eastern [[satellite state]]s by 1955, the pact has been long considered "superfluous", and because of the rushed way in which it was conceived, NATO officials labeled it a "cardboard castle". There was no direct military confrontation between the two organizations; instead, the conflict was fought on an ideological basis and through [[proxy war]]s. 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 [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]] and [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]]), which, in part, resulted in Albania withdrawing from the pact less than one month later. Following [[Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin|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 [[Sputnik 1|first artificial satellite]], the [[Vostok 1|first human spaceflight]], and the [[Venera 7|first probe to land on another planet]] ([[Venus]]).

In the 1970s, there was a brief ''[[détente]]'' in the [[Soviet Union–United States relations|Soviet Union's relationship with the United States]], but tensions resumed following the [[Soviet–Afghan War|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 [[Revolutions of 1989|overthrew their Marxist–Leninist regimes]], which was accompanied by the outbreak of strong [[Nationalism|nationalist]] and [[Separatism|separatist]] movements across the entire Soviet Union. In 1991, Gorbachev initiated [[1991 Soviet Union referendum|a national referendum]]—boycotted by the Soviet republics of [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]], [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvia]], [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonia]], [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenia]], [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgia]], and [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldova]]—that resulted in the majority of participating citizens voting in favour of [[New Union Treaty|preserving the country as a renewed federation]]. In August 1991, hardline members of the Communist Party staged [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|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 [[Russia|Russian Federation]] became the Soviet Union's successor state, while all of the other republics emerged from the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|USSR's collapse]] as fully independent [[post-Soviet states]].

The Soviet Union produced many significant [[Timeline of Soviet innovation|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 [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons|NPT-designated state]], it possessed the [[Russia and weapons of mass destruction|largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world]]. It was a [[Member states of the United Nations|founding member]] of the [[United Nations]] as well as one of the [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|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.

== Etymology ==
{{Main|Official names of the Soviet Union}}
{{See also|Names of Russia}}
The word ''[[soviet (council)|soviet]]'' is derived from the Russian word {{lang|ru-Latn|sovet}} ({{lang-ru|link=no|совет}}), meaning 'council', 'assembly', 'advice',{{Efn|{{lang-uk|рада}} ({{lang|uk-Latn|[[rada]]}}); {{lang-pl|rada}}; {{lang-be|савет/рада}}; {{lang-uz-Cyrl|совет}}; {{lang-kk|совет / кеңес}} ({{lang|kk-Latn|sovet / kenges}}); {{lang-ka|საბჭოთა}} ({{lang|ka-Latn|sabch′ota}}); {{lang-az|совет|italic=no}}; {{lang-lt|taryba}}; {{lang-ro|soviet}} ([[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet|Moldovan Cyrillic]]: {{lang|ro-Cyrl|совиет}}); {{lang-lv|padome}}; {{lang-ky|совет}}; {{lang-tg|шӯравӣ / совет}} ({{lang|tg-Latn|šūravī / sovet}}); {{lang-hy|խորհուրդ / սովետ}} ({{lang|hy-Latn|xorhurd / sovet}}); {{lang-tk|совет|italic=no}}; {{lang-et|nõukogu}}.}} ultimately deriving from the proto-Slavic verbal stem of {{lang|sla-x-proto|vět-iti}} ('to inform'), related to Slavic {{lang|sla|věst}} ('news'), English ''wise'', the root in ''ad-vis-or'' (which came to English through French), or the Dutch {{lang|nl|weten}} ('to know'; compare {{lang|nl|wetenschap}} meaning 'science'). The word ''sovietnik'' means 'councillor'.<ref name="americana">{{Cite Americana |wstitle=Soviet |year=1920 |first=Henri F. |last=Klein}}</ref> Some organizations in Russian history were called ''council'' ({{lang-ru|link=no|совет}}). In the [[Russian Empire]], the [[State Council (Russian Empire)|State Council]], which functioned from 1810 to 1917, was referred to as a Council of Ministers.<ref name="americana" />

The Soviets as [[workers' council]]s first appeared during the [[1905 Russian Revolution|Russian Revolution of 1905]].{{sfn|Pons|2010|p=763}}{{sfn|Mccauley|2014|p=487}} Although they were quickly suppressed by the Imperial army, after the [[February Revolution|February Revolution of 1917]], workers' and soldiers' Soviets emerged throughout the country, and shared power with the [[Russian Provisional Government]].{{sfn|Pons|2010|p=763}}<ref name="br1"/> The Bolsheviks, led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], demanded that all power be transferred to the Soviets, and gained support from the workers and soldiers.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/April-Theses |title=April Thesis |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=27 December 2022 }}</ref> After the [[October Revolution]], in which the Bolsheviks seized power from the Provisional Government in the name of the Soviets,<ref name="br1">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Soviet-Union |title=Soviet Union |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |last1=Dewdney|first1=John C. |last2=Conquest |first2=Robert |last3=Pipes|first3=Richard E. |last4=McCauley|first4=Martin |access-date=27 December 2022 }}</ref><ref name=BBC1/> Lenin proclaimed the formation of the [[Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic]] (RSFSR).{{sfn|Service|2005|p=84}}

During the [[Georgian Affair]] of 1922, Lenin called for the Russian SFSR and other national Soviet republics to form a greater union which he initially named as the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia ({{lang-rus|links=no|Союз Советских Республик Европы и Азии|Sojuz Sovjetskih Respublik Evropy i Azii}}).{{sfnm|1a1=Fischer|1y=1964|1p=608|2a1=Lewin|2y=1969|2p=50|3a1=Leggett|3y=1981|3p=354|4a1=Volkogonov|4y=1994|4p=421|5a1=Service|5y=2000|5pp=452–455|6a1=White|6y=2001|6p=175}} [[Joseph Stalin]] initially resisted Lenin's proposal but ultimately accepted it, and with Lenin's agreement he changed the name to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), although all republics began as ''socialist soviet'' and did not change to the other order until [[1936 Soviet Constitution|1936]]. In addition, in the regional languages of several republics, the word ''council'' or ''conciliar'' in the respective language was only quite late changed to an adaptation of the Russian ''soviet'' and never in others, e.g. [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]].

{{lang|ru|СССР}} (in the Latin alphabet: ''SSSR'') is the abbreviation of the Russian language cognate of USSR, as written in [[Cyrillic letters]]. The Soviets used this abbreviation so frequently that audiences worldwide became familiar with its meaning. After this, the most common Russian initialization is {{lang|ru|Союз ССР}} (transliteration: {{lang|ru-Latn|Soyuz SSR}}) which, after compensating for grammatical differences, essentially translates to ''Union of SSRs'' in English. In addition, the Russian short form name {{lang|ru|Советский Союз}} (transliteration: {{lang|ru-Latn|Sovjetskij Sojuz}}, which literally means ''Soviet Union'') is also commonly used, but only in its unabbreviated form. Since the start of the [[Great Patriotic War]] at the latest, abbreviating the Russian name of the Soviet Union as {{lang|ru|СС}} (in the same way as, for example, ''[[United States]]'' is abbreviated into ''US'') has been a complete taboo, the reason being that {{lang|ru|СС}} as a Russian Cyrillic abbreviation is instead associated with the infamous {{lang|de|[[Schutzstaffel]]}} of [[Nazi Germany]], just as ''SS'' is in English. One apparent exception was the Russian abbreviation the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], {{lang|ru|КПСС}} (''KPSS'').

In English language media, the state was referred to as the Soviet Union or the USSR. In other European languages, the locally translated short forms and abbreviations are usually used such as {{lang|fr|Union soviétique}} and {{lang|fr|URSS}} in French, or {{lang|de|Sowjetunion}} and {{lang|de|UdSSR}} in German. The Russian SFSR dominated the Soviet Union to such an extent that for most of the Soviet Union's existence, it was commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as Russia. Technically, Russia itself was only one republic within the larger union—albeit by far the largest, most powerful and most highly developed of the 15 republics. Nevertheless, according to historian Matthew White, it was an open secret that the country's federal structure was "window dressing" for Russian dominance. For that reason, the people of the USSR were almost always called "Russians", not "Soviets", since "everyone knew who really ran the show".<ref name="White 2012 368">{{cite book |title=The Great Big Book of Horrible Things |last=White |first=Matthew|author-link=Matthew White (atrocitologist) |publisher=[[W. W. Norton]] |year=2012 |page=368 |isbn=978-0-393-08192-3|title-link=The Great Big Book of Horrible Things}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Soviet Union}}

=== Revolution and foundation (1917–1927) ===
{{Main|Russian Revolution|History of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (1917–1927)}}
[[File:19191107-lenin second anniversary october revolution moscow.jpg|thumb|[[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]] and [[Lev Kamenev|Kamenev]] celebrating the second anniversary of the [[October Revolution]]]]
Modern revolutionary activity in the [[Russian Empire]] began with the 1825 [[Decembrist revolt]]. Although [[Serfdom in Russia|serfdom]] was abolished in 1861, it was done on terms unfavourable to the peasants and served to encourage revolutionaries. A parliament—the [[State Duma (Russian Empire)|State Duma]]—was established in 1906 after the [[Revolution of 1905|Russian Revolution of 1905]], but [[Nicholas II of Russia|Emperor Nicholas II]] resisted attempts to move from [[Absolute monarchy|absolute]] to a [[constitutional monarchy]]. [[Rebellion|Social unrest]] continued and was aggravated during [[World War I]] by military defeat and food shortages in major cities.

A spontaneous popular demonstration in Petrograd on [[International Women's Day|8 March]] 1917, demanding peace and bread, culminated in the [[February Revolution]] and the abdication of Nicholas II and the imperial government.{{sfn|Mccauley|2014|p=83}} The [[tsarist autocracy]] was replaced by the [[Social democracy|social-democratic]] [[Russian Provisional Government]], which intended to conduct elections to the [[Russian Constituent Assembly]] and to continue fighting on the side of the [[Allies of World War I|Entente]] in [[World War I]]. At the same time, [[workers' council]]s, known in Russian as '[[Soviet (council)|Soviets]]', sprang up across the country, and the most influential of them, the [[Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies]], shared power with the Provisional Government.{{sfn|Mccauley|2014|p=487}}<ref name="br1"/>

The [[Bolsheviks]], led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], pushed for [[communist revolution]] in the Soviets and on the streets, adopting the slogan of "All Power to the Soviets" and urging the overthrow of the Provisional Government.{{sfn|Read|2005|pp=82–85}}{{sfn|Service|2005|pp=47–49}} On 7 November 1917, Bolshevik [[Red Guards (Russia)|Red Guard]]s stormed the [[Winter Palace]] in Petrograd, arresting the Provisional Government leaders and Lenin declared that all power was now transferred to the Soviets.<ref name=BBC1>{{Cite news |title=The causes of the October Revolution |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/russia/october/revision/4 |url-status=dead |access-date=31 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805155250/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/russia/october/revision/4 |archive-date=5 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="br1"/> This event would later be officially known in Soviet bibliographies as the "[[October Revolution|Great October Socialist Revolution]]". The bloody [[Red Terror]] was initiated to shut down all opposition, both perceived and real.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/red-terror-set-macabre-course-soviet-union | title=How Lenin's Red Terror set a macabre course for the Soviet Union | website=[[National Geographic Society]] | date=2 September 2020 }}</ref> In December, the Bolsheviks signed an [[armistice]] with the [[Central Powers]], though by February 1918, fighting had resumed. In March, the Soviets ended involvement in the war and signed the [[separate peace]] [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]].

A long and bloody [[Russian Civil War|Civil War]] ensued between the [[Red Army|Reds]] and the [[White movement|Whites]], starting in 1917 and ending in 1923 with the Reds' victory. It included [[Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War|foreign intervention]], the [[Murder of the Romanov family|murder of the former Emperor and his family]], and the [[Russian famine of 1921–22|famine of 1921–1922]], which killed about five million people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mawdsley |first=Evan |url=https://archive.org/details/russiancivilwar00evan |title=The Russian Civil War |year= 2007 |publisher=Pegasus Books |isbn=978-1-933648-15-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/russiancivilwar00evan/page/287 287] |author-link=Evan Mawdsley |url-access=registration}}</ref> In March 1921, during [[Polish–Soviet War|a related war against Poland]], the [[Peace of Riga]] was signed, splitting disputed territories in [[Belarusian Democratic Republic|Belarus]] and [[Ukrainian People's Republic|Ukraine]] between the [[Second Polish Republic|Republic of Poland]] and [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]]. Soviet Russia sought to re-conquer all newly [[Pro-independence movements in the Russian Civil War|independent nations]] of the former Empire, although their success was limited. [[Estonian War of Independence|Estonia]], [[Finnish Civil War|Finland]], [[Latvian War of Independence|Latvia]], and [[Lithuanian–Soviet War|Lithuania]] all repelled Soviet invasions, while [[Ukrainian–Soviet War|Ukraine]], Belarus (as a result of the [[Polish–Soviet War]]), [[Red Army invasion of Armenia|Armenia]], [[Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] and [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|Georgia]] were occupied by the Red Army.{{sfn|Lee|2003|pp=84, 88}}{{sfn|Goldstein|2013|p=50}} Additionally, forced requisition of food by the Soviet government led to substantial resistance, of which the most notable was the [[Tambov Rebellion]], ultimately put down by the Red Army.{{sfnm|1a1=Fischer|1y=1964|1p=459|2a1=Leggett|2y=1981|2pp=330–333|3a1=Service|3y=2000|3pp=423–424|4a1=White|4y=2001|4p=168|5a1=Ryan|5y=2012|5pp=154–155}}
[[File:Protección del Palacio Tauride durante el Segundo Congreso Regional de los Soviets.jpg|thumb|Dissolution of the elected [[Russian Constituent Assembly]] by the Bolsheviks on 6 January 1918]]
[[File:Russian civil war in the west.svg|thumb|right|[[Russian Civil War]] in the European part of Russia]]

The Civil War had a devastating impact on the economy. A [[black market]] emerged in Russia, despite the threat of [[martial law]] against profiteering. The [[Russian ruble|ruble]] collapsed, with [[bartering|barter]] increasingly replacing money as a medium of exchange<ref name="DaviesHarrison1993">{{cite book|author1=R. W. Davies|author2=Mark Harrison|author3=S. G. Wheatcroft|title=The Economic Transformation of the Soviet Union, 1913–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ULWRnskfr4C&pg=PA6|year= 1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-45770-5|page=6}}</ref> and, by 1921, heavy industry output had fallen to 20% of 1913 levels. 90% of wages were paid with goods rather than money.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bread and Authority in Russia, 1914–1921|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft796nb4mj&chunk.id=d0e9364&toc.id=&brand=ucpress|access-date=2021-10-27|website=publishing.cdlib.org}}</ref> 70% of locomotives were in need of repair{{Citation needed}}, and food requisitioning, combined with the effects of seven years of war and a severe drought, contributed to a famine that caused between 3 and 10 million deaths.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://necrometrics.com/20c5m.htm#RCW|title=Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls|website=necrometrics.com|access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref> Coal production decreased from 27.5 million tons (1913) to 7 million tons (1920), while overall factory production also declined from 10,000 million roubles to 1,000 million roubles. According to the noted historian David Christian, the grain harvest was also slashed from 80.1 million tons (1913) to 46.5 million tons (1920).<ref>{{cite book|last=Christian|first=David|title=Imperial and Soviet Russia|year=1997|publisher=Macmillan Press Ltd|location=London|isbn=0-333-66294-6|page=236}}</ref>

=== Treaty on the Creation of the USSR ===
On 28 December 1922, a conference of plenipotentiary delegations from the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], the [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Transcaucasian SFSR]], the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] and the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]] approved the [[Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Treaty on the Creation of the USSR]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sakwa |first=Richard |title=The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 1917–1991: 1917–1991 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-12290-0 |pages=140–143}}</ref> and the [[Declaration of the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Declaration of the Creation of the USSR]], forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Towster |first=Julian |title=Political Power in the U.S.S.R., 1917–1947: The Theory and Structure of Government in the Soviet State |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=106}}</ref> These two documents were confirmed by the first [[Congress of Soviets of the USSR]] and signed by the heads of the delegations,<ref>{{In lang|ru}} [http://region.adm.nov.ru/pressa.nsf/0c7534916fcf6028c3256b3700243eac/4302e4941fb6a6bfc3256c99004faea5!OpenDocument Voted Unanimously for the Union.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204132112/http://region.adm.nov.ru/pressa.nsf/0c7534916fcf6028c3256b3700243eac/4302e4941fb6a6bfc3256c99004faea5%21OpenDocument }}</ref> [[Mikhail Kalinin]], [[Mikhail Tskhakaya]], [[Mikhail Frunze]], [[Grigory Petrovsky]] and [[Alexander Chervyakov]],<ref>{{In lang|ru}} [http://www.hronos.km.ru/sobyt/cccp.html Creation of the USSR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529132218/http://www.hronos.km.ru/sobyt/cccp.html }} at Khronos.ru.</ref> on 30 December 1922. The formal proclamation was made from the stage of the [[Bolshoi Theatre]] in Moscow.

An intensive restructuring of the economy, industry and politics of the country began in the early days of Soviet power in 1917. A large part of this was done according to the [[Bolshevik Initial Decrees]], government documents signed by Vladimir Lenin. One of the most prominent breakthroughs was the [[GOELRO|GOELRO plan]], which envisioned a major restructuring of the Soviet economy based on total [[electrification]] of Russia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lapin |first=G. G. |year=2000 |title=70 Years of Gidroproekt and Hydroelectric Power in Russia |journal=Hydrotechnical Construction |volume=34 |issue=8/9 |pages=374–379 |doi=10.1023/A:1004107617449 |s2cid=107814516}}</ref> The plan became the prototype for subsequent [[Five-year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union|Five-Year Plans]] and was fulfilled by 1931.<ref name="Kuzbassenergo">{{In lang|ru}} [http://www.kuzbassenergo.ru/goelro/ On GOELRO Plan – at Kuzbassenergo.] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226190310/http://www.kuzbassenergo.ru/goelro | date=26 December 2008 }}</ref> After the economic policy of '[[War communism]]' during the Russian Civil War, as a prelude to fully developing [[Socialist mode of production|socialism]] in the country, the Soviet government [[New Economic Policy|permitted some private enterprise to coexist alongside nationalized industry]] in the 1920s, and total food requisition in the countryside was replaced by a food tax.
[[File:Russia Famine Saratov 1921.jpg|thumb|The [[Russian famine of 1921–22]] killed an estimated 5 million people. <ref>{{Cite news |title=Famine of 1921–22 |language=en-US |work=Seventeen Moments in Soviet History |url=http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1921-2/famine-of-1921-22/ |access-date=20 July 2018 |archive-date=15 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115171429/http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1921-2/famine-of-1921-22/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Courtois |first1=Stéphane |url=https://archive.org/stream/TheBlackBookofCommunism10/the-black-book-of-communism-jean-louis-margolin-1999-communism#page/n71/ |title=The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression |last2=Werth |first2=Nicolas |last3=Panné |first3=Jean-Louis |last4=Paczkowski |first4=Andrzej |last5=Bartošek |first5=Karel |last6=Margolin |first6=Jean-Louis |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-674-07608-2 |page=123}}</ref>]]
From its creation, the government in the Soviet Union was based on the [[One-party state|one-party rule]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]].{{Efn|The consolidation into a one-party state took place during the first three and a half years after the revolution, which included the period of [[War communism]] and an election in which multiple parties competed. See {{Cite book |last=Schapiro |first=Leonard |title=The Origin of the Communist Autocracy: Political Opposition in the Soviet State, First Phase 1917–1922 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]}}}} The stated purpose was to prevent the return of capitalist exploitation, and that the principles of [[democratic centralism]] would be the most effective in representing the people's will in a practical manner. The debate over the future of the economy provided the background for a power struggle in the years after Lenin's death in 1924. Initially, Lenin was to be replaced by a '[[Collective leadership|troika]]' consisting of [[Grigory Zinoviev]] of the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]], [[Lev Kamenev]] of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], and [[Joseph Stalin]] of the [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Transcaucasian SFSR]].

On 1 February 1924, the USSR was recognized by the United Kingdom.{{Citation needed}} The same year, a [[1924 Soviet Constitution|Soviet Constitution]] was approved, legitimizing the December 1922 union.

According to [[Archie Brown (historian)|Archie Brown]] the constitution was never an accurate guide to political reality in the USSR. For example the fact that the Party played the leading role in making and enforcing policy was not mentioned in it until 1977.<ref>Archie Brown, ''The rise and fall of Communism'' (2009) p, 518.</ref> The USSR was a federative entity of many constituent republics, each with its own political and administrative entities. However, the term 'Soviet Russia'{{Spaced ndash}}formally applicable only to the Russian Federative Socialist Republic{{Spaced ndash}}was often applied to the entire country by non-Soviet writers due to its domination by the Russian SFSR.

=== Stalin era (1927–1953) ===
{{Main|History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953)}}
{{See also|Excess mortality in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin}}
[[File:Famine en URSS 1933.jpg|thumb|190px|The [[Soviet famine of 1930–1933]], with areas where the effects of famine were most severe shaded]]
On 3 April 1922, Stalin was named the [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]. Lenin had appointed Stalin the head of the [[Rabkrin|Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate]], which gave Stalin considerable power.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joseph Stalin – Biography, World War II & Facts – History |url=https://www.history.com/topics/russia/joseph-stalin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912144422/https://www.history.com/topics/russia/joseph-stalin |archive-date=12 September 2018 |access-date=6 December 2021}}</ref> By [[Rise of Joseph Stalin|gradually consolidating his influence and isolating and outmaneuvering his rivals within the party]], Stalin became the [[dictator|undisputed leader]] of the country and, by the end of the 1920s, established a [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] rule. In October 1927, Zinoviev and [[Leon Trotsky]] were expelled from the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] and forced into exile.

In 1928, Stalin introduced the [[first five-year plan]] for building a [[Socialist economics|socialist economy]]. In place of the [[Proletarian internationalism|internationalism]] expressed by Lenin throughout the revolution, it aimed to build [[Socialism in One Country]]. In industry, the state assumed control over all existing enterprises and undertook an intensive program of [[Industrialization in the Soviet Union|industrialization]]. In [[Agriculture in the Soviet Union|agriculture]], rather than adhering to the 'lead by example' policy advocated by Lenin,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lenin |first=V.I. |title=Collected Works |pages=152–164, Vol. 31 |quote=The proletarian state must effect the transition to collective farming with extreme caution and only very gradually, by the force of example, without any coercion of the middle peasant.}}</ref> forced [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivization of farms]] was implemented all over the country.

[[Droughts and famines in Russia and the Soviet Union|Famines]] ensued as a result, causing deaths estimated at three to seven million; surviving [[kulak]]s (wealthy or middle-class peasants) were persecuted, and many were sent to [[Gulag]]s to do [[Forced labor in the Soviet Union|forced labor]].{{Sfn|Davies|Wheatcroft|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4s1lCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR14 xiv], 401 441}}<ref>{{Cite book |first1=Stéphane |last1=Courtois |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC&pg=PA206 |title=Livre noir du Communisme: crimes, terreur, répression |last2=Mark Kramer |year=1999 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-07608-2 |page=206 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=22 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622213827/https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC&pg=PA206 |url-status=live }}</ref> Social upheaval continued in the mid-1930s. Despite the turmoil of the mid-to-late 1930s, the country developed a robust industrial economy in the years preceding [[World War II]].
[[File:Kolyma road00.jpg|thumb|left|Construction of the bridge through the [[Kolyma]] (part of the [[Road of Bones]] from [[Magadan]] to [[Jakutsk]]) by the prisoners of [[Dalstroy]]]]
Closer cooperation between the USSR and the West developed in the early 1930s. From 1932 to 1934, the country participated in the [[World Disarmament Conference]]. In 1933, diplomatic relations between the United States and the USSR were established when in November, the newly elected President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, chose to recognize Stalin's Communist government formally and negotiated a new trade agreement between the two countries.<ref>[http://www.holodomorct.org/history.html Ukrainian 'Holodomor' (man-made famine) Facts and History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424093532/http://www.holodomorct.org/history.html }}. Holodomorct.org (28 November 2006). Retrieved on 29 July 2013.</ref> In September 1934, the country joined the [[League of Nations]]. After the [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out in 1936, the USSR actively supported the [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican forces]] against the [[Francoist Spain|Nationalists]], who were supported by [[Kingdom of Italy|Fascist Italy]] and [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Casanova |first=Julián |title=República y Guerra Civil. Vol. 8 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares |publisher=Crítica/Marcial Pons |year=2007 |isbn=978-84-8432-878-0 |location=Barcelona |pages=271–274 |language=es |author-link=Julián Casanova Ruiz}}</ref>

In December 1936, Stalin unveiled a new [[1936 Soviet Constitution|constitution]] that was praised by supporters around the world as the most democratic constitution imaginable, though there was some skepticism. American historian J. Arch Getty concludes: "Many who lauded Stalin's Soviet Union as the most democratic country on earth lived to regret their words. After all, the Soviet Constitution of 1936 was adopted on the eve of the Great Terror of the late 1930s; the "thoroughly democratic" elections to the first Supreme Soviet permitted only uncontested candidates and took place at the height of the savage violence in 1937. The civil rights, personal freedoms, and democratic forms promised in the Stalin constitution were trampled almost immediately and remained dead letters until long after Stalin's death."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Getty |first=J. Arch |year=1991 |title=State and Society Under Stalin: Constitutions and Elections in the 1930s |journal=Slavic Review |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=18–35 |doi=10.2307/2500596 |jstor=2500596|s2cid=163479192 }}</ref>
[[File:5marshals 01.jpg|thumb|Five [[Marshal of the Soviet Union|Marshals of the Soviet Union]] in 1935. Only two of them—[[Semyon Budyonny|Budyonny]] and [[Kliment Voroshilov|Voroshilov]]—survived [[Great Purge]]. [[Vasily Blyukher|Blyukher]], [[Alexander Yegorov (soldier)|Yegorov]] and [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky|Tukhachevsky]] were executed.]]
Stalin's [[Great Purge]] resulted in the detainment or execution of many '[[Old Bolshevik]]s' who had participated in the October Revolution. According to declassified Soviet archives, the [[NKVD]] arrested more than one and a half million people in 1937 and 1938, of whom 681,692 were shot.<ref name="Thurston">{{Cite book |last=Thurston |first=Robert W. |title=Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia, 1934–1941 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-07442-0 |page=139 |author-link=Robert W. Thurston}}</ref> Over those two years, there were an average of over one thousand executions a day.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Abbott |last=Gleason |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyN0hlKcfTcC&pg=PA373 |title=A companion to Russian history |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4051-3560-3 |page=373 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=5 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905175409/https://books.google.com/books?id=JyN0hlKcfTcC&pg=PA373 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Efn|name=fn1|According to British historian [[Geoffrey Hosking]], "excess deaths during the 1930s as a whole were in the range of 10–11 million."<ref name="1930s">{{Cite book |first=Geoffrey A. |last=Hosking |url=https://archive.org/details/russiarussianshi00hosk |title=Russia and the Russians: a history |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-674-00473-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/russiarussianshi00hosk/page/469 469] |url-access=registration}}</ref> American historian [[Timothy D. Snyder]] claims that archival evidence suggests maximum excess mortality of nine million during the entire Stalin era.<ref>[http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2011/01/27/hitler-vs-stalin-who-was-worse/ Hitler vs. Stalin: Who Was Worse?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012090945/http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2011/01/27/hitler-vs-stalin-who-was-worse/ }}, ''The New York Review of Books'', 27 January 2011</ref> Australian historian and archival researcher [[Stephen G. Wheatcroft]] asserts that around a million "purposive killings" can be attributed to the Stalinist regime, along with the premature deaths of roughly two million more amongst the repressed populations (i.e. in camps, prisons, exiles, etc.) through criminal negligence.{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|pp=1334,1348}}}}

In 1939, after attempts to form a military alliance with Britain and France against Germany failed, the Soviet Union made a dramatic shift towards Nazi Germany.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why didn't the USSR join Allies in 1939? |last=Yegorov |first=Oleg |url=https://www.rbth.com/history/331039-ussr-britain-france-talks-wwii |access-date=5 February 2022 |website=Russia Beyond |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206011636/https://www.rbth.com/history/331039-ussr-britain-france-talks-wwii |url-status=live }}</ref> Almost a year after Britain and France had concluded the [[Munich Agreement]] with Germany, the Soviet Union made agreements with Germany as well, both militarily and economically during [[German–Soviet Axis talks|extensive talks]]. Unlike the case of Britain and France, the Soviet Union's agreement with Germany, the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] (signed on 23 August 1939), included a secret protocol that paved the way for the Soviet invasion of Eastern European states and [[Military occupations by the Soviet Union|occupation of their territories]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/23/moscow-campaign-to-justify-molotov-ribbentrop-pact-sparks-outcry|title=Molotov-Ribbentrop: why is Moscow trying to justify Nazi pact?|work=[[The Guardian]]|author=Andrew Roth}}</ref> The pact made possible the Soviet occupation of [[Occupation of the Baltic states|Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia]], [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina|Bessarabia, northern Bukovina]], and [[Soviet invasion of Poland|eastern Poland]].

[[File:Lavrenti Beria Stalins family.jpg|thumb|Stalin and [[Lavrentiy Beria]] with Stalin's daughter, [[Svetlana Alliluyeva|Svetlana]], on his lap. As head of the NKVD, Beria was responsible for many [[Political repression in the Soviet Union|political repressions in the Soviet Union]].]]
On 1 September, Germany [[Invasion of Poland|invaded Poland]] and on the 17th the Soviet Union invaded Poland as well. On 6 October, Poland fell and part of the Soviet occupation zone was then handed over to Germany.

On 10 October, the Soviet Union and Lithuania signed an agreement whereby the Soviet Union transferred Polish sovereignty over the Vilna region to Lithuania, and on 28 October the boundary between the Soviet occupation zone and the new territory of Lithuania was officially demarcated.

On 1 November, the Soviet Union [[Soviet annexation of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia|annexed Western Ukraine]], followed by Western Belarus on the 2nd.

In late November, unable to coerce the [[Finland|Republic of Finland]] by diplomatic means into moving its border {{Convert|25|km}} back from [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], Stalin ordered the [[Winter War|invasion of Finland]]. On 14 December 1939, the Soviet Union was expelled from the [[League of Nations]] for invading Finland.<ref>[https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ussr-expelled-from-the-league-of-nations?form=MY01SV&OCID=MY01SV USSR expelled from the League of Nations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914013927/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ussr-expelled-from-the-league-of-nations?form=MY01SV&OCID=MY01SV }}. www.history.com. 5 November 2009</ref> In the east, the Soviet military won several decisive victories during [[Soviet–Japanese border conflicts|border clashes]] with the [[Empire of Japan]] in 1938 and 1939. However, in April 1941, the USSR signed the [[Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact]] with Japan, which the Soviets would unilaterally break in 1945, recognizing the territorial integrity of [[Manchukuo]], a Japanese [[puppet state]]. The pact ensured Japan would not enter the war against the USSR on the side of Germany later.

==== World War II ====
{{Main|Soviet Union in World War II}}
{{Further|Eastern Front (World War II)|Great Patriotic War (term)|World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|German atrocities committed against Soviet prisoners of war|Soviet war crimes|Rape during the occupation of Germany}}
[[File:RIAN archive 44732 Soviet soldiers attack house.jpg|thumb|left|240px|The [[Battle of Stalingrad]], considered by many historians as a decisive turning point of World War II]]
Germany broke the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]] on 22 June 1941 starting what is known in Russia and some other post-Soviet states as the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Great Patriotic War]]. The [[Red Army]] stopped the seemingly invincible German Army at the [[Battle of Moscow]]. The [[Battle of Stalingrad]], which lasted from late 1942 to early 1943, dealt a severe blow to Germany from which they never fully recovered and became a turning point in the war. After Stalingrad, Soviet forces drove through Eastern Europe to Berlin before [[End of World War II in Europe|Germany surrendered in 1945]]. The German Army suffered 80% of its military deaths in the Eastern Front.<ref>{{Cite book |first=William J. |last=Duiker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uqvgYtJHGSMC |title=Contemporary World History |year= 2009 |publisher=Wadsworth Pub Co |isbn=978-0-495-57271-8 |page=128 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=22 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622200541/https://books.google.com/books?id=uqvgYtJHGSMC |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Harry Hopkins]], a close foreign policy advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt, spoke on 10 August 1943 of the USSR's decisive role in the war, saying that "While in Sicily the forces of Great Britain and the United States are being opposed by 2 German divisions, the Russian front is receiving attention of approximately 200 German divisions."{{Efn|name=fn3|"In War II Russia occupies a dominant position and is the decisive factor looking toward the defeat of the Axis in Europe. While in Sicily the forces of Great Britain and the United States are being opposed by 2 German divisions, the Russian front is receiving attention of approximately 200 German divisions. Whenever the Allies open a second front on the Continent, it will be decidedly a secondary front to that of Russia; theirs will continue to be the main effort. Without Russia in the war, the Axis cannot be defeated in Europe, and the position of the United Nations becomes precarious. Similarly, Russia's post-war position in Europe will be a dominant one. With Germany crushed, there is no power in Europe to oppose her tremendous military forces."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Executive of the Presidents Soviet Protocol Committee (Burns) to the President's Special Assistant (Hopkins) |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1943/d317 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821062622/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1943/d317 |archive-date=21 August 2018 |access-date=21 August 2018 |website=www.history.state.gov |publisher=[[Office of the Historian]]}}</ref>}} Up to 34 million soldiers served in the Red Army during World War II, 8 million of which were [[Demographics of the Soviet Union|non-Slavic minorities]].<ref name="Soviet losses">{{Citation | first = ГФ [Krivosheev, GF] | last = Кривошеев | title = Россия и СССР в войнах XX века: потери вооруженных сил. Статистическое исследование |trans-title=Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study | language = ru}}.</ref>
[[File:RIAN archive 2153 After bombing.jpg|thumb|right|Residents of Leningrad leave their homes destroyed by German bombing. About 1 million civilians died during the 871-day [[Siege of Leningrad]], mostly from starvation.]]

[[File:Teheran conference-1943.jpg|thumb|From left to right, the Soviet General Secretary [[Joseph Stalin]], US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] [[Tehran Conference|confer]] in Tehran, 1943]]
The USSR suffered greatly in the war, [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|losing around 20 million people]] (modern Russian sources put the number at 26.6 million).<ref name="1930s" /><ref name="MOD Russian Federation">{{cite web|last1=Министерство обороны Российской Федерации|first1=MOD Russian Federation|title=On Question of war Losses (in Russian)|url=http://encyclopedia.mil.ru/encyclopedia/history/more.htm?id=11359251@cmsArticle|publisher=MOD Russian Federation|access-date=12 November 2017}}</ref> This includes 8,7 million military deaths. The majority of the losses were ethnic [[Russians]], followed by ethnic [[Ukrainians]].<ref name="Soviet losses"/> Approximately 2.8 million [[German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war|Soviet POWs]] died of starvation, mistreatment, or executions in just eight months of 1941–42.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldhagen |first=Daniel | author-link=Daniel Goldhagen |title=[[Hitler's Willing Executioners]] |page=290 |quote=2.8 million young, healthy Soviet POWs" killed by the Germans, "mainly by starvation{{nbsp}}... in less than eight months" of 1941–42, before "the decimation of Soviet POWs{{nbsp}}... was stopped" and the Germans "began to use them as laborers.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Treatment of Soviet POWs: Starvation, Disease, and Shootings, June 1941 – January 1942 |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-treatment-of-soviet-pows-starvation-disease-and-shootings-june-1941january-1942 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106204101/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-treatment-of-soviet-pows-starvation-disease-and-shootings-june-1941january-1942 |archive-date=6 November 2018 |access-date=9 March 2019 |website=encyclopedia.ushmm.org}}</ref> More than 2 million people were killed in [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]] during the three years of [[German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II|German occupation]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Belarus – World War II |url=https://countrystudies.us/belarus/10.htm |work=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]]}}</ref> almost a quarter of the region's population, including around 550,000 Jews in the [[The Holocaust in Belarus|Holocaust in Belarus]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Waitman Wade Beorn|title=Marching into Darkness|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S8cXAgAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-72660-4|page=28}}</ref> During the war, the country together with the United States, the United Kingdom and China were considered the [[Big Four in World War II|Big Four]] Allied powers,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brinkley |first=Douglas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HymSg_Pp7X0C&q=big+four+world+war+2&pg=PA223 |title=The New York Times Living History: World War II, 1942–1945: The Allied Counteroffensive |publisher=Macmillan|year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8050-7247-1 |author-link=Douglas Brinkley |access-date=15 October 2020 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815162717/https://books.google.com/books?id=HymSg_Pp7X0C&q=big+four+world+war+2&pg=PA223 |url-status=live }}</ref> and later became the [[Four Policemen]] that formed the basis of the [[United Nations Security Council]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Urquhart |first=Brian |title=Looking for the Sheriff |publisher=New York Review of Books, 16 July 1998 |author-link=Brian Urquhart}}</ref> It emerged as a superpower in the post-war period. Once denied [[diplomatic recognition]] by the Western world, the USSR had official relations with practically every country by the late 1940s. A member of the United Nations at its foundation in 1945, the country [[Soviet Union and the United Nations|became]] one of the [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|five permanent members]] of the [[United Nations Security Council]], which gave it the right to veto any of its resolutions.

The USSR, in fulfillment of its agreement with the Allies at the [[Yalta Conference]], broke the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1945 which Japan had been honoring despite their alliance with Germany,<ref name="denunciation">[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/s3.asp Denunciation of the neutrality pact] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520092519/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/s3.asp }} 5 April 1945. ([[Avalon Project]] at [[Yale University]])</ref> and [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invaded Manchukuo and other Japan-controlled territories]] on 9 August 1945.<ref name="declarationofwar">[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/s4.asp Soviet Declaration of War on Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520092513/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/s4.asp }}, 8 August 1945. ([[Avalon Project]] at [[Yale University]])</ref> [[Soviet–Japanese War|This conflict]] ended with a decisive Soviet victory, contributing to the unconditional [[surrender of Japan]] and the end of World War II.

Soviet soldiers committed mass rapes in occupied territories, especially in [[Soviet occupation zone of Germany|Germany]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Women and War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyZYS_GxglIC&pg=PA480|year=2006|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-770-8|pages=480–}}</ref> The [[Wartime sexual violence|wartime rapes]] were followed by decades of silence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/3255081/German-women-break-their-silence-on-horrors-of-Red-Army-rapes.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/3255081/German-women-break-their-silence-on-horrors-of-Red-Army-rapes.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=German women break their silence on horrors of Red Army rapes|author=Allan Hall in Berlin|work=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=10 December 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="The Independent">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/raped-by-the-red-army-two-million-german-women-speak-out-1669074.html|title=Raped by the Red Army: Two million German women speak out|work=The Independent|access-date=10 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Susanne Beyer">{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,680354,00.html|title=Harrowing Memoir: German Woman Writes Ground-Breaking Account of WW2 Rape|author=Susanne Beyer|newspaper=Der Spiegel|publisher=Spiegel.de|access-date=10 December 2014}}</ref> According to historian [[Antony Beevor]], whose books were banned in 2015 from some Russian schools and colleges, [[NKVD]] (Soviet secret police) files have revealed that the leadership knew what was happening, but did little to stop it.<ref name=Bird>{{cite journal |last=Bird |first=Nicky |title=Berlin: The Downfall 1945 by Antony Beevor |journal=International Affairs |volume=78 |number=4 |pages=914–916 |institution=Royal Institute of International Affairs}}</ref> It was often [[wikt:rear echelon|rear echelon]] units who committed the rapes. According to professor Oleg Rzheshevsky, "4,148 Red Army officers and many privates were punished for committing atrocities".<ref name=":0" /> The exact number of German women and girls raped by Soviet troops during the war and occupation is uncertain, but historians estimate their numbers are likely in the hundreds of thousands, and possibly as many as two million.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Norman M.|first=Naimark, Norman M.|title=The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949|publisher=Cambridge: Belknap Press|year=1995|isbn=|location=|pages=70}}</ref>
[[File:Map US Lend Lease shipments to USSR-WW2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.6|U.S. [[Lend Lease]] shipments to the USSR. During the war the USSR provided an unknown number of shipments of rare minerals to the US Treasury as a form of cashless [[Lend-Lease#Repayment|repayment of Lend-Lease]].]]
The Soviet Union was greatly assisted in its wartime effort by the United States via [[Lend Lease]]. In total, the U.S. deliveries to the USSR through Lend-Lease amounted to $11 [[1,000,000,000 (number)|billion]] in materials: over 400,000 [[jeep]]s and trucks; 12,000 [[armored vehicle]]s (including 7,000 tanks, about 1,386<ref>Zaloga (Armored Thunderbolt) pp. 28, 30, 31</ref> of which were [[M3 Lee]]s and 4,102 [[Lend-Lease Sherman tanks|M4 Shermans]]);<ref>''Lend-Lease Shipments: World {{nowrap|War II}}'', Section IIIB, Published by Office, Chief of Finance, War Department, December 31, 1946, p. 8.</ref> 11,400 aircraft (of which 4,719 were [[Bell P-39 Airacobra]]s, 3,414 were [[Douglas A-20 Havoc]]s and 2,397 were [[Bell P-63 Kingcobra]]s)<ref>{{harvnb|Hardesty|1991|p=253}}</ref> and 1.75 million tons of food.<ref>[http://www.history.army.mil/books/AMH-V2/PDF/Chapter05.pdf ''World {{nowrap|War II}} The War Against Germany And Italy''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506174749/http://www.history.army.mil/books/AMH-V2/PDF/Chapter05.pdf }}, US Army Center of Military History, p. 158.</ref> As Soviet soldiers were bearing the brunt of the war, Roosevelt's advisor [[Harry Hopkins]] felt that American aid to the Soviets would hasten the war's conclusion.<ref>David Roll, ''The Hopkins Touch: Harry Hopkins and the Forging of the Alliance to Defeat Hitler'' (2012) ch 6</ref>

Roughly 17.5 million tons of military equipment, vehicles, industrial supplies, and food were shipped from the Western Hemisphere to the USSR, 94% coming from the US. For comparison, a total of 22 million tons landed in Europe to supply American forces from January 1942 to May 1945. It has been estimated that American deliveries to the USSR through the Persian Corridor alone were sufficient, by US Army standards, to maintain sixty combat divisions in the line.<ref>{{cite web|title=The five Lend-Lease routes to Russia |url=http://www.o5m6.de/Routes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031212063805/http://www.o5m6.de/routes.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 12, 2003 |website=Engines of the Red Army |access-date=July 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Motter |first1=T.H. Vail |title=The Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia |publisher=Center of Military History |pages=4–6 |url=https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/persian/index.htm |access-date=July 12, 2014}}</ref>

==== Cold War ====
{{Main|Cold War}}
[[File:Soviet empire 1960.png|thumb|Map showing greatest territorial extent of the Soviet Union and the states that it dominated politically, economically and militarily in 1960, after the [[Cuban Revolution]] of 1959 but before the official [[Sino-Soviet split]] of 1961 (total area: c. 35,000,000 km2){{Efn|34,374,483 km2.}}]]
During the immediate post-war period, the Soviet Union rebuilt and expanded its economy, while maintaining its [[Command economy|strictly centralized control]]. It took effective control over most of the countries of Eastern Europe (except [[Tito–Stalin split|Yugoslavia]] and later [[Soviet-Albanian split|Albania]]), turning them into [[satellite state]]s. The USSR bound its satellite states in a military alliance, the [[Warsaw Pact]], in 1955, and an economic organization, Council for Mutual Economic Assistance or [[Comecon]], a counterpart to the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC), from 1949 to 1991.<ref name="fas.org">{{cite web |title=Main Intelligence Administration (GRU) Glavnoye Razvedovatel'noye Upravlenie – Russia / Soviet Intelligence Agencies |url=https://fas.org/irp/world/russia/gru/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226090607/http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/gru/ |archive-date=26 December 2008 |access-date=24 November 2008 |publisher=Fas.org}}</ref> Although nominally a "defensive" alliance, the Warsaw Pact's primary function was to safeguard the [[Soviet Empire|Soviet Union's hegemony]] over its [[Soviet Bloc|Eastern European]] satellites, with the Pact's only direct military actions having been the invasions of its own member states to keep them from breaking away.<ref name="history.com">[https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/warsaw-pact-ends This day in history: the Warsaw Pact ends]</ref> The USSR concentrated on its own recovery, seizing and transferring most of Germany's industrial plants, and it exacted [[World War II reparations|war reparations]] from [[East Germany]], [[People's Republic of Hungary|Hungary]], [[People's Republic of Romania|Romania]], and [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] using Soviet-dominated joint enterprises. It also instituted trading arrangements deliberately designed to favour the country. Moscow controlled the Communist parties that ruled the satellite states, and they followed orders from the Kremlin. Historian Mark Kramer concludes: "The net outflow of resources from eastern Europe to the Soviet Union was approximately $15 billion to $20 billion in the first decade after World War II, an amount roughly equal to the total aid provided by the United States to western Europe under the [[Marshall Plan]]."<ref>Mark Kramer, "The Soviet Bloc and the Cold War in Europe," in {{Cite book |editor-first=Klaus | editor-last=Larresm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EyNcCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT174 |title=A Companion to Europe Since 1945 |publisher=Wiley |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-118-89024-0 |page=79}}</ref> Later, the Comecon supplied aid to the eventually victorious [[Chinese Communist Party]], and its influence grew elsewhere in the world. Fearing its ambitions, the Soviet Union's wartime allies, the United Kingdom and the United States, became its enemies. In the ensuing [[Cold War]], the two sides clashed indirectly in [[proxy war]]s.

=== De-Stalinization and Khrushchev Thaw (1953–1964) ===
{{Main|History of the Soviet Union (1953–1964)}}
[[File:John Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev 1961.jpg|thumb|left|Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]] (left) with US President [[John F. Kennedy]] in Vienna, 3 June 1961]]
Stalin died on 5 March 1953. Without a mutually agreeable successor, the highest Communist Party officials initially opted to rule the Soviet Union jointly through a troika headed by [[Georgy Malenkov]]. This did not last, however, and [[Nikita Khrushchev]] eventually won the ensuing power struggle by the mid-1950s. In 1956, he [[On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences|denounced Joseph Stalin]] and proceeded to ease controls over the party and society. This was known as [[de-Stalinization]].

Moscow considered Eastern Europe to be a critically vital buffer zone for the forward defence of its western borders, in case of another major invasion such as the German invasion of 1941. For this reason, the USSR sought to cement its control of the region by transforming the Eastern European countries into satellite states, dependent upon and subservient to its leadership. As a result, Soviet military forces were used to suppress an anti-communist uprising in [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungary]] in 1956.

In the late 1950s, a confrontation with China regarding the Soviet rapprochement with the West, and what [[Mao Zedong]] perceived as Khrushchev's [[Revisionism (Marxism)|revisionism]], led to the [[Sino–Soviet split]]. This resulted in a break throughout the global Marxist–Leninist movement, with the governments in [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]], [[Democratic Kampuchea|Cambodia]] and [[Somali Democratic Republic|Somalia]] choosing to ally with China.
[[File:Soviet Union Administrative Divisions 1989.jpg|thumb|260px|[[Republics of the Soviet Union]] in 1954–1991]]
During this period of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the USSR continued to realize scientific and technological exploits in the [[Space Race]], rivaling the United States: launching the first artificial satellite, [[Sputnik 1]] in 1957; a living dog named [[Laika]] in 1957; the first human being, [[Yuri Gagarin]] in 1961; the first woman in space, [[Valentina Tereshkova]] in 1963; [[Alexei Leonov]], the first person to walk in space in 1965; the first soft landing on the Moon by spacecraft [[Luna 9]] in 1966; and the first Moon rovers, [[Lunokhod 1]] and [[Lunokhod 2]].<ref name="lunokhod">{{Cite episode |title=Tank on the Moon |url=http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/magazine2.html |series=The Nature of Things with David Suzuki |network=CBC-TV |air-date=6 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226123643/http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/magazine2.html |archive-date=26 December 2008}}</ref>

Khrushchev initiated '[[Khrushchev Thaw|The Thaw]]', a complex shift in political, cultural and economic life in the country. This included some openness and contact with other nations and new social and economic policies with more emphasis on commodity goods, allowing a dramatic rise in living standards while maintaining high levels of economic growth. Censorship was relaxed as well. Khrushchev's reforms in agriculture and administration, however, were generally unproductive. In 1962, he precipitated a [[Cuban Missile Crisis|crisis with the United States]] over the Soviet deployment of [[Nuclear weapons delivery|nuclear missiles]] in [[Cuba]]. An agreement was made with the United States to remove nuclear missiles from both Cuba and [[Turkey]], concluding the crisis. This event caused Khrushchev much embarrassment and loss of prestige, resulting in his removal from power in 1964.

=== Era of Stagnation (1964–1985) ===
{{Main|History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)|Era of Stagnation}}
[[File:Nikolai-Podgornyi-1969-in-Tampere.jpg|thumb|right|[[Nikolai Podgorny]] visiting [[Tampere]], [[Finland]] on 16 October 1969]]
[[File:Carter Brezhnev sign SALT II.jpg|thumb|left|Soviet general secretary [[Leonid Brezhnev]] and US President [[Jimmy Carter]] sign the [[Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II|SALT II arms limitation treaty]] in Vienna on 18 June 1979.]]
Following the ousting of Khrushchev, another period of [[collective leadership]] ensued, consisting of Leonid Brezhnev as general secretary, [[Alexei Kosygin]] as Premier and [[Nikolai Podgorny]] as Chairman of the Presidium, lasting until Brezhnev established himself in the early 1970s as the preeminent Soviet leader.

In 1968, the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact allies [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|invaded]] [[Czechoslovakia]] to crush the [[Prague Spring]] reforms. In the aftermath, Brezhnev justified the invasion and previous military interventions, as well as any potential military interventions in the future, by introducing the [[Brezhnev Doctrine]], which proclaimed any threat to Soviet rule in a Warsaw Pact state as a threat to all Warsaw Pact states, therefore justifying military intervention.

Brezhnev presided throughout ''[[détente]]'' with the West that resulted in treaties on armament control ([[SALT I]], [[Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II|SALT II]], [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]]) while at the same time building up Soviet military might.

In October 1977, the [[1977 Soviet Constitution|third Soviet Constitution]] was unanimously adopted. The prevailing mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to change. The long period of Brezhnev's rule had come to be dubbed one of 'standstill', with an ageing and ossified top political leadership. This period is also known as the Era of Stagnation, a period of adverse economic, political, and social effects in the country, which began during the rule of Brezhnev and continued under his successors [[Yuri Andropov]] and [[Konstantin Chernenko]].

In late 1979, the Soviet Union's [[Soviet–Afghan War|military intervened]] in the ongoing [[Afghan conflict|civil war in neighboring Afghanistan]], effectively ending a détente with the West.

=== Perestroika and Glasnost reforms (1985–1991) ===
{{Main|Cold War (1985–1991)|History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991)|1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev at the first Summit in Geneva, Switzerland.jpg|thumb|[[Mikhail Gorbachev]] in one-to-one discussions with US President [[Ronald Reagan]]]]
Two developments dominated the decade that followed: the increasingly apparent crumbling of the Soviet Union's economic and political structures, and the patchwork attempts at reforms to reverse that process. Kenneth S. Deffeyes argued in ''[[Beyond Oil]]'' that the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]] encouraged [[Saudi Arabia]] to [[1980s oil glut|lower the price of oil]] to the point where the Soviets could not make a profit selling their oil, and resulted in the depletion of the country's [[hard currency]] reserves.<ref>Kenneth S. Deffeyes, Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak.</ref>
[[File:00 Páneurópai Piknik emlékhely.jpg|thumb|left|150px|The [[Pan-European Picnic]] took place in August 1989 on the Hungarian-Austrian border.]]
Brezhnev's next two successors, transitional figures with deep roots in his tradition, did not last long. [[Yuri Andropov]] was 68 years old and [[Konstantin Chernenko]] 72 when they assumed power; both died in less than two years. In an attempt to avoid a third short-lived leader, in 1985, the Soviets turned to the next generation and selected [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]. In addition to the failing economy, the prolonged war in Afghanistan led to increased public dissatisfaction with the Communist regime. Also, the [[Chernobyl disaster]] in 1986 added motive force to Gorbachev's reforms.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zimmerman |first1=William |last2=Axelrod |first2=Robert |title=The "Lessons" of Vietnam and Soviet Foreign Policy |journal=World Politics |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=1–24 |doi=10.2307/2010148|jstor=2010148 |s2cid=155025896 }}</ref> He made significant changes in the economy and party leadership, called ''[[perestroika]]''. His policy of ''[[glasnost]]'' freed public [[access to information]] after decades of heavy government censorship. Gorbachev also moved to end the Cold War. In 1988, the USSR abandoned its [[Soviet–Afghan War|war in Afghanistan]] and began to withdraw its forces. In the following year, [[Sinatra Doctrine|Gorbachev refused to interfere in the internal affairs of the Soviet satellite states]], which paved the way for the [[Revolutions of 1989]]. In particular, the standstill of the Soviet Union at the [[Pan-European Picnic]] in August 1989 then set a peaceful chain reaction in motion, at the end of which the Eastern Bloc collapsed. With the tearing down of the [[Berlin Wall]] and with East and West Germany pursuing re-unification, the [[Iron Curtain]] between [[Western world|the West]] and Soviet-occupied regions came down.<ref>Andreas Rödder, Deutschland einig Vaterland – Die Geschichte der Wiedervereinigung (2009).</ref><ref>Thomas Roser: DDR-Massenflucht: Ein Picknick hebt die Welt aus den Angeln (German – Mass exodus of the GDR: A picnic clears the world) in: Die Presse 16 August 2018.</ref><ref>Otmar Lahodynsky: Paneuropäisches Picknick: Die Generalprobe für den Mauerfall (Pan-European picnic: the dress rehearsal for the fall of the Berlin Wall – German), in: Profil 9 August 2014.</ref><ref>"Der 19. August 1989 war ein Test für Gorbatschows" (German – 19 August 1989 was a test for Gorbachev), in: FAZ 19 August 2009.</ref>

At the same time, the Soviet republics started legal moves towards potentially declaring [[sovereignty]] over their territories, citing the freedom to secede in Article 72 of the USSR constitution.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050324050607/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n12_v42/ai_9119705 The red blues – Soviet politics] by Brian Crozier, ''[[National Review]]'', 25 June 1990. {{dead link|bot=medic}}{{Cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> On 7 April 1990, a law was passed allowing a republic to secede if more than two-thirds of its residents voted for it in a referendum.<ref>[http://www.rspp.su/sobor/conf_2006/istoki_duh_nrav_crisis.html Origins of Moral-Ethical Crisis and Ways to Overcome it] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928104220/http://www.rspp.su/sobor/conf_2006/istoki_duh_nrav_crisis.html }} by V.A.Drozhin Honoured Lawyer of Russia.</ref> Many held their first free elections in the Soviet era for their own national legislatures in 1990. Many of these legislatures proceeded to produce legislation contradicting the Union laws in what was known as the '[[War of Laws]]'. In 1989, the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] convened a newly elected Congress of People's Deputies. [[Boris Yeltsin]] was elected its chairman. On 12 June 1990, the Congress [[Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|declared Russia's sovereignty over its territory]] and proceeded to pass laws that attempted to supersede some of the Soviet laws. After a landslide victory of [[Sąjūdis]] in Lithuania, that country declared its independence restored on 11 March 1990, citing the illegality of the [[Occupation of the Baltic states|Soviet occupation of the Baltic states]]. Soviet forces attempted to halt the secession by crushing popular demonstrations in Lithuania ([[January Events (Lithuania)|Bloody Sunday]]) and Latvia ([[The Barricades]]), as a result of which numerous civilians were killed or wounded. However, these actions only bolstered international support for the secessionists.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004464896/BP000014.xml|title=Chapter 3 The Baltic States Between 1940 and 1991: Illegality and/or Prescription|publisher=Brill|author=Lauri Mälksoo|year=2022|doi=10.1163/9789004464896_005 |isbn=978-9004464896 }}</ref>
[[File:Image0 ST.jpg|thumb|[[T-80]] tank on [[Red Square]] during the [[1991 August Coup|August Coup]]]]
A [[1991 Soviet Union referendum|referendum for the preservation of the USSR]] was held on 17 March 1991 in nine republics (the remainder having boycotted the vote), with the majority of the population in those republics voting for preservation of the Union in the form of a new federation. The referendum gave Gorbachev a minor boost. In the summer of 1991, the [[Union of Sovereign States|New Union Treaty]], which would have turned the country into a much looser Union, was agreed upon by eight republics. The signing of the treaty, however, was interrupted by the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|August Coup]]—an attempted coup d'état by hardline members of the government and the KGB who sought to reverse Gorbachev's reforms and reassert the central government's control over the republics. After the coup collapsed, Russian president Yeltsin was seen as a hero for his decisive actions, while Gorbachev's power was effectively ended. The balance of power tipped significantly towards the republics. In August 1991, Latvia and Estonia immediately declared the restoration of their full independence (following Lithuania's 1990 example). Gorbachev resigned as general secretary in late August, and soon afterwards, the party's activities were indefinitely suspended—effectively ending its rule. By the fall, Gorbachev could no longer influence events outside Moscow, and he was being challenged even there by Yeltsin, who had been elected [[President of Russia]] in July 1991.

=== Dissolution and aftermath ===
{{Main|Commonwealth of Independent States|Dissolution of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Changes in national boundaries after the end of the Cold War.jpg|thumb|Changes in national boundaries after the end of the [[Cold War]]]]
[[File:Refugeesaz.jpg|thumb|Internally displaced Azerbaijanis from [[Nagorno-Karabakh]], 1993]]
[[File:USSR - Then and Now.png|thumb|Country emblems of the Soviet Republics before and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (note that the [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]] (fifth in the second row) no longer exists as a political entity of any kind and the emblem is unofficial.)]]
The remaining 12 republics continued discussing new, increasingly looser, models of the Union. However, by December all except Russia and [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakhstan]] had formally declared independence. During this time, Yeltsin took over what remained of the Soviet government, including the [[Moscow Kremlin]]. The final blow was struck on 1 December when Ukraine, the second-most powerful republic, [[1991 Ukrainian independence referendum|voted overwhelmingly for independence]]. Ukraine's secession ended any realistic chance of the country staying together even on a limited scale.

On 8 December 1991, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and [[Belarus]] (formerly Byelorussia), signed the [[Belavezha Accords]], which declared the Soviet Union dissolved and established the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS) in its place. While doubts remained over the authority of the accords to do this, on 21 December 1991, the representatives of all Soviet republics except [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgia]] signed the [[Alma-Ata Protocol]], which confirmed the accords. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned as the President of the USSR, declaring the office extinct. He turned the powers that had been vested in the presidency over to Yeltsin. That night, the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time, and the [[Flag of Russia|Russian tricolour]] was raised in its place.

The following day, the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet]], the highest governmental body, voted both itself and the country out of existence. This is generally recognized as marking the official, final [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] as a functioning state, and the end of the [[Cold War]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt5OLD3vp4UC&q=26+december+1991+ussr&pg=PR5 |title=Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States: Documents, Data, and Analysis |last1=Brzezinski |first1=Zbigniew K. |author-link1=Zbigniew Brzezinski |last2=Sullivan |first2=Paige |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-56324-637-1 |access-date=15 October 2020 |archive-date=17 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217230805/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt5OLD3vp4UC&q=26+december+1991+ussr&pg=PR5 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Soviet Army initially remained under overall CIS command but was soon absorbed into the different military forces of the newly independent states. The few remaining Soviet institutions that had not been taken over by Russia ceased to function by the end of 1991.

Following the dissolution, Russia was internationally recognized<ref name="uk">[http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1019744935436 Country Profile: Russia] Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311123046/http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1019744935436 }}</ref> as the USSR's [[Succession of states|legal successor]] on the international stage. To that end, Russia voluntarily accepted all Soviet foreign debt and claimed Soviet overseas properties as its own. Under the 1992 [[Lisbon Protocol]], Russia also agreed to receive all nuclear weapons remaining in the territory of other former Soviet republics. Since then, the Russian Federation has [[Russia and the United Nations|assumed the Soviet Union's rights and obligations]], and is widely viewed as the USSR's successor state.<ref name="Ojo Emmanuel Oladipo">{{cite journal|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/from-russianisation-to-legalisation-russia-and-the-question-of-successor-state-to-the-soviet-union|title=From Russianisation to legalisation: Russia and the question of successor state to the Soviet Union|author=Ojo Emmanuel Oladipo|journal=Журнал Сибирского Федерального Университета. Гуманитарные Науки |year=2017 |volume=10 |issue=12 |pages=1840–1855 |publisher=Cyberleninka}}</ref> [[Ukraine]] has refused to recognize exclusive Russian claims to succession of the USSR and claimed such status for Ukraine as well, which was codified in Articles 7 and 8 of its 1991 law [[On Legal Succession of Ukraine]]. Since its independence in 1991, Ukraine has continued to pursue claims against Russia in foreign courts, seeking to recover its share of the foreign property that was owned by the USSR.

In summing up the international ramifications of these events, [[Vladislav Zubok]] stated: 'The collapse of the [[Soviet empire]] was an event of epochal geopolitical, military, ideological, and economic significance.'<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zubok |first=Vladislav M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3j2VJj1hs1EC&pg=PR9 |title=A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev |year= 2009 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-9905-2 |page=ix |access-date=1 December 2017 |via=Google Books |archive-date=9 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309161344/https://books.google.com/books?id=3j2VJj1hs1EC&pg=PR9 |url-status=live }}</ref> Before the dissolution, the country had maintained its status as one of the world's two superpowers for four decades after World War II through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, military strength, economic strength and scientific research, especially in space technology and weaponry.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=The Soviet Union and the United States – Revelations from the Russian Archives {{!}} Exhibitions – Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915012329/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html |archive-date=15 September 2017 |access-date=12 November 2017 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref>

==== Post-Soviet states ====
{{Main|Post-Soviet states}}
[[File:RIAN archive 41059 CIS heads of state.jpg|thumb|On 21 December 1991, the leaders of 11 former Soviet republics, including Russia and Ukraine, agreed to the [[Alma-Ata Protocol]]s, formally establishing the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS).]]
The analysis of the [[succession of states]] for the 15 [[post-Soviet states]] is complex.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20031123143520/http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/Others/inf397.shtml Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations from the President of the Russian Federation]</ref> The Russian Federation is widely seen as the legal ''continuator'' state and is for most purposes the heir to the Soviet Union. It retained ownership of all former Soviet embassy properties, inheriting the full [[Russia and weapons of mass destruction|Soviet nuclear arsenal]], and also inherited the [[Soviet Union and the United Nations|Soviet Union's UN membership]], with its permanent seat on the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]].<ref name="Ojo Emmanuel Oladipo"/>

Of the two other co-founding states of the USSR at the time of the dissolution, [[Ukraine]] was the only one that had passed laws, similar to Russia, claiming it is a state-successor of both the [[Ukrainian SSR]] and the USSR.<ref>[https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/main/1543-12 "ЗАКОН УКРАЇНИ Про правонаступництво України"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123004257/https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/main/1543-12 }} (in Ukrainian).</ref> Soviet treaties laid groundwork for Ukraine's future foreign agreements as well as leading to the country agreeing to undertake 16.37% of debts of the Soviet Union for which it was going to receive its share of the USSR's foreign property. Russia's position as the 'only continuation of the USSR' that became widely accepted in the West, as well as constant pressure from the Western countries, allowed Russia to inherit Soviet state property abroad and conceal information about it. Due to that Ukraine never ratified 'zero option' agreement that Russian Federation had signed with other former Soviet republics, as it denied disclosing of information about Soviet Gold Reserves and its Diamond Fund.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JSwstF6SEAkC&pg=PA924 |title=The Former Soviet Union in Transition |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=1993 |isbn=978-1-56324-318-9 |editor-last=Kaufman |editor-first=Richard F. |page=924 |editor-last2=Hardt |editor-first2=John P. |access-date=28 November 2020 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819033956/https://books.google.com/books?id=JSwstF6SEAkC&pg=PA924 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zadorozhnii |first=Oleksandr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMokDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |title=International Law in the Relations of Ukraine and the Russian Federation |publisher=Yuri Marchenko |year=2016 |isbn=978-617-684-146-3 |page=98 |access-date=28 November 2020 |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817025957/https://books.google.com/books?id=lMokDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |url-status=live }}</ref> The dispute over former Soviet property and assets between the two former republics is still ongoing:
{{Blockquote|text=The conflict is unsolvable. We can continue to poke Kiev handouts in the calculation of 'solve the problem', only it won't be solved. Going to a trial is also pointless: for a number of European countries this is a political issue, and they will make a decision clearly in whose favor. What to do in this situation is an open question. Search for non-trivial solutions. But we must remember that in 2014, with the filing of the then Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, litigation with Russia resumed in 32 countries.|author=[[Sergei Markov]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Ни по-честному, ни по-братски – Москва и Киев не могут поделить советскую собственность за рубежом |url=https://news.rambler.ru/ukraine/43812763-ni-po-chestnomu-ni-po-bratski-moskva-i-kiev-ne-mogut-podelit-sovetskuyu-sobstvennost-za-rubezhom/ |website=Рамблер/новости |access-date=14 July 2020 |archive-date=15 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715131651/https://news.rambler.ru/ukraine/43812763-ni-po-chestnomu-ni-po-bratski-moskva-i-kiev-ne-mogut-podelit-sovetskuyu-sobstvennost-za-rubezhom/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Similar situation occurred with restitution of cultural property. Although on 14 February 1992 Russia and other former Soviet republics signed agreement 'On the return of cultural and historic property to the origin states' in [[Minsk]], it was halted by the Russian State Duma that eventually passed '[[Russian cultural property law|Federal Law on Cultural Valuables Displaced to the USSR as a Result of the Second World War and Located on the Territory of the Russian Federation]]' which made restitution currently impossible, effectively barring the return of looted cultural heritage by Soviet troops during the Second World War to its original owners.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Николаевич |first=Касатенко Александр |title=История и теория реституции культурных ценностей |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/istoriya-i-teoriya-restitutsii-kulturnyh-tsennostey |journal=Вестник Таганрогского института управления и экономики |volume=1 |issue=17 |via=cyberleninka.ru |access-date=14 July 2020 |archive-date=16 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716201711/https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/istoriya-i-teoriya-restitutsii-kulturnyh-tsennostey |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Image:GDP of Russia since 1989.svg|thumb|Russian [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] since the end of the Soviet Union (from 2014 are forecasts)]]
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania consider themselves as [[State continuity of the Baltic states|revivals of the three independent countries]] that existed prior to their [[Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)|occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union]] in 1940. They maintain that the process by which they were incorporated into the Soviet Union violated both international law and their own law, and that in 1990–1991 they were reasserting an independence that still legally existed.

Nearly all of the post-Soviet states suffered deep and prolonged [[recession]]s after [[Shock therapy (economics)|shock therapy]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weber |first=Isabella |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1228187814 |title=How China escaped shock therapy : the market reform debate |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-429-49012-5 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |pages=6 |oclc=1228187814}}</ref> with poverty increasing more than tenfold.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E0D8163FF931A25753C1A9669C8B63 Study Finds Poverty Deepening in Former Communist Countries], New York Times, October 12, 2000</ref> In a 2001 study by the economist [[Steven Rosefielde]], he calculated that there were 3.4 million premature deaths in Russia from 1990 to 1998, which he partly blames on the "shock therapy" that came with the [[Washington Consensus]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Rosefielde|first1=Steven|title=Premature Deaths: Russia's Radical Economic Transition in Soviet Perspective|journal=[[Europe-Asia Studies]]|volume=53 |issue=8 |pages=1159–1176|doi= 10.1080/09668130120093174|s2cid=145733112}}</ref>

There are additionally six states that claim independence from the other internationally recognized post-Soviet states but [[List of states with limited recognition|possess limited international recognition]]: [[Abkhazia]], [[Republic of Artsakh|Artsakh]], [[Donetsk People's Republic|Donetsk]], [[Luhansk People's Republic|Luhansk]], [[South Ossetia]] and [[Transnistria]]. The [[Chechnya|Chechen]] separatist movement of the [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]], the [[Gagauzia|Gagauz]] separatist movement of the [[Gagauz Republic]] and the [[Talysh people|Talysh]] separatist movement of the [[Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic]] lack any international recognition.

== Geography ==
{{main|Geography of the Soviet Union}}
{{see also|Geography of Russia}}
With an area of {{convert|22402200|km2}}, the Soviet Union was the world's largest country, a status that is retained by the [[Russia|Russian Federation]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513251/Russia Russia – Encyclopædia Britannica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080426065826/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513251/Russia }}. Britannica.com (27 April 2010). Retrieved on 29 July 2013.</ref> Covering a sixth of Earth's land surface, its size was comparable to that of [[North America]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pages.towson.edu/thompson/courses/regional/reference/sovietphysical.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915090942/http://pages.towson.edu/thompson/Courses/Regional/Reference/SovietPhysical.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 September 2012|title=The Former Soviet Union: Physical Geography|author=Virginia Thompson|publisher=Towson University: Department of Geography & Environmental Planning|access-date=24 March 2016}}</ref> Two other successor states, [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Ukraine]], rank among the top 10 countries by land area, and the largest country entirely in Europe, respectively. The [[Europe]]an portion accounted for a quarter of the country's area and was the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in [[Asia]] extended to the [[Pacific Ocean]] to the east and [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] to the south, and, except some areas in [[Central Asia]], was much less populous. It spanned over {{Convert|10000|km}} east to west across 11 [[time zone]]s, and over {{convert|7200|km}} north to south. It had five climate zones: [[tundra]], [[taiga]], [[steppe]]s, [[desert]] and [[mountain]]s.

The USSR, like [[Russia]], had the world's longest [[border]], measuring over {{convert|60000|km}}, or {{frac|1|1|2}} circumferences of Earth. Two-thirds of it was a [[coast]]line. The country bordered [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], the [[History of the People's Republic of China (1976–1989)|People's Republic of China]], [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]], [[Finland]], [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]], [[Pahlavi Iran|Iran]], [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]], [[North Korea]], [[Norway]], [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]], and [[Turkey]] from 1945 to 1991. The [[Bering Strait]] separated the USSR from the [[United States]].

The country's highest mountain was Communism Peak (now [[Ismoil Somoni Peak]]) in [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic|Tajikistan]], at {{Convert|7495|m}}. The USSR also included most of the world's largest lakes; the [[Caspian Sea]] (shared with [[Iran]]), and [[Lake Baikal]], the world's largest (by volume) and deepest freshwater lake that is also an internal body of water in Russia.

== Government and politics ==
{{Main|Politics of the Soviet Union|Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{Marxism–Leninism sidebar}}
There were three power hierarchies in the Soviet Union: the legislature represented by the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]], the government represented by the [[Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union|Council of Ministers]], and the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU), the only legal party and the final policymaker in the country.<ref name="sakwa">Sakwa, Richard. ''Soviet Politics in Perspective''. 2nd ed. London – N.Y.: Routledge, 1998.</ref>

=== Communist Party ===
{{Main|Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:MoskauRoterPlatzSeptember1990.jpg|left|thumb|Military parade on the [[Red Square]] in Moscow, 7 November 1964]]
At the top of the Communist Party was the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]], elected at [[Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Party Congresses]] and Conferences. In turn, the Central Committee voted for a [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] (called the Presidium between 1952 and 1966), [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]] and the [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|general secretary]] (First Secretary from 1953 to 1966), the ''de facto'' highest office in the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite book |author=Law, David A. |title=Russian Civilization |publisher=Ardent Media |year=1975 |pages=193–194 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f3ky9qBavl4C |isbn=978-0-8422-0529-0|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512055909/http://books.google.com/books?id=f3ky9qBavl4C&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Depending on the degree of power consolidation, it was either the Politburo as a collective body or the General Secretary, who always was one of the Politburo members, that effectively led the party and the country<ref>{{cite book |author=Zemtsov, Ilya |title=Chernenko: The Last Bolshevik: The Soviet Union on the Eve of Perestroika |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |year=1989 |page=325 |url=https://archive.org/details/chernenkolastbol00zemt|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-88738-260-4|access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> (except for the period of the highly personalized authority of Stalin, exercised directly through his position in the Council of Ministers rather than the Politburo after 1941).<ref>{{cite book |author=Knight, Amy |title=Beria: Stalin's First Lieutenant |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1995 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxiuUGRQhUIC |isbn=978-0-691-01093-9|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512055028/http://books.google.com/books?id=PxiuUGRQhUIC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> They were not controlled by the general party membership, as the key principle of the party organization was [[democratic centralism]], demanding strict subordination to higher bodies, and elections went uncontested, endorsing the candidates proposed from above.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Hough, Jerry F. |author2=Fainsod, Merle |title=How the Soviet Union is Governed |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1979 |page=486 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38gMzMRXCpQC |isbn=978-0-674-41030-5|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512054528/http://books.google.com/books?id=38gMzMRXCpQC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Communist Party maintained its dominance over the state mainly through its control over the [[Nomenklatura|system of appointments]]. All senior government officials and most deputies of the Supreme Soviet were members of the CPSU. Of the party heads themselves, Stalin (1941–1953) and Khrushchev (1958–1964) were Premiers. Upon the forced retirement of Khrushchev, the party leader was prohibited from this kind of double membership,<ref>{{cite book |author=Service, Robert |title=History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-first Century |publisher=[[Penguin Books Ltd]] |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ |isbn=978-0-14-103797-4 |page=378|author-link=Robert Service (historian)|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511090135/http://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ&dq|archive-date=11 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> but the later General Secretaries for at least some part of their tenure occupied the mostly ceremonial position of [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]], the nominal [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|head of state]]. The institutions at lower levels were overseen and at times supplanted by [[Kraikom|primary party organizations]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Конститутион оф тхе Руссиян Федератион: витх комментариес анд интерпретатион |publisher=Brunswick Publishing Corp |year=1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mQjvzP8VSYC |isbn=978-1-55618-142-9 |page=82|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512045452/http://books.google.com/books?id=3mQjvzP8VSYC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, in practice the degree of control the party was able to exercise over the state bureaucracy, particularly after the death of Stalin, was far from total, with the bureaucracy pursuing different interests that were at times in conflict with the party,<ref>{{cite book |author=Ōgushi, Atsushi |title=The Demise of the Soviet Communist Party |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |pages=31–32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7mDUC1nOZsC |isbn=978-0-415-43439-3|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512042443/http://books.google.com/books?id=N7mDUC1nOZsC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> nor was the party itself monolithic from top to bottom, although [[Ban on factions in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|factions were officially banned]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=Taras, Ray|author-link=Raymond Taras |title=Leadership change in Communist states |publisher=Routledge |year=1989 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AlcVAAAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-04-445277-5 |page=132|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512053745/http://books.google.com/books?id=AlcVAAAAIAAJ&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Government ===
{{Main|Government of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Supreme Soviet 1982.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Grand Kremlin Palace]], the seat of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]], 1982]]
The [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet]] (successor of the [[Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union|Congress of Soviets]]) was nominally the highest state body for most of the Soviet history,<ref>{{cite book |author1=F. Triska, Jan |author2=Slusser, Robert M. |title=The Theory, Law, and Policy of Soviet Treaties |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1962 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/theorylawpoli00tris/page/63 63]–64 |url=https://archive.org/details/theorylawpoli00tris|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-8047-0122-8|access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> at first acting as a rubber stamp institution, approving and implementing all decisions made by the party. However, its powers and functions were extended in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including the creation of new state commissions and committees. It gained additional powers relating to the approval of the [[Five-year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union|Five-Year Plans]] and the [[government budget]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Deb, Kalipada |title=Soviet Union to Commonwealth: Transformation and Challenges |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd |year=1996 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvK6r-8Ogg0C |isbn=978-81-85880-95-2|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512053347/http://books.google.com/books?id=IvK6r-8Ogg0C&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The Supreme Soviet elected a [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet|Presidium]] (successor of the [[Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union|Central Executive Committee]]) to wield its power between plenary sessions,<ref name="COMSSP" /> ordinarily held twice a year, and appointed the [[Supreme Court of the Soviet Union|Supreme Court]],<ref>{{cite book |title=The Communist World |publisher=Ardent Media |year=2001 |page=441 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h9FFVgu-Ff0C |isbn=978-0-271-02170-6|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512051205/http://books.google.com/books?id=h9FFVgu-Ff0C&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Procurator General of the Soviet Union|Procurator General]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Joseph Marie Feldbrugge, Ferdinand |title=Russian Law: The End of the Soviet System and the Role of Law |publisher=[[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]] |year=1993 |page=205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWt7MN3Dch8C |isbn=978-0-7923-2358-7|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041218/http://books.google.com/books?id=JWt7MN3Dch8C&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union|Council of Ministers]] (known before 1946 as the [[Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union|Council of People's Commissars]]), headed by the [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Chairman]] (Premier) and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society.<ref name="COMSSP">{{cite book |author=Benson, Shirley |title=Nikita Khrushchev and the Creation of a Superpower |publisher=[[Penn State University Press]] |year=2001 |pages=XIV |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQeahlZdM7sC |isbn=978-0-271-02170-6|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910233718/https://books.google.com/books?id=dQeahlZdM7sC&dq|archive-date=10 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> State and party structures of the [[Republics of the Soviet Union|constituent republics]] largely emulated the structure of the central institutions, although the Russian SFSR, unlike the other constituent republics, for most of its history had no republican branch of the CPSU, being ruled directly by the union-wide party until 1990. Local authorities were organized likewise into [[Raikom|party committees]], [[Soviet (council)|local Soviets]] and [[executive committee]]s. While the state system was nominally federal, the party was unitary.<ref>{{cite book |author1=White, Stephen |author2=J. Gill, Graeme |author3=Slider, Darrell |title=The Politics of Transition: Shaping a post-Soviet Future |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |page=[https://archive.org/details/politicsoftransi0000whit/page/108 108] |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsoftransi0000whit|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-521-44634-1|access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref>

The state security police (the [[KGB]] and [[:Template:Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies|its predecessor agencies]]) played an important role in Soviet politics. It was instrumental in the [[Red Terror]] and [[Great Purge]],<ref>{{cite book |author1=P. Hoffmann, Erik |author2=Laird, Robin Frederick |title=The Soviet Polity in the Modern Era |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |year=1984 |pages=313–315 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63_obglArrMC |isbn=978-0-202-24165-4|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512045329/http://books.google.com/books?id=63_obglArrMC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> but was brought under strict party control after Stalin's death. Under [[Yuri Andropov]], the KGB engaged in the suppression of political dissent and maintained an extensive network of informers, reasserting itself as a political actor to some extent independent of the party-state structure,<ref>{{cite book |author1=P. Hoffmann, Erik |author2=Laird, Robin Frederick |title=The Soviet Polity in the Modern Era |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |year=1984 |pages=315–319 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63_obglArrMC |isbn=978-0-202-24165-4|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512045329/http://books.google.com/books?id=63_obglArrMC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> culminating in the anti-corruption campaign targeting high-ranking party officials in the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Soviet Polity in the Modern Era |journal=[[Great Russian Encyclopedia]] |year=2005 |volume=1 |page=742}}</ref>

=== Separation of power and reform ===
{{Main|Perestroika}}
[[File:RIAN archive 699872 Dushanbe riots, February 1990.jpg|thumb|Nationalist anti-government [[1990 Dushanbe riots|riots in Dushanbe]], [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic|Tajikistan]], 1990]]
The [[Constitution of the Soviet Union|constitution]], which was promulgated in [[1924 Soviet Constitution|1924]], [[1936 Soviet Constitution|1936]] and [[1977 Soviet Constitution|1977]],<ref>{{cite book |author=Sakwa, Richard |title=Soviet Politics in Perspective |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vX1U5G_xnqcC |isbn=978-0-415-07153-6 |page=106|author-link=Richard Sakwa|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512042437/http://books.google.com/books?id=vX1U5G_xnqcC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> did not limit state power. No formal [[separation of powers]] existed between the Party, Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers<ref>{{cite book |author=Kucherov, Samuel |title=The Organs of Soviet Administration of Justice: Their History and Operation |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill Archive Publishers]] |year=1970 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssMUAAAAIAAJ |page=31|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512060346/http://books.google.com/books?id=ssMUAAAAIAAJ&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> that represented executive and [[Legislature|legislative]] branches of the government. The system was governed less by statute than by informal conventions, and no settled mechanism of leadership succession existed. Bitter and at times deadly power struggles took place in the Politburo after the deaths of Lenin<ref>{{cite book |author=Phillips, Steve |title=Lenin and the Russian Revolution |publisher=[[Heinemann (book publisher)|Heinemann]] |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_na0zfdhKQMC |isbn=978-0-435-32719-4 |page=71|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512055812/http://books.google.com/books?id=_na0zfdhKQMC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and Stalin,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |year=2005 |title=Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |page=1014}}</ref> as well as after Khrushchev's dismissal,<ref>{{cite book |author=Service, Robert |title=History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-first Century |publisher=[[Penguin Books Ltd]] |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ |page=379 |isbn=978-0-14-103797-4|author-link=Robert Service (historian)|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511090135/http://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ&dq|archive-date=11 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> itself due to a decision by both the Politburo and the Central Committee.<ref name="Khrushchevgoner" /> All leaders of the Communist Party before Gorbachev died in office, except [[Georgy Malenkov]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Polley, Martin |title=A–Z of modern Europe since 1789 |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |url=https://archive.org/details/azofmoderneurope0000poll|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-415-18597-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/azofmoderneurope0000poll/page/88 88]|access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> and Khrushchev, both dismissed from the party leadership amid internal struggle within the party.<ref name="Khrushchevgoner">{{cite book |author=Khrushchev, Nikita |year=2007 |title=Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, Volume 3: Statesman |publisher=[[Pennsylvania State University Press]] |isbn=978-0-271-02935-1 |page=674|author-link=Nikita Khrushchev}}</ref>

Between 1988 and 1990, facing considerable opposition, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] enacted reforms shifting power away from the highest bodies of the party and making the Supreme Soviet less dependent on them. The [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union|Congress of People's Deputies]] was established, the majority of whose members were directly elected in competitive elections held in March 1989, the first in Soviet history. The Congress now elected the Supreme Soviet, which became a full-time parliament, and much stronger than before. For the first time since the 1920s, it refused to rubber stamp proposals from the party and Council of Ministers.<ref name="countrystudies">{{cite web |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |title=Gorbachev's Reform Dilemma |url=http://countrystudies.us/russia/18.htm|access-date=16 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623125043/http://countrystudies.us/russia/18.htm|archive-date=23 June 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1990, Gorbachev introduced and assumed the position of the [[President of the Soviet Union]], concentrated power in his executive office, independent of the party, and subordinated the government,<ref>{{cite book |author=Polmar, Norman |title=The Naval Institute Guide to the Soviet |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkGDkpkQh-sC |isbn=978-0-87021-241-3 |page=1|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/https://books.google.com/books?id=tkGDkpkQh-sC&dq|archive-date=4 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> now renamed the [[Cabinet of Ministers (Soviet Union)|Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR]], to himself.<ref>{{cite book |author=McCauley, Martin |title=The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |year=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycCZqmhhceMC |isbn=978-0-582-78465-9 |page=490|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/https://books.google.com/books?id=ycCZqmhhceMC&dq|archive-date=4 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Tensions grew between the Union-wide authorities under Gorbachev, reformists led in Russia by [[Boris Yeltsin]] and controlling the newly elected [[Supreme Soviet of Russia|Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR]], and communist hardliners. On 19–21 August 1991, a group of hardliners staged a [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|coup attempt]]. The coup failed, and the [[State Council of the Soviet Union]] became the highest organ of state power 'in the period of transition'.<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Government of the USSR]]: [[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev, Mikhail]] |script-title=ru:УКАЗ: ПОЛОЖЕНИЕ О МИНИСТЕРСТВЕ ЮСТИЦИИ СССР |trans-title=Law: About state governing bodies of USSR in a transition period on the bodies of state authority and administration of the USSR in Transition |url=http://www.sssr.su/zopp.html |publisher=sssr.su |language=ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425162517/http://www.sssr.su/zopp.html |archive-date=25 April 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary, only remaining President for the final months of the existence of the USSR.<ref>{{cite book |author=Vincent Daniels, Robert |title=A Documentary History of Communism in Russia: From Lenin to Gorbachev |publisher=[[University Press of New England]] (UPNE) |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTIZ2dvDKF0C |isbn=978-0-87451-616-6 |page=388|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041324/http://books.google.com/books?id=gTIZ2dvDKF0C&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Judicial system ===
{{Main|Law of the Soviet Union}}
{{See also|Socialist law}}
The judiciary was not independent of the other branches of government. The [[Supreme Court of the Soviet Union|Supreme Court]] supervised the lower courts ([[People's Court (Soviet Union)|People's Court]]) and applied the law as established by the constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviewed the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union used the [[inquisitorial system]] of [[Roman law]], where the judge, [[Procurator General of the Soviet Union|procurator]], and defence attorney collaborate to "establish the truth".<ref>{{cite web |author=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/288956/inquisitorial-procedure |title=Inquisitorial procedure (law) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |access-date=30 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222225224/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/288956/inquisitorial-procedure |archive-date=22 December 2010 |url-status=live |author-link=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

===Human rights===
{{main|Human rights in the Soviet Union}}
[[Human rights]] in the Soviet Union were severely limited. The Soviet Union was a [[totalitarian state]] from [[History of the Soviet Union (1927–53)|1927 until 1953]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=totalitarianism {{!}} Definition, Examples, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/totalitarianism|access-date=2021-01-03|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Rutland, Peter (1993). The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union: The Role of Local Party Organs in Economic Management|year= 1993 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |page=9|isbn =978-0-521-39241-9 |quote=after 1953 ...This was still an oppressive regime, but not a totalitarian one."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Krupnik, Igor (1995). "4. Soviet Cultural and Ethnic Policies Towards Jews: A Legacy Reassessed". In Ro'i, Yaacov (ed.). Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-714-64619-0. "The era of 'social engineering' in the Soviet Union ended with the death of Stalin in 1953 or soon after; and that was the close of the totalitarian regime itself."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=von Beyme, Klaus (2014). On Political Culture, Cultural Policy, Art and Politics|publisher=Springer |page= 65| isbn =978-3-319-01559-0|quote=The Soviet Union after the death of Stalin moved from totalitarianism to authoritarian rule.}}</ref> and a [[One-party state|one-party]] state until 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Закон СССР от 14 марта 1990 г. N 1360-I "Об учреждении поста Президента СССР и внесении изменений и дополнений в Конституцию (Основной Закон) СССР"|url=http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1977/zakony/185465/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010070843/http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1977/zakony/185465/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-10-10|access-date=2021-01-04}}</ref> [[Freedom of speech]] was suppressed and dissent was punished. Independent political activities were not tolerated, whether these involved participation in free [[labour union|labor union]]s, private [[corporation]]s, independent churches or opposition [[political party|political parties]]. The [[freedom of movement]] within and especially outside the country was limited. The state restricted rights of citizens to [[private property]].

The Soviet conception of human rights was very different from [[International human rights law|international law]]. According to [[Law of the Soviet Union|Soviet legal theory]], "it is the government who is the beneficiary of human rights which are to be asserted ''against'' the individual".<ref>Lambelet, Doriane. "The Contradiction Between Soviet and American Human Rights Doctrine: Reconciliation Through Perestroika and Pragmatism." 7 ''Boston University International Law Journal''. 1989. pp. 61–62.</ref> The [[Soviet state]] was considered as the source of human rights.<ref name=shiman>{{cite book | last = Shiman | first = David | title = Economic and Social Justice: A Human Rights Perspective | publisher = Amnesty International | year= 1999 | url = http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/hreduseries/tb1b/Section1/tb1-2.htm | isbn = 978-0967533407}}</ref> Therefore, the Soviet legal system regarded [[law]] as an arm of politics and courts as agencies of the government.<ref name="Pipes"/> Extensive [[Extrajudicial punishment|extra-judicial powers]] were given to the [[Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies|Soviet secret police agencies]]. The Soviet government in practice significantly curbed the [[rule of law]], [[civil liberties]], [[Criminal justice|protection of law]], [[Emigration from the Eastern Bloc|freedom of movement]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/regional_perspectives_on_human_rights_the_ussr_and_russia_part_one|title=Regional Perspectives on Human Rights: The USSR and Russia, Part One|work=Bertrand M. Patenaude Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, Stanford University}}</ref> and [[Property rights|guarantees of property]],<ref name="Pipes"/><ref>[[Richard Pipes]] (2001) ''Communism'' Weidenfeld & Nicolson. {{ISBN|0-297-64688-5}}</ref> which were considered as examples of "bourgeois morality" by Soviet law theorists such as [[Andrey Vyshinsky]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Teoria dowodów sądowych w prawie radzieckim|last = Wyszyński|first = Andrzej|publisher = Biblioteka Zrzeszenia Prawników Demokratów|year = 1949|pages = 153, 162|url = http://echelon.pl/files/echelon/Wyszy%C5%84ski%20-%20Teoria%20dowod%C3%B3w%20s%C4%85dowych%20(OCR).pdf|access-date = 29 December 2022|archive-date = 29 July 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180729141510/https://echelon.pl/files/echelon/Wyszy%C5%84ski%20-%20Teoria%20dowod%C3%B3w%20s%C4%85dowych%20%28OCR%29.pdf|url-status = dead}}</ref> According to [[Vladimir Lenin]], the purpose of [[People's court (Soviet Union)|socialist courts]] was "not to eliminate [[Red Terror|terror]] ... but to substantiate it and legitimize it in principle".<ref name="Pipes">[[Richard Pipes]] ''Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime'', Vintage books, Random House Inc., New York, 1995, {{ISBN|0-394-50242-6}}, pp. 401–403</ref>

The Soviet Union signed legally-binding human rights documents, such as the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] in 1973, but they were neither widely known or accessible to people living under Communist rule, nor were they taken seriously by the Communist authorities.<ref name=thomas-hrideas>{{Cite journal| volume = 7| issue = 2| pages = 110–141| last = Thomas| first = Daniel C.| title = Human Rights Ideas, the Demise of Communism, and the End of the Cold War| journal = Journal of Cold War Studies| year = 2005| url = http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cws/summary/v007/7.2thomas.html| doi=10.1162/1520397053630600| s2cid = 57570614}}</ref>{{rp|117}}

=== Foreign relations ===
{{Main|Foreign relations of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Soekarno and Voroshilov.jpg|thumb|[[Sukarno]] and [[Kliment Voroshilov|Voroshilov]] in a state meeting on 1958]]
[[File:Nasser in Moscow.jpg|thumb|[[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] and [[Nikita Khrushchev]] in 1964]]
[[File:Soviet stamp 1974 for friendship between USSR and India 4k.jpg|thumb|Soviet [[Postage stamps and postal history of Russia#Soviet Union|stamps]] 1974 for friendship between the USSR and [[India]]]]
[[File:President Ford informally concludes the Vladivostok Summit - NARA - 7062568.jpg|thumb|[[Gerald Ford]], [[Andrei Gromyko]], [[Leonid Brezhnev]] and [[Henry Kissinger]] speaking informally at the [[Vladivostok Summit Meeting on Arms Control|Vladivostok Summit]] in 1974]]
[[File:RIAN archive 330109 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President George Bush.jpg|thumb|Mikhail Gorbachev and [[George H. W. Bush]] signing bilateral documents during Gorbachev's official visit to the United States in 1990]]
During his rule, Stalin always made the final policy decisions. Otherwise, Soviet foreign policy was set by the commission on the Foreign Policy of the Central Committee of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], or by the party's highest body the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]]. Operations were handled by the separate [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]. It was known as the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (or Narkomindel), until 1946. The most influential spokesmen were [[Georgy Chicherin]] (1872–1936), [[Maxim Litvinov]] (1876–1951), [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] (1890–1986), [[Andrey Vyshinsky]] (1883–1954) and [[Andrei Gromyko]] (1909–1989). Intellectuals were based in the [[Moscow State Institute of International Relations]].<ref>Adam B. Ulam, ''Expansion and coexistence: the history of Soviet foreign policy, 1917–73'' (1974)</ref>
* Comintern (1919–1943), or [[Communist International]], was an international communist organization based in the Kremlin that advocated [[world communism]]. The Comintern intended to 'struggle by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the state'.<ref>{{cite book |author=Harold Henry Fisher |title=The Communist Revolution: An Outline of Strategy and Tactics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2umAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA13 |year=1955 |publisher=Stanford UP |page=13}}</ref> It was abolished as a conciliatory measure toward Britain and the United States.<ref>Duncan Hallas, ''The Comintern: The History of the Third International'' (1985).</ref>
* [[Comecon]], the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Russian: Совет Экономической Взаимопомощи, ''Sovet Ekonomicheskoy Vzaimopomoshchi'', СЭВ, SEV) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under Soviet control that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with several communist states elsewhere in the world. Moscow was concerned about the [[Marshall Plan]], and Comecon was meant to prevent countries in the Soviets' sphere of influence from moving towards that of the Americans and Southeast Asia. Comecon was the Eastern Bloc's reply to the formation in Western Europe of the Organization for European Economic Co-Operation (OEEC),<ref name="loc-cs">"Germany (East)", Library of Congress Country Study, [http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/germany_east/gx_appnb.html Appendix B: The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501075842/http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/germany_east/gx_appnb.html }}</ref><ref>Michael C. Kaser, ''Comecon: Integration problems of the planned economies'' (Oxford University Press, 1967).</ref>
* The [[Warsaw Pact]] was a [[collective defence]] alliance formed in 1955 among the USSR and its [[satellite state]]s in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.<ref name="Reinalda2009">{{cite book |author=Bob Reinalda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln19AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA369 |title=Routledge History of International Organizations: From 1815 to the Present Day |year=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-02405-6 |page=369 |access-date=1 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101212444/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ln19AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA369 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Yoder1993">{{cite book |author=Amos Yoder |url=https://archive.org/details/communismintrans00yode |title=Communism in Transition: The End of the Soviet Empires |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-8448-1738-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/communismintrans00yode/page/58 58] |access-date=1 January 2016 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Comecon, the regional economic organization for the [[socialist state]]s of Central and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of [[West Germany]] into [[NATO]].<ref>Laurien Crump, ''The Warsaw Pact Reconsidered: International Relations in Eastern Europe, 1955–1969'' (Routledge, 2015).</ref><ref name="Reinalda2009" /> Although nominally a "defensive" alliance, the Pact's primary function was to safeguard the [[Soviet Empire|Soviet Union's hegemony]] over its [[Soviet Bloc|Eastern European]] satellites, with the Pact's only direct military actions having been the invasions of its own member states to keep them from breaking away.<ref name="history.com"/><ref name="Reinalda2009" /><ref>Laurien Crump (2015). ''The Warsaw Pact Reconsidered: International Relations in Eastern Europe, 1955–1969''. Routledge. p. 1.</ref><ref>Laurien Crump (2015). ''The Warsaw Pact Reconsidered: International Relations in Eastern Europe, 1955–1969''. Routledge. p. 17</ref>
* The [[Cominform]] (1947–1956), informally the Communist Information Bureau and officially the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties, was the first official agency of the international Marxist-Leninist movement since the dissolution of the Comintern in 1943. Its role was to coordinate actions between Marxist-Leninist parties under Soviet direction. Stalin used it to order Western European communist parties to abandon their exclusively parliamentarian line and instead concentrate on politically impeding the operations of the [[Marshall Plan]], the U.S. program of rebuilding Europe after the war and developing its economy.<ref>Michał Jerzy Zacharias, "The Beginnings of the Cominform: The Policy of the Soviet Union towards European Communist Parties in Connection with the Political Initiatives of the United States of America in 1947." ''Acta Poloniae Historica'' 78 (1998): 161–200. {{ISSN|0001-6829}}</ref> It also coordinated international aid to Marxist-Leninist insurgents during the Greek Civil War in 1947–1949.<ref>Nikos Marantzidis, "The Greek Civil War (1944–1949) and the International Communist System." ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 15.4 (2013): 25–54.</ref> It expelled Yugoslavia in 1948 after [[Josip Broz Tito]] insisted on an independent program. Its newspaper, ''For a Lasting Peace, for a People's Democracy!'', promoted Stalin's positions. The Cominform's concentration on Europe meant a deemphasis on world revolution in Soviet foreign policy. By enunciating a uniform ideology, it allowed the constituent parties to focus on personalities rather than issues.<ref>Heinz Timmermann, "The cominform effects on Soviet foreign policy." ''Studies in Comparative Communism'' 18.1 (1985): 3–23.</ref>

==== Early policies (1919–1939) ====
{{further|International relations (1919–1939)#Soviet Union}}
[[File:1987 CPA 5896.jpg|thumb|upright|1987 Soviet stamp]]
The Marxist-Leninist leadership of the Soviet Union intensely debated foreign policy issues and changed directions several times. Even after Stalin assumed dictatorial control in the late 1920s, there were debates, and he frequently changed positions.<ref>Ulam, ''Expansion and Coexistence'' (1974) pp. 111–179.</ref>

During the country's early period, it was assumed that Communist revolutions would break out soon in every major industrial country, and it was the Russian responsibility to assist them. The [[Communist International|Comintern]] was the weapon of choice. A few revolutions did break out, but they were quickly suppressed (the longest lasting one was in Hungary)—the [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]]—lasted only from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919. The Russian Bolsheviks were in no position to give any help.

By 1921, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin realized that capitalism had stabilized itself in Europe and there would not be any widespread revolutions anytime soon. It became the duty of the Russian Bolsheviks to protect what they had in Russia, and avoid military confrontations that might destroy their bridgehead. Russia was now a pariah state, along with Germany. The two came to terms in 1922 with the [[Treaty of Rapallo, 1922|Treaty of Rapallo]] that settled long-standing grievances. At the same time, the two countries secretly set up training programs for the illegal German army and air force operations at hidden camps in the USSR.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=1986524 |title=Rapallo Reexamined: A New Look at Germany's Secret Military Collaboration with Russia in 1922 |journal=Military Affairs |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=109–117 |last1=Mueller |first1=Gordon H. |year=1976 |doi=10.2307/1986524 }}</ref>

Moscow eventually stopped threatening other states, and instead worked to open peaceful relationships in terms of trade, and diplomatic recognition. The United Kingdom dismissed the warnings of [[Winston Churchill]] and a few others about a continuing Marxist-Leninist threat, and opened trade relations and ''de facto'' diplomatic recognition in 1922. There was hope for a settlement of the pre-war Tsarist debts, but it was repeatedly postponed. Formal recognition came when the new [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] came to power in 1924.<ref>Christine A. White, ''British and American Commercial Relations with Soviet Russia, 1918–1924'' (UNC Press Books, 2017).</ref> All the other countries followed suit in opening trade relations. [[Henry Ford]] opened large-scale business relations with the Soviets in the late 1920s, hoping that it would lead to long-term peace. Finally, in 1933, the United States officially recognized the USSR, a decision backed by the public opinion and especially by US business interests that expected an opening of a new profitable market.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=42860014 |title=American Business and the Recognition of the Soviet Union |journal=Social Science Quarterly |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=349–368 |last1=Wilson |first1=J. H. |year=1971}}</ref>

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin ordered Marxist-Leninist parties across the world to strongly oppose non-Marxist political parties, labor unions or other organizations on the left, which they labelled [[Social fascism|social fascists]]. In the usage of the Soviet Union, and of the Comintern and its affiliated parties in this period, the epithet ''[[Fascist (insult)|fascist]]'' was used to describe capitalist society in general and virtually any [[Anti-Sovietism|anti-Soviet]] or anti-Stalinist activity or opinion.<ref name="Richter">{{cite book |last=Richter |first=Michael |year=2006 |chapter=Die doppelte Diktatur: Erfahrungen mit Diktatur in der DDR und Auswirkungen auf das Verhältnis zur Diktatur heute|title=Lasten diktatorischer Vergangenheit – Herausforderungen demokratischer Gegenwart |editor-last1= Besier |editor-first1=Gerhard | editor-last2=Stoklosa |editor-first2=Katarzyna|publisher=LIT Verlag |pages=195–208 |isbn=978-3825887896 }}</ref> Stalin reversed himself in 1934 with the [[Popular Front]] program that called on all Marxist parties to join with all [[Anti-fascism|anti-Fascist]] political, labor, and organizational forces that were opposed to [[fascism]], especially of the [[Nazism|Nazi]] variety.<ref>Chris Ward, ''Stalin's Russia'' (2nd ed. 1999) pp. 148–188.</ref><ref>Barbara Jelavich, ''St.Petersburg and Moscow: Czarist and Soviet Foreign Policy, 1814–1974'' (1974) pp. 342–346.</ref>

The rapid growth of power in Nazi Germany encouraged both Paris and Moscow to form a military alliance, and the [[Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance]] was signed in May 1935. A firm believer in collective security, Stalin's foreign minister [[Maxim Litvinov]] worked very hard to form a closer relationship with France and Britain.<ref>Haslam, Jonathan (1984). ''The Soviet Union and the Struggle for Collective Security in Europe, 1933–1939''. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 52–53. {{ISBN|978-0333300503}}</ref>

In 1939, half a year after the [[Munich Agreement]], the USSR attempted to form an anti-Nazi alliance with France and Britain.<ref>{{cite book |author=Louise Grace Shaw |title=The British Political Elite and the Soviet Union, 1937–1939 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAmDj-U-1fAC&pg=PA103 |year=2003 |page=103 |isbn=978-0-7146-5398-3 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=17 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617200516/https://books.google.com/books?id=iAmDj-U-1fAC&pg=PA103 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Adolf Hitler]] proposed a better deal, which would give the USSR control over much of Eastern Europe through the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]. In September, Germany invaded Poland, and the USSR also invaded later that month, resulting in the partition of Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of [[World War II]].<ref>D.C. Watt, ''How War Came: the Immediate Origins of the Second World War 1938–1939'' (1989).</ref>

==== World War II (1939–1945) ====
{{Main|Causes of World War II|Diplomatic history of World War II#Soviet Union}}
Up until his death in 1953, [[Joseph Stalin]] controlled all foreign relations of the Soviet Union during the [[interwar period]]. Despite the increasing build-up of [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]'s war machine and the outbreak of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], the Soviet Union did not cooperate with any other nation, choosing to follow its own path.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beloff |first=Max |title=The Foreign Policy Of Soviet Russia (1929–1941), Volume Two |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1949 |page=2}}</ref> However, after [[Operation Barbarossa]], the Soviet Union's priorities changed. Despite previous conflict with the [[United Kingdom]], [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] dropped his post war border demands.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.e-ir.info/2011/11/23/the-evolution-of-stalins-foreign-policy-during-word-war-two/ |website=E-International Relations |title=The Evolution of Stalin's Foreign Policy during World War Two |last=Strachan |first=Frederick |access-date=12 February 2022 |archive-date=13 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220213005104/https://www.e-ir.info/2011/11/23/the-evolution-of-stalins-foreign-policy-during-word-war-two/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Cold War (1945–1991) ====
{{Main|Origins of the Cold War|Cold War}}
The '''Cold War''' was a period of [[geopolitical]] tension between the [[United States]] and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the [[Western Bloc]] and the [[Eastern Bloc]], which began following [[World War II]] in 1945. The term ''[[Cold war (general term)|cold war]]'' is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two [[superpowers]], but they each supported major regional conflicts known as [[proxy war]]s. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary [[Allies of World War II|alliance]] and [[Allied-occupied Germany|victory]] against [[Nazi Germany]] in 1945. Aside from the [[Nuclear arms race|nuclear arsenal development]] and conventional military deployment, the struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as [[psychological warfare]], propaganda campaigns, [[Cold War espionage|espionage]], far-reaching [[Economic sanctions|embargoes]], rivalry at [[Politics and sports|sports events]] and technological competitions such as the [[Space Race]].

=== Administrative divisions ===
{{Main|Subdivisions of the Soviet Union|Soviet republic (system of government)|Republics of the Soviet Union}}
Constitutionally, the USSR was a federation of constituent Union Republics, which were either unitary states, such as [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] or [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussia]] (SSRs), or federations, such as [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]] or [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Transcaucasia]] (SFSRs),<ref name="sakwa" /> all four being the founding republics who signed the [[Treaty on the Creation of the USSR]] in December 1922. In 1924, during the [[National delimitation in the Soviet Union|national delimitation]] in Central Asia, [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbekistan]] and [[Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic|Turkmenistan]] were formed from parts of Russia's [[Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Turkestan ASSR]] and two Soviet dependencies, the [[Khorezm People's Soviet Republic|Khorezm]] and [[Bukharan People's Soviet Republic|Bukharan PSPs]]. In 1929, [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic|Tajikistan]] was split off from the Uzbekistan SSR. With the constitution of 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved, resulting in its constituent republics of [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenia]], [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgia]] and [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan]] being elevated to Union Republics, while [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakhstan]] and [[Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic|Kirghizia]] were split off from the Russian SFSR, resulting in the same status.<ref>{{cite book |last=Adams, Simon |title=Russian Republics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LyqIDCc-cSsC |year=2005 |page=21 |publisher=Black Rabbit Books |isbn=978-1-58340-606-9|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041101/http://books.google.com/books?id=LyqIDCc-cSsC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 1940, [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavia]] was formed from parts of Ukraine and [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina|Soviet-occupied Bessarabia]], and Ukrainian SSR. [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonia]], [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvia]] and [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]] were also [[Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)|annexed by the Soviet Union]] and turned into SSRs, which was [[State continuity of the Baltic states|not recognized by most of the international community]] and was considered an [[Occupation of the Baltic states|illegal occupation]]. After the [[Winter War|Soviet invasion of Finland]], the [[Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic|Karelo-Finnish SSR]] was formed on annexed territory as a Union Republic in March 1940 and then incorporated into Russia as the [[Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Karelian ASSR]] in 1956. Between July 1956 and September 1991, there were 15 union republics (see map below).<ref>{{cite book |last=Feldbrugge, Ferdinand Joseph Maria |title=Russian Law: The Rnd of the Soviet system and the Role of Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWt7MN3Dch8C |year=1993 |page=94 |publisher=[[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-7923-2358-7|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041218/http://books.google.com/books?id=JWt7MN3Dch8C&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

While nominally a union of equals, in practice the Soviet Union was dominated by [[Russians]]. The domination was so absolute that for most of its existence, the country was commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as 'Russia'. While the Russian SFSR was technically only one republic within the larger union, it was by far the largest (both in terms of population and area), most powerful, and most highly developed. The Russian SFSR was also the industrial center of the Soviet Union. Historian Matthew White wrote that it was an open secret that the country's federal structure was 'window dressing' for Russian dominance. For that reason, the people of the USSR were usually called 'Russians', not 'Soviets', since 'everyone knew who really ran the show'.<ref name="White 2012 368"/>

{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
!colspan="2" |Republic
!Map of the Union Republics between 1956 and 1991
|-
|1
|{{flag|Russian SFSR}}
|rowspan="15" style="width:350px;"|[[File:Republics of the USSR.svg|600px]]
|-
|2
|{{flag|Ukrainian SSR}}
|-
|3
|{{flag|Byelorussian SSR}}
|-
|4
|{{flag|Uzbek SSR}}
|-
|5
|{{flag|Kazakh SSR}}
|-
|6
|{{flag|Georgian SSR}}
|-
|7
|{{flag|Azerbaijan SSR}}
|-
|8
|{{flag|Lithuanian SSR}}
|-
|9
|{{flag|Moldavian SSR}}
|-
|10
|{{flag|Latvian SSR}}
|-
|11
|{{flag|Kirghiz SSR}}
|-
|12
|{{flag|Tajik SSR}}
|-
|13
|{{flag|Armenian SSR}}
|-
|14
|{{flag|Turkmen SSR}}
|-
|15
|{{flag|Estonian SSR}}
|}

== Military ==
{{Main|Soviet Armed Forces}}
{{See also|Red Army|Soviet Army|Soviet Navy|Soviet Air Forces|Lists of Heroes of the Soviet Union|Military history of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:RSD-10 2009 G1.jpg|thumb|A medium-range [[RSD-10|SS-20]] non-[[Intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBM]] ballistic missile, the deployment of which by the Soviet Union in the late 1970s launched a new [[arms race]] in Europe when NATO responded by deploying [[Pershing II]] missiles in [[West Germany]], among other things]]
Under the Military Law of September 1925, the [[Soviet Armed Forces]] consisted of the [[Soviet Army|Land Forces]], the [[Soviet Air Forces|Air Force]], the [[Soviet Navy|Navy]], [[Joint State Political Directorate]] (OGPU) and the [[Internal Troops]].<ref>Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, Westview Press, 1979, p.13</ref> The OGPU later became independent and in 1934 joined the [[NKVD]] secret police, and so its internal troops were under the joint leadership of the defense and internal commissariats. After World War II, [[Strategic Missile Forces]] (1959), [[Soviet Air Defence Forces|Air Defense Forces]] (1948) and National Civil Defense Forces (1970) were formed, which ranked first, third, and sixth in the official Soviet system of importance (ground forces were second, Air Force fourth, and Navy fifth).

The army had the greatest political influence. In 1989, there served two million soldiers divided between 150 motorized and 52 armored divisions. Until the early 1960s, the Soviet navy was a rather small military branch, but after the [[Cuban Missile Crisis|Caribbean crisis]], under the leadership of [[Sergei Gorshkov]], it expanded significantly. It became known for [[battlecruiser]]s and submarines. In 1989, there served 500 000 men. The [[Soviet Air Force]] focused on a fleet of [[strategic bomber]]s and during war situation was to eradicate enemy infrastructure and nuclear capacity. The air force also had a number of [[Fighter aircraft|fighters]] and tactical bombers to support the army in the war. Strategic missile forces had more than 1,400 [[intercontinental ballistic missile]]s (ICBMs), deployed between 28 bases and 300 command centers.

In the post-war period, the Soviet Army was directly involved in several military operations abroad.<ref name="theodora.com" /><ref>Scott and Scott (1979) p. 305</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=October 30, 1961 – The Tsar Bomba: CTBTO Preparatory Commission |url=https://www.ctbto.org/specials/testing-times/30-october-1961-the-tsar-bomba |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319201753/http://ctbto.org/specials/testing-times/30-october-1961-the-tsar-bomba/ |archive-date=19 March 2016 |access-date=29 August 2018}}</ref> These included the suppression of the [[East German uprising of 1953|uprising in East Germany]] (1953), [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian revolution]] (1956) and the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|invasion of Czechoslovakia]] (1968). The Soviet Union also participated in the [[Soviet–Afghan War|war in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989]].

In the Soviet Union, general [[conscription]] applied, meaning all able-bodied males aged 18 and older were drafted in the armed forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.prlib.ru/history/619624|title=Принят закон "О всеобщей воинской обязанности"|translator-last=A law on the mandatory military draft|publisher=prlib.ru}}</ref>

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Gdp per capita 1965.png|thumb|upright=1.2|The Soviet Union in comparison to other countries by GDP (nominal) per capita in 1965 based on a West-German school book (1971)
{|width=100%
|-
|valign=top|
{{legend|#400082|> 5,000 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
{{legend|#00BFFF|2,500–5,000 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
{{legend|#3CB371|1,000–2,500 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
|valign=top |
{{legend|#9ACD32|500–1,000 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
{{legend|#FFFF00|250–500 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
{{legend|#FFFACD|< 250 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
|}]]
The Soviet Union adopted a [[command economy]], whereby production and distribution of goods were centralized and directed by the government. The first Bolshevik experience with a command economy was the policy of [[war communism]], which involved the nationalization of industry, centralized distribution of output, coercive or forced requisition of agricultural production, and attempts to eliminate money circulation, private enterprises and [[free trade]]. The [[barrier troops]] were also used to enforce Bolshevik control over food supplies in areas controlled by the Red Army, a role which soon earned them the hatred of the Russian civilian population.<ref>Lih, Lars T., ''Bread and Authority in Russia, 1914–1921'', University of California Press (1990), p. 131</ref> After the severe economic collapse, Lenin replaced war communism by the [[New Economic Policy]] (NEP) in 1921, legalizing free trade and private ownership of small businesses. The economy steadily recovered as a result.<ref name="gregory2004">{{cite book |author=Gregory, Paul R. |title=The Political Economy of Stalinism: Evidence from the Soviet Secret Archives |pages=218–220 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFHU5kaXhu8C |isbn=978-0-521-53367-6|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512042222/http://books.google.com/books?id=hFHU5kaXhu8C&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

After a long debate among the members of the Politburo about the course of economic development, by 1928–1929, upon gaining control of the country, Stalin abandoned the NEP and pushed for full central planning, starting [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|forced collectivization of agriculture]] and enacting draconian labor legislation. Resources were mobilized for [[History of the Soviet Union (1927–53)#Industrialization in practice|rapid industrialization]], which significantly expanded Soviet capacity in heavy industry and capital goods during the 1930s.<ref name="gregory2004" /> The primary motivation for industrialization was preparation for war, mostly due to distrust of the outside capitalist world.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mawdsley, Evan |page=30 |title=The Stalin Years: The Soviet Union, 1929–1953 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-7190-4600-1 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321215327/https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result, the USSR was transformed from a largely agrarian economy into a great industrial power, leading the way for its emergence as a superpower after [[World War II]].<ref name="auto2">{{cite book |author1=Wheatcroft, S. G. |author2=Davies, R. W. |author3=Cooper, J. M. |pages=30–32 |title=Soviet Industrialization Reconsidered: Some Preliminary Conclusions about Economic Development between 1926 and 1941 |publisher=[[Economic History Review]] |year=1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-7190-4600-1 |volume=39 |issue=2 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321215327/https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The war caused extensive devastation of the Soviet economy and infrastructure, which required massive reconstruction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reconstruction and Cold War |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |url=http://countrystudies.us/russia/12.htm|access-date=23 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927170555/http://countrystudies.us/russia/12.htm|archive-date=27 September 2006|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:DneproGES 1947.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Dnieper Hydroelectric Station|DneproGES]], one of many [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] power stations in the Soviet Union]]
By the early 1940s, the Soviet economy had become relatively [[Autarky|self-sufficient]]; for most of the period until the creation of [[Comecon]], only a tiny share of domestic products was traded internationally.<ref name="foreign trade">{{cite web |title=Reconstruction and Cold War |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0391%29|access-date=23 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309155830/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0391%29|archive-date=9 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> After the creation of the [[Eastern Bloc]], external trade rose rapidly. However, the influence of the [[world economy]] on the USSR was limited by fixed domestic prices and a state monopoly on [[Foreign trade of the Soviet Union|foreign trade]].<ref>{{cite book |author=[[International Monetary Fund|IMF]] and [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] |title=A Study of the Soviet Economy |volume=1 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ |page=9 |isbn=978-0-14-103797-4 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511090135/http://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ&dq |url-status=live }}</ref> Grain and sophisticated consumer manufactures became major import articles from around the 1960s.<ref name="foreign trade" /> During the [[arms race]] of the Cold War, the Soviet economy was burdened by military expenditures, heavily lobbied for by a powerful bureaucracy dependent on the arms industry. At the same time, the USSR became the largest arms exporter to the [[Third World]]. A portion of Soviet resources during the Cold War were [[International relations within the Comecon|allocated in aid]] to the Soviet-aligned states.<ref name="foreign trade" /> The Soviet Union's [[military budget]] in the 1970s was gigantic, forming 40–60% of the entire federal budget and accounting to 15% of the USSR's GDP (13% in the 1980s).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://su90.ru/defence.html|title=Расходы на оборону и численность вооруженных сил СССР|translator-last=Defense spending and size of the Armed Forces of the USSR}}</ref>

[[File:Armenian cotton.jpg|thumb|Picking cotton in [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenia]] in the 1930s]]
From the 1930s until its dissolution in late 1991, the way the Soviet economy operated remained essentially unchanged. The economy was formally directed by [[economic planning|central planning]], carried out by [[Gosplan]] and organized in [[Five-year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union|five-year plans]]. However, in practice, the plans were highly aggregated and provisional, subject to ''ad hoc'' intervention by superiors. All critical economic decisions were taken by the political leadership. Allocated resources and plan targets were usually denominated in [[Soviet ruble|rubles]] rather than in physical goods. [[Credit (finance)|Credit]] was discouraged, but widespread. The final allocation of output was achieved through relatively decentralized, unplanned contracting. Although in theory prices were legally set from above, in practice they were often negotiated, and informal horizontal links (e.g. between producer factories) were widespread.<ref name="gregory2004" />

A number of basic [[Service (economics)|services]] were state-funded, such as [[education in the Soviet Union|education]] and health care. In the manufacturing sector, heavy industry and defence were prioritized over [[Consumer goods in the Soviet Union|consumer goods]].<ref name="economy" /> Consumer goods, particularly outside large cities, were often scarce, of poor quality and limited variety. Under the command economy, consumers had almost no influence on production, and the changing demands of a population with growing incomes could not be satisfied by supplies at rigidly fixed prices.<ref name="hanson">Hanson, Philip. ''The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Economy: An Economic History of the USSR from 1945''. London: Longman, 2003.</ref> A massive unplanned second economy grew up at low levels alongside the planned one, providing some of the goods and services that the planners could not. The legalization of some elements of the decentralized economy was attempted with the [[1965 Soviet economic reform|reform of 1965]].<ref name="gregory2004" />

[[File:RIAN archive 633872 Workers of Soligorsk potash plant.jpg|thumb|upright|Workers of the [[Salihorsk]] potash plant, [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]], 1968]]
Although statistics of the Soviet economy are notoriously unreliable and its economic growth difficult to estimate precisely,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1057/ces.1997.1 |author=Bergson, Abram |year=1997 |title=How Big was the Soviet GDP? |journal=Comparative Economic Studies |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=1–14 |s2cid=155781882}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/09668139308412080 |author=Harrison, Mark |year=1993 |title=Soviet Economic Growth Since 1928: The Alternative Statistics of G. I. Khanin |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=141–167}}</ref> by most accounts, the economy continued to expand until the mid-1980s. During the 1950s and 1960s, it had comparatively high growth and was catching up to the West.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gvosdev, Nikolas |title=The Strange Death of Soviet communism: A Postscript |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_xTyZUEqkYC |isbn=978-1-4128-0698-5 |author-link=Nikolas Gvosdev |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=19 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819204015/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_xTyZUEqkYC |url-status=live }}</ref> However, after 1970, the growth, while still positive, [[Era of Stagnation|steadily declined]] much more quickly and consistently than in other countries, despite a rapid increase in the capital [[stock]] (the rate of capital increase was only surpassed by Japan).<ref name="gregory2004" />
[[File:RIAN archive 878967 AvtoVAZ- Volga automaking plant in Togliatti, the Samara Region.jpg|thumb|left|[[AvtoVAZ|Volzhsky Avtomobilny Zavod]] (VAZ) in 1969]]
Overall, the growth rate of per capita income in the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1989 was slightly above the world average (based on 102 countries).{{sfn|Fischer|Easterly|1994|p=4}} A 1986 study published in the ''[[American Journal of Public Health]]'' claimed that, citing [[World Bank]] data, the Soviet model provided a better [[quality of life]] and [[Human development (economics)|human development]] than market economies at the same level of economic development in most cases.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cereseto|first=Shirley|title=Economic Development, Political-Economic System, and the Physical Quality of Life|journal=American Journal of Public Health|volume=76|issue=6|pages=661–666|pmc=1646771|pmid=3706593|doi=10.2105/ajph.76.6.661}}</ref> According to [[Stanley Fischer]] and [[William Easterly]], growth could have been faster. By their calculation, per capita income in 1989 should have been twice higher than it was, considering the amount of investment, education and population. The authors attribute this poor performance to the low productivity of capital.{{sfn|Fischer|Easterly|1994|p=5}} Steven Rosefielde states that the [[standard of living]] declined due to Stalin's despotism. While there was a brief improvement after his death, it lapsed into stagnation.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rosefielde |first=Steven |year=1996 |title=Stalinism in Post-Communist Perspective: New Evidence on Killings, Forced Labor and Economic Growth in the 1930s |pages=956–987 |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=48 |issue=6 |jstor=152635 |quote=The new evidence shows that administrative command planning and Stalin's forced industrialization strategies failed in the 1930s and beyond. The economic miracle chronicled in official hagiographies and until recently faithfully recounted in Western textbooks has no basis in fact. It is the statistical artefact not of index number relativity (the Gerschenkron effect) but of misapplying to the calculation of growth cost prices that do not accurately measure competitive value. The standard of living declined during the 1930s in response to Stalin's despotism, and after a brief improvement following his death, lapsed into stagnation. Glasnost and post-communist revelations interpreted as a whole thus provide no basis for Getty, Rittersporn & Zemskov's relatively favorable characterization of the methods, economic achievements and human costs of Stalinism. The evidence demonstrates that the suppression of markets and the oppression of vast segments of the population were economically counterproductive and humanly calamitous, just as anyone conversant with classical economic theory should have expected. |doi=10.1080/09668139608412393}}</ref>

In 1987, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] attempted to reform and revitalize the economy with his program of ''[[perestroika]]''. His policies relaxed state control over enterprises but did not replace it by market incentives, resulting in a sharp decline in output. The economy, already suffering from [[1980s oil glut|reduced petroleum export revenues]], started to collapse. Prices were still fixed, and the property was still largely state-owned until after the country's dissolution.<ref name="gregory2004" /><ref name="hanson" /> For most of the period after World War II until its collapse, Soviet GDP ([[Purchasing power parity|PPP]]) was [[List of regions by past GDP (PPP)|the second-largest in the world]], and third during the second half of the 1980s,<ref>{{cite web |author=Central Intelligence Agency |title=GDP – Million 1990 |website=[[The World Factbook]] |year=1991 |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_million_1.html|access-date=12 June 2010|author-link=Central Intelligence Agency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109124727/http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_million_1.html|archive-date=9 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> although on a [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|per-capita]] basis, it was behind that of [[First World]] countries.<ref>{{cite web |author=Central Intelligence Agency |title=GDP Per Capita – 1991 |website=[[The World Factbook]] |year=1992 |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1991/rankings/gdp_per_capita_0.html|access-date=12 June 2010|author-link=Central Intelligence Agency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819051611/http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1991/rankings/gdp_per_capita_0.html|archive-date=19 August 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Compared to countries with similar per-capita GDP in 1928, the Soviet Union experienced significant growth.{{citation needed}}

In 1990, the country had a [[Human Development Index]] of 0.920, placing it in the 'high' category of human development. It was the third-highest in the [[Eastern Bloc]], behind [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]] and [[East Germany]], and the 25th in the world of 130 countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1990 |title=Human Development Report 1990 {{!}} Human Development Reports|website=hdr.undp.org|year=1990|access-date=18 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019062220/http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1990|archive-date=19 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Energy ===
{{Main|Energy policy of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:1987 CPA 5858.jpg|thumb|Soviet stamp depicting the 30th anniversary of the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]], published in 1987, a year following the [[Chernobyl disaster|Chernobyl nuclear disaster]]]]
The need for fuel declined in the Soviet Union from the 1970s to the 1980s,<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1983|pp=105–108}}</ref> both per ruble of gross social product and per ruble of industrial product. At the start, this decline grew very rapidly but gradually slowed down between 1970 and 1975. From 1975 and 1980, it grew even slower,{{Clarify}} only 2.6%.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=295}}</ref> David Wilson, a historian, believed that the gas industry would account for 40% of Soviet fuel production by the end of the century. His theory did not come to fruition because of the USSR's collapse.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=297}}</ref> The USSR, in theory, would have continued to have an economic growth rate of 2–2.5% during the 1990s because of Soviet energy fields.{{Clarify}}<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1983|pp=297–299}}</ref> However, the energy sector faced many difficulties, among them the country's high military expenditure and hostile relations with the [[First World]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=299}}</ref>

In 1991, the Soviet Union had a [[pipeline transport|pipeline]] network of {{convert|82000|km|mi}} for [[Petroleum|crude oil]] and another {{convert|206500|km|mi}} for natural gas.<ref name="ciacom" /> Petroleum and petroleum-based products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a variety of manufactured goods, primarily machinery, arms and military equipment, were exported.<ref name="CIA">{{cite web |title=Soviet Union – Economy |author=Central Intelligence Agency |year=1992 |website=[[The World Factbook]] |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html|access-date=23 October 2010|author-link=Central Intelligence Agency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005005804/http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html|archive-date=5 October 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s, the USSR heavily relied on fossil fuel exports to earn [[hard currency]].<ref name="foreign trade" /> At its peak in 1988, it was the largest producer and second-largest exporter of crude oil, surpassed only by [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Hardt, John Pearce |author2=Hardt, John P. |title=Russia's Uncertain Economic Future: With a Comprehensive Subject Index |page=233 |publisher=[[M.E. Sharpe]] |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvKF3PKGYAcC |isbn=978-0-7656-1208-3|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512044209/http://books.google.com/books?id=IvKF3PKGYAcC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|Science and technology in the Soviet Union}}
{{See also|Cybernetics in the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Sputnik-stamp-ussr.jpg|thumb|upright|Soviet stamp showing the orbit of [[Sputnik 1]]]]
The Soviet Union placed great emphasis on [[Science and technology in the Soviet Union|science and technology]] within its economy,<ref name="science&technology">{{cite web |title=Science and Technology |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0413%29|access-date=23 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0413%29|archive-date=4 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="auto" /> however, the most remarkable Soviet successes in technology, such as producing the [[Sputnik 1|world's first space satellite]], typically were the responsibility of the military.<ref name="economy">{{cite web |title=Economy |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0009%29|access-date=23 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0009%29|archive-date=4 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lenin believed that the USSR would never overtake the developed world if it remained as technologically backward as it was upon its founding. Soviet authorities proved their commitment to Lenin's belief by developing massive networks, research and development organizations. In the early 1960s, the Soviets awarded 40% of chemistry PhDs to women, compared to only 5% in the United States.<ref>Rose Eveleth (12 December 2013). [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/soviet-russia-had-a-better-record-of-training-women-in-stem-than-america-does-today-180948141/?no-ist Soviet Russia Had a Better Record of Training Women in STEM Than America Does Today] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006112126/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/soviet-russia-had-a-better-record-of-training-women-in-stem-than-america-does-today-180948141/?no-ist }}. ''[[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian.com]].'' Retrieved 26 June 2014.</ref> By 1989, Soviet scientists were among the world's best-trained specialists in several areas, such as Energy physics, selected areas of medicine, mathematics, welding and military technologies. Due to rigid state planning and [[Nomenklatura|bureaucracy]], the Soviets remained far behind technologically in chemistry, biology, and computers when compared to the [[First World]]. The Soviet government opposed and persecuted [[geneticists]] in favour of [[Lysenkoism]], a [[pseudoscience]] rejected by the scientific community in the Soviet Union and abroad but supported by Stalin's inner circles. Implemented in the USSR and China, it resulted in reduced crop yields and is widely believed to have contributed to the [[Great Chinese Famine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Offord |title=Stamping Out Science, 1948 |journal=The Scientist |url=https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/stamping-out-science-1948-68665 |access-date=20 September 2021 |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528184521/https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/stamping-out-science-1948-68665 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Soviet Union also had more [[scientists]] and [[engineers]], relative to the world population, than any other major country due to the strong levels of state support for scientific developments by the 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Chi Ling |title=Fallen Behind: Science, Technology and Soviet Statism |journal=Intersect: The Stanford Journal of Science, Technology, and Society |volume=8 |issue=3 |url=https://ojs.stanford.edu/ojs/index.php/intersect/article/view/691#:~:text=This%20essay%20argues%20that%20the,demands%20of%2021st%20century%20informationalization. |language=en}}</ref>

Under the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]], [[Project Socrates]] determined that the Soviet Union addressed the acquisition of science and technology in a manner that was radically different from what the US was using. In the case of the US, economic prioritization was being used for indigenous [[research and development]] as the means to acquire science and technology in both the private and public sectors. In contrast, the USSR was offensively and defensively maneuvering in the acquisition and use of the worldwide technology, to increase the competitive advantage that they acquired from the technology while preventing the US from acquiring a competitive advantage. However, technology-based planning was executed in a centralized, government-centric manner that greatly hindered its flexibility. This was exploited by the US to undermine the strength of the Soviet Union and thus foster its reform.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Global Tech Strategies Brought to U.S |journal=Washington Technology |first=Margo |last=MacFarland}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=R.A. |last=Deckert |title=The science of uncovering industrial information |work=Business Journal of the Treasure Coast}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Firms Must Trade Short-Term Gains for Long-Term Technology Planning |work=Inside the Pentagon}}</ref>

=== Space program ===
{{Main|Soviet space program|Nedelin catastrophe}}
{{More citations needed section}}
{{Tone|section}}
[[File:RIAN archive 159271 Nikita Khrushchev, Valentina Tereshkova, Pavel Popovich and Yury Gagarin at Lenin Mausoleum.jpg|thumb|left|From left to right: [[Yuri Gagarin]], [[Pavel Popovich]], [[Valentina Tereshkova]] and [[Nikita Khrushchev]] at the [[Lenin's Mausoleum]] in 1963]]
[[File:Soyuz rocket ASTP.jpg|thumb|[[Soyuz (rocket family)|Soyuz]] rocket at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]]]]
At the end of the 1950s, the USSR constructed the first [[satellite]]—[[Sputnik 1]], which marked the beginning of the [[Space Race]]—a competition to achieve superior spaceflight capability with the United States.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sputnik|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/astronomy-and-space-exploration/space-exploration/sputnik|url-status=live|website=Encyclopedia|access-date=27 November 2021|archive-date=27 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127121715/https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/astronomy-and-space-exploration/space-exploration/sputnik}}</ref> This was followed by other successful satellites, most notably [[Sputnik 5]], where test dogs were sent to space. On 12 April 1961, the USSR launched [[Vostok 1]], which carried [[Yuri Gagarin]], making him the first human to ever be launched into space and complete a space journey.<ref>{{cite web|title=Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-man-in-space|url-status=live|website=History.com|access-date=27 November 2021|archive-date=23 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123163507/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-man-in-space}}</ref> At that time, the first plans for [[spaceplane|space shuttle]]s and orbital stations were drawn up in Soviet design offices, but in the end personal disputes between designers and management prevented this.

As for Lunar space program, the USSR only had [[Luna programme|a program on automated spacecraft launches]] with no crewed spacecraft used, passing on the 'Moon Race' part of [[Space Race]], which was decidedly [[Apollo 11|won by the Americans]]. The public's reaction to American astronauts' Moon-landing in the Soviet Union was mixed. The Soviet government limited the release of information about the lunar landing, which affected the reaction. A portion of the populace did not give it any attention, and another portion was angered by it.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/apollo-moon-khrushchev/|title=The Moon Landing through Soviet Eyes: A Q&A with Sergei Khrushchev, son of former premier Nikita Khrushchev|magazine=Scientific American|access-date=January 7, 2019|last1=Das|first1=Saswato R.|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225085952/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/apollo-moon-khrushchev/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Soviet Manned Lunar Program|url=https://spp.fas.org/eprint/lindroos_moon1.htm|url-status=live|website=e-Prints|access-date=27 November 2021|archive-date=23 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223163134/https://spp.fas.org/eprint/lindroos_moon1.htm}}</ref>


In the 1970s, specific proposals for the design of the space shuttle began to emerge, but shortcomings, especially in the electronics industry (rapid overheating of electronics), postponed the program until the end of the 1980s. The first shuttle, the [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]], flew in 1988, but without a human crew. Another shuttle, ''[[Ptichka]]'', eventually ended up under prolonged construction, as the shuttle project was canceled in 1991. For their launch into space, there is today an unused superpower rocket, [[Energia (rocket)|Energia]], which is the most powerful in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=Energia, Soviet Launch Vehicle|url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/Energia-Soviet-launch-vehicle|url-status=live|website=Britannica|access-date=27 November 2021|archive-date=27 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127121714/https://www.britannica.com/technology/Energia-Soviet-launch-vehicle}}</ref>

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union managed to build the ''[[Mir]]'' orbital station. It was built on the construction of [[Salyut programme|''Salyut'' stations]] and its only role was civilian-grade research tasks.<ref name=Harland2020 /><ref>{{cite wikisource |title=NASA FACTS/Russian Space Stations |publisher=NASA |id=IS-1997-06-004JSC}}</ref> Mir was the only orbital station in operation from 1986 to 1998. Gradually, other modules were added to it, including American ones. However, the station deteriorated rapidly after a fire on board, so in 2001 it was decided to bring it into the atmosphere where it burned down.<ref name=Harland2020>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Mir |last=Harland |first=David M. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=22 January 2021 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mir-Soviet-Russian-space-station |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201090705/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mir-Soviet-Russian-space-station |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Transport ===
{{Main|Transport in the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Flag of the Aeroflot.svg|thumb|[[Aeroflot]]'s flag during the Soviet era]]
[[File:RUS-2016-Murmansk-Icebreaker Lenin 01.jpg|thumb|Nuclear Icebreaker ''[[Lenin (1957 icebreaker)|Lenin]]'']]
Transport was a vital component of the country's economy. The [[first five-year plan|economic centralization]] of the late 1920s and 1930s led to the development of infrastructure on a massive scale, most notably the establishment of [[Aeroflot]], an aviation [[Enterprises in the Soviet Union|enterprise]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Highman, Robert D.S. |author2=Greenwood, John T. |author3=Hardesty, Von |title=Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cpynoFM-Jf4C |isbn=978-0-7146-4784-5 |page=134 |access-date=14 September 2017 |archive-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116193139/https://books.google.com/books?id=cpynoFM-Jf4C |url-status=live }}</ref> The country had a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air.<ref name=ciacom /> However, due to inadequate maintenance, much of the road, water and Soviet civil aviation transport were outdated and technologically backward compared to the First World.<ref name="twocerofive" />

Soviet rail transport was the largest and most intensively used in the world;<ref name="twocerofive">{{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=205}}</ref> it was also better developed than most of its Western counterparts.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1983|p=201}}</ref> By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Soviet economists were calling for the construction of more roads to alleviate some of the burdens from the railways and to improve the Soviet [[government budget]].<ref>Ambler, Shaw and Symons 1985, p. 166–167.</ref> The [[street network]] and [[Automotive industry in the Soviet Union|automotive industry]]<ref>Ambler, Shaw and Symons 1985, p. 168.</ref> remained underdeveloped,<ref>Ambler, Shaw and Symons 1985, p. 165.</ref> and [[dirt road]]s were common outside major cities.<ref name="Ambler 1985, p. 167">Ambler, Shaw and Symons 1985, p. 167.</ref> Soviet maintenance projects proved unable to take care of even the few roads the country had. By the early-to-mid-1980s, the Soviet authorities tried to solve the road problem by ordering the construction of new ones.<ref name="Ambler 1985, p. 167" /> Meanwhile, the automobile industry was growing at a faster rate than road construction.<ref>Ambler, Shaw and Symons 1985, p. 169.</ref> The underdeveloped road network led to a growing demand for public transport.<ref>[[International Monetary Fund]] and [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] 1991, p. 56.</ref>

Despite improvements, several aspects of the transport sector were still{{when}} riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure, lack of investment, corruption and bad decision-making. Soviet authorities were unable to meet the growing demand for transport infrastructure and services.<ref>{{cite |title=ДОРОГИ И ДВИЖЕНИЕ В СССР И ЦАРСКОЙ РОССИИ: ЧТО БЫ ПЕРЕНЯТЬ?|translator-last=Roads and transportation in the USSR and Tsarist Russia}}</ref>

The Soviet [[merchant navy]] was one of the largest in the world.<ref name="ciacom">{{cite web |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_communications.html |title=Soviet Union – Communications |author=Central Intelligence Agency |website=[[The World Factbook]] |year=1991 |access-date=20 October 2010 |author-link=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005005759/http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_communications.html |archive-date=5 October 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
{{Main|Demographics of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Population of former USSR.PNG|thumb|upright=1.1|Population of the Soviet Union (red) and the [[post-Soviet states]] (blue) from 1961 to 2009 as well as projection (dotted blue) from 2010 to 2100]]
Excess deaths throughout [[World War I]] and the [[Russian Civil War]] (including the [[Russian famine of 1921–1922|famine of 1921–1922]] that was triggered by Lenin's [[war communism]] policies)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/War-Communism|title=War Communism|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]|author=((The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica))}}</ref> amounted to a combined total of 18 million,<ref>{{cite book |author=Mark Harrison |title=Accounting for War: Soviet Production, Employment, and the Defence Burden, 1940–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJcD7_Q_rQ8C&pg=PA167 |year=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-89424-1 |page=167 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=17 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617211223/https://books.google.com/books?id=yJcD7_Q_rQ8C&pg=PA167 |url-status=live }}</ref> some 10 million in the 1930s,<ref name="1930s" /> and more than 20 million in 1941–1945. The postwar [[Population of the Soviet Union|Soviet population]] was 45 to 50 million smaller than it would have been if pre-war demographic growth had continued.<ref name="Geoffrey A. Hosking 2006 242">{{cite book |author=Geoffrey A. Hosking |title=Rulers and victims: the Russians in the Soviet Union |url=https://archive.org/details/rulersvictimsrus00hosk|url-access=registration |year=2006 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-02178-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/rulersvictimsrus00hosk/page/242 242]}}</ref> According to [[Catherine Merridale]], '...{{nbsp}}reasonable estimate would place the total number of excess deaths for the whole period somewhere around 60 million.'<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jay Winter |author2=Emmanuel Sivan |title=War and Remembrance in the Twentieth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZK2A5x7E8IkC&pg=PA64 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79436-7 |page=64|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZK2A5x7E8IkC&pg=PA64|archive-date=4 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[birth rate]] of the USSR decreased from 44.0 per thousand in 1926 to 18.0 in 1974, mainly due to increasing urbanization and the rising average age of marriages. The [[mortality rate]] demonstrated a gradual decrease as well—from 23.7 per thousand in 1926 to 8.7 in 1974. In general, the birth rates of the southern republics in Transcaucasia and Central Asia were considerably higher than those in the northern parts of the Soviet Union, and in some cases even increased in the post–World War II period, a phenomenon partly attributed to slower rates of urbanization and traditionally earlier marriages in the southern republics.<ref name="GSE">{{cite book |author=Government of the USSR|script-title=ru:Большая советская энциклопедия |trans-title=[[Great Soviet Encyclopaedia]] |volume=24 |page=15 |year=1977 |location=Moscow |publisher=[[State Committee for Publishing]] |language=ru|author-link=Government of the USSR}}</ref> Soviet Europe moved towards [[sub-replacement fertility]], while [[Soviet Central Asia]] continued to exhibit population growth well above replacement-level fertility.<ref>{{cite book |author=Anderson, Barbara A. |title=Growth and Diversity of the Population of the Soviet Union |volume=510 |pages=155–77 |year=1990 |publisher=Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences}}</ref>

The late 1960s and the 1970s witnessed a reversal of the declining trajectory of the rate of mortality in the USSR, and was especially notable among men of working age, but was also prevalent in Russia and other predominantly Slavic areas of the country.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Vallin, J. |author2=Chesnais, J.C. |title=Recent Developments of Mortality in Europe, English-Speaking Countries and the Soviet Union, 1960–1970 |volume=29 |pages=861–898 |year=1970 |publisher=Population Studies}}</ref> An analysis of the official data from the late 1980s showed that after worsening in the late-1970s and the early 1980s, adult mortality began to improve again.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ryan, Michael |title=Life Expectancy and Mortality Data from the Soviet Union |volume=296 |page=1, 513–1515 |work=[[British Medical Journal]]}}</ref> The infant mortality rate increased from 24.7 in 1970 to 27.9 in 1974. Some researchers regarded the rise as mostly real, a consequence of worsening health conditions and services.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Davis, Christopher |author2-link=Murray Feshbach |author2=Feshbach, Murray |title=Rising Infant Mortality in the USSR in the 1970s |page=95 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> The rises in both adult and infant mortality were not explained or defended by Soviet officials, and the [[Government of the Soviet Union|Soviet government]] stopped publishing all mortality statistics for ten years. Soviet demographers and health specialists remained silent about the mortality increases until the late-1980s, when the publication of mortality data resumed, and researchers could delve into the real causes.<ref>{{cite book |author=Krimins, Juris |title=The Changing Mortality Patterns in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: Experience of the Past Three Decades }} Paper presented at the International Conference on Health, Morbidity and Mortality by Cause of Death in Europe.</ref>

=== Women and fertility ===
{{See also|LGBT history in Russia}}
[[File:RIAN archive 16735 Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.jpg|thumb|170px|[[Valentina Tereshkova]], the first woman in space, visiting the [[Lviv|Lvov]] confectionery, Ukrainian SSR, 1967]]
Under Lenin, the state made explicit commitments to promote the equality of men and women. Many early Russian feminists and ordinary Russian working women actively participated in the Revolution, and many more were affected by the events of that period and the new policies. Beginning in October 1918, Lenin's government liberalized divorce and abortion laws, decriminalized homosexuality (re-criminalized in 1932), permitted cohabitation, and ushered in a host of reforms.<ref>Wendy Z. Goldman, ''Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917–1936''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993</ref> However, without [[birth control]], the new system produced many broken marriages, as well as countless out-of-wedlock children.<ref>Richard Stites, ''The Women's Liberation Movement in Russia: Feminism, Nihilism, and Bolshevism, 1860–1930'' (1978)</ref> The epidemic of divorces and extramarital affairs created social hardships when Soviet leaders wanted people to concentrate their efforts on growing the economy. Giving women control over their fertility also led to a precipitous decline in the birth rate, perceived as a threat to their country's military power. By 1936, Stalin reversed most of the liberal laws, ushering in a pronatalist era that lasted for decades.<ref>Rebecca Balmas Neary, "Mothering Socialist Society: The Wife-Activists' Movement and the Soviet Culture of Daily Life, 1934–1941," ''Russian Review'' (58) 3, July 1999: 396–412</ref>

By 1917, Russia became the first [[great power]] to grant women the right to vote.<ref>{{cite web |last=Figes |first=Orlando |title=From Tsar to U.S.S.R.: Russia's Chaotic Year of Revolution. |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/09-10/russian-revolution-history-lenin/ |website=National Geographic |publisher=National Geographic Society |access-date=28 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322092654/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/09-10/russian-revolution-history-lenin/ |archive-date=22 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> After heavy casualties in World War I and II, women outnumbered men in Russia by a 4:3 ratio.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gao |first=George |title=Why the Former USSR Has Far Fewer Men than Women |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/14/why-the-former-ussr-has-far-fewer-men-than-women/ |website=Pew Research Center |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=28 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328231028/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/14/why-the-former-ussr-has-far-fewer-men-than-women/ |archive-date=28 March 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> This contributed to the larger role women played in Russian society compared to other great powers at the time.

=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Young Pioneers in Kazakh SSR.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union|Young Pioneers]] at a Young Pioneer camp in Kazakh SSR]]
[[Anatoly Lunacharsky]] became the first [[People's Commissar]] for Education of Soviet Russia. In the beginning, the Soviet authorities placed great emphasis on the [[Likbez|elimination of illiteracy]]. All left-handed children were forced to write with their right hand in the Soviet school system.<ref>А. П. Чуприков, В. Д. Мишиев. // Латеральность населения СССР в конце 70-х и начале 80-х годов. К истории латеральной нейропсихологии и нейропсихиатрии. Хрестоматия. Донецк, 2010, 192 с.</ref><ref name="autogenerated2">А. П. Чуприков, Е. А. Волков. // Мир леворуких. Киев. 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-03-27-1998086130-story.html |title=In Russia, left isn't quite right Handedness: The official Moscow line is that lefties are OK, but suspicion of those who are different persists from the old Soviet days. |last=Englund |first=Will |website=baltimoresun.com|access-date=24 June 2019|archive-date=24 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624220243/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-03-27-1998086130-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |url=https://eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/21/contribution/38628/ |title=Wrong Hand/Wrong Children: Education of Left Handed Children in the Soviet Union |first1=Linda |last1=Daniela |first2=Zanda |last2=Rubene |first3=Dace |last3=Medne |website=European Educational Research Association |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=13 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013124517/https://eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/21/contribution/38628/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Literate people were automatically hired as teachers. {{citation needed}} For a short period, quality was sacrificed for quantity. By 1940, Stalin could announce that illiteracy had been eliminated. Throughout the 1930s, [[social mobility]] rose sharply, which has been attributed to reforms in education.<ref>[[Sheila Fitzpatrick]], ''[http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-european-history/education-and-social-mobility-soviet-union-19211934 Education and Social Mobility in the Soviet Union 1921–1934] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141118133419/http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-european-history/education-and-social-mobility-soviet-union-19211934 }}'', [[Cambridge University Press]] (2002), {{ISBN|0-521-89423-9}}</ref> In the aftermath of World War II, the country's educational system expanded dramatically, which had a tremendous effect. In the 1960s, nearly all children had access to education, the only exception being those living in remote areas. [[Nikita Khrushchev]] tried to make education more accessible, making it clear to children that education was closely linked to the needs of society. Education also became important in giving rise to the [[New Soviet man|New Man]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Law |first=David A. |title=Russian Civilization |publisher=Ardent Media |year=1975 |pages=300–301 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f3ky9qBavl4C |isbn=978-0-8422-0529-0 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512055909/http://books.google.com/books?id=f3ky9qBavl4C&dq |archive-date=12 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Citizens directly entering the workforce had the constitutional right to a job and to free [[Vocational-technical school|vocational training]].

The [[Education in the Soviet Union|education system]] was highly centralized and universally accessible to all citizens, with [[affirmative action]] for applicants from nations associated with [[cultural backwardness]]. However, as part of a general [[Antisemitism in the Soviet Union|antisemitic policy]], an unofficial [[Jewish quota]] was applied{{when}} in the leading institutions of higher education by subjecting Jewish applicants to harsher entrance examinations.<ref>{{cite book |editor=[[Mikhail Shifman]] |title=You Failed Your Math Test, Comrade Einstein: Adventures and Misadventures of Young Mathematicians Or Test Your Skills in Almost Recreational Mathematics |publisher=World Scientific |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ho6fMF8ehogC |isbn=978-981-270-116-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Edward Frenkel |title=The Fifth problem: math & anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union |journal=The New Criterion |url=http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/The-Fifth-problem--math---anti-Semitism-in-the-Soviet-Union-7446|access-date=12 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151207161404/http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/The-Fifth-problem--math---anti-Semitism-in-the-Soviet-Union-7446|archive-date=7 December 2015|url-status=live|author-link=Edward Frenkel}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-more-migrants-please-especially-the-clever-ones-2368622.html |location=London |work=[[The Independent]] |title=More migrants please, especially the clever ones |author=Dominic Lawson|access-date=14 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204140558/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-more-migrants-please-especially-the-clever-ones-2368622.html|archive-date=4 February 2012|url-status=live|author-link=Dominic Lawson}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Andre Geim |title=Biographical |publisher=Nobelprize.org |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/geim-bio.html|access-date=14 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616114451/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/geim-bio.html|archive-date=16 June 2017|url-status=live|author-link=Andre Geim}}</ref> The Brezhnev era also introduced a rule that required all university applicants to present a reference from the local [[Komsomol]] party secretary.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shlapentokh |first=Vladimir |title=Soviet Intellectuals and Political Power: The Post-Stalin Era |page=26 |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |year=1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7VFqqE5995UC |isbn=978-1-85043-284-5 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041316/http://books.google.com/books?id=7VFqqE5995UC&dq |archive-date=12 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to statistics from 1986, the number of higher education students per the population of 10,000 was 181 for the USSR, compared to 517 for the US.<ref name="education">{{cite book |last=Pejovich |first=Svetozar |title=The Economics of Property Rights: Towards a Theory of Comparative Systems |page=130 |year=1990 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocQKHRReKdcC |isbn=978-0-7923-0878-2 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=17 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617225600/https://books.google.com/books?id=ocQKHRReKdcC |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Nationalities and ethnic groups ===
{{Main|Islam in the Soviet Union|National delimitation in the Soviet Union|Korenizatsiya|Soviet Central Asia}}
[[File:Samarkand-1981-0013.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|People in [[Samarkand]], Uzbek SSR, 1981]]
[[File:Mestia, Svaneti. October 30, 1929.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Svaneti]] man in [[Mestia]], Georgian SSR, 1929]]
The Soviet Union was an ethnically diverse country, with more than 100 distinct ethnic groups. The total population of the country was estimated at 293 million in 1991. According to a 1990 estimate, the majority of the population were [[Russians]] (50.78%), followed by [[Ukrainians]] (15.45%) and [[Uzbeks]] (5.84%).<ref name="cia">{{cite web |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_people.html |title=Soviet Union – People |author=Central Intelligence Agency |website=[[The World Factbook]] |year=1991 |access-date=25 October 2010 |author-link=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004135453/http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_people.html |archive-date=4 October 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Overall, in 1989 the ethnic demography of the country showed that 69.8% was [[East Slavs|East Slavic]], 17.5% was [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]], 1.6% were [[Armenians]], 1.6% were [[Balts]], 1.5% were [[Finnic peoples|Finnic]], 1.5% were [[Tajiks|Tajik]], 1.4% were [[Georgians|Georgian]], 1.2% were [[Moldovans|Moldovan]] and 4.1% were of other various ethnic groups.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Демоскоп Weekly – Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php}}</ref>

All citizens of the USSR had their own ethnic affiliation. The ethnicity of a person was chosen at the age of sixteen by the child's parents.{{sfn|Comrie|1981|p=2}} If the parents did not agree, the child was automatically assigned the ethnicity of the father. Partly due to Soviet policies, some of the smaller minority ethnic groups were considered part of larger ones, such as the [[Mingrelians]] of [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgia]], who were classified with the linguistically related [[Georgians]].<ref>{{harvnb|Comrie|1981|p=3}}</ref> Some ethnic groups voluntarily assimilated, while others were brought in by force. Russians, [[Belarusians]], and Ukrainians, who were all East Slavic and Orthodox, shared close cultural, ethnic, and religious ties, while other groups did not. With multiple nationalities living in the same territory, [[Ethnic conflicts in the Soviet Union|ethnic antagonisms]] developed over the years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historytoday.com/geoffrey-hosking/rulers-and-victims-russians-soviet-union |title=Rulers and Victims: The Russians in the Soviet Union |author=Hosking, Geoffrey |website=[[History Today]] |access-date=25 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501085443/http://www.historytoday.com/geoffrey-hosking/rulers-and-victims-russians-soviet-union |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=live}} (pay-fee)</ref>{{POV statement}}

Members of various ethnicities participated in legislative bodies. Organs of power like the Politburo, the Secretariat of the Central Committee etc., were formally ethnically neutral, but in reality, ethnic Russians were overrepresented, although there were also non-Russian leaders in the [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|Soviet leadership]], such as [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Grigory Zinoviev]], [[Nikolai Podgorny]] or [[Andrei Gromyko]]. During the Soviet era, a significant number of ethnic Russians and Ukrainians migrated to other Soviet republics, and many of them settled there. According to the last census in 1989, the Russian 'diaspora' in the Soviet republics had reached 25 million.<ref>Pål Kolstø, "Political construction sites: Nation-building in Russia and the post-Soviet States". Boulder, Colorado: Westview press 2000, pp. 81–104
uncorrected version, [https://folk.uio.no/palk/ch02.htm Chapter 2, par. "Nations and Nation-Building in Eastern Europe"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219130957/http://folk.uio.no/palk/ch02.htm }} and [https://folk.uio.no/palk/PCSch05russian%20diasporas.htm Chapter 5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050102081015/http://folk.uio.no/palk/PCSch05russian%20diasporas.htm }}</ref>

<gallery widths="300" heights="300">
File:Ethnic map USSR 1941.jpg|Ethnographic map of the Soviet Union, 1941
File:Map of the ethnic groups of the Soviet Union.png|Ethnographic map of the Soviet Union, 1970
</gallery>

=== Health ===
{{Main|Healthcare in Russia#Healthcare in the Soviet Union|l1=Health care in the Soviet Union}}
[[File:RussianAbortionPoster.jpg|thumb|An early Soviet-era poster discouraging unsafe abortion practices]]
In 1917, before the revolution, health conditions were significantly behind those of developed countries. As Lenin later noted, "Either the lice will defeat socialism, or socialism will defeat the lice".<ref name="lane">{{harvnb|Lane|1992|p=353}}</ref> The Soviet health care system was conceived by the [[Ministry of Health (Soviet Union)|People's Commissariat for Health]] in 1918. Under the [[Semashko model]], health care was to be controlled by the state and would be provided to its citizens free of charge, a revolutionary concept at the time. Article 42 of the [[1977 Soviet Constitution]] gave all citizens the [[right to health]] protection and free access to any health institutions in the USSR. Before [[Leonid Brezhnev]] became general secretary, the Soviet healthcare system was held in high esteem by many foreign specialists. This changed, however, from Brezhnev's accession and [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]'s tenure as leader, during which the health care system was heavily criticized for many basic faults, such as the quality of service and the unevenness in its provision.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane|1992|p=352}}</ref> [[Ministry of Health (Soviet Union)|Minister of Health]] [[Yevgeniy Chazov]], during the [[19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], while highlighting such successes as having the most doctors and hospitals in the world, recognized the system's areas for improvement and felt that billions of [[Soviet ruble|ruble]]s were squandered.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane|1992|pp=352–353}}</ref> 

After the revolution, life expectancy for all age groups went up. This statistic in itself was seen by some that the [[Socialist mode of production|socialist system]] was superior to the [[Capitalism|capitalist system]]. These improvements continued into the 1960s when statistics indicated that the life expectancy briefly surpassed that of the United States. Life expectancy started to decline in the 1970s, possibly because of [[Alcohol consumption in Russia|alcohol abuse]]. At the same time, infant mortality began to rise. After 1974, the government stopped publishing statistics on the matter. This trend can be partly explained by the number of pregnancies rising drastically in the Asian part of the country where infant mortality was the highest while declining markedly in the more developed European part of the Soviet Union.<ref name="SeemingParadox">{{cite journal |author=Dinkel, R.H. |title=The Seeming Paradox of Increasing Mortality in a Highly Industrialized Nation: the Example of the Soviet Union |journal=Population Studies |pages=155–177 |year=1990 |volume=39 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/0032472031000141296 |pmid=11611752}}</ref>

==== Dentistry ====
Soviet dental technology and dental health were considered notoriously bad. In 1991, the average 35-year-old had 12 to 14 cavities, fillings or missing teeth. Toothpaste was often not available, and toothbrushes did not conform to standards of modern dentistry.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Niedowski |title=Dentistry in Russia is finally leaving the Dark Ages behind |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-03-04-0703040477-story.html |agency=Chicago Tribune |access-date=30 April 2021 |archive-date=5 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210405013455/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-03-04-0703040477-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ferber & Bedrick |title=Dental survey of 620 Soviet immigrants |journal=JADA |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=379–383 |pmid=283158 |url=https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(79)83017-2/pdf |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=24 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221556/https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177%2879%2983017-2/pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Language ===
{{Main|Languages of the Soviet Union|Reforms of Russian orthography}}
Under Lenin, the government gave small language groups their own writing systems.<ref>{{harvnb|Comrie|1981|pp=3–4}}</ref> The development of these writing systems was highly successful, even though some flaws were detected. During the later days of the USSR, countries with the same [[Multilingualism|multilingual]] situation implemented similar policies. A serious problem when creating these writing systems was that the languages differed [[dialect]]ally greatly from each other.<ref>{{harvnb|Comrie|1981|p=4}}</ref> When a language had been given a writing system and appeared in a notable publication, it would attain 'official language' status. There were many minority languages which never received their own writing system; therefore, their speakers were forced to have a [[second language]].<ref>{{harvnb|Comrie|1981|p=25}}</ref> There are examples where the government retreated from this policy, most notably under Stalin where education was discontinued in languages that were not widespread. These languages were then assimilated into another language, mostly Russian.<ref>{{harvnb|Comrie|1981|p=26}}</ref> During World War II, some minority languages were banned, and their speakers accused of collaborating with the enemy.<ref>{{harvnb|Comrie|1981|p=27}}</ref>

As the most widely spoken of the Soviet Union's many languages, Russian ''de facto'' functioned as an official language, as the 'language of interethnic communication' ({{lang-ru|link=no|язык межнационального общения}}), but only assumed the ''[[de jure]]'' status as the official national language in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ru:ЗАКОН СССР ОТ 24 April 1990 О ЯЗЫКАХ НАРОДОВ СССР |publisher=[[Government of the Soviet Union]] |url=http://legal-ussr.narod.ru/data01/tex10935.htm|trans-title=Law of the USSR from 24 April 1990 on languages of the USSR|access-date=24 October 2010 |language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508201331/http://legal-ussr.narod.ru/data01/tex10935.htm|archive-date=8 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Bezbozhnik u stanka 22-1929.jpg|thumb|left|Cover of [[Bezbozhnik (magazine)|Bezbozhnik]] in 1929, magazine of the Society of the Godless. The first five-year plan of the Soviet Union is shown crushing the gods of the [[Abrahamic religions]].]]
[[File:Christ saviour explosion.jpg|thumb|The [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]] in Moscow during its demolition in 1931]]
[[File:Sennaia-1900.jpg|thumb|The [[Saviour Church on Sennaya Square]] in Leningrad was one of many notable church buildings destroyed during [[Khrushchev Thaw|The Thaw]]]]
[[File:Hujum.png|thumb|A [[paranja]] burning ceremony in the [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbek SSR]] as part of Soviet [[Hujum]] policies]]
[[Christianity]] and [[Islam]] had the highest number of adherents among the religious citizens.<ref name="dailylife">{{cite book |author=Eaton, Katherine Bliss |title=Daily life in the Soviet Union |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinsovie00eato|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-313-31628-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinsovie00eato/page/285 285] and 286|access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> [[Eastern Christianity]] predominated among Christians, with Russia's traditional [[Russian Orthodox Church]] being the largest [[Christian denomination]]. About 90% of the Soviet Union's Muslims were [[Sunni]]s, with [[Shia Islam|Shias]] being concentrated in the [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan SSR]].<ref name="dailylife" /> Smaller groups included [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]], Jews, [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], and a variety of [[Protestant]] denominations (especially [[Baptists]] and [[Lutherans]]).<ref name="dailylife" />

Religious influence had been strong in the Russian Empire. The Russian Orthodox Church enjoyed a privileged status as the church of the monarchy and took part in carrying out official state functions.<ref name="Simkin 2003">{{cite book |author=Silvio Ferrari |author2=W. Cole Durham |author3=Elizabeth A. Sewell |title=Law and religion in post-communist Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEucgny-0k4C |year=2003 |publisher=Peeters Pub & Booksellers |isbn=978-90-429-1262-5 |page=261 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=22 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622083150/https://books.google.com/books?id=QEucgny-0k4C |url-status=live }}</ref> The immediate period following the establishment of the Soviet state included a struggle against the Orthodox Church, which the revolutionaries considered an ally of the former [[ruling class]]es.<ref name="Simon 1974, 64-65">{{harvnb|Simon|1974|pp=64–65}}</ref>

In Soviet law, the 'freedom to hold religious services' was constitutionally guaranteed, although the ruling Communist Party regarded religion as incompatible with the [[Marxism|Marxist]] spirit of [[Metaphysical naturalism|scientific materialism]].<ref name="Simon 1974, 64-65" /> In practice, the Soviet system subscribed to a narrow interpretation of this right, and in fact used a range of official measures to discourage religion and curb the activities of religious groups.<ref name="Simon 1974, 64-65" />

The 1918 [[Council of People's Commissars]] decree establishing the Russian SFSR as a secular state also decreed that 'the teaching of religion in all [places] where subjects of general instruction are taught, is forbidden. Citizens may teach and may be taught religion privately.'<ref name="Simon 1974, 209">{{harvnb|Simon|1974|p=209}}</ref> Among further restrictions, those adopted in 1929 included express prohibitions on a range of church activities, including meetings for organized [[Bible study (Christian)|Bible study]].<ref name="Simon 1974, 64-65" /> Both Christian and non-Christian establishments were shut down by the thousands in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1940, as many as 90% of the churches, synagogues, and mosques that had been operating in 1917 were closed; the majority of them were demolished or re-purposed for state needs with little concern for their historic and cultural value.<ref name="Atwood 2001, 311">{{cite book |author=Atwood, Craig D. |title=Always Reforming: A History of Christianity Since 1300 |location=Macon, Georgia |publisher=[[Mercer University Press]] |year=2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/alwaysreformingh0000atwo|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-86554-679-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/alwaysreformingh0000atwo/page/311 311]|access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref>

More than 85,000 Orthodox priests were shot in 1937 alone.<ref>The Globe and Mail (Canada), 9 March 2001. "Why father of glasnost is despised in Russia" By Geoffrey York http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5141.html# {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120105914/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5141.html }}#2 In his new book, Maelstrom of Memory, Mr. Yakovlev lists some of the nightmares uncovered by his commission. More than 41 million Soviets were imprisoned from 1923 to 1953. More than 884,000 children were in internal exile by 1954. More than 85,000 Orthodox priests were shot in 1937 alone.</ref> Only a twelfth of the Russian Orthodox Church's priests were left functioning in their parishes by 1941.<ref>D. Pospielovsky, ''The Russian Orthodox Church under the Soviet Regime'', vol. 1, p. 175.</ref> In the period between 1927 and 1940, the number of Orthodox Churches in Russia fell from 29,584 to less than 500 (1.7%).<ref>Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. ''A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer'', vol 2: Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988)</ref>

The Soviet Union was officially a [[secular state]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/36cons04.html |title=ARTICLE 124. |access-date=4 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102163245/http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/36cons04.html |archive-date=2 January 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/77cons02.html |title=Article 52. |access-date=4 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216062245/http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/77cons02.html |archive-date=16 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> but a 'government-sponsored program of forced conversion to [[Marxist-Leninist atheism|atheism]]' was conducted under the doctrine of [[state atheism]].<ref>Religion and the State in Russia and China: Suppression, Survival, and Revival, by Christopher Marsh, page 47. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011.</ref><ref>Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History, by Dilip Hiro. Penguin, 2009.</ref><ref name="Adappur2000">{{cite book |last=Adappur |first=Abraham |title=Religion and the Cultural Crisis in India and the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=44DYAAAAMAAJ|access-date=14 July 2016 |year=2000 |publisher=Intercultural Publications |isbn=978-81-85574-47-9 |quote=Forced Conversion under Atheistic Regimes: It might be added that the most modern example of forced "conversions" came not from any theocratic state, but from a professedly atheist government—that of the Soviet Union under the Communists.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314065732/https://books.google.com/books?id=44DYAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=14 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The government targeted religions based on state interests, and while most organized religions were never outlawed, religious property was confiscated, believers were harassed, and religion was ridiculed while atheism was propagated in schools.<ref>USGOV1</ref> In 1925, the government founded the [[League of Militant Atheists]] to intensify the propaganda campaign.<ref>Geoffrey Blainey; A Short History of Christianity; Viking; 2011; p.494"</ref> Accordingly, although personal expressions of religious faith were not explicitly banned, a strong sense of social stigma was imposed on them by the formal structures and mass media, and it was generally considered unacceptable for members of certain professions (teachers, state bureaucrats, soldiers) to be openly religious. While persecution accelerated following Stalin's rise to power, a revival of Orthodoxy was fostered by the government during World War II and the Soviet authorities sought to control the Russian Orthodox Church rather than liquidate it. During the first five years of Soviet power, the Bolsheviks executed 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and over 1,200 Russian Orthodox priests. Many others were imprisoned or exiled. Believers were harassed and persecuted. Most seminaries were closed, and the publication of most religious material was prohibited. By 1941, only 500 churches remained open out of about 54,000 in existence before World War I.

Convinced that religious [[anti-Sovietism]] had become a thing of the past, and with the looming threat of war, the Stalin regime began shifting to a more moderate religion policy in the late 1930s.<ref name="Janz 1998, 38-39">{{harvnb|Janz|1998|pp=38–39}}</ref> Soviet religious establishments overwhelmingly rallied to support the war effort during World War II. Amid other accommodations to religious faith after the German invasion, churches were reopened. [[Radio Moscow]] began broadcasting a religious hour, and a historic meeting between Stalin and Orthodox Church leader [[Patriarch Sergius of Moscow]] was held in 1943. Stalin had the support of the majority of the religious people in the USSR even through the late 1980s.<ref name="Janz 1998, 38-39" /> The general tendency of this period was an increase in religious activity among believers of all faiths.<ref name="Ro'i 1995, 263">{{cite book |author=Ro'i, Yaacov |title=Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union |location=London |publisher=[[Frank Cass]] |year=1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJBH5pxzSyMC |isbn=978-0-7146-4619-0 |page=263|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512055620/http://books.google.com/books?id=bJBH5pxzSyMC|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Under [[Nikita Khrushchev]], the state leadership clashed with the churches in 1958–1964, a period when [[atheism]] was emphasized in the educational curriculum, and numerous state publications promoted atheistic views.<ref name="Janz 1998, 38-39" /> During this period, the number of churches fell from 20,000 to 10,000 from 1959 to 1965, and the number of synagogues dropped from 500 to 97.<ref name="Nahaylo & Swoboda 1990, 144">{{cite book |author1=Nahaylo, Bohdan |author2=Victor Swoboda|name-list-style=amp |title=Soviet Disunion: A History of the Nationalities Problem in the USSR |location=London |publisher=[[Hamish Hamilton]] |year=1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrG7vrPue4wC |isbn=978-0-02-922401-4 |page=144|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512050225/http://books.google.com/books?id=ZrG7vrPue4wC|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The number of working mosques also declined, falling from 1,500 to 500 within a decade.<ref name="Nahaylo & Swoboda 1990, 144" />

Religious institutions remained monitored by the Soviet government, but churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques were all given more leeway in the [[History of the Soviet Union (1964–82)|Brezhnev era]].<ref name="Steinberg & Wanner 2008,">{{cite book |author=Mark D. Steinberg |author2=Catherine Wanner |title=Religion, morality, and community in post-Soviet societies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LR6X3EY8oPIC |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-22038-7 |page=6 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=17 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617211211/https://books.google.com/books?id=LR6X3EY8oPIC |url-status=live }}</ref> Official relations between the Orthodox Church and the government again warmed to the point that the Brezhnev government twice honored Orthodox Patriarch [[Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow|Alexy I]] with the [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]].<ref name="Janz 1998, 42">{{harvnb|Janz|1998|p=42}}</ref> A poll conducted by Soviet authorities in 1982 recorded 20% of the Soviet population as 'active religious believers.'<ref name="subculture">{{cite book |author1=McKay, George |author2=Williams, Christopher |title=Subcultures and New Religious Movements in Russia and East-Central Europe |publisher=[[Peter Lang (publishing company)|Peter Lang]] |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpNBm-z7aOYC |isbn=978-3-03911-921-9 |pages=231–232|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512035801/http://books.google.com/books?id=xpNBm-z7aOYC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
{{See also|Neo-Sovietism|Nostalgia for the Soviet Union}}{{POV section}}{{more citations needed section}}
[[File:World War II military deaths in Europe by theater and by year.png|thumb|300px|[[World War II casualties|World War II military deaths]] in Europe by theatre and by year. Nazi Germany suffered 80% of its military deaths on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Duiker |first=William J. |title=Contemporary World History |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd0bCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT159 |edition=6th |year=2015 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-285-44790-2 |page=138 |chapter=The Crisis Deepens: The Outbreak of World War II |access-date=16 December 2020 |archive-date=2 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202093539/https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd0bCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT159 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
The legacy of the USSR remains a controversial topic. The socio-economic nature of [[communist state]]s such as the USSR, especially under Stalin, has also been much debated, varyingly being labelled a form of [[bureaucratic collectivism]], [[state capitalism]], [[state socialism]], or a totally unique [[mode of production]].<ref>Sandle, Mark (1999). ''A Short History of Soviet Socialism''. London: UCL Press. pp. 265–266. {{doi|10.4324/9780203500279}}. {{ISBN|978-1-85728-355-6}}.</ref>
The USSR implemented a broad range of policies over a long period of time, with a large amount of conflicting policies being implemented by different leaders. Some have a positive view of it whilst others are critical towards the country, calling it a repressive [[oligarchy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The USSR: Oligarchy or Dictatorship? |first=Robert G. |last=Wesson |journal=Slavic Review |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=314–322 |doi=10.2307/2494336 |jstor=2494336 |s2cid=159910749 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The opinions on the USSR are complex and have changed over time, with different generations having different views on the matter as well as on Soviet policies corresponding to separate time periods during its history.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232446718 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=49 |issue=6 |pages=1565–1585 |title=Integrative Complexity of American and Soviet Foreign Policy Rhetoric: A Time Series Analysis |first=Philip E. |last=Tetlock |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.49.6.1565 |access-date=4 December 2020 |archive-date=24 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221555/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232446718_Integrative_Complexity_of_American_and_Soviet_Foreign_Policy_Rhetoric_A_Time-Series_Analysis |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Stamp of Moldova md383.jpg|thumb|2001 stamp of [[Moldova]] shows [[Yuri Gagarin]], the first human in space.]]

Western academicians published various analyses of the [[post-Soviet states]]' development, claiming that the dissolution was followed by a severe drop in economic and social conditions in these countries,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/966616.stm "Child poverty soars in eastern Europe"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512034826/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/966616.stm }}, BBC News, 11 October 2000.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Parenti |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/blackshirtsredsr00pare |title=Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism |publisher=[[City Lights Bookstore|City Lights Books]] |isbn=978-0-87286-329-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/blackshirtsredsr00pare/page/n70 118] |author-link=Michael Parenti |url-access=limited}}</ref> including a rapid increase in poverty,<ref name="Scheidel" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=McAaley |first=Alastair |url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3A8M3JFdbXA7sJ%3Awww.crop.org%2Fviewfile.aspx%3Fid%3D381+&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz |title=Russia and the Baltics: Poverty and Poverty Research in a Changing World |access-date=18 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123224044/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3A8M3JFdbXA7sJ%3Awww.crop.org%2Fviewfile.aspx%3Fid%3D381+&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz |archive-date=23 January 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=An epidemic of street kids overwhelms Russian cities |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/an-epidemic-of-street-kids-overwhelms-russian-cities/article4141933/ |url-status=live |access-date=17 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828195036/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/an-epidemic-of-street-kids-overwhelms-russian-cities/article4141933/ |archive-date=28 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Targ |first=Harry |title=Challenging Late Capitalism, Neoliberal Globalization, & Militarism }}</ref> crime,<ref>Theodore P. Gerber & Michael Hout, "More Shock than Therapy: Market Transition, Employment, and Income in Russia, 1991–1995", AJS Volume 104 Number 1 (July 1998): 1–50.</ref> corruption,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Cops for hire |url=http://www.economist.com/node/15731344 |url-status=live |newspaper=The Economist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208110401/http://www.economist.com/node/15731344 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |access-date=4 December 2015}}</ref><ref name="CPI2015">{{cite web |title=Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 |url=http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202072021/http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results |archive-date=2 December 2015 |access-date=18 July 2016 |publisher=Transparency International}}</ref> unemployment,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardt |first=John |title=Russia's Uncertain Economic Future: With a Comprehensive Subject Index |publisher=M. E Sharpe |page=481}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mattei |first=Clara E. |title=The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism |pages=301–302 |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo181707138.html |location= |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=978-0226818399}}</ref> homelessness,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Alexander |first1=Catharine |title=Urban Life in Post-Soviet Asia |last2=Buchil |first2=Victor |last3=Humphrey |first3=Caroline |year= 2007 |publisher=CRC Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Smorodinskaya |title=Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Russian |publisher=Routledge}}</ref> rates of disease,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Galazkaa |first=Artur |year=2000 |title=Implications of the Diphtheria Epidemic in the Former Soviet Union for Immunization Programs |journal=Journal of Infectious Diseases |volume=181 |pages=244–248 |doi=10.1086/315570 |pmid=10657222 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Shubnikov |first=Eugene |title=Non-communicable Diseases and Former Soviet Union countries |url=http://www.pitt.edu/~super4/33011-34001/33991.ppt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011091551/http://www.pitt.edu/~super4/33011-34001/33991.ppt |archive-date=11 October 2016 |access-date=18 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wharton |first1=Melinda |last2=Vitek |first2=Charles |year=1998 |title=Diphtheria in the Former Soviet Union: Reemergence of a Pandemic Disease |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=539–550 |doi=10.3201/eid0404.980404 |pmc=2640235 |pmid=9866730}}</ref> infant mortality and domestic violence,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Parenti |first=Michael |title=Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism |publisher=[[City Lights Bookstore|City Lights Books]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-87286-329-3 |location=San Francisco |pages=107, 115 |author-link=Michael Parenti}}</ref> as well as demographic losses,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hudson |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Hudson (economist) |last2=Sommers |first2=Jeffrey |title=Latvia provides no magic solution for indebted economies |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/dec/20/latvia-debt-economy-europe-austerity |url-status=live |access-date=24 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025021924/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/dec/20/latvia-debt-economy-europe-austerity |archive-date=25 October 2017 |quote=Neoliberal austerity has created demographic losses exceeding Stalin's deportations back in the 1940s (although without the latter's loss of life). As government cutbacks in education, healthcare and other basic social infrastructure threaten to undercut long-term development, young people are emigrating to better their lives rather than suffer in an economy without jobs. More than 12% of the overall population (and a much larger percentage of its labor force) now works abroad.}}</ref> income inequality and the rise of an [[Russian oligarchs|oligarchical class]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hoepller |first=C |title=Russian Demographics: The Role of the Collapse of the Soviet Union |url=http://www.kon.org/urc/v10/hoeppler.html |url-status=live |journal=Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences |volume=10 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806005855/http://www.kon.org/urc/v10/hoeppler.html |archive-date=6 August 2016 |access-date=18 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="Scheidel">{{Cite book |last=Scheidel |first=Walter |title=The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-691-16502-8 |location=Princeton |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NgZpDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 51] & [https://books.google.com/books?id=NgZpDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA222 222–223] |author-link=Walter Scheidel}}</ref> along with decreases in calorie intake, life expectancy, adult literacy, and income.<ref>{{cite web |last=Poland |first=Marshall |title=Russian Economy in the Aftermath of the Collapse of the Soviet Union |url=http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/03-04/baker%20poland%20p1/ussr.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708010129/http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/03-04/baker%20poland%20p1/ussr.htm |archive-date=8 July 2016 |access-date=18 July 2016 |website=Needham K12}}</ref> Between 1988 and 1989 and 1993–1995, the [[Gini ratio]] increased by an average of 9 points for all former Soviet republics.<ref name="Scheidel" /> According to Western analysis, the economic shocks that accompanied wholesale [[privatization]] were associated with sharp increases in mortality,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ghodsee|first1=Kristen|last2=Orenstein|first2=Mitchell A.|author-link1=Kristen Ghodsee|title=Taking Stock of Shock: Social Consequences of the 1989 Revolutions|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|pages=83–85|doi=10.1093/oso/9780197549230.001.0001 |isbn=978-0197549247}}</ref> Russia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia saw a tripling of unemployment and a 42% increase in male death rates between 1991 and 1994,<ref>David Stuckler, Lawrence King, and Martin McKee. "Mass privatisation and the post-communist mortality crisis: a cross-national analysis." ''The Lancet'' 373.9661 (2009): 399–407.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7828901.stm Privatisation 'raised death rate'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306005653/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7828901.stm }}. ''BBC'', 15 January 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2014.</ref> and in the following decades, only five or six of the post-communist states are on a path to joining the wealthy capitalist West while most are falling behind, some to such an extent that it will take over fifty years to catch up to where they were before the fall of the Soviet Bloc.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ghodsee |first=Kristen |url=https://www.dukeupress.edu/red-hangover |title=Red Hangover: Legacies of Twentieth-Century Communism |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-6949-3 |page=63 |author-link=Kristen R. Ghodsee |access-date=6 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804180848/https://www.dukeupress.edu/red-hangover |archive-date=4 August 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Milanović |first=Branko |author-link=Branko Milanović |year=2015 |title=After the Wall Fell: The Poor Balance Sheet of the Transition to Capitalism |journal=[[Challenge (economics magazine)|Challenge]] |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=135–138 |doi=10.1080/05775132.2015.1012402 |s2cid=153398717}}</ref>

Since the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], annual polling by the [[Levada Center]] has shown that over 50% of Russia's population regretted this event, with the only exception to this being in the year 2012 when support for the Soviet Union dipped below 50 percent.<ref name="CCCP">{{cite news |title=Ностальгия по СССР |trans-title=Nostalgia for the USSR |language=ru |url=https://www.levada.ru/2018/12/19/nostalgiya-po-sssr-2/ |publisher=levada.ru }}</ref> A 2018 poll showed that 66% of Russians regretted the fall of the Soviet Union, setting a 15-year record, and the majority of these regretting opinions came from people older than 55.<ref name="CCCP"/><ref>{{cite news |author-last=Maza |author-first=Christina |title=Russia vs. Ukraine: More Russians Want the Soviet Union and Communism Back Amid Continued Tensions |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-vs-ukraine-soviet-union-communism-1264875 |work=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref> In 2020, polls conducted by the Levada Center found that 75% of Russians agreed that the Soviet era was the greatest era in their country's history.<ref name="TMT">{{cite news |title=75% of Russians Say Soviet Era Was 'Greatest Time' in Country's History – Poll |author= |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/03/24/75-of-russians-say-soviet-era-was-greatest-time-in-countrys-history-poll-a69735 |location=Moscow |access-date=4 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209105256/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/03/24/75-of-russians-say-soviet-era-was-greatest-time-in-countrys-history-poll-a69735 |archive-date=9 January 2023}}</ref>

According to the New Russia Barometer (NRB) polls by the Centre for the Study of Public Policy, 50% of Russian respondents reported a positive impression of the Soviet Union in 1991.<ref name=Pop>{{cite book|last1=Rose|first1=Richard|last2=Mishler|first2=William|last3=Munro|first3=Neil|title=Popular Support for an Undemocratic Regime: The Changing Views of Russians|pages=92–93|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521-22418-5}}</ref> This increased to about 75% of NRB respondents in 2000, dropping slightly to 71% in 2009.<ref name=Pop/> Throughout the 2000s, an average of 32% of NRB respondents supported the restoration of the Soviet Union.<ref name=Pop/>

In a 2021 poll, a record 70% of [[Russians]] indicated they had a mostly/very favourable view of [[Joseph Stalin]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Arkhipov |first=Ilya |title=Russian Support for Stalin Surges to Record High, Poll Says |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-16/russian-support-for-soviet-tyrant-stalin-hits-record-poll-shows |work=Bloomberg |access-date=8 October 2020 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003223316/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-16/russian-support-for-soviet-tyrant-stalin-hits-record-poll-shows |url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Armenia]], 12% of respondents said the USSR collapse did good, while 66% said it did harm. In [[Kyrgyzstan]], 16% of respondents said the collapse of the USSR did good, while 61% said it did harm.<ref>{{cite web |title=Former Soviet Countries See More Harm From Breakup |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/166538/former-soviet-countries-harm-breakup.aspx |publisher=Gallup |access-date=19 December 2013 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111230251/https://news.gallup.com/poll/166538/former-soviet-countries-harm-breakup.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2018 [[Sociological group "RATING"|Rating Sociological Group]] poll, 47% of Ukrainian respondents had a positive opinion of Soviet leader [[Leonid Brezhnev]], who ruled the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, while viewing [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], Stalin and [[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev]] very negatively.<ref>{{cite news |title=Survey shows Ukrainians most negatively regard Stalin, Lenin and Gorbachev |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/survey-shows-ukrainians-most-negatively-regard-stalin-lenin-and-gorbachev.html |work=Kyiv Post |access-date=9 December 2020 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108124647/https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/survey-shows-ukrainians-most-negatively-regard-stalin-lenin-and-gorbachev.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2021 poll conducted by the Levada Center found that 49% of Russians prefer the USSR's political system, while 18% prefer the current political system and 16% would prefer a [[Liberal democracy|Western democracy]]. A further 62% of people polled preferred the Soviet system of central planning, while 24% prefer a market-based system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Should Russia be in the View of Russians? |url=https://www.levada.ru/2021/09/10/kakoj-dolzhna-byt-rossiya-v-predstavlenii-rossiyan/ |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=Levada Center |archive-date=5 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305061703/https://www.levada.ru/2021/09/10/kakoj-dolzhna-byt-rossiya-v-predstavlenii-rossiyan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the Levada Center's polls, the primary reasons cited for Soviet nostalgia are the advantages of the shared economic union between the Soviet republics, including perceived financial stability.<ref name="WaPo2016">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/12/21/why-do-so-many-people-miss-the-soviet-union/ |title=Why do so many people miss the Soviet Union? |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] }}</ref> This was referenced by up to 53% of respondents in 2016.<ref name="WaPo2016"/> At least 43% also lamented the loss of the Soviet Union's global political superpower status.<ref name="WaPo2016"/> About 31% cited the loss of social trust and capital.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Fall of the Soviet Union |url=https://www.levada.ru/en/2017/01/09/the-fall-of-the-soviet-union/ |publisher=Levada.ru }}</ref> The remainder of the respondents cited a mix of reasons ranging from practical travel difficulties to a sense of national displacement.<ref name="WaPo2016"/>

[[File:Stalinobus1.jpg|thumb|left|300px|A bus commemorating Victory Day, [[Saint Petersburg]], 2010. The text reads "Eternal glory to the victors" next to a portrait of [[Joseph Stalin]] and a [[Saint George's ribbon]].]]
The 1941–1945 period of World War II is still known in Russia as the '[[Great Patriotic War (term)|Great Patriotic War]]'. The war became a topic of great importance in cinema, literature, history lessons at school, the mass media, and the arts. As a result of the [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|massive losses]] suffered by the military and civilians during the conflict, [[Victory Day (9 May)|Victory Day]] celebrated on 9 May is still one of the most important and emotional dates in Russia.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ločmele |first1=K. |last2=Procevska |first2=O. |last3=Zelče |first3=V. |year=2011 |title=Celebrations, Commemorative Dates and Related Rituals: Soviet Experience, its Transformation and Contemporary Victory Day Celebrations in Russia and Latvia |editor-last=Muižnieks |editor-first=Nils |editor-link=Nils Muižnieks |work=The Geopolitics of History in Latvian-Russian Relations |location=Riga |publisher=Academic Press of the University of Latvia |url=https://www.szf.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/szf_faili/Petnieciba/sppi/lat_un_starp/The%20Geopolitics%20of%20History%20in%20Latvian-Russian%20Relations.pdf |access-date=9 December 2020 |archive-date=2 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702115233/https://www.szf.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/szf_faili/Petnieciba/sppi/lat_un_starp/The%20Geopolitics%20of%20History%20in%20Latvian-Russian%20Relations.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Catherine Wanner asserts that Victory Day commemorations are a vehicle for Soviet nostalgia, as they "kept alive a mythology of Soviet grandeur, of solidarity among the ''Sovietskii narod'', and of a sense of self as citizen of a superpower state".<ref name=Wanner>{{cite book|last=Wanner|first=Catherine|title=Burden of Dreams: History and Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine|pages=70, 160–167|publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press|location=University Park, Pennsylvania|isbn=0-271-01793-7}}</ref>

Russian Victory Day parades are organized annually in most cities, with the central military parade taking place in [[Moscow]] (just as during the Soviet times).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/05/08/1097184192/russia-victory-day-2022|title=Russia's Victory Day celebrations take on new importance for the Kremlin this year|website=[[NPR]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/68366|title=Victory Parade on Red Square}}</ref> Additionally, the recently-introduced [[Immortal Regiment]] on May 9 sees millions of Russians carry the portraits of their relatives who fought in the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/analyses/the-immortal-regiment-the-pride-and-prejudice-of-russia/|title=The Immortal Regiment: the pride and prejudice of Russia}}</ref> Russia also [[Public holidays in Russia|retains other Soviet holidays]], such as the [[Defender of the Fatherland Day]] (February 23), [[International Women's Day]] (March 8), and [[International Workers' Day#Russia|International Workers' Day]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ru.usembassy.gov/holiday-calendar/|title=U.S. & Russian Holidays in 2022 & 2023}}</ref>

=== In the former Soviet republics ===
{{See also|Anti-Sovietism|Anti-Russian sentiment|Decommunization in Ukraine}}
[[File:2018-05-09. День Победы в Донецке f171.jpg|thumb|right|People in [[Donetsk People's Republic|Russian-occupied]] [[Donetsk]] celebrate the annual [[Victory Day (9 May)|Victory Day]] over [[Nazi Germany]], 9 May 2018.]]
[[File:2014-03-08. Митинг в Донецке 006.jpg|thumb|left|Protest against [[Decommunization in Ukraine|Ukrainian decommunization policies]] in Donetsk, 2014. The red banner reads, "Our homeland USSR".]]
In some post-Soviet republics, there is a more negative view of the USSR, although there is no unanimity on the matter. In large part due to the [[Holodomor]], ethnic [[Ukrainians]] have a negative view of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite thesis |url=http://lup.lub.lu.se/record/25786 |title=Making Sense of Suffering : Holocaust and Holodomor in Ukrainian Historical Culture |first=Johan |last=Dietsch |publisher=Lund University |type=thesis/docmono |via=lup.lub.lu.se |access-date=26 October 2020 |archive-date=24 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221612/https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/publication/25786 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Russian language in Ukraine|Russian]]-speaking Ukrainians of Ukraine's southern and eastern regions have a more positive view of the USSR. In some countries with internal conflict, there is also nostalgia for the USSR, especially for [[refugee]]s of the [[post-Soviet conflicts]] who have been forced to flee their homes and have been displaced. This nostalgia is less an admiration for the country or its policies than it is a longing to return to their homes. The many Russian enclaves in the former USSR republics such as [[Transnistria]] have in a general a positive remembrance of it.<ref>{{Cite thesis |url=https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=5289947 |title=Nostalgia and discontinuity of life: A multiple case study of older ex-Soviet refugees seeking psychotherapeutic help for immigration-related problems. |type=PhD |first=A. V. |last=Zinchenko |pages=1 |via=eLibrary.ru |access-date=26 October 2020 |archive-date=24 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221600/https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=5289947 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== By the political left ===
{{See also|Criticism of communist party rule#Left-wing criticism}}
The left's view of the USSR is complex. While some leftists regard the USSR as an example of state capitalism or that it was an oligarchical state, other leftists admire [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the [[Russian Revolution]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=History of Economics Review |title='State Capitalism' in the Soviet Union |first1=M.C. |last1=Howard |first2=J.E. |last2=King |url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.691.8154&rep=rep1&type=pdf |doi=10.1080/10370196.2001.11733360 |volume=34 |year=2001 |issue=1 |pages=110–126 |citeseerx=10.1.1.691.8154 |s2cid=42809979 |via=CiteSeer |access-date=8 October 2020 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818055829/https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.691.8154&rep=rep1&type=pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Council communists]] generally view the USSR as failing to create [[class consciousness]], turning into a corrupt state in which the elite controlled society.

Many [[anti-Stalinist left]]ists such as anarchists are extremely critical of Soviet authoritarianism and [[Nabat#Decline|repression]]. Much of the criticism it receives is centered around [[List of massacres in the Soviet Union|massacres in the Soviet Union]], the centralized [[hierarchy]] present in the USSR and mass [[Political repression in the Soviet Union|political repression]] as well as violence towards government critics and [[Soviet dissidents|political dissidents]] such as other leftists. Critics also point towards its failure to implement any substantial [[worker cooperatives]] or implementing worker liberation, as well as corruption and the Soviet authoritarian nature.{{Citation needed}}

Anarchists are also critical of the country, labeling the Soviet system as ''[[red fascism]]''. Factors contributing to the anarchist animosity towards the USSR included the Soviet destruction of the [[Makhnovshchina|Makhnovist movement]] after an initial alliance, the suppression of the anarchist [[Kronstadt rebellion]], and the defeat of the rival anarchist factions by the Soviet-supported Communist faction during the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref>{{cite book |title=ABC of Anarchism |orig-year=1942 |first=Alexander |last=Berkman |url=http://assets.zinedistro.org/zines/pdfs/116.pdf |publisher=Freedom Press |year=2006 |isbn=0-900384-03-4 |via=Zine Distro |access-date=8 October 2020 |archive-date=5 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105124142/http://assets.zinedistro.org/zines/pdfs/116.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Maoism|Maoists]] also have a mixed opinion on the USSR, viewing it negatively during the [[Sino-Soviet Split]] and denouncing it as revisionist and reverted to capitalism. The Chinese government in 1963 articulated its criticism of the USSR's system and promoted China's ideological line as an alternative.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/sino-soviet-split/cpc/proposal.htm|title=A Proposal Concerning the General Line of the International Communist Movement|website=marxists.org|access-date=24 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131074829/https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/sino-soviet-split/cpc/proposal.htm|archive-date=31 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/polemics/sevenlet.html |title=Seven Letters Exchanged Between the Central Committees of the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |access-date=21 October 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225024740/http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/classics/mao/polemics/sevenlet.html |archive-date=25 December 2007 |website=Etext Archives }}</ref>

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the [[Japanese Communist Party]] (JCP) released a press statement titled "We welcome the end of a party which embodied the historical evil of [[great power]] [[chauvinism]] and [[Hegemony|hegemonism]]".<ref name="yomiuri.co.jp">The Daily Yomiuri [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120715002061.htm JCP struggling to become relevant July 16 2012] Retrieved on 12 July 2012</ref>

[[Noam Chomsky]] called the collapse of the Soviet Union "a small victory for socialism, not only because of the fall of one of the most anti-socialist states in the world, where working people had fewer rights than in the West, but also because it freed the term 'socialism' from the burden of being associated in the propaganda systems of East and West with Soviet tyranny — for the East, in order to benefit from the aura of authentic socialism, for the West, in order to demonize the concept."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Polychroniou |first=C. J. |title=Noam Chomsky on Anarchism, Communism and Revolutions |url=https://truthout.org/articles/noam-chomsky-on-anarchism-communism-and-revolutions/ |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Truthout |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Culture ==
{{Main|Culture of the Soviet Union}}
{{See also|Soviet cuisine|Music of the Soviet Union|Fashion in the Soviet Union|Broadcasting in the Soviet Union|Printed media in the Soviet Union|Samizdat}}
[[File:Марш энтузиастов.ogg|thumb|The 'Enthusiast's March', a 1930s song famous in the Soviet Union]]
[[File:Vladimir Vysotsky.jpg|thumb|upright|Soviet singer-songwriter, poet and actor [[Vladimir Vysotsky]] in 1979]]
The culture of the Soviet Union passed through several stages during the USSR's existence. During the first decade following the revolution, there was relative freedom and artists experimented with several different styles to find a distinctive Soviet style of art. Lenin wanted art to be accessible to the Russian people. On the other hand, hundreds of intellectuals, writers, and artists were exiled or executed, and their work banned, such as [[Nikolay Gumilyov]] who was shot for alleged conspiracy against the Bolshevik regime, and [[Yevgeny Zamyatin]].<ref>'On the other hand{{nbsp}}...' See the index of ''Stalin and His Hangmen'' by Donald Rayfield, 2004, Random House</ref>

The government encouraged a variety of trends. In art and literature, numerous schools, some traditional and others radically experimental, proliferated. Communist writers [[Maxim Gorky]] and [[Vladimir Mayakovsky]] were active during this time. As a means of influencing a largely illiterate society, films received encouragement from the state, and much of director [[Sergei Eisenstein]]'s best work dates from this period.

During Stalin's rule, the Soviet culture was characterized by the rise and domination of the government-imposed style of [[socialist realism]], with all other trends being severely repressed, with rare exceptions, such as [[Mikhail Bulgakov]]'s works. Many writers were imprisoned and killed.<ref>{{harvnb|Rayfield|2004|pp=317–320}}</ref>

Following the [[Khrushchev Thaw]], censorship was diminished. During this time, a distinctive period of Soviet culture developed, characterized by conformist public life and an intense focus on personal life. Greater experimentation in art forms was again permissible, resulting in the production of more sophisticated and subtly critical work. The regime loosened its emphasis on socialist realism; thus, for instance, many protagonists of the novels of author [[Yury Trifonov]] concerned themselves with problems of daily life rather than with building socialism. Underground dissident literature, known as ''[[samizdat]]'', developed during this late period. In architecture, the Khrushchev era mostly focused on functional design as opposed to the highly decorated style of Stalin's epoch. In music, in response to the increasing popularity of forms of popular music like jazz in the West, many jazz orchestras were permitted throughout the USSR, notably the Melodiya Ensemble, named after the principle record label in the USSR.

In the second half of the 1980s, Gorbachev's policies of ''[[perestroika]]'' and ''[[glasnost]]'' significantly expanded [[freedom of expression]] throughout the country in the media and the press.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Gorbachev, Mikhail |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037405&gt |quotation="Under his new policy of glasnost ("openness"), a major cultural thaw took place: freedoms of expression and of information were significantly expanded; the press and broadcasting were allowed unprecedented candor in their reportage and criticism; and the country's legacy of Stalinist totalitarian rule was eventually completely repudiated by the government."|access-date=1 December 2017}}{{dead link|bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Sport ==
{{See also|Voluntary Sports Societies of the Soviet Union|CSKA Moscow|Soviet Union at the Olympics|Soviet Union men's national ice hockey team}}
[[File:RR5110-0098R.png|thumb|[[Valeri Kharlamov]] represented the Soviet Union at 11 [[IIHF Men's World Championship|Ice Hockey World Championships]], winning eight gold medals, two silvers and one bronze.]]
In summer of 1923 in Moscow was established the [[Dynamo Sports Club|Proletarian Sports Society "Dynamo"]] as a sports organization of Soviet secret police [[Cheka]].

Founded on 20 July 1924 in Moscow, ''[[Sovetsky Sport]]'' was the first sports newspaper of the Soviet Union.

On 13 July 1925 the [[Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]] adopted a statement "About the party's tasks in sphere of physical culture". In the statement was determined the role of physical culture in Soviet society and the party's tasks in political leadership of physical culture movement in the country.

The [[Soviet Olympic Committee]] formed on 21 April 1951, and the [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]] recognized the new body in its [[List of IOC meetings|45th session]]. In the same year, when the Soviet representative Konstantin Andrianov became an IOC member, the USSR officially joined the [[Olympic Movement]]. The [[1952 Summer Olympics]] in Helsinki thus became first Olympic Games for Soviet athletes. The Soviet Union was the biggest rival to the United States at the Summer Olympics, winning [[Soviet Union at the Olympics#Medals by Summer Games|six of its nine appearances at the games]] and also topping the medal tally at the Winter Olympics six times. The Soviet Union's Olympics success has been attributed to its large investment in sports to demonstrate its superpower image and political influence on a global stage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/russia-and-its-empires/tyler-benson/ |title=The Role of Sports in the Soviet Union | Guided History |access-date=8 March 2021 |archive-date=22 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022002522/http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/russia-and-its-empires/tyler-benson/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Soviet Union national ice hockey team]] won nearly every [[Ice Hockey World Championships|world championship]] and [[Ice hockey at the Olympic Games|Olympic tournament]] between 1954 and 1991 and never failed to medal in any [[International Ice Hockey Federation]] (IIHF) tournament in which they competed.

Soviet Olympic team was notorious for skirting the edge of amateur rules. All Soviet athletes held some nominal jobs, but were in fact state-sponsored and trained full-time. According to many experts, that gave the Soviet Union a huge advantage over the [[United States]] and other Western countries, whose athletes were students or real amateurs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/21/archives/soviet-amateur-athlete-a-real-pro-dr-john-nelson-washburn-is-an.html|title = Soviet Amateur Athlete: A Real Pro|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 21 July 1974|last1 = Washburn|first1 = J. N.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-22-sp-30740-story.html|title = Sports in Soviet Union Only for Elite : There Are Top Athletes, and then There Are Those Who Sunbathe and Watch Drawbridges Go up|website = [[Los Angeles Times]]|date = 22 July 1986}}</ref> Indeed, the Soviet Union monopolized the top place in the medal standings after 1968, and, until its collapse, placed second only once, in the [[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Winter games]], after another Eastern bloc nation, the [[East Germany|GDR]]. Amateur rules were relaxed only in the late 1980s and were almost completely abolished in the 1990s, after the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|fall of the USSR]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/russia-and-its-empires/tyler-benson/|title=The Role of Sports in The Soviet Union – Guided History|website=blogs.bu.edu}}</ref><ref name="cia.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80-00810A005600130009-0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123110037/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80-00810A005600130009-0.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 23, 2017 |title=Info |website=www.cia.gov }}</ref>

According to British journalist [[Andrew Jennings]], a [[KGB]] colonel stated that the agency's officers had posed as anti-doping authorities from the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) to undermine [[doping test]]s and that Soviet athletes were "rescued with [these] tremendous efforts".<ref name=DG2011/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/the-1980-moscow-olympics-rank-as-the-cleanest-in-history-athletes-recall-how-the-u-s-s-r-cheated-the-system-/30741567.html |title=The 1980 Olympics Are The 'Cleanest' In History. Athletes Recall How Moscow Cheated The System. |last1=Aleksandrov |first1=Alexei |last2=Aleksandrov |first2=Grebeniuk |last3=Runets |first3=Volodymyr |publisher= |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=December 26, 2021}}</ref> On the topic of the [[1980 Summer Olympics]], a 1989 Australian study said "There is hardly a medal winner at the Moscow Games, certainly not a gold medal winner, who is not on one sort of drug or another: usually several kinds. The Moscow Games might as well have been called the Chemists' Games."<ref name=DG2011>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0292739575 |title= Drug Games: The International Olympic Committee and the Politics of Doping |first= Thomas M. |last= Hunt |year= 2011 |publisher= University of Texas Press |isbn= 978-0292739574 |page= 66 }}</ref>

A member of the IOC Medical Commission, Manfred Donike, privately ran additional tests with a new technique for identifying abnormal levels of testosterone by measuring its ratio to [[epitestosterone]] in [[urine]]. Twenty percent of the specimens he tested, including those from sixteen gold medalists, would have resulted in disciplinary proceedings had the tests been official. The results of Donike's unofficial tests later convinced the IOC to add his new technique to their testing protocols.<ref name="D. Derse2001">{{cite book |first1=Wayne (PhD) |last1=Wilson |first2=Ed |last2=Derse |title=Doping in Élite Sport: The Politics of Drugs in the Olympic Movement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wi2d4YyLh3wC&pg=PA77|access-date=19 July 2012 |year=2001 |publisher=Human Kinetics |isbn=978-0-7360-0329-2 |pages=77–|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627082301/http://books.google.com/books?id=wi2d4YyLh3wC&pg=PA77|archive-date=27 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The first documented case of '[[blood doping]]' occurred at the 1980 Summer Olympics when a runner{{who}} was transfused with two pints of blood before winning medals in the 5000 m and 10,000 m.<ref name="Sytkowski2006">{{cite book |first=Arthur J. |last=Sytkowski |title=Erythropoietin: Blood, Brain and Beyond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v135CsEL_LQC&pg=PA187|access-date=19 July 2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-3-527-60543-9 |pages=187–|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619114943/http://books.google.com/books?id=v135CsEL_LQC&pg=PA187|archive-date=19 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Documents obtained in 2016 revealed the Soviet Union's plans for a statewide doping system in track and field in preparation for the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] in Los Angeles. Dated prior to the country's decision to boycott the Games, the document detailed the existing steroids operations of the program, along with suggestions for further enhancements.<ref name=NYT160813/> The communication, directed to the Soviet Union's head of track and field, was prepared by Sergei Portugalov of the Institute for Physical Culture. Portugalov was also one of the main figures involved in the implementation of the Russian doping program prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics.<ref name=NYT160813>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/sports/olympics/soviet-doping-plan-russia-rio-games.html|title=The Soviet Doping Plan: Document Reveals Illicit Approach to '84 Olympics|last=Ruiz|first=Rebecca R.|newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=3 September 2016}}</ref>

== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:The Soviet Union 1964 CPA 3139 stamp (Development of mountaineering in Russia. Mountain Khan Tengri (6,995 m) of the Tian Shan mountain range).jpg|upright|thumb|Mountain [[Khan Tengri]] (6,995 m) of the [[Tian Shan]] mountain range.]]
The Soviet Union covered an area of over {{convert|22402200|km2}}, and was the world's largest country,<ref name=":0">Television documentary from CC&C Ideacom Production, "Apocalypse Never-Ending War 1918–1926", part 2, aired at Danish DR K on 22 October 2018.</ref> a status that is retained by its successor state, Russia.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513251/Russia Russia – Encyclopædia Britannica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080426065826/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513251/Russia }}. Britannica.com (27 April 2010). Retrieved on 29 July 2013.</ref> It covered a sixth of Earth's land surface, and its size was comparable to the continent of North America.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pages.towson.edu/thompson/courses/regional/reference/sovietphysical.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915090942/http://pages.towson.edu/thompson/Courses/Regional/Reference/SovietPhysical.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 September 2012 |title=The Former Soviet Union: Physical Geography |author=Virginia Thompson |publisher=Towson University: Department of Geography & Environmental Planning|access-date=24 March 2016}}</ref> Its western part in Europe accounted for a quarter of the country's area and was the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in Asia extended to the Pacific Ocean to the east and [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] to the south, and, except some areas in Central Asia, was much less populous. It spanned over {{Convert|10000|km}} east to west across eleven [[time zone]]s, and over {{convert|7200|km}} north to south. It had five climate zones: [[tundra]], [[taiga]], [[steppe]]s, [[desert]] and mountains.

The Soviet Union, [[Borders of Russia|similarly to modern Russia]], had the world's longest border, measuring over {{convert|60000|km}}, or {{frac|1|1|2}} circumferences of Earth. Two-thirds of it was a [[coast]]line. The country bordered (from 1945 to 1991): [[Norway]], [[Finland]], the [[Baltic Sea]], [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]], [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]], the [[Black Sea]], [[Turkey]], [[Iran]], the [[Caspian Sea]], [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], China, [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]], and [[North Korea]]. The [[Bering Strait]] separated the country from the United States, while the [[La Pérouse Strait]] separated it from Japan.

The Soviet Union's highest mountain was Communism Peak (now [[Ismoil Somoni Peak]]) in [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic|Tajik SSR]], at {{Convert|7495|m}}. It also included most of the world's largest lakes; the [[Caspian Sea]] (shared with [[Iran]]), and [[Lake Baikal]] in Russia, the world's largest and deepest freshwater lake.
=== Environment ===
{{Multiple issues|section=y|
{{More citations needed section}}
{{Tone|section}}
}}
[[File:AralSea1989 2014.jpg|thumb|right|One of the many impacts of the approach to the environment in the USSR and post-Soviet states is the [[Aral Sea]]. (See status in 1989 and 2014.)]]
[[File:Karabash mountain.jpg|thumb|left|Landscape near [[Karabash, Chelyabinsk Oblast]], an area that was previously covered with forests until acid rainfall from a nearby copper smelter killed all vegetation]]
The Soviet [[Chernobyl disaster]] in 1986 was the first major accident at a civilian [[nuclear power plant]]. Unparalleled in the world, it resulted in a large number of radioactive isotopes being released into the atmosphere. Radioactive doses have scattered relatively far. 4,000 new cases of thyroid cancer were reported after the incident, but this led to a relatively low number of deaths (WHO data, 2005).<ref>{{cite web |title=Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident |url=https://www.who.int/news/item/05-09-2005-chernobyl-the-true-scale-of-the-accident |website=www.who.int |access-date=7 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=25 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225095828/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr38/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the long-term effects of the accident are unknown. Another major accident is the [[Kyshtym disaster]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baverstock |first1=Keith |last2=Williams |first2=Dillwyn |title=The Chernobyl Accident 20 Years on: An Assessment of the Health Consequences and the International Response |journal=Environmental Health Perspectives |volume=114 |issue=9 |pages=1312–1317 |doi=10.1289/ehp.9113 |pmid=16966081 |pmc=1570049}}</ref>

After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], it was discovered that the environmental problems were greater than what the Soviet authorities admitted. The [[Kola Peninsula]] was one of the places with clear problems. Around the industrial cities of [[Monchegorsk]] and [[Norilsk]], where [[nickel]], for example, is mined, all forests have been destroyed by contamination, while the northern and other parts of Russia have been affected by emissions. During the 1990s, people in the West were also interested in the radioactive hazards of nuclear facilities, decommissioned [[nuclear submarine]]s, and the processing of [[nuclear waste]] or [[spent nuclear fuel]]. It was also known in the early 1990s that the USSR had transported radioactive material to the [[Barents Sea]] and [[Kara Sea]], which was later confirmed by the Russian parliament. The crash of the [[K-141 Kursk]] submarine in 2000 in the west further raised concerns.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hønneland |first1=Geir |last2=Jørgensen |first2=Anne-Kristin |title=Implementing Russia's International Environmental Commitments: Federal Prerogative or Regional Concern? |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=54 |issue=8 |pages=1223–1240 |doi=10.1080/0966813022000025862 |jstor=826384 |s2cid=156340249}}</ref> In the past, there were accidents involving submarines [[Soviet submarine K-19|K-19]], [[Soviet submarine K-8|K-8]], a [[Soviet submarine K-129 (1960)|K-129]], [[Soviet submarine K-27|K-27]], [[Soviet submarine K-219|K-219]] and [[Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets|K-278 Komsomolets]].

== See also ==
{{Portal|Soviet Union|Communism|Europe|Asia}}
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Baltic states under Soviet rule (1944–1991)]]
**[[Occupation of the Baltic states]]
*[[Cold War]]
*[[Warsaw Pact]]
*[[NATO|North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]
*[[Communism]]
*[[Eastern Bloc]]
*[[Nostalgia for the Soviet Union]]
*[[Ideocracy]]
*[[Index of Soviet Union–related articles]]
*[[Religion in the Soviet Union]]
*[[Korenizatsiya]]
*[[Sovietization]]
*[[Russification]]
*[[Neo-Sovietism]]
*[[Soviet patriotism]]
*[[Russian Empire]]
*[[Orphans in the Soviet Union]]
*[[Post-Soviet states]]
*[[Soviet Empire]]
*[[Second Cold War]]
*[[Stalinism]]
*[[Neo-Stalinism]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist|group=note}}
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{See also|Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War|Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union|Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ambler |first1=John |last2=Shaw |first2=Denis J.B. |last3=Symons |first3=Leslie |title=Soviet and East European Transport Problems |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=1985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rpg9AAAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-7099-0557-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Comrie |first=Bernard |title=The Languages of the Soviet Union |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] (CUP) Archive |year=1981 |url=https://archive.org/details/languagesofsovie0000comr|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-521-29877-3|author-link=Bernard Comrie}}
* {{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Robert|author-link1=Robert William Davies |last2=Wheatcroft |first2=Stephen|author-link2=Stephen G. Wheatcroft |title=The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia Volume 5: The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture 1931–1933 |url=http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780333311073 |year=2004 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-0-230-23855-8}}
* {{cite book |title=The Life of Lenin |last=Fischer |first=Louis|author-link=Louis Fischer |year=1964 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London}}
* {{cite web |last1=Fischer |first1=Stanley |author-link1=Stanley Fischer |last2=Easterly |first2=William |author-link2=William Easterly |title=The Soviet Economic Decline, Historical and Republican Data |publisher=[[World Bank]] |year=1994 |url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/1994/04/01/000009265_3961006063138/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf |access-date=23 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301162126/http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/1994/04/01/000009265_3961006063138/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf |archive-date=1 March 2011 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Janz |first=Denis |title=World Christianity and Marxism |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUVwrcnXwBsC |isbn=978-0-19-511944-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Lane |first=David Stuart |title=Soviet Society under Perestroika |publisher=Routledge |year=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rcXafOqyxgQC |isbn=978-0-415-07600-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Leggett |first=George |title=The Cheka: Lenin's Political Police |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-19-822552-2|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/chekaleninspolit0000legg}}
* {{cite book |title=Lenin's Last Struggle |last=Lewin |first=Moshe|author-link=Moshe Lewin |year=1969 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |translator-last=Sheridan Smith |translator-first=A. M. |translator-link=Alan Sheridan}}
* {{cite book |last=Rayfield |first=Donald |title=Stalin and His Hangmen: An Authoritative Portrait of a Tyrant and Those Who Served Him |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-375-75771-6|author-link=Donald Rayfield|title-link=Stalin and His Hangmen}}
* Ostrovsky, Alexander (2010). [https://ru.bookshome.net/book/3299571/e53580 Кто поставил Горбачёва? (Who put Gorbachev?)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807112401/https://ru.bookshome.net/book/3299571/e53580 }} – М.: Алгоритм-Эксмо, 2010. – 544 с. {{ISBN|978-5-699-40627-2}}
* Ostrovsky, Alexander (2011). [https://ru.bookshome.net/book/1137525/d94429 Глупость или измена? Расследование гибели СССР. (Stupidity or treason? Investigation of the death of the USSR)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830215714/https://ru.bookshome.net/book/1137525/d94429 }} М.: Форум, Крымский мост-9Д, 2011. – 864 с. {{ISBN|978-5-89747-068-6}}
* {{cite book |title=Lenin: A Biography |last=Service |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Service (historian) |year=2000 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-0-333-72625-9 |title-link=Lenin: A Biography}}
* {{cite book |last=Simon |first=Gerard |title=Church, State, and Opposition in the U.S.S.R |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |publisher=University of California Press |year=1974 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTLc8H3b4vUC |isbn=978-0-520-02612-4}}
* {{cite book |title=Lenin: Life and Legacy |last=Volkogonov |first=Dmitri |author-link=Dmitri Volkogonov |year=1994 |translator-last=Shukman |translator-first=Harold |translator-link=Harold Shukman |publisher=HarperCollins |location=London |isbn=978-0-00-255123-6}}
* {{cite book |title=Lenin: The Practice and Theory of Revolution |last=White |first=James D. |year=2001 |series=European History in Perspective |publisher=Palgrave |location=Basingstoke, England |isbn=978-0-333-72157-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=David |title=The Demand for Energy in the Soviet Union |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=1983 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1qgOAAAAQAAJ |isbn=978-0-7099-2704-4}}
* {{cite book |author=[[World Bank]] and [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] |title=A Study of the Soviet economy |volume=3 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fiDpE5M9jRAC |isbn=978-92-64-13468-3}}
* {{cite book |title=Social Identities in Revolutionary Russia |last=Palat |first=Madhavan K.|author-link=Madhavan K. Palat |year=2001 |publisher=Palgrave |location=UK |isbn=978-0-333-92947-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-d_QgAACAAJ|access-date=26 May 2012}}
* {{cite book |last=Warshofsky Lapidus |first=Gail |year=1978 |title=Women in Soviet Society: Equality, Development, and Social Change |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-03938-4}}
* {{cite journal |url=http://sovietinfo.tripod.com/WCR-German_Soviet.pdf |title=The Scale and Nature of German and Soviet Repression and Mass Killings, 1930–45 |last=Wheatcroft |first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen G. Wheatcroft |year=1996 |volume=48 |issue=8 |pages=1319–1353 |journal=[[Europe-Asia Studies]] |jstor=152781 |doi=10.1080/09668139608412415}}
* {{cite book|last=Mccauley |first=Martin |author-link=Martin McCauley (historian) |title=The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2014 |isbn=978-1317867838 |ref={{SfnRef|Mccauley|2014}}}}
* {{cite book|last1=Pons|first1=Silvio|last2=Service|first2=Robert|title=A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1400834525|ref={{SfnRef|Pons|2010}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Service|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Service (historian)|title=A History of Modern Russia from Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2005|isbn=978-0674018013|ref={{SfnRef|Service|2005}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Read |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Read |title=From Tsar to Soviets |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2005 |isbn=978-1135366254|ref={{SfnRef|Read|2005}} }}

== Further reading ==
{{See also|List of primary and secondary sources on the Cold War}}
{{refbegin|30em}}

=== Surveys ===
* [http://rs6.loc.gov/frd/cs/sutoc.html ''A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024175600/http://rs6.loc.gov/frd/cs/sutoc.html }}. [[Library of Congress Country Studies]], 1991.
* Brown, Archie, et al., eds.: ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Russia and the Soviet Union'' (Cambridge University Press, 1982).
* {{cite journal |jstor=4502285 |title=Revisionism in Soviet History |journal=History and Theory |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=77–91 |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Sheila |year=2007 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2303.2007.00429.x}} historiographical essay that covers the scholarship of the three major schools, totalitarianism, revisionism, and post-revisionism.
* Gilbert, Martin. ''Routledge Atlas of Russian History'' (4th ed. 2007) excerpt and text search.
* Gorodetsky, Gabriel, ed. ''Soviet Foreign Policy, 1917–1991: A Retrospective'' (2014).
* Grant, Ted. ''Russia, from Revolution to Counter-Revolution'', London, Well Red Publications, 1997.
* Hosking, Geoffrey. ''The First Socialist Society: A History of the Soviet Union from Within'' (2nd ed. Harvard UP 1992) 570 pp.
* Howe, G. Melvyn: ''The Soviet Union: A Geographical Survey'' 2nd. edn. (Estover, UK: MacDonald and Evans, 1983).
* Kort, Michael. ''The Soviet Colossus: History and Aftermath'' (7th ed. 2010) 502 pp.
* McCauley, Martin. ''The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union '' (2007), 522 pages.
* Moss, Walter G. ''A History of Russia''. Vol. 2: Since 1855. 2d ed. Anthem Press, 2005.
* [[Alec Nove|Nove, Alec]]. ''An Economic History of the USSR, 1917–1991''. (3rd ed. 1993) online free to borrow.
* Pipes, Richard. ''Communism: A History'' (2003).
* Pons, Silvio, and Stephen A. Smith, eds. ''The Cambridge History of Communism (Volume 1): World Revolution and Socialism in One Country, 1917–1941'' (2017) [https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Communism-1/dp/1107467365/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116151244/https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Communism-1/dp/1107467365 }}
**Naimark, Norman Silvio Pons and Sophie Quinn-Judge, eds. ''The Cambridge History of Communism (Volume 2): The Socialist Camp and World Power, 1941–1960s'' (2017) [https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Communism-2/dp/1107133548/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818132634/https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Communism-2/dp/1107133548 }}
** Fürst, Juliane, Silvio Pons and Mark Selden, eds. ''The Cambridge History of Communism (Volume 3): Endgames?.Late Communism in Global Perspective, 1968 to the Present'' (2017) [https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Communism-3-dp-1107135648/dp/1107135648/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031133507/https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Communism-3-dp-1107135648/dp/1107135648/ }}
* Service, Robert. ''A History of Twentieth-Century Russia'' (2nd ed. 1999).

=== Lenin and Leninism ===
* Clark, Ronald W. ''Lenin'' (1988). 570 pp.
* Debo, Richard K. ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918–1921'' (1992).
* Marples, David R. ''Lenin's Revolution: Russia, 1917–1921'' (2000) 156pp. short survey.
* Pipes, Richard. ''A Concise History of the Russian Revolution'' (1996) excerpt and text search, by a leading conservative.
* Pipes, Richard. ''Russia under the Bolshevik Regime.'' (1994). 608 pp.
* Service, Robert. ''Lenin: A Biography'' (2002), 561pp; standard scholarly biography; a short version of his 3 vol detailed biography.
* Volkogonov, Dmitri. ''Lenin: Life and Legacy'' (1994). 600 pp.

=== Stalin and Stalinism ===
* Daniels, R. V., ed. ''The Stalin Revolution'' (1965).
* Davies, Sarah, and James Harris, eds. ''Stalin: A New History,'' (2006), 310pp, 14 specialized essays by scholars excerpt and text search.
* De Jonge, Alex. ''Stalin and the Shaping of the Soviet Union'' (1986).
* Fitzpatrick, Sheila, ed. ''Stalinism: New Directions,'' (1999), 396pp excerpts from many scholars on the impact of Stalinism on the people (little on Stalin himself) online edition.
* Fitzpatrick, Sheila. "Impact of the Opening of Soviet Archives on Western Scholarship on Soviet Social History." ''Russian Review'' 74#3 (2015): 377–400; historiography.
* Hoffmann, David L. ed. ''Stalinism: The Essential Readings,'' (2002) essays by 12 scholars.
* Laqueur, Walter. ''Stalin: The Glasnost Revelations'' (1990).
* Kershaw, Ian, and Moshe Lewin. ''Stalinism and Nazism: Dictatorships in Comparison'' (2004) excerpt and text search.
* {{cite book |last=Kotkin |first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Kotkin |year=2014 |title=Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878–1928 |location=London |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0-7139-9944-0}} 976 pp.; First volume of a trilogy.
** {{cite book |last=Kotkin |first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Kotkin |year=2017 |title=Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941 |location=New York |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-59420-380-0}}; 1184 pp.; Second volume of a trilogy.
* Lee, Stephen J. ''Stalin and the Soviet Union'' (1999) online edition.
* Lewis, Jonathan. ''Stalin: A Time for Judgement'' (1990).
* McNeal, Robert H. ''Stalin: Man and Ruler'' (1988).
* Martens, Ludo. ''Another view of Stalin'' (1994), a highly favorable view from a Maoist historian.
* Service, Robert. ''Stalin: A Biography'' (2004), along with Tucker the standard biography.
* Trotsky, Leon. ''[[Stalin: An Appraisal of the Man and His Influence]]'', (1967), an interpretation by Stalin's worst enemy.
* Tucker, Robert C. ''Stalin as Revolutionary, 1879–1929'' (1973); ''Stalin in Power: The Revolution from Above, 1929–1941'' (1990) online edition with Service, a standard biography; at ACLS e-books.

=== World War II ===
* Barber, John, and Mark Harrison. ''The Soviet Home Front: A Social and Economic History of the USSR in World War II,'' Longman, 1991.
* Bellamy, Chris. ''Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War'' (2008), 880pp excerpt and text search.
* [[Karel C. Berkhoff|Berkhoff, Karel C.]] ''Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule.'' Harvard U. Press, 2004. 448 pp.
* Berkhoff, Karel C. ''Motherland in Danger: Soviet Propaganda during World War II'' (2012) excerpt and text search covers both propaganda and reality of homefront conditions.
* Braithwaite, Rodric. ''Moscow 1941: A City and Its People at War'' (2006).
* Broekmeyer, Marius. ''Stalin, the Russians, and Their War, 1941–1945.'' 2004. 315 pp.
* Dallin, Alexander. ''Odessa, 1941–1944: A Case Study of Soviet Territory under Foreign Rule.'' Portland: Int. Specialized Book Service, 1998. 296 pp.
* Kucherenko, Olga. ''Little Soldiers: How Soviet Children Went to War, 1941–1945'' (2011) excerpt and text search.
* Overy, Richard. ''The road to war'' (4th ed. 1999), covers 1930s; pp 245–300.
* Overy, Richard. ''Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941–1945'' (1998) excerpt and text search.
* Roberts, Geoffrey. ''Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939–1953'' (2006).
* Schofield, Carey, ed. ''Russian at War, 1941–1945''. (Vendome Press, 1987). 256 pp., a photo-history, with connecting texts. {{ISBN|978-0-86565-077-0}}.
* Seaton, Albert. ''Stalin as Military Commander,'' (1998) online edition.
* Thurston, Robert W., and Bernd Bonwetsch, eds. ''The People's War: Responses to World War II in the Soviet Union'' (2000).
* Uldricks, Teddy J. "War, Politics and Memory: Russian Historians Reevaluate the Origins of World War II," ''History and Memory'' 21#2 (2009), pp. 60–82 online, historiography.
* {{cite journal |jstor=3092980 |title=A New Estimate of Ukrainian Population Losses during the Crises of the 1930s and 1940s |journal=Population Studies |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=249–264 |last1=Vallin |first1=Jacques |last2=Meslé |first2=France |last3=Adamets |first3=Serguei |last4=Pyrozhkov |first4=Serhii |year=2002 |doi=10.1080/00324720215934 |pmid=12553326 |s2cid=21128795 |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/92668ee6ee5b6f87a9f7a5ee59b1153691be63f3 |access-date=29 November 2019 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728153601/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-new-estimate-of-Ukrainian-population-losses-the-Vallin-Mesl%C3%A9/92668ee6ee5b6f87a9f7a5ee59b1153691be63f3 |url-status=live }} Reports life expectancy at birth fell to a level as low as ten years for females and seven for males in 1933 and plateaued around 25 for females and 15 for males in the period 1941–1944.

=== Cold War ===
* Brzezinski, Zbigniew. ''The Grand Failure: The Birth and Death of Communism in the Twentieth Century'' (1989).
* Edmonds, Robin. ''Soviet Foreign Policy: The Brezhnev Years'' (1983).
* Goncharov, Sergei, John Lewis and Litai Xue, ''Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao and the Korean War'' (1993) excerpt and text search.
* Gorlizki, Yoram, and Oleg Khlevniuk. ''Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945–1953'' (2004) online edition.
* Holloway, David. ''Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939–1956'' (1996) excerpt and text search.
* [[Vojtech Mastny (historian)|Mastny, Vojtech]]. ''Russia's Road to the Cold War: Diplomacy, Warfare, and the Politics of Communism, 1941–1945'' (1979).
* [[Vojtech Mastny (historian)|Mastny, Vojtech]]. ''The Cold War and Soviet Insecurity: The Stalin Years'' (1998) excerpt and text search; online complete edition.
* Matlock, Jack. ''Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended'' (2005).
* Nation, R. Craig. ''Black Earth, Red Star: A History of Soviet Security Policy, 1917–1991'' (1992).
* Sivachev, Nikolai and Nikolai Yakolev, ''Russia and the United States'' (1979), by Soviet historians.
* [[William Taubman|Taubman, William]]. ''[[Khrushchev: The Man and His Era]]'' (2004), Pulitzer Prize; excerpt and text search.
* Taubman, William. ''Stalin's American Policy: From Entente to Detente to Cold War'' (1983).
* Taubman, William. ''Gorbachev: His Life and Times'' (2017).
* Tint, Herbert. ''French Foreign Policy since the Second World War'' (1972) online free to borrow 1945–1971.
* Ulam, Adam B. ''Expansion and Coexistence: Soviet Foreign Policy, 1917–1973'', 2nd ed. (1974).
* Wilson, James Graham. ''The Triumph of Improvisation: Gorbachev's Adaptability, Reagan's Engagement, and the End of the Cold War'' (2014).
* Zubok, Vladislav M. ''Inside the Kremlin's Cold War'' (1996) 20% excerpt and online search.
* Zubok, Vladislav M. ''A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev'' (2007).

=== Collapse ===
* Beschloss, Michael, and Strobe Talbott. ''At the Highest Levels:The Inside Story of the End of the Cold War'' (1993).
* Bialer, Seweryn and Michael Mandelbaum, eds. ''Gorbachev's Russia and American Foreign Policy'' (1988).
* Carrère d'Encausse, Hélène. ''Decline of an Empire: the Soviet Socialist Republics in Revolt''. First English language ed. New York: Newsweek Books (1979). 304 p. ''N.B''.: Trans. of the author's ''L'Empire éclaté''. {{ISBN|0-88225-280-1}}.
* Garthoff, Raymond. ''The Great Transition: American–Soviet Relations and the End of the Cold War'' (1994), detailed narrative.
* Grachev, A. S. ''Gorbachev's Gamble: Soviet Foreign Policy and the End of the Cold War'' (2008) excerpt and text search.
* Hogan, Michael ed. ''The End of the Cold War. Its Meaning and Implications'' (1992) articles from ''Diplomatic History''.
* [[Roger Keeran]] and Thomas Keeny. ''Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union'', International Publishers Co Inc., US 2004.
* Kotkin, Stephen. ''Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970–2000'' (2008) excerpt and text search.
* Matlock, Jack. ''Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador's Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union'' (1995).
* Ostrovsky Alexander. [https://www.e-reading.club/book.php?book=1025297 Кто поставил Горбачёва?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213154554/https://www.e-reading.club/book.php?book=1025297 }} (2010). ("Who brought Gorbachev to power?") – М.: "Алгоритм-Эксмо". {{ISBN|978-5-699-40627-2}} ("Проект "Распад СССР: Тайные пружины власти" – М. "Алгоритм", 2016. Переиздание книги "Кто поставил Горбачёва?") ("Project" Collapse of the USSR: Secret Springs of Power ". Reissue of the book «Who brought Gorbachev to power?» – М.: «Алгоритм», 2016).
* Ostrovsky Alexander. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190817125705/https://itexts.net/avtor-aleksandr-vladimirovich-ostrovskiy/164701-glupost-ili-izmena-rassledovanie-gibeli-sssr-aleksandr-ostrovskiy/read/page-1.html Глупость или измена? Расследование гибели СССР.] (2011). ("Foolishness or treason? Investigation into the death of the USSR") М.: "Крымский мост". {{ISBN|978-5-89747-068-6}}.
* Pons, S., Romero, F., ''Reinterpreting the End of the Cold War: Issues, Interpretations, Periodizations'', (2005) {{ISBN|0-7146-5695-X}}.
* Remnick, David. ''Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire'', (1994), {{ISBN|0-679-75125-4}}.
* Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. ''Rebuilding Russia: Reflections and Tentative Proposals'', trans. and annotated by Alexis Klimoff. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991. ''N.B''.: Also discusses the other national constituents of the USSR. {{ISBN|0-374-17342-7}}.
* {{cite book |last=Zubok |first=Vladislav M. |author-link=Vladislav Zubok |title=Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-25730-4}}

=== Social and economic history ===
* Bailes, Kendall E. ''Technology and society under Lenin and Stalin: origins of the Soviet technical intelligentsia, 1917–1941'' (1978).
* Bailes, Kendall E. "The American Connection: Ideology and the Transfer of American Technology to the Soviet Union, 1917–1941." ''Comparative Studies in Society and History'' 23.3 (1981): 421–448.
* Brooks, Jeffrey. "Public and private values in the Soviet press, 1921–1928." ''Slavic Review'' 48.1 (1989): 16–35.
* Caroli, Dorena. "'And all our classes turned into a flower garden again'–science education in Soviet schools in the 1920s and 1930s: the case of biology from Darwinism to Lysenkoism." ''History of Education'' 48.1 (2019): 77–98.
* Dobson, Miriam. "The Social History of Post-War Soviet Life" ''Historical Journal'' 55.2 (2012): 563–569. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23263351 Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724173035/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23263351 }}
* Dowlah, Alex F., et al. ''The life and times of soviet socialism'' (Greenwood, 1997), Emphasis on economic policies. Online.
* Engel, Barbara, et al. ''A Revolution of Their Own: Voices of Women in Soviet History'' (1998), Primary sources; Online.
* Fitzpatrick, Sheila. ''Everyday Stalinism: ordinary life in extraordinary times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s'' (Oxford UP, 2000). Online.
* Graham, Loren R. ''Science in Russia and the Soviet Union: A short history'' (Cambridge UP, 1993).
* Hanson, Philip. ''The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Economy: An Economic History of the USSR 1945–1991'' (2014).
* Heinzen, James W. ''Inventing a Soviet Countryside: State Power and the Transformation of Rural Russia, 1917–1929'' (2004).
* Lapidus, Gail Warshofsky. ''Women, Work, and Family in the Soviet Union'' (1982) Online.
* Link, Stefan J. ''Forging Global Fordism: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the Contest over the Industrial Order'' (2020) [https://www.amazon.com/Forging-Global-Fordism-Germany-Industrial/dp/0691177546/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614075754/https://www.amazon.com/Forging-Global-Fordism-Germany-Industrial/dp/0691177546 }}
* Lutz, Wolfgang et al. ''Demographic Trends and Patterns in the Soviet Union before 1991'' (1994) online.
* Mironov, Boris N. "The Development of Literacy in Russia and the USSR from the Tenth to the Twentieth Centuries". ''History of Education Quarterly'' 31#2 (1991), pp. 229–252. [www.jstor.org/stable/368437 Online].
* Nove, Alec. ''Soviet economic system'' (1986).
* Weiner, Douglas R. "Struggle over the Soviet future: Science education versus vocationalism during the 1920s." ''Russian Review'' 65.1 (2006): 72–97.

=== Nationalities ===
* Katz, Zev, ed.: ''Handbook of Major Soviet Nationalities'' (New York: Free Press, 1975).
* Nahaylo, Bohdan and Victor Swoboda. ''Soviet Disunion: A History of the nationalities Nationalities problem in the USSR'' (1990) excerpt.
* Rashid, Ahmed. ''The Resurgence of Central Asia: Islam or Nationalism?'' (2017).
* Smith, Graham, ed. ''The Nationalities Question in the Soviet Union'' (2nd ed. 1995).

=== Specialty studies ===
* Armstrong, John A. ''The Politics of Totalitarianism: The Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1934 to the Present.'' New York: Random House, 1961.
* Moore, Jr., Barrington. ''Soviet politics: the dilemma of power.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950.
* Rizzi, Bruno: ''The Bureaucratization of the World: The First English edition of the Underground Marxist Classic That Analyzed Class Exploitation in the USSR'', New York: Free Press, 1985.
* Schapiro, Leonard B. ''The Origin of the Communist Autocracy: Political Opposition in the Soviet State, First Phase 1917–1922.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1955, 1966.
* Smolkin, Victoria/ ''A Sacred Space is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism'' (Princeton UP, 2018) [https://hdiplo.org/to/RT21-56 online reviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221605/https://issforum.org/roundtables/PDF/Roundtable-XXI-56.pdf }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Wikiatlas|the Soviet Union}}
* [http://ariwatch.com/VS/JD/ImpressionsOfSovietRussia.htm Impressions of Soviet Russia] by [[John Dewey]]
* [https://www.loc.gov/item/97007563/ A Country Study: Soviet Union] (PDF)

{{Soviet Union topics}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Administrative division of the Soviet Union|list=
{{republics of the Soviet Union}}
{{Autonomous Republics of the Soviet Union}}
{{Autonomous Oblasts of the Soviet Union}}
}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Articles related to Soviet Union
|list =
{{Socialism by state}}
{{Eastern Bloc}}
{{Soviet Bloc disinformation in the Cold War}}
{{Russia topics}}
}}

[[Category:Soviet Union| ]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1922]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1991]]
[[Category:20th century in Russia]]
[[Category:Early Soviet republics| ]]
[[Category:Soviet republics| ]]
[[Category:Atheist states]]
[[Category:Communism in Russia]]
[[Category:Former countries in Europe]]
[[Category:Former countries in West Asia]]
[[Category:Former countries in Central Asia]]
[[Category:Former countries in North Asia]]
[[Category:Former empires]]
[[Category:Former socialist republics]]
[[Category:Totalitarian states]]
[[Category:Historical transcontinental empires]]
[[Category:Former member states of the United Nations]]
[[Category:Russian-speaking countries and territories]]