"CCCP"
or "USSR"
"CCCP"
is Latin graphical rendition of the Russian acronym for the Soviet
Union, reading as "Soyúz Sovétskikh Sotsialistícheskikh Respúblik"
(SSSR) or "The
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". Commonly known as the Soviet
Union (Sovétsky Soyúz), it was a state in much of the northern region
of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1991. The list of republics
in the Soviet Union varied over the time. In its final years it consisted
of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (S.S.R.'s). Russia was by far the
largest Republic in the Soviet Union, dominating in nearly all respects:
land area, population, economic output, and political influence. The
territory of the Soviet Union also varied, and in its most recent
times approximately corresponded to that of the late Imperial Russia,
with notable exclusions of Poland and Finland. The political organization
of the country was defined by the only recognized political party,
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Brief
History
Revolutionary
activity in Russia began with the Decembrist Revolt, uncovered in
1825, and although serfdom was abolished in 1861, its abolition was
achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to encourage
revolutionaries. A parliament, the Duma, was established in 1906,
but political and social unrest continued and was aggravated during
World War I by military defeat and food shortages.
The
February Revolution and October Revolutions (see also Russian Revolution)
were followed by a period of civil war (see Russian Civil War), after
which communist control was complete under the Bolsheviks who soon
renamed themselves the Communist Party.
The
collapse of Tsarist rule was followed by the eviction of the landlord
class and the subdivision of land among peasant families. Poor and
middle peasants generally did not benefit from the latter until Lenin
announced the New Economic Policy (NEP), which saw an end to government
requisitioning of food during the civil war. Peasants marketed most
of their produce at free prices during the years of the NEP.
After
the death of the Soviet Union's revolutionary founding figure Vladimir
Lenin (1924), Joseph Stalin finally emerged as uncontested leader,
defeating Leon Trotsky and ultimately having him exiled from the Soviet
Union in 1929.
Under
Stalin, who replaced Lenin's NEP with five year plans and collective
farming, the Soviet Union (established 1922) became a major industrial
power, but with effective political opposition eliminated during the
1930s by purges. World War II established the Soviet Union as one
of the two major world powers, a position maintained for four decades
through military strength, aid to developing countries, and scientific
research, especially into space technology and weaponry. Growing tensions
between the Soviet Union and the United States, its former wartime
ally and the other superpower, led to the Cold War.
Communist
Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev promoted Soviet glasnost
(openness) and perestroika (economic restructuring). A U.S.-Soviet
summit meeting in 1986 and 1987 and a meeting of U.S. President Ronald
Reagan and Gorbachev in late 1988 brought a reduction in arms in Europe.
The
disintegration of Communist allies in Eastern Europe heralded the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. As the Russian republic's Boris Yeltsin
eclipsed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in power, the Soviet Union
was peacefully dissolved in December 1991. Most former Soviet republics
joined the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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