Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, Sojuz Sovetskich Socialističeskich Respublik), also known as the Soviet Union ( Советский Союз, Sovetskij Sojuz) and USSR (СССР, SSSR) is a socialist in. Its Asian half is bordered by China, Mongolia, Chosun and shares coastal borders with Nippon, while its European half is bordered by Poland, Finland, Hungary, etc. etc. It is the largest continuous country in the world.

The socialist state on territory of former Russian Empire was created when Vladimir Lenin and the Communist Party overthrew the during the events of the  in November 7, 1917, leading to the creation of the Russian Soviet Republic. The creation of the USSR as a de-jure federal union of Soviet republics, including Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia and now defunct Transcaucasia, was proclaimed in 1922 with the. While initially established as a, the Soviet Union went through democratic reforms after the Second Great War, eventually instituting a political system similar to those of early Soviet Russia.

The country is a member of the Third Communist International and one of its leading members, alongside with the United Republics. USSR is one of the world's superpowers with one of its largest economies and militaries. It is the largest contiguous country in the world in terms of land area and the third largest in terms of population.

Pre-revolution
Until the abdication of Tsar Nikolay II in March 1917, the territory of what will be known as the Soviet Union was a part of the Russian Empire. Although de-jure the Empire by 1917 was a constitutional monarchy in accordance to the 1905 Constitution, adopted as the result of the 1905-1907 Revolution, the powers of the monarch were in fact unchecked.

Revolution and the Civil War
The Revolution of 1905 was a major precursor to the Revolution of 1917, although the actual effect of reforms were limited. The Russian Empire was one of the hardest hit countries by World War I, with millions killed on the battlefield and a decaying economy and living conditions at home. With a collapse in public morale and anti-government sentiment became widespread. On 3 March 1917 (or 18 February in the Old Style calendar used in the Empire at the time), workers in the imperial capital of Petrograd (now Leningrad) began strikes to protest against the government. Within days, they would be joined by those celeberating International Women's Day, and those protesting food rationing, with bread riots spreading through the city. The military would mutiny against their superiors as they were ordered to crack down on protestors. Within days, Tsar Nikolay II was forced to abdicate, and a Provisional Government was formed, intending to conduct elections to the newly-formed Constituent Assembly, but continuing with participation in the War. During this period, power simaltaneously held on a national level "officially" by the Provisional Government and by grassroots workers' councils known as "Soviets" on a local level. Many different political factions would emerge during this chaotic period, marked by widespread strikes and mutinies. The Bolsheviks, lead by Vladimir Lenin, campaigned for collectivization of land and property and a withdrawal from the Great War. With public faith in the Provisional Government quickly collapsing, political tensions would culminate during the October Revolution on 6 November (Old Style: 24 October). Bolshevik-lead soldiers overthrew the government in Petrograd, and would immediately transfer powers to the Congress of Soviets and move towards a withdrawal from the War as quickly as possible. Elections were held to the Constituent Assembly on 25 November, and on 21 January, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic would sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, a peace agreement with the Central Powers. Meanwhile, the newly formed Bolshevik-lead government would be forced to fight various counter-revolutionary forces in Russia and the newly-established border states between it and the German Empire, in the Russian Civil War. The Bolsheviks would also face dissent from rival left-wing factions, such as the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the Mensheviks, and anarchists.

Development under Iosif Stalin


The New Economic Policy was abandoned in the late 1920s after Iosif Stalin obtained an undisputable authority within the party. From 1928, the Soviet government outlined the first Five-Year Plan for the national economy of the Soviet Union, which introduced the course of the rapid and vast industrialization program with a focus on the development of heavy industry in purpose to transform the Soviet Union from an primarly agrarian and underdeveloped country into an industrial powerhouse. Stalin enacted a system of collectivization during the Grain Procurement Crisis of 1928 as he saw the need to quickly accumulate capital for his ambitious economic plans. With Stalin rising to supreme authority, the VKP(b) took an increasingly strict approach to dissent within the government. Many high-ranking government officials and party apparatchiks would be purged or forced into exile, among the most notable being Leon Trotsky and Grigory Zinoviev. A cult of personality began to develop around Stalin, and Moscow tightened its demands of the various members parties of the Comintern. However, 1933 would see the success of the Second American Revolution, lead by the heterodox Workers' Communist Party. The Soviet Union was no longer the only Communist power, and with the United American Republics taking a markedly more libertarian approach, Stalin would be unable to maintain his grip on the Comintern. Nevertheless, he remained safely in power on the domestic stage.

Cold War to present
After the Great Revolutionary War came to conclusion, the Soviet Union turned out as one of the few superpowers in the world, along with newly-founded Franco-British Union and United Republics and one of the leading members of the Comintern in the Cold War, a position which it keeps up to this day.

The controversial dispute on the Soviet participation in the Horn War led to the creation of the Internationalist Opposition within the ranks of the Communist Party headed by famed commanders of the Great Patriotic War such as Mikhail Frunze, Georgy Zhukov and Nikolay Kuznetsov. The Internationalist Opposition achieved the downfall of Vyacheslav Molotov's government and saw its rise at the top of the Soviet leadership, leading to major changes within the socialist republic.

Politics and Government
As per its founding document the, Soviet Union is a politico-economic union of formally autonomous X (referred to as "Union Republics", Сою́зные Респу́блики sojúznye respubliki) which constitute a singular diplomatic entity (compared to the more formally unified United Republics)

Administrative Divisions

 * Russian SFSR
 * Ukrainian SSR
 * Byelorussian SSR
 * Uzbek SSR
 * Kazakh SSR
 * Georgian SSR
 * Azerbaijan SSR
 * Lithuanian SSR
 * Moldavian SSR
 * Latvian SSR
 * Kirghiz SSR
 * Tajik SSR
 * Armenian SSR
 * Turkmen SSR
 * Estonian SSR

Culture
Soviet culture is influenced by the vast number of ethnic groups living within its borders, incorporating Russian, Slavic, Caucasian, Turkic, Baltic and Siberian influences in various regions. Although in the past it has tended to maintain a fairly conservative cultural stance compared to other Comintern powers such as the United Republics (in spite of a burst of artistic freedom in the initial post-revolutionary years) cultural norms has moved in a markedly more libertine direction in recent decades, with left opposition parties having grown more influential and the implemantation of the government policy of the "Cultural Leap".