Editing Soviet Union (section)

{{Short description|Country in Eurasia (1922–1991)}}
{{Redirect-several|USSR|CCCP|Soviet|Soviet Union}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}
{{Pp-move}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| common_name            = Soviet Union
| native_name            = {{small|{{native name|ru|Союз Советских Социалистических Республик|paren=no}}<br />{{transliteration|ru|Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik}}{{efn|For names of the Soviet Union in other official languages, see [[Official names of the Soviet Union]].}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/ussr/soviet2.html |title=Language Policy in the former Soviet Union |first=H. |last=Schiffman |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]] |date=19 November 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221051317/https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/ussr/soviet2.html |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref>}}
| life_span              = 1922–1991
| religion               = {{ubli|[[Secular state]] (''de jure'')|[[State atheism]] (''de facto'')}}
| government_type        = Federal [[Marxist–Leninist]] one-party [[socialist republic]]
| 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                 = [[1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union|First constitution]]
| date_event1            = 31 January 1924
| event2                 = [[1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union|Second constitution]]
| date_event2            = 5 December 1936
| event3                 = [[Military occupations by the Soviet Union|Westward expansion]]
| date_event3            = 1939–1940
| event4                 = [[Great Patriotic War]]
| date_event4            = 1941–1945
| event5                 = [[De-Stalinization]]
| date_event5            = 25 February 1956
| event6                 = [[1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union|Last constitution]]
| date_event6            = 9 October 1977
| event7                 = [[Parade of sovereignties]]
| date_event7            = 1988–1991
| event8                 = [[August Coup]]
| date_event8            = 19–22 August 1991
| event_end              = [[Belovezha 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 December 1991 № 142-Н|Declaration No. 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             = [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Formal 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]]<br />(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]]<br />(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!}}<br />"[[Workers of the world, unite!]]"
| national_anthem        = {{Plainlist|
*{{lang|ru|Интернационал}}<br />"[[The Internationale]]" (1922–1944){{parabr}}[[File:Internationale-ru.ogg]]
*{{lang|ru|Государственный гимн Союза Советских Социалистических Республик}}<br />"[[State Anthem of the Soviet Union]]" (1944–1991){{parabr}} [[File:Soviet Union national anthem instrumental 1977.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]]''&nbsp;([[Romanian language|Romanian]])|[[Latvian language|Latvian]]|[[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]|[[Tajik language|Tajik]]|[[Armenian language|Armenian]]|[[Turkmen language|Turkmen]]|[[Estonian language|Estonian]]}}
| ethnic_groups          = {{ubl|70% [[East Slavs]] | 17% [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] | 13% other}}
| ethnic_groups_year     = 1989
| demonym                = [[Soviet people|Soviet]]
| currency               = [[Soviet ruble]] (руб)
| 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 (first)
| 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 (last)
| representative1        = [[Mikhail Kalinin]]{{Efn|As Chairman of the [[Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union|Central Executive Committee]], then as [[Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]].}}
| representative2        = Mikhail Gorbachev{{Efn|As [[Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]], then [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union#Heads of the Soviet Union (1922-1991)|Chairman of the Supreme Soviet]] and finally [[President of the Soviet Union|President]].}}
| 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{{Efn|As Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union and Russian SFSR.}}
| deputy2                = [[Ivan Silayev]]{{Efn|As Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet Economy.}}
| year_deputy1           = 1922–1924 (first)
| year_deputy2           = 1991 (last)
| title_deputy           = [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Premier]]
| legislature            = {{ubli|[[Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union|Congress of Soviets]]<br />(1922–1936){{efn|Unicameral.}}|[[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet]]<br />(1936–1991)}}
| house1                 = {{ubli|[[Soviet of Nationalities]]<br />(1936–1991)|[[Soviet of Republics]]<br />(1991)}}
| house2                 = [[Soviet of the Union]]<br />(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:'''<br />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 (variant).svg
| p5                     = Second Polish Republic {{!}}'''1939:'''<br />Poland
| flag_p5                = Flag of Poland.svg
| p6                     = Finland{{!}}'''1940:'''<br />Finland
| flag_p6                = Flag of Finland.svg
| p7                     = History of Estonia (1920–1939){{!}}Estonia
| flag_p7                = Flag of Estonia.svg
| p8                     = Latvia
| flag_p8                = Flag of Latvia.svg
| p9                     = Lithuania
| flag_p9                = Flag of Lithuania (1918–1940).svg
| p10                    = Kingdom of Romania{{!}}Romania
| flag_p10               = Flag of Romania.svg
| p11                    = Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946){{!}}'''1945:'''<br />Hungary
| flag_p11               = Flag of Hungary (1920–1946).svg
| s1                     = Lithuania{{!}}'''1990:'''<br />Lithuania
| flag_s1                = Flag of Lithuania (1988–2004).svg
| s2                     = Latvia
| flag_s2                = Flag of Latvia.svg
| s3                     = Estonia
| flag_s3                = Flag of Estonia.svg
| s4                     = Georgia (country){{!}}'''1991:'''<br />Georgia
| flag_s4                = Flag of Georgia (1990–2004).svg
| s5                     = Ukraine
| flag_s5                = Flag of Ukraine (Soviet shades).svg
| s6                     = Belarus
| flag_s6                = Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991–1995).svg
| s7                     = Moldova
| flag_s7                = Flag of Moldova.svg
| s8                     = Kyrgyzstan
| flag_s8                = Flag of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
| s9                     = Uzbekistan
| flag_s9                = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
| s10                    = Tajikistan
| flag_s10               = Flag of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (1953–1991); Flag of Tajikistan (1991–1992).svg
| s11                    = Armenia
| flag_s11               = Flag of Armenia.svg
| s12                    = Azerbaijan
| flag_s12               = Flag of Azerbaijan (1991–2013).svg
| s13                    = Turkmenistan
| flag_s13               = Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
| s14                    = Russia{{!}}Russian Federation
| flag_s14               = Flag of Russia (1991–1993).svg
| s15                    = Kazakhstan
| flag_s15               = Flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (1953–1991); Flag of Kazakhstan (1991–1992).svg
| s16                    = Commonwealth of Independent States{{!}}CIS
| flag_s16               = Flag of the CIS (UEFA Euro 1992).svg
| footnotes              = With the exception of the CIS – an intergovernmental organization and legal successor to the Soviet Union – only states that are former Soviet republics, now members of the United Nations, are listed as successors.
| GDP_PPP                = $2.7&nbsp;trillion{{efn|Statistics surrounding Soviet GDP are only estimates as the Soviet Union did not use Gross Domestic Product or Gross National Product to measure its economy until 1990, before which it utilised a system known as the [[Material Product System]]}}
| GDP_PPP_rank           = 2nd
| GDP_PPP_year           = 1990
| GDP_PPP_per_capita     = $9,000
| GDP_nominal            = $2.7&nbsp;trillion{{efn|Statistics surrounding Soviet GDP are only estimates as the Soviet Union did not use Gross Domestic Product or Gross National Product to measure its economy until 1990, before which it utilised a system known as the [[Material Product System]]}}<ref name="GDP">{{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_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              = ([[UTC]]+2 to +12)
| iso3166code            = SU
| area_rank              = 1st
| percent_water          = 12.3
| HDI                    = 0.920
| HDI_year               = 1990 formula
| HDI_ref                = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/219/hdr_1990_en_complete_nostats.pdf |title=Human Development Report 1990 |date=January 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>
}}
The '''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics'''{{efn|{{lang-rus|Союз Советских Социалистических Республик|Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik|sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲetskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪˈsʲtʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪˈspublʲɪk|a=Ru-Союз Советских Социалистических Республик 3.oga}}.}} ('''USSR'''),{{efn|{{langx|ru|СССР|SSSR}}.}} commonly known as the '''Soviet Union''',{{efn|{{lang-rus|Советский Союз|Sovetskiy Soyuz|sɐˈvʲetskʲɪj sɐˈjus|a=Ru-Советский Союз.ogg}}}} was a [[List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700|transcontinental country]] that spanned much of [[Eurasia]] from 1922 until [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|it dissolved]] in 1991. During its existence, it was the [[list of countries and dependencies by area|largest country by area]], extending across [[Time in Russia|eleven time zones]] and sharing [[Geography of the Soviet Union#Borders and neighbors|borders with twelve countries]], and the [[List of countries and dependencies by population|third-most populous country]].{{efn|As of 1989, the countries that bordered the Soviet Union were: [[Norway]] and [[Finland]] to the northwest; [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]] and [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]] to the west; [[Turkey]] and [[Iran]] to the southwest; [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]] to the south; [[China]] and [[North Korea]] to the southeast. The Soviet Union also shared [[maritime boundaries]] with Japan (which was bordered to the south until 1945) and the United States.}} An overall successor to the [[Russian Empire]], it was nominally organized as a [[federal union]] of [[Republics of the Soviet Union|national republics]], the largest and most populous of which was the [[Russian SFSR]].{{efn|As outlined in Part III of the [[1977 Soviet Constitution]], "The National-State Structure of the Soviet Union".}} In practice, [[Government of the Soviet Union|its government]] and [[Economy of the Soviet Union|economy]] were [[Soviet-type economic planning|highly centralized]]. As a [[one-party state]] governed by the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU), it was a flagship [[communist state]]. Its capital and largest city was [[Moscow]].

The Soviet Union's roots lay in the [[October Revolution]] of 1917. The new government, led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], established the Russian SFSR, the world's first constitutionally [[socialist state]]. The revolution was not accepted by all within the [[Russian Republic]], resulting in the [[Russian Civil War]]. The Russian SFSR and its subordinate republics were [[Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|merged into the Soviet Union]] in 1922. Following [[Lenin's death]] in 1924, [[Joseph Stalin]] came to power, inaugurating [[Industrialization in the Soviet Union|rapid industrialization]] and [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|forced collectivization]] that led to significant economic growth but contributed to a [[Soviet famine of 1930–1933|famine between 1930 and 1933]] that killed millions. The [[Forced labor in the Soviet Union|Soviet forced labour camp]] system of the [[Gulag]] was expanded. During the late 1930s, Stalin's government conducted the [[Great Purge]] to remove opponents, resulting in mass death, imprisonment, and deportation. In 1939, the Soviet Union and [[Nazi Germany]] signed [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|a non-aggression pact]], but in 1941, Germany [[invaded the Soviet Union]] in the largest land invasion in history, opening the [[Eastern Front of World War II]]. The Soviets played a decisive role in defeating the [[Axis powers]], suffering an estimated [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|27 million casualties]], which accounted for most [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] losses. In the [[aftermath of World War II|aftermath of the war]], the Soviet Union consolidated the territory occupied by the [[Red Army]], forming [[Soviet satellite states|satellite states]], and undertook rapid economic development which cemented its status as a [[superpower]].

Geopolitical tensions with the United States led to the [[Cold War]]. The American-led [[Western Bloc]] coalesced into [[NATO]] in 1949, prompting the Soviet Union to form its own military alliance, the [[Warsaw Pact]], in 1955. Neither side engaged in direct military confrontation, and instead fought [[Cultural imperialism|on an ideological basis]] and through [[proxy war]]s. In 1953, following [[Stalin's death]], the Soviet Union undertook a campaign of [[de-Stalinization]] under [[Nikita Khrushchev]], which saw reversals and rejections of Stalinist policies. This campaign caused [[Sino-Soviet split|tensions with Communist China]]. During the 1950s, the Soviet Union expanded [[Soviet space program|its efforts in space exploration]] and took a lead in the [[Space Race]] with the [[first artificial satellite]], the [[first human spaceflight]], the [[Salyut 1|first space station]], and the [[Venera 7|first probe to land on another planet]]. In 1985, the last Soviet leader, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], sought to reform the country through his policies of ''[[glasnost]]'' and ''[[perestroika]]''. In 1989, various countries of the Warsaw Pact [[Revolutions of 1989|overthrew their Soviet-backed regimes]], and [[nationalist]] and [[separatist]] movements erupted across the Soviet Union. In 1991, amid efforts to [[1991 Soviet Union referendum|preserve]] the country as a [[New Union Treaty|renewed federation]], an attempted [[1991 Soviet coup attempt|coup against Gorbachev]] by hardline communists prompted the largest republics—Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus—to secede. On 26 December, Gorbachev officially recognized the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]. [[Boris Yeltsin]], the leader of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], oversaw its reconstitution into the [[Russian Federation]], which [[Succession of states#Soviet Union|became]] the Soviet Union's successor state; all other republics emerged as fully independent [[post-Soviet states]].

During its existence, the Soviet Union produced [[Timeline of Soviet innovation|many significant social and technological achievements and innovations]]. It [[List of countries by past and projected GDP (nominal)|had the world's second-largest economy]] and largest standing military. An [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons|NPT-designated state]], it wielded the [[Russia and weapons of mass destruction|largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world]]. As an Allied nation, 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 its dissolution, the Soviet Union was one of the world's two superpowers through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, global diplomatic and ideological influence (particularly in the [[Global South]]), military and economic strengths, and [[Science and technology in the Soviet Union|scientific]] accomplishments.