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The '''Soviet Union''' (Russian: Советский Союз, ''Sovyetskiy Soyuz''), officially the '''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics''' (or '''USSR''') (Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, ''Soyuz Sovietskykh Sotsialisticheskykh Respublik'', abbreviated ''СССР'') was a [[progressive]] [[police state]] that existed from 1922 to December 25, 1991,<ref>[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ussr-established/ This Day in History USSR Established 1922]</ref> then broke into 15 separate countries, most notably [[Russia]]. The USSR guaranteed free healthcare and jobs as a basic right, even if the employment was in a [[gulag]] as a [[slave]] of the [[state]]. Throughout its history, the leadership in the [[Kremlin]] and [[Politburo]] was never dominated by ethnic Russians. The communist ideology suppressed the dominant culture and national identity while promoting [[diversity]] and inclusion. of minorities. It The Soviet Union was the most powerful established [[socialist]] state in history, coming to power under [[Lenin]] in 1918 and killing tens of millions of its people to establish an extreme [[leftwing]] ideology. Neither Russia nor the Soviet Union had any tradition of [[democracy]], and the Russian people never voted for socialism or communism. The country, and Lenin in particular, was also notorious for being the first country in all of history to not only legalize abortion, but also having absolutely no restrictions on the practice, with the only exception being 1936 up until 1953 where Stalin briefly made it illegal in order to preserve some elements of the Soviet people when it became apparent the rate of abortions were such that the country would go extinct soon.<ref>https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/11/17/november-1920-2020-a-century-of-abortion-in-russia/</ref>
After an [[Molotov-Ribbentrop pact|alliance among socialists]] to dismember [[Catholic]] [[Poland]] (1939–41), the [[Nazi]] [[German]]s under [[Adolf Hitler]] invaded the USSR in a war to the death. The USSR defeated the Nazis in [[World War II]] (1941–45), and took control of most of [[Central Europe]], turning formerly independent countries into [[Communist]] satellite states. It was the primary antagonist of the United States during the [[Cold War]] (1947-1989); it then collapsed because of [[American]] pressure and its own internal economic and social failures. At its height the USSR covered one-sixth of the earth's land area, stretching from [[Central Europe]] across [[Eastern Europe]] and northern Asia to the Pacific Ocean. Although Russia and most of Soviet republics are [[Western world]] countries, during the Soviet period, a war was declared on [[Christianity]], the country wanted to cut its Western roots and create a brand new civilization, a communist utopia.