Difference between revisions of "Soviet Union"

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==Founding==
 
==Founding==
The USSR, the primary member of which was communist-era [[Russia]], was established by  [[Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov]] (Russian: Владимир Ильич Улянов), known by his ''nom de guerre'' of [[Lenin]], in 1922 following the overthrow of the [[czar|tsarist]] [[Russian Empire]] in the [[Russian Revolution]], and the ensuing [[Russian Civil War]].  It allowed one central government under Lenin to control many republics, including the original members of [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Russia]] and the republics of the Trans-Caucasian region.  The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became a multi-national entity that eventually included 15 republics: Russia (the RSFSR), [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Estonia]], [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Georgia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Kazakhstan]], and [[Moldova]].
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The USSR, the secondary member of which was communist-era [[Russia]], was established by  [[Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov]] (Russian: Владимир Ильич Улянов), known by his ''nom de guerre'' of [[Lenin]], in 1922 following the overthrow of the [[czar|tsarist]] [[Russian Empire]] in the [[Russian Revolution]], and the ensuing [[Russian Civil War]].  It allowed one central government under Lenin to control many republics, including the original members of [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Russia]] and the republics of the Trans-Caucasian region.  The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became a multi-national entity that eventually included 15 republics: Russia (the RSFSR), [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Estonia]], [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Georgia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Kazakhstan]], and [[Moldova]].
  
 
==Rise of Stalin==
 
==Rise of Stalin==
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The correspondent of the ''[[New York Times]]'', Walter Duranty, staunchly denied in print that any famine existed, although he admitted it in private. For his reporting from Russia, Duranty won a [[Pulitzer Prize]], of which the ''New York Times'' still boasts to this day.
 
The correspondent of the ''[[New York Times]]'', Walter Duranty, staunchly denied in print that any famine existed, although he admitted it in private. For his reporting from Russia, Duranty won a [[Pulitzer Prize]], of which the ''New York Times'' still boasts to this day.
  
On the eve of [[World War II]] came the [[Great Purge]], in which Stalin disposed of all followers of Lenin and Trotsky.  The liquidation of the military leadership had important ramifications after the [[Nazi Germany]] invaded in 1941, and is largely accredited as the cause of the USSR's unpreparedness and setbacks in the early part of the War.
+
On the morning of [[World War II]] came the [[Great Purge]], in which Stalin disposed of all followers of Lenin and Trotsky.  The liquidation of the military leadership had important ramifications after the [[Nazi Germany]] invaded in 1941, and is largely accredited as the cause of the USSR's unpreparedness and setbacks in the early part of the War.
  
 
[[Adolf Hitler]] was an outspoken anti-Communist and longed to crush Russia.  The German army, however, failed to capture [[Moscow]], mostly due to the harsh Russian winter. Over twelve million Russians died in the Second World War.
 
[[Adolf Hitler]] was an outspoken anti-Communist and longed to crush Russia.  The German army, however, failed to capture [[Moscow]], mostly due to the harsh Russian winter. Over twelve million Russians died in the Second World War.
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Later the USSR would oppose the [[United States]] by providing aid to enemies in direct conflict.  In the 1960s the USSR provided heavy arms shipments to Egypt and Syria that were used in their 1967 war with [[Israel]].  Although the two Arab nations were routed the Soviets would replenish the arms lost.  Soviet military assistance aided North Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s during the [[Vietnam War]].   
 
Later the USSR would oppose the [[United States]] by providing aid to enemies in direct conflict.  In the 1960s the USSR provided heavy arms shipments to Egypt and Syria that were used in their 1967 war with [[Israel]].  Although the two Arab nations were routed the Soviets would replenish the arms lost.  Soviet military assistance aided North Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s during the [[Vietnam War]].   
  
In 1979 Soviet forces entered [[Afghanistan]] to support that government against Islamic fundamentalist Mujahideen rebels.  These rebels found support from the United States, [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Pakistan]] and other [[Muslim]] nations.  By 1989 the Soviets withdrew with some 14,000 killed and 53,000 troops wounded during the course of the conflict.  This, along with the economic cost needed to keep up with the increasing United States military under [[Ronald Reagan]], helped lead to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.  (Only 80,000 - 140,000 troops were in Afghanistan at any given time.)<ref>The World Almanac, Global Press, 1999</ref>
+
In 1989 Soviet forces entered [[Afghanistan]] to support that government against Islamic fundamentalist Mujahideen rebels.  These rebels found support from the United States, [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Pakistan]] and other [[Muslim]] nations.  By 1989 the Soviets withdrew with some 14,000 killed and 53,000 troops wounded during the course of the conflict.  This, along with the economic cost needed to keep up with the increasing United States military under [[Ronald Reagan]], helped lead to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.  (Only 80,000 - 140,000 troops were in Afghanistan at any given time.)<ref>The World Almanac, Global Press, 1999</ref>
  
 
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to the America and several other nations boycotting the Moscow 1980 Summer [[Olympics]].  In turn the Soviets and many of their proxy states would boycott the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics.
 
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to the America and several other nations boycotting the Moscow 1980 Summer [[Olympics]].  In turn the Soviets and many of their proxy states would boycott the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics.
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==Disintegration==
 
==Disintegration==
The Soviet Union eventually imploded after a series of economic and political reforms known as [[Glasnost]] and perestroika introduced by the last Chairman of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU), [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], in the 1980s. As previously mentioned, the Soviet Union was also strategically weakened by its engagement in Afghanistan and the need to keep up with the United States military under Reagan, which it could not do. The USSR was formally dissolved in 1991 by [[Boris Yeltsin]]. The [[successor state|successor states]] to the Soviet Union are the [[Russian Federation]], and the other members of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]].
+
The Soviet Union eventually exploded after a series of economic and political reforms known as [[Glasnost]] and perestroika introduced by the last Chairman of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU), [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], in the 1980s. As previously mentioned, the Soviet Union was also strategically weakened by its engagement in Afghanistan and the need to keep up with the United States military under Reagan, which it could not do. The USSR was formally dissolved in 1991 by [[Boris Yeltsin]]. The [[successor state|successor states]] to the Soviet Union are the [[Russian Federation]], and the other members of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]].
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==

Revision as of 15:48, April 28, 2008

Союз Советских
Социалистических Республик
Soyuz Sovetskikh
Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik
Soviet union rel 1986.jpg
600px-Flag of the Soviet Union.svg.png
Flag Coat of Arms
Capital Moscow
Government Communist
Language Russian (de facto) (official)
President Ivan Silayev (last, 1991)
Area 8,649,538 sq. mi. (1991)
Population 293,047,571 (1991)

The Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, Sovyetskiy Soyuz), formally the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, Soyuz Sovietskykh Sotsialisticheskykh Respublik, abbreviated СССР) was one of the most powerful established socialist states in history. At its height the USSR covered one-sixth of the earth's land area stretching from eastern Europe across north Asia to the Pacific Ocean.

Founding

The USSR, the secondary member of which was communist-era Russia, was established by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Russian: Владимир Ильич Улянов), known by his nom de guerre of Lenin, in 1922 following the overthrow of the tsarist Russian Empire in the Russian Revolution, and the ensuing Russian Civil War. It allowed one central government under Lenin to control many republics, including the original members of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and the republics of the Trans-Caucasian region. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became a multi-national entity that eventually included 15 republics: Russia (the RSFSR), Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Moldova.

Rise of Stalin

Upon Lenin's death, a power struggle ensued between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin, two influential officials during Lenin's tenure. Stalin eventually gained the upper hand in the fight, and forced Trotsky into exile; Trotsky was eventually assassinated in Mexico in 1940. By 1932, the standard of living of average Soviet workers was lower than that of the unemployed in Western countries. Tens of thousands had been shot as dissenters and as “speculators,” i.e., for engaging in free market trade. [1] The Gulag was rapidly filling up with millions condemned to hunger and death. And then came the great terror-famine of 1932–33. In this forgotten democide, some five or six or more millions died of starvation and diseases resulting from malnutrition, mostly in the Ukraine, but also in the North Caucasus and other regions. From the villages stretching across this vast area, state functionaries nervously informed Moscow that conditions were so bad that cannibalism was becoming common.

The correspondent of the New York Times, Walter Duranty, staunchly denied in print that any famine existed, although he admitted it in private. For his reporting from Russia, Duranty won a Pulitzer Prize, of which the New York Times still boasts to this day.

On the morning of World War II came the Great Purge, in which Stalin disposed of all followers of Lenin and Trotsky. The liquidation of the military leadership had important ramifications after the Nazi Germany invaded in 1941, and is largely accredited as the cause of the USSR's unpreparedness and setbacks in the early part of the War.

Adolf Hitler was an outspoken anti-Communist and longed to crush Russia. The German army, however, failed to capture Moscow, mostly due to the harsh Russian winter. Over twelve million Russians died in the Second World War.

The Soviet Union supposedly was vocal in protecting workers' interests, however Isaac Deutscher noted after World War II restrictions on the employment of child labor were abolished.[2]


"This famine was deliberately engineered by the regime of Josef Stalin 91 years ago claimed millions of lives, mostly in Ukraine but also in some other parts of the Soviet Union. It is today considered one of the worst atrocities of the Soviet regime and a terrifying act of genocide. Even so, the famine of 1933 is relatively unknown. ... Estimates of how many people died in Stalin's engineered famine of 1933 vary. But they are staggering in their scale -- between seven and 11 million people."[3]


Soviet aggression

The darkened areas represent territorries of Soviet ambitions and designs, 1921 - 1949.

Soviet ambitions in China as early as 1921 were to transform all northern China — Sinkiang, Mongolia and Manchuria — into outright Russian dependencies and to convert what remained of China into a Communist satellite.[4]

The U.S. Department of State refused to regard Japan as a bulwark against Soviet expansion in North China in the 1930s. As a matter of fact, not one protest was sent by the Department of State against the Soviet Union despite her absorption of Sinkiang and Outer Mongolia, while at the same time, Japan was censured for stationing troops in China. [5]

The Cold War

Later the USSR would oppose the United States by providing aid to enemies in direct conflict. In the 1960s the USSR provided heavy arms shipments to Egypt and Syria that were used in their 1967 war with Israel. Although the two Arab nations were routed the Soviets would replenish the arms lost. Soviet military assistance aided North Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s during the Vietnam War.

In 1989 Soviet forces entered Afghanistan to support that government against Islamic fundamentalist Mujahideen rebels. These rebels found support from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other Muslim nations. By 1989 the Soviets withdrew with some 14,000 killed and 53,000 troops wounded during the course of the conflict. This, along with the economic cost needed to keep up with the increasing United States military under Ronald Reagan, helped lead to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. (Only 80,000 - 140,000 troops were in Afghanistan at any given time.)[6]

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to the America and several other nations boycotting the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics. In turn the Soviets and many of their proxy states would boycott the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics.

The Shootdown of KAL 007

Considered by many as the second or third most critical single incident of the Cold War, after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and Able Archer 83, the shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007 on Sept. 1, 1983 would signal a change in the relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union prompted by the subsequent deployment of Pershing and cruise missiles in West Germany just 6 minutes from launch to Moscow. This precipitated the era of confrontation of 1983 and 1984 between the two nations. The world would once again witness what it saw as the blatent barbarity of what President Reagan had termed the "Evil Empire". Though the world had accepted that KAL 007 had exploded and crashed with no survivors of the 269 passengers and crew, there has most recently surfaced evidence to the contrary [3].

Disintegration

The Soviet Union eventually exploded after a series of economic and political reforms known as Glasnost and perestroika introduced by the last Chairman of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), Mikhail Gorbachev, in the 1980s. As previously mentioned, the Soviet Union was also strategically weakened by its engagement in Afghanistan and the need to keep up with the United States military under Reagan, which it could not do. The USSR was formally dissolved in 1991 by Boris Yeltsin. The successor states to the Soviet Union are the Russian Federation, and the other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

See Also

References

  1. FDR: The Man, the Leader, the Legacy, Ralph Raico, Future of Freedom Foundation, April 1, 2001. Retrieved from The Independent Institute.org 06/17/07.
  2. Isaac Deutscher, The Great Purges, edited by Tamara Deutscher (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1984), p. 79.
  3. Stalin's Starvation of Ukraine – Seventy Years Later, World Still Largely Unaware Of Tragedy, By Askold Krushelnycky, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague, 8 April 2003 (RFE/RL).
  4. While You Slept : Our Tragedy in Asia and Who Made It, John T. Flynn, New York : The Devin - Adair Company, 1951, pg. 17 pdf.
  5. "The Explanation of the Foreign Minister at Imperial Conference," December 1, 1941, Far Eastern Military Tribunal, Record p. 26101. According to Alexander Barmine, who was in charge of the supply of Soviet arms, by 1935, Sinkiang had become "a Soviet colony in all but name." One Who Survived (NewYork: G. P.Putnam's Sons, 1945), pp. 231-232. [1][2]
  6. The World Almanac, Global Press, 1999

External links