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Kaganovich

Kaganovich

Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (Ла́зарь Моисе́евич Кагано́вич) (November 22, 1893–July 25, 1991) was a Soviet politician and a supporter of Joseph Stalin. He was born in 1893 to Jewish parents near Kiev. Kaganovich never received a formal education, he was self taught and worked as a shoe repairman. In 1911 he joined the communist party, and in 1924 became a member of the Central Committee. In 1930, he became a member of the Soviet Politburo, and during the 1930s he oversaw the construction of the first phase of the Moscow Metro, which was named after Kaganovich until 1955. He also supervised the implementation of many of Stalin's economic policies, including the collectivization of agriculture and rapid industrialization. According to Robert Conquest and some historians of the period, Kaganovich, in league with Vyacheslav Molotov, engineered the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine or Holodomor in which several millions people died, motivated by the goal of preventing the possible opposition that the relatively self-sufficient peasantry posed. However, other academics in Soviet studies such as Moshe Lewin, Alexander Dallin and Alec Nove dismiss the idea that the famine was a deliberate act. Kaganovich was ethnically Jewish by birth. For most of his life he was a staunch atheist. He was, until 1957, a full member of the Politburo and the Presidium. Kaganovich was an early mentor of Nikita Khrushchev, who first rose to prominence as his Moscow City deputy in the 1930s. In 1947, when Khrushchev was stripped of the Party leadership in Ukraine (he remained in the somewhat lesser head of government job), Stalin dispatched Kaganovich to replace him until the former was reinstated late that year. Kaganovich was a rigid Stalinist, and though he remained in the Presidium, quickly lost influence after Stalin's death in March 1953. In 1957, along with fellow hard-line Stalinist Molotov and Georgy Malenkov (the so-called Anti-Party Group), he participated in an abortive party coup against his former protege Khrushchev, who had over the preceding two years become increasingly harsh in his criticism of Stalin. As a result, Kaganovich was forced to retire from the Presidium and the Central Committee, and in 1964 he was expelled from the party. Kaganovich survived to the age of 97, dying just before the events that led to the final unravelling of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kaganovich, Lazar Kaganovich, Lazar Kaganovich, Lazar Kaganovich, Lazar

November 22

November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 39 days remaining.

Events


- 498 - After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected pope in the Lateran Palace, while Laurentius is elected pope in Santa Maria Maggiore.
- 1718 - Off the coast of Virginia, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
- 1830 - Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Confederate Gen465eral John Bell Hood invades Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.
- 1880 - Vaudeville actress Lillian Ruell makes her debut at Tony Pastor's Theatre in New York City.
- 1917 - In Montreal, Canada, the National Hockey Association breaks up (on November 26 it was replaced with the National Hockey League).
- 1922 - Egyptology: Howard Carter, assisted by Lord Carnarvon, opens the tomb of Tutankhamun.
- 1935 - The China Clipper takes off from Alameda, California in an attempt to deliver the first airmail cargo across the[Pacific Ocean]] (the airplane later reached its destination, Manila, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail).
- 1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - General Friedrich von Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army is surrounded.
- 1943 - World War II: War in the Pacific - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan (see Cairo Conference)
- 1943 - Lebanon gains independence from France.
- 1963 - John F. Kennedy assassination: In Dallas, Texas, US President John F. Kennedy is assassinated and Texas Governor John B. Connally is seriously wounded. Later the same day, US Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
- 1967 - UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted by the UN Security Council, establishing a set of the principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab-Israeli peace settlement.
- 1968 - The Beatles release the double-album The Beatles, commonly known as The White Album.
- 1972 - Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.
- 1974 - The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
- 1975 - Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco.
- 1977 - British Airways inaugurates a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
- 1986 - Boxing: Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in the second round, becoming the youngest world heavyweight champion at the age of 20 years and 4 months.
- 1988 - In Palmdale, California, the first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is revealed.
- 1989 - In West Beirut, a bomb explodes near the motorcade of Lebanese President Rene Moawad, killing him.
- 1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigns as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 2002 - In Nigeria, more than 100 people are killed at an attack aimed at the contestants of the Miss World contest.
- 2003 - In Tbilisi, Georgia, opponents of President Eduard Shevardnadze seize the parliament building and demand the president's resignation.
- 2003 - The Heritage Classic, the first outdoor hockey game in the history of the National Hockey League, is played in Edmonton, Alberta
- 2003 - England defeat Australia to win England's first rugby union world cup.
- 2004 - The Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine, resulting from the presidential elections.
- 2005 - The Xbox 360 releases in North America. First of the "new next-gen" consoles.
- 2005 - Ted Koppel retires after hosting Nightline for over 26 years.
- 2005 - Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany

Births


- 1428 - Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, English politician (d. 1471)
- 1515 - Marie of Guise, Queen of James V of Scotland and regent of Scotland (d. 1560)
- 1564 - Henry Brooke, 8th Baron Cobham, English conspirator (d. 1610)
- 1602 - Elisabeth of France, Queen of Philip IV of Spain (d. 1644)
- 1635 - Francis Willughby, English biologist (d. 1672)
- 1643 - Robert Cavelier de La Salle, French explorer (d. 1687)
- 1710 - Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, German composer (d. 1784)
- 1721 - Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres, Swiss-born cartographer and Canadian statesman (d. 1824)
- 1722 - Hryhori Skovoroda, Ukrainian poet, philosopher and composer (d. 1794)
- 1767 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolian patriot (d. 1810)
- 1808 - Thomas Cook, British travel entrepreneur (d. 1892)
- 1819 - George Eliot, British novelist (d. 1880)
- 1849 - Christian Rohlfs, German artist (d. 1938)
- 1852 - Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
- 1856 - Heber J. Grant, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1945)
- 1868 - John Nance Garner, U.S. Vice President (d. 1967)
- 1869 - André Gide, French writer and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
- 1877 - Endre Ady, Hungarian poet (d. 1919)
- 1890 - Charles de Gaulle, President of France (d. 1970)
- 1893 - Harley J. Earl, automobile designer (d. 1969)
- 1897 - Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer (d. 1989)
- 1899 - Hoagy Carmichael, American composer (d. 1981)
- 1899 - Wiley Post, American pilot (d. 1935)
- 1901 - Joaquin Rodrigo, Spanish composer (d. 1999)
- 1904 - Louis Eugène Félix Néel, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
- 1913 - Benjamin Britten, British composer (d. 1976)
- 1917 - Andrew Fielding Huxley, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1918 - Claiborne Pell, U.S. Senator
- 1921 - Rodney Dangerfield, American comedian and actor (d. 2004)
- 1923 - Arthur Hiller, Canadian film director
- 1923 - Gunther Schuller, American composer and conductor
- 1924 - Geraldine Page, American actress (d. 1987)
- 1932 - Robert Vaughn, American actor
- 1940 - Terry Gilliam, American/British comedian and director
- 1941 - Tom Conti, British actor
- 1943 - Billie Jean King, American tennis player
- 1950 - Lyman Bostock, baseball player (d. 1978)
- 1950 - Steve Van Zandt, American musician
- 1950 - Tina Weymouth, American musician (Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club)
- 1958 - Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress
- 1961 - Mariel Hemingway, American actress
- 1961 - Randal L. Schwartz, American computer programmer
- 1962 - Victor Pelevin, Russian writer
- 1967 - Boris Becker, German tennis player
- 1967 - Bart Veldkamp, Dutch-born speed skater
- 1974 - David Pelletier, Canadian figure skater
- 1976 - Ville Valo Finnish singer (HIM)
- 1982 - Aiyegbeni Yakubu, Nigerian footballer
- 1984 - Scarlett Johansson, American actress

Deaths


- 1318 - Mikhail Yaroslavich, Russian prince (b. 1271)
- 1594 - Martin Frobisher, English explorer
- 1617 - Ahmed I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1590)
- 1694 - John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1630)
- 1697 - Liberal Bruant, French architect
- 1710 - Bernardo Pasquini, Italian composer (b. 1637)
- 1718 - Blackbeard (Edward Teach), British pirate
- 1758 - Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe, British politician (b. 1680)
- 1774 - Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, British general and statesman (b. 1725)
- 1783 - John Hanson, American Continental Congressman (b. 1715)
- 1794 - John Alsop, American Continental Congressman (b. 1724)
- 1875 - Henry Wilson, United States Vice President (b. 1812)
- 1900 - Arthur S. Sullivan, British composer (b. 1842)
- 1916 - Jack London, American writer (b. 1876)
- 1917 - Teoberto Maler, German-born explorer (b. 1842)
- 1943 - Lorenz Hart, American lyricist (b. 1895)
- 1955 - Shemp Howard, American actor and comedian (heart attack) (b. 1895)
- 1963 - John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (b. 1917)
- 1963 - C. S. Lewis, Irish author (b. 1898)
- 1963 - Aldous Huxley, British author (b. 1894)
- 1980 - Mae West, American actress and writer (b. 1893)
- 1981 - Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
- 1986 - Scatman Crothers, American actor (b. 1910)
- 1986 - William Bradford Huie, American writer (b. 1910)
- 1988 - Luis Barragán, Mexican architect (b. 1908)
- 1989 - Rene Moawad, President of Lebanon (b. 1925)
- 1993 - Anthony Burgess, British author (b. 1917)
- 1996 - Mark Lenard, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1997 - Michael Hutchence, Australian singer and songwriter (b. 1960)
- 2005 - Bruce Hobbs, American jockey (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances


- R.C. Saints - Feast of Saint Cecilia
- Also see November 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Lebanon - Independence Day (from France, 1943)
- United States - If a Thursday, Thanksgiving is celebrated; Family Day begins in 2005
- Astrology: usually the first day of sun sign Sagittarius

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22 BBC: On This Day] ---- November 21 - November 23 - October 22 - December 22 -- listing of all days ko:11월 22일 ms:22 November ja:11月22日 simple:November 22 th:22 พฤศจิกายน

July 25

July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining.

Events


- 306 - Constantine I proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.
- 1261 - The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Michael VIII Palaeologus, thus re-establishing the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines also succeed in capturing Thessalonica and the rest of the Latin Empire.
- 1547 - Henry II (France) crowned
- 1567 - Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.
- 1593 - Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
- 1722 - Three Years War begins along Maine and Massachusetts border.
- 1758 - French and Indian War: The island battery at Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia is silenced and all French warships are destroyed or taken.
- 1759 - French and Indian War: In Canada, British forces capture Fort Niagara from French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé.
- 1797 - Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife Island (Spain).
- 1799 - At Aboukir in Egypt, Napoleon I of France defeats 10,000 Ottomans under Mustafa Pasha.
- 1814 - War of 1812: Battle of Lundy's Lane - Reinforcements arrive near Niagara for General Riall's British and Canadian force, and bloody, all-night battle with Jacob Brown's Americans commences at 18.00; Americans retreat to Fort Erie.
- 1853 - Joaquin Murietta, famous Californio bandit known as "Robin Hood of El Dorado", is killed.
- 1861 - American Civil War: The Crittenden-Johnson Resolution is passed by the U.S. Congress stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
- 1866 - The U.S. Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army (now called "5-star general") Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to have this rank.
- 1868 - Wyoming becomes a United States territory.
- 1869 - The Japanese daimyō begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 17, 1869)
- 1894 - The First Sino-Japanese War begins when the Japanese fire upon a Chinese warship.
- 1897 - Writer Jack London sails to join the Klondike Gold Rush where he will write his first successful stories.
- 1898 - The United States invasion of Puerto Rico begins with U.S. troops landing at Guánica Bay.
- 1907 - Korea becomes a protectorate of Japan.
- 1908 - Ajinomoto is born. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG) and patents a process for manufacturing it.
- 1909 - Louis Bleriot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine (Calais to Dover in 37 minutes).
- 1917 - Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).
- 1920 - Telecommunications: first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast.
- 1934 - Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.
- 1943 - World War II: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by his own Italian Grand Council and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.
- 1944 - World War II: Operation Spring - One of the bloodiest days for Canadians during the war: 18,444 casualties, including 5,021 killed.
- 1946 - Nuclear testing: In the first underwater test of the atomic bomb, the surplus USS Saratoga is sunk near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean when the United States detonates the "Baker Day" device.
- 1946 - At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.
- 1952 - Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.
- 1956 - 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the SS Stockholm in heavy fog, killing 51.
- 1958 - The African Regroupment Party (PRA) holds its first congress in Cotonou.
- 1965 - Newport Folk Festival: Bob Dylan goes electric.
- 1969 - Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This was the start of the "Vietnamization" of the war.
- 1973 - Soviet Mars 5 space probe launched.
- 1976 - The first performance of the Philip Glass opera Einstein on the Beach
- 1977 - A supposed thunderbird is reported attacking a boy named Marlon Lowe.
- 1978 - The first so-called test-tube baby, Louise Brown, is born.
- 1984 - Salyut 7 Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk.
- 1989 - Rock/Hip-hop trio The Beastie Boys release the classic Paul's Boutique.
- 1990 - Comedian Roseanne Barr grabs her crotch and spits on the ground when performing the U.S. national anthem at a San Diego Padres game.
- 1994 - Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration which formally ends the state of war that has existed between the nations since 1948.
- 1997 - K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalits caste to hold this office.
- 1998 - The United States Navy commissions the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and puts her into service.
- 1999 - Lance Armstrong wins first Tour de France.
- 2000 - An Air France Concorde supersonic passenger jet crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 5 on the ground.
- 2004 - Lance Armstrong makes history, winning his 6th consecutive Tour de France.

Births


- 1109 - King Afonso I of Portugal (d. 1185)
- 1336 - Albert, Count of Holland (d. 1404)
- 1404 - Philip I, Duke of Brabant (d. 1430)
- 1421 - Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (d. 1461)
- 1562 - Kato Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord and samurai (d. 1611)
- 1653 - Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat and composer (d. 1728)
- 1658 - Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, Scottish privy councillor (d. 1703)
- 1799 - David Douglas, Scottish botanist, plant collector, explorer (d. 1834)
- 1839 - Francis Garnier, French explorer (d. 1873)
- 1844 - Thomas Eakins, American artist (d. 1916)
- 1848 - Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1930)
- 1867 - Max Dauthendey, German writer (d. 1918)
- 1870 - Maxfield Parrish, American illustrator (d. 1966)
- 1883 - Alfredo Casella, Italian composer (d. 1947)
- 1884 - Davidson Black, Canadian anthropologist (d. 1934)
- 1886 - Bror von Blixen-Finecke, Danish big-game hunter (d. 1946)
- 1894 - Walter Brennan, American actor (d. 1974)
- 1901 - Lila Lee, American actress (d. 1973)
- 1902 - Eric Hoffer, American philosopher (d. 1983)
- 1905 - Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- 1906 - Johnny Hodges, American saxophonist (d. 1970)
- 1907 - Varlam Shalamov, Russian writer (d. 1982)
- 1908 - Bill Bowes, English cricketer (d. 1987)
- 1920 - Rosalind Franklin, English scientist (d. 1958)
- 1923 - Estelle Getty, American actress
- 1928 - Keter Betts, American jazz bassist (d. 2005)
- 1929 - Somnath Chatterjee, Indian politician
- 1930 - Maureen Forrester, Canadian contralto
- 1935 - Barbara Harris, American actress
- 1937 - Colin Renfrew, English archeologist
- 1946 - Rita Marley, Jamaican-Cuban singer
- 1954 - Walter Payton, American football player (d. 1999)
- 1955 - Iman Abdulmajid, Somali model
- 1960 - Alain Robidoux, Canadian snooker player
- 1965 - Illeana Douglas, American actress
- 1967 - Matt LeBlanc, American actor
- 1967 - Chuck Paugh, American record company owner
- 1973 - Dani Filth, English singer (Cradle of Filth)
- 1973 - Kevin Phillips, English footballer
- 1977 - Kenny Thomas, American basketball player
- 1978 - Louise Brown, first test tube baby
- 1978 - Gerard Warren, American football player
- 1979 - Amy Adams, American singer
- 1982 - Brad Renfro, American actor
- 1987 - Michael Welch, American actor
- 1990 - Andy Evenchick, Amateur swimmer

Deaths


- 306 - Constantius Chlorus, Roman Emperor (b. 250)
- 1409 - King Martin I of Sicily
- 1492 - Pope Innocent VIII (b. 1432)
- 1616 - Andreas Libavius, German physician and chemist (b. 1550)
- 1643 - Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, English statesman (b. 1584)
- 1676 - François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French writer (b. 1604)
- 1681 - Urian Oakes, English-born President of Harvard University (b. 1631)
- 1790 - Johann Bernhard Basedow, German education reformer (b. 1723)
- 1790 - William Livingston, Governor of New Jersey (b. 1723)
- 1791 - Isaac Low, American Continental Congressman (b. 1735)
- 1794 - André Chénier, French writer (b. 1762)
- 1826 - Kondraty Fyodorovich Ryleyev, Russian poet and revolutionary (b. 1795)
- 1834 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet (b. 1772)
- 1842 - Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (b. 1766)
- 1843 - Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and inventor (b. 1766)
- 1853 - Joaquin Murieta, California outlaw
- 1861 - Jonas Furrer, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1805)
- 1887 - John Taylor, American religious leader (b. 1808)
- 1934 - François Coty, French perfume manufacturer (b. 1874)
- 1934 - Engelbert Dollfuss, Chancellor of Austria (assassinated) (b. 1892)
- 1934 - Nestor Makhno, Ukrainian anarchist (b. 1889)
- 1963 - Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist (b. 1877
- 1971 - Leroy Robertson, American composer (b. 1896)
- 1973 - Louis Stephen St. Laurent, twelfth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1882)
- 1980 - Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian poet, singer, and actor (b. 1938)
- 1988 - Judith Barsi, American actress (b. 1978)
- 1997 - Ben Hogan, American golfer (b. 1912)
- 2003 - Ludwig Bölkow, German aeronautical engineer (b. 1912)
- 2003 - John Schlesinger, British film director (b. 1926)
- 2005 - Albert Mangelsdorff, German jazz trombonist (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances


- Roman festivals - Furinalia
- Galiza - National Day (Dia da Patria Galega).
- Saint James the Great - patron saint of Spain.
- Costa Rica - Anniversary of the Annexation of Guanacaste Province
- Cuba - Eve of Revolution Day
- Puerto Rico - Constitution Day (1952)
- Tunisia - Republic Day (1957)
- Virgin Islands - Hurricane Supplication Day
- Inca - festival in honor of Ilyap'a
- Ebernoe Horn Fair, Sussex, England

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25 BBC: On This Day] ---- July 24 - July 26 - June 25 - August 25 -- listing of all days ko:7월 25일 ms:25 Julai ja:7月25日 simple:July 25 th:25 กรกฎาคม

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, abbreviated USSR ( (СССР) ; tr.: Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik [SSSR])), more commonly known as the Soviet Union (; tr.: Sovetsky Soyuz) was an officially socialist state founded in 1922, centered on Russia, and dissolved in 1991. From 1945 until its dissolution it was historically notable as one of the world's two superpowers. The formation of the Soviet Union was the culmination of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which overthrew short-lived Provisional Government (established after Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 15, 1917), and later the Red Army victory in the violent Russian Civil War from 1918-1920. The geographic boundaries of the Soviet Union varied with time, but by 1945 it approximately corresponded to that of historic Imperial Russia, with the notable exclusions of Poland and Finland. The geographic size of the Soviet Union remained from 1945 until its dissolution. The Soviet Union, founded three decades before the Cold War, became a primary model for future Communist states; the socialist government and the political organization of the country were defined by the only permitted political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

History

The Soviet Union is traditionally considered to be the successor of the Russian Empire. The last Russian monarch, Tsar Nicholas II, ruled until March 1917 and was eventually executed. The Soviet Union was established in December 1922 as the union of the Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Transcaucasian Soviet republics ruled by Bolshevik parties. By Soviet historiography, revolutionary activity in Russia began with the Decembrist Revolt of 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 State Duma, was established in 1906, after the 1905 Revolution but political and social unrest continued and was aggravated during World War I by military defeat and food shortages. A spontaneous popular uprising in Petrograd, in response to the wartime decay of Russia's physical well-being and morale, culminated in the toppling of the imperial government in March 1917 (see February Revolution). The autocracy was replaced by the Provisional Government, whose leaders intended to establish democracy in Russia and to continue participating on the side of the Allies in World War I. At the same time, to ensure the rights of the working class, workers' councils, known as soviets, sprang up across the country. The radical Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, agitated for socialist revolution in the soviets and on the streets. They seized power from the Provisional Government in November 1917 (see October Revolution). Only after the long and bloody Russian Civil War of (1918-1921), which included combat between government forces and foreign troops in several parts of Russia, was the new communist regime secure. In a related conflict, the "Peace of Riga" in early 1921 split disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and Soviet powers. From its first years, government in the Soviet Union was based on the one-party rule of the Communist Party, as the Bolsheviks called themselves beginning in March 1918. After the extraordinary economic policy of war communism during the Civil War the Soviet government permitted some private enterprise to coexist with nationalized industry in the 1920s and total food requisition in the countryside was replaced by a food tax (see New Economic Policy). Debate over the future of the economy provided the background for Soviet leaders to contend for power in the years after Lenin's death in 1924. By gradually consolidating his influence and isolating his rivals within the party, notably Lenin's more obvious heir Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin became the sole leader of the Soviet Union by the end of the 1920s. In 1928 Stalin introduced the First Five-Year Plan for building a socialist economy. In industry the state assumed control over all existing enterprises and undertook an intensive program of industrialization; in agriculture collective farms were established all over the country (see Collectivisation in the USSR). The Soviet Union became a major industrial power; but the plan's implementation produced widespread misery for some segments of the population. Collectivization met widespread resistance from peasants, resulting in a bitter struggle against the authorities in many areas, famine, and estimated millions of casualties. Social upheaval continued in the mid-1930s, when Stalin began a purge of the party (see Great Purges). Yet despite this turmoil, the Soviet Union developed a powerful industrial economy in the years before World War II. Although Stalin tried to avert war with Germany by concluding the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, which involved the invasion of Poland, in 1939, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. It has been debated that the Soviet Union had the intention of invading Germany once it was strong enough. The Red Army stopped the Nazi offensive, with the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 being the major turning point, and drove through Eastern Europe to Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945 (see Great Patriotic War). Although ravaged by the war, the Soviet Union emerged from the conflict as an acknowledged superpower. superpower after the fall of Nazi Germany]] During the immediate postwar period, the Soviet Union first rebuilt and then expanded its economy, while maintaining its strictly centralized control. The Soviet Union aided postwar reconstruction in Eastern Europe, set up the Warsaw Pact and Comecon, supplied aid to the eventually victorious communists in the People's Republic of China, and saw its influence grow elsewhere in the world. Meanwhile, the Cold War, turned the Soviet Union's wartime allies, the United Kingdom and the United States, into foes. Joseph Stalin died on March 5 1953. In the absence of an acceptable successor, the highest Communist Party officials opted to rule the Soviet Union jointly, although a struggle for power took place behind the facade of collective leadership. Nikita Khrushchev, who won the power struggle by the mid-1950s, denounced Stalin's use of repression and eased repressive controls over party and society (see de-Stalinization). During this period the Soviet Union launched the first satellite Sputnik 1 and man Yuri Gagarin into orbit. Khrushchev's reforms in agriculture and administration, however, were generally unproductive, and foreign policy toward China and the United States suffered reverses. Khrushchev's colleagues in the leadership removed him from power in 1964. Following the ouster of Khrushchev, another period of rule by collective leadership ensued, lasting until Leonid Brezhnev established himself in the early 1970s as the preeminent figure in Soviet political life. Brezhnev presided over a period of Détente with the West while at the same time building up Soviet military strength; the arms buildup contributed to the demise of Détente in the late 1970s. Another contributing factor was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. After some experimentation with economic reforms in the mid-1960s, the Soviet leadership reverted to established means of economic management. Industry showed slow but steady gains during the 1970s, while agricultural development continued to lag. Throughout the period the Soviet Union maintained parity with the United States in the areas of military technology but this expansion ultimately crippled the economy. In contrast to the revolutionary spirit that accompanied the birth of the Soviet Union, the prevailing mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to change. Two developments dominated the decade that followed: the increasingly apparent crumbling of the Soviet Union's economic and political structures, and the patchwork attempts at reforms to reverse that process. After the rapid succession of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, transitional figures with deep roots in Brezhnevite tradition, the energetic Mikhail Gorbachev made significant changes in the economy (see Perestroika) and the party leadership. His policy of glasnost freed public access to information after decades of government regulations. In late 1980s constituent republics of the Soviet Union started declaring sovereignty over their territories or even independence citing Article 72 of USSR Constitution, which stated that any constituent republic was free to secede. Many republics proceeded to produce legislation contradicting the Union laws in what was known as "The War of Laws." In 1989 Russian SFSR, which was then the largest constituent republic (with about 2/3 of population and territory) convened a Congress of Deputies. Boris Yeltsin was elected the chairman of the Congress. On June 12, 1989 the Congress declared Russia's sovereignty over its territory and proceeded to pass laws that attempted to supersede some of the USSR's laws. The period of legal uncertainty continued for the next three years as constituent republics slowly growing de-facto independent. A referendum for the preservation of the USSR was held on March 17, 1991, with the population voting for preservation of the Union in most republics. The referendum gave Gorbachev a minor boost, and in the summer of 1991 an new Union Treaty was designed and agreed upon by most republics which would have turned the Soviet Union into a much looser federation. The signing of the treaty, however, was interrupted by the August Coup - an attempted coup d'état against Mikhail Gorbachev by conservative members of the Communist Party, referred to as "Hardliners" by the Western media. After the coup was defeated, Yeltsin came out as a hero while Gorbachev's power was greatly reduced. The balance of power tipped significantly towards the republics. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were immediately granted independence, while the other 12 republics continued discussing new, increasingly looser, models of the Union. On December 8 1991 Presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed Belavezha Accords which declared the Union dissolved and established the Commonwealth of Independent States in its place. While doubts remained over their authority to dissolve the Union, on 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned as the president of the USSR and turned the powers of his office over to Boris Yeltsin. The following day, the Supreme Soviet, the highest governmental body of the Soviet Union, dissolved itself. This is generally recognized as the official, final dissolution of the Soviet Union as a functioning nation. Many organizations such as the Red Army and Police forces continued to remain in place in the early months of 1992, but were slowly phased out or absorbed by the newly independent nations.

Politics

Supreme Soviet] The government of the Soviet Union administered the country's economy and society. It implemented decisions made by the leading political institution in the country, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). In the late 1980s, the government appeared to have many characteristics in common with democratic political systems. For instance, a constitution established all organs of government and granted to citizens a series of political and civic rights. A legislative body, the Congress of People's Deputies, and its standing legislature, the Supreme Soviet, represented the principle of popular sovereignty. The Supreme Soviet, which had an elected chairman who functioned as head of state, oversaw the Council of Ministers, which acted as the executive branch of the government. The chairman of the Council of Ministers, whose selection was approved by the legislative branch, functioned as head of government. A constitutionally based judicial branch of government included a court system, headed by the Supreme Court, that was responsible for overseeing the observance of Soviet law by government bodies. According to the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the government had a federal structure, permitting the republics some authority over policy implementation and offering the national minorities the appearance of participation in the management of their own affairs. In practice, however, the government differed markedly from Western systems. In the late 1980s, the CPSU performed many functions that governments of other countries usually perform. For example, the party decided on the policy alternatives that the government ultimately implemented. The government merely ratified the party's decisions to lend them an aura of legitimacy. The CPSU used a variety of mechanisms to ensure that the government adhered to its policies. The party, using its nomenklatura authority, placed its loyalists in leadership positions throughout the government, where they were subject to the norms of democratic centralism. Party bodies closely monitored the actions of government ministries, agencies, and legislative organs. The content of the Soviet Constitution differed in many ways from typical Western constitutions. It generally described existing political relationships, as determined by the CPSU, rather than prescribing an ideal set of political relationships. The Constitution was long and detailed, giving technical specifications for individual organs of government. The Constitution included political statements, such as foreign policy goals, and provided a theoretical definition of the state within the ideological framework of Marxism-Leninism. The CPSU leadership could radically change the constitution or remake it completely, as it did several times throughout its history. The Council of Ministers acted as the executive body of the government. Its most important duties lay in the administration of the economy. The council was thoroughly under the control of the CPSU, and its chairman - the Soviet prime minister - was always a member of the Politburo. The council, which in 1989 included more than 100 members, was too large and unwieldy to act as a unified executive body. The council's Presidium, made up of the leading economic administrators and led by the chairman, exercised dominant power within the Council of Ministers. According to the Constitution, as amended in 1988, the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union was the Congress of People's Deputies, which convened for the first time in May 1989. The main tasks of the congress were the election of the standing legislature, the Supreme Soviet, and the election of the chairman of the Supreme Soviet, who acted as head of state. Theoretically, the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet wielded enormous legislative power. In practice, however, the Congress of People's Deputies met infrequently and only to approve decisions made by the party, the Council of Ministers, and its own Supreme Soviet. The Supreme Soviet, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet, and the Council of Ministers had substantial authority to enact laws, decrees, resolutions, and orders binding on the population. The Congress of People's Deputies had the authority to ratify these decisions. The judiciary was not independent. The Supreme Court supervised the lower courts and applied the law, as established by the Constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviewed the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union lacked an adversarial court procedure known to common law jurisdictions. Rather, Soviet law utilised the system derived from Roman law, where judge, procurator and defense attorney worked collaboratively to establish the truth. The Soviet Union was a federal state made up of fifteen republics joined together in a theoretically voluntary union. In turn, a series of territorial units made up the republics. The republics also contained jurisdictions intended to protect the interests of national minorities. The republics had their own constitutions, which, along with the all-union Constitution, provide the theoretical division of power in the Soviet Union. In 1989, however, the CPSU and the central government retained all significant authority, setting policies that were executed by republic, provincial, oblast, and district governments.

Leaders of the Soviet Union

The official leader of the Soviet Union was the First/General Secretary of the CPSU. The head of government was considered the Premier, and the head of state was considered the President. The Soviet leader could also have one (or both) of these positions, along with the position of General-Secretary of the party. :List of Soviet Premiers :(Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (1923-1946); Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1946-1990); Prime Minister of the USSR (1991)) :List of Soviet Presidents :(Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets (1917-1922); Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (1922-1938); Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1938-1989); Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1989-1990); President of the Soviet Union (1990-1991))

Foreign relations

:Main article: Foreign relations of the Soviet Union Foreign relations of the Soviet Union] Once denied diplomatic recognition by the capitalist world, the Soviet Union had official relations with the majority of the nations of the world by the late 1980s. The Soviet Union also had progressed from being an outsider in international organizations and negotiations to being one of the arbiters of Europe's fate after World War II. A member of the United Nations at its foundation in 1945, the Soviet Union became one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council which gave it the right to veto any of its resolutions (see Soviet Union and the United Nations). The Soviet Union emerged from World War II as one of the two major world powers, a position maintained for four decades through its hegemony in Eastern Europe (see Eastern Bloc), military strength, aid to developing countries, and scientific research, especially into space technology and weaponry. The Soviet Union's growing influence abroad in the postwar years helped lead to a socialist system of states in Eastern Europe united by military and economic agreements. Established in 1949 as an economic bloc of communist countries led by Moscow, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) served as a framework for cooperation among the planned economies of the Soviet Union, and, later, for trade and economic cooperation with the Third World. The military counterpart to the Comecon was the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet economy was also of major importance to Eastern Europe because of imports of vital natural resources from Russia, such as natural gas. Moscow considered Eastern Europe to be a buffer zone for the forward defense of its western borders and ensured its control of the region by transforming the East European countries into stable allies. Soviet troops intervened in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and cited the Brezhnev Doctrine, the Soviet counterpart to the U.S. Johnson Doctrine and later Nixon Doctrine, and helped oust the Czechoslovak government in 1968, sometimes referred to as the Prague Spring. In the late 1950s, a confrontation with China led to the Sino-Soviet split and a tense confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States over the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The KGB (Committee for State Security), served in a fashion as the Soviet counterpart to both the FBI and the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in the U.S. It ran a massive network of informants throughout the Soviet Union, which was used to monitor violations in law. The foreign wing of the KGB was used to gather intelligence in countries around the globe. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was replaced in Russia by the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service). The KGB was not without substantial oversight. The GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), not publicized by Russia until the end of the Soviet era during perestroika, was created by Lenin in 1918 and served both as a centralized handler of military intelligence and as an institutional check-and-balance for the otherwise relatively unrestricted power of the KGB. Effectively, it served to spy on the spies, and, not surprisingly, the KGB served a similar function with the GRU. As with the KGB, the GRU operated in nations around the world, particularly in Soviet bloc and client states. The GRU continues to operate in Russia today, with resources estimated by some to exceed those of the SVR [http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/gru/] [http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/svr/c103-gb.htm]. military intelligence]] In the 1970s, the Soviet Union achieved rough nuclear parity with the United States. It perceived its own involvement as essential to the solution of any major international problem. Meanwhile, the Cold War gave way to Détente and a more complicated pattern of international relations in which the world was no longer clearly split into two clearly opposed blocs. Less powerful countries had more room to assert their independence, and the two superpowers were partially able to recognize their common interest in trying to check the further spread and proliferation of nuclear weapons (see SALT I, SALT II, Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty). By this time, the Soviet Union had concluded friendship and cooperation treaties with a number of states in the non-communist world, especially among Third World and Non-Aligned Movement states like India and Egypt. Notwithstanding some ideological obstacles, Moscow advanced state interests by gaining military footholds in strategically important areas throughout the Third World. Furthermore, the Soviet Union continued to provide military aid for revolutionary movements in the Third World. For all these reasons, Soviet foreign policy was of major importance to the non-communist world and helped determine the tenor of international relations. Although myriad bureaucracies were involved in the formation and execution of Soviet foreign policy, the major policy guidelines were determined by the Politburo of the Communist Party. The foremost objectives of Soviet foreign policy had been the maintenance and enhancement of national security and the maintenance of hegemony over Eastern Europe. Relations with the United States and Western Europe were also of major concern to Soviet foreign policy makers, and relations with individual Third World states were at least partly determined by the proximity of each state to the Soviet border and to Soviet estimates of its strategic significance. When Mikhail Gorbachev succeeded Konstantin Chernenko as General Secretary of the CPSU in 1985, it signalled a dramatic change in Soviet foreign policy. Gorbachev pursued conciliatory policies toward the West instead of maintaining the Cold War status quo. The Soviet Union ended its occupation of Afghanistan, signed strategic arms reduction treaties with the United States, and allowed its allies in Eastern Europe to determine their own affairs. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December, 1991, the Russian Federation claimed to be the legal successor to the Soviet state on the international stage despite its loss of superpower status. Russian foreign policy repudiated Marxism-Leninism as a guide to action, soliciting Western support for capitalist reforms in post-Soviet Russia.

Republics

Russian Federation)]] The Soviet Union was a federation of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR). The first Republics were established shortly after the October Revolution of 1917. At that time, republics were technically independent from one another but their governments acted in closely coordinated confederation, as directed by the CPSU leadership. In 1922, four Republics (Russian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Belarusian SSR, and Transcaucasian SFSR) joined into the Soviet Union. Between 1922 and 1940, the number of Republics grew to sixteen. Some of the new Republics were formed from territories acquired, or reacquired by the Soviet Union, others by splitting existing Republics into several parts. The criteria for establishing new republics were as follows: # to be located on the periphery of the Soviet Union so as to be able to exercise their alleged right to secession; # be economically strong enough to survive on their own upon secession; and # be named after the dominant ethnic group which should consist of at least one million people. The system remained almost unchanged after 1940. No new Republics were established. One republic, Karelo-Finnish SSR, was disbanded in 1956. The remaining 15 republics lasted until 1991. Secession remained theoretical, and very unlikely, given Soviet centralism, until the 1991 collapse of the Union. At that time, the republics became independent countries, with some still loosely organized under the heading Commonwealth of Independent States. Some republics had common history and geographical regions, and were referred by group names. These were Baltic Republics, Transcaucasian Republics, and Central Asian Republics. In its final state, the Soviet Union consisted of the following republics. (See Republics of the Soviet Union for the list and timeline of other Union republics that existed over time.)

Economy

Republics of the Soviet Union power stations in the Soviet Union]] Prior to its collapse, the Soviet Union had the largest centrally directed economy in the world. The government established its economic priorities through central planning, a system under which administrative decisions rather than the market determined resource allocation and prices. Since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the country grew from a largely underdeveloped peasant society with minimal industry to become the second largest industrial power in the world. According to Soviet statistics, the country's share in world industrial production grew from 4 percent to 20 percent between 1913 and 1980. Although many Western analysts considered these claims to be inflated, the Soviet achievement remained remarkable. Recovering from the calamitous events of World War II, the country's economy had maintained a continuous though uneven rate of growth. Living standards, although still modest for most inhabitants by Western standards, had improved. Although these past achievements were impressive, in the mid-1980s Soviet leaders faced many problems. Production in the consumer and agricultural sectors was often inadequate (see Agriculture of the Soviet Union and shortage economy). Crises in the agricultural sector reaped catastrophic consequences in the 1930s, when collectivization met widespread resistance from the kulaks, resulting in a bitter struggle of many peasants against the authorities, famine, particularly in Ukraine, but also in the Volga River area and Kazakhstan. In the consumer and service sectors, a lack of investment resulted in black markets in some areas. black market] In addition, since the 1970s, the growth rate had slowed substantially. Extensive economic development, based on vast inputs of materials and labor, was no longer possible; yet the productivity of Soviet assets remained low compared with other major industrialized countries. Product quality needed improvement. Soviet leaders faced a fundamental dilemma: the strong central controls that had traditionally guided economic development had failed to promote the creativity and productivity urgently needed in a highly developed, modern economy. Conceding the weaknesses of their past approaches in solving new problems, the leaders of the late 1980s were seeking to mold a program of economic reform to galvanize the economy. The leadership, headed by Mikhail Gorbachev, was experimenting with solutions to economic problems with an openness (glasnost) never before seen in the history of the economy. One method for improving productivity appeared to be a strengthening of the role of market forces. Yet reforms in which market forces assumed a greater role would signify a lessening of authority and control by the planning hierarchy. Assessing developments in the economy was difficult for Western observers. The country contained enormous economic and regional disparities. Yet analyzing statistical data broken down by region was a cumbersome process. Furthermore, Soviet statistics themselves might have been of limited use to Western analysts because they are not directly comparable with those used in Western countries. The differing statistical concepts, valuations, and procedures used by communist and noncommunist economists made even the most basic data, such as the relative productivity of various sectors, difficult to assess.

Geography

The Soviet Union occupied the eastern portion of the European continent and the northern portion of the Asian continent. Most of the country was north of 50° north latitude and covered a total area of approximately 22,402,200 square kilometres. Due to the sheer size of the state, the climate varied greatly from subtropical and continental to subarctic and polar. 11 percent of the land was arable, 16 percent was meadows and pasture, 41 percent was forest and woodland, and 32 percent was declared "other" (including tundra). The Soviet Union measured some 10,000 kilometers from Kaliningrad on the Gulf of Gdańsk in the west to Ratmanova Island (Big Diomede Island) in the Bering Strait, or roughly equivalent to the distance from Edinburgh, Scotland, east to Nome, Alaska. From the tip of the Taymyr Peninsula on the Arctic Ocean to the Central Asian town of Kushka near the Afghan border extended almost 5,000 kilometers of mostly rugged, inhospitable terrain. The east-west expanse of the continental United States would easily fit between the northern and southern borders of the Soviet Union at their extremities.

Demographics and society

The Soviet Union was one of the world's most ethnically diverse countries, with more than 150 distinct ethnic groups within its borders. The total population was estimated at 293 million in 1991. The majority of the population were Russians (50.78%), followed by Ukrainians (15.45%) and Uzbeks (5.84%). After all Soviet republics gained independence, Russia remained the largest country in the world by area, and still remains one of the most ethnically diverse.

Nationalities

The extensive multinational empire that the Bolsheviks inherited after their revolution was created by Tsarist expansion over some four centuries. Some nationality groups came into the empire voluntarily, others were brought in by force. Generally, the Russians and most of the non-Russian subjects of the empire shared little in common—culturally, religiously, or linguistically. More often than not, two or more diverse nationalities were collocated on the same territory. Therefore, national antagonisms built up over the years not only against the Russians but often between some of the subject nations as well. For seventy years, Soviet leaders had maintained that frictions between the many nationalities of the Soviet Union had been eliminated and that the Soviet Union consisted of a family of nations living harmoniously together. However, the national ferment that shook almost every corner of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s proved that seventy years of communist rule had failed to obliterate national and ethnic differences and that traditional cultures and religions would reemerge given the slightest opportunity. This reality facing Gorbachev and his colleagues meant that, short of relying on the traditional use of force, they had to find alternative solutions in order to prevent the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The concessions granted national cultures and the limited autonomy tolerated in the union republics in the 1920s led to the development of national elites and a heightened sense of national identity. Subsequent repression and Russianization fostered resentment against domination by Moscow and promoted further growth of national consciousness. National feelings were also exacerbated in the Soviet multinational state by increased competition for resources, services, and jobs.

Religious groups

linguistically]] The state was separated from church by the Decree of Council of People's Comissars 1918 January 23. Official figures on the number of religious believers in the Soviet Union were not available in 1989. But according to various Soviet and Western sources, over one-third of the people in the Soviet Union, an officially atheistic state, professed religious belief. Christianity and Islam had the most believers. Christians belonged to various churches: Orthodox, which had the largest number of followers; Catholic; and Baptist and various other Protestant sects. There were many churches in the country (7500 Russian Orthodox churches in 1974). The majority of the Islamic faithful were Sunni. Although there were many ethnic Jews in the Soviet Union, actual practice of Judaism was rare in Communist times. Jews were the victims of state-sponsored anti-semitism and were one of the few Soviet citizens allowed to emigrate from the country. Other religions, which were practiced by a relatively small number of believers, included Buddhism, Lamaism, and shamanism, a religion based on spiritualism. The role of religion in the daily lives of Soviet citizens varied greatly. Because Islamic religious tenets and social values of Muslims are closely interrelated, religion appeared to have a greater influence on Muslims than on either Christians or other believers. Two-thirds of the Soviet population, however, had no religious beliefs. About half the people, including members of the CPSU and high-level government officials, professed atheism. For the majority of Soviet citizens, therefore, religion seemed irrelevant.

Culture

shamanism] All media in the Soviet Union were controlled by the state including television and radio broadcasting, newspaper, magazine and book publishing. This extended to the fine arts including the theatre, opera and ballet. Art and Music was controlled by ownership of distribution and performance venues. Censorship was made in cases where performances did not meet with the favour of the Soviet leadership with newspaper campaigns against offending material and sanctions applied though party controlled professional organizations.
- Soviet education
- Soviet cinema
- Soviet television
- USSR at the Summer Olympics
- USSR at the Winter Olympics
- USSR Chess Championship
- Palace of Culture
- Research in the Soviet Union
- Soviet Ballroom dances
- Soviet Student Olympiads
- Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Holidays

Related articles


- Post-Soviet states
- Prometheism
- List of Soviet Leaders
- List of premiers of the Soviet Union
- List of the presidents of the Soviet Union

Further reading


- Brown, Archie, et al, eds.: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Russia and the Soviet Union (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
- Gilbert, Martin: The Routledge Atlas of Russian History (London: Routledge, 2002).
- Goldman, Minton: The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (Connecticut: Global Studies, Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., 1986).
- Howe, G. Melvyn: The Soviet Union: A Geographical Survey 2nd. edn. (Estover, UK: MacDonald and Evans, 1983).
- Katz, Zev, ed.: Handbook of Major Soviet Nationalities (New York: Free Press, 1975).
- Rizzi, Bruno: "The bureaucratization of the world : the first English ed. of the underground Marxist classic that analyzed class exploitation in the USSR" , New York, NY : Free Press, 1985

External links


- [http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/art/photography/index.htm Images of the Soviet Union] - a collection of photos showing everyday life in the Soviet Union
- [http://geocities.com/deweytextsonline/isr.htm Impressions of Soviet Russia, by John Dewey]
- [http://www.n-wisdom.com/map_volume/world_map/Western_Soviet_Union_map.jpg Map of Western USSR]
- [http://www.angelfire.com/de/Cerskus/english/saitai.html Leonas Cerskus (the highest judge, a God):Crimes against Humanity committed by the Soviet Union]
- [http://koeln.tucker.in/music/gimn_sowjetskowo_sojusa.mp3 Melody of the Soviet National Anthem]
- Vladimir Lenin: What Is Soviet Power? (Text of the speech, )

References


- - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sutoc.html Soviet Union] Category:Communism Category:Former countries Category:History of the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia Category:Former countries in Europe ko:소비에트 연방 ja:ソビエト連邦 simple:Soviet Union th:สหภาพโซเวียต

Kiev

in the background.]] Kiev, also spelled Kyiv (Ukrainian: , Kyiv; Russian: , Kiev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper river. As of 2003, Kiev officially had 2,642,486 inhabitants, although the large number of unregistered migrants would probably raise this figure to about three million. Administratively, Kiev is a national-level subordinated municipality, independent from surrounding Kiev Oblast. Kiev is an important industrial, scientific, educational and cultural center of Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-tech industries, higher education institutions, world-famous museums and art institutions. The city has an extensive infrastructure and highly developed system of public transport, including a Kiev Metro system. During its history Kiev, one of the oldest cities in the Eastern Europe, passed through several stages of great prominence and relative obscurity. Founded probably in the 5th century, a trading post in the land of Early East Slavs, the city gradually acquired eminence as the center of the East Slavic civilization, in the tenth to twelfth centuries a political and cultural capital of Kievan Rus'. Completely destroyed during the Mongol invasion in 1240, the city lost most of its influence for the centuries to come. It was a provincial capital of marginal importance in the outskirts of the territories controlled by its powerful neighbors: the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Muscovite Russia, later the Russian Empire. The city prospered again during the Russian industrial revolution in the late 19th century. After the turbulent period following the Russian Revolution of 1917, from 1921 Kiev was an important city of Soviet Ukraine, and, since 1934, its capital. During World War II, the city was destroyed again, almost completely, but quickly recovered in the post-war years becoming the third most important city of the USSR. It now remains the capital of Ukraine, independent since