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СССР
Soviet Union, in full Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.),
Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik or Sovetsky Soyuz,
former northern Eurasian empire (1917/22–1991) stretching from
the Baltic and Black seas to the Pacific Ocean and, in its final years, consisting of 15
Soviet Socialist Republics 1
(S.S.R.’s): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia
(now Belarus), Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirgiziya
(now Kyrgyzstan), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia
(now Moldova), Russia, Tajikistan2, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The
capital was Moscow, then and now the capital of Russia.

1
USSR
2
Dushanbe

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Largest Country
During the period of its existence, the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics was by area the world’s largest country. It was also one
of the most diverse, with more than 100 distinct
seven times the area of India and two and one-half
nationalities living within its borders. The majority
times that of the United States. The country
of the population, however, was made up of East
occupied nearly one-sixth of the Earth’s land
Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, and Belorussians);
surface, including the eastern half of Europe and
these groups together made up more than two-
roughly the northern third of Asia.
thirds of the total population in the late 1980s.
The U.S.S.R. was the successor to the Russian
At its greatest extent, between 1946 and 1991 (the
Empire of the tsars. Following the 1917 Revolution, four socialist
figures and descriptions given below refer to this period), the
republics were established on the territory of the former empire:
U.S.S.R. covered some 8,650,000 square miles (22,400,000
the Russian and Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist
square kilometres),
Republics and the Ukrainian and Belorussian Soviet Socialist
Republics.

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Creation of the USSR

On December 30, 1922, these constituent republics established the U.S.S.R. Additional
union republics (Soviet Socialist Republics) were set up in subsequent years: the
Turkmen and Uzbek S.S.R.’s in 1924, the Tadzhik S.S.R. in 1929, and the Kazakh and
Kirgiz S.S.R.’s in 1936. In that year the Transcaucasian Republic was abolished and its
territory was divided between three new republics: the Armenian, Azerbaijan, and
Georgian S.S.R.’s. In 1940 the Karelo-Finnish, Moldavian, Estonian, Latvian, and
Lithuanian S.S.R.’s were established. The Karelo-Finnish S.S.R. became
an autonomous republic in 1956, leaving a total of 15 union republics (soyuznye
respubliki). In addition to these, the U.S.S.R. as of 1990 was made up of 20 autonomous
republics (avtonomnye respubliki), 8 autonomous provinces (avtonomnye oblasti), 10
autonomous districts (avtonomnye okruga), 6 regions (kraya), and 114 provinces
(oblasti).

Reform
Under the constitution adopted in the 1930s and modified down to October 1977, the
political foundation of the U.S.S.R. was formed by the Soviets (Councils) of People’s
Deputies. These existed at all levels of the administrative hierarchy, with the Soviet
Union as a whole under the nominal control of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.,
located in Moscow. This body had two chambers—the Soviet of the Union, with 750
members elected on a single-member constituency basis; and the Soviet of Nationalities,
with 750 members representing the various political divisions: 32 from each union
republic, 11 from each autonomous republic, 5 from each autonomous region, and 1
from each autonomous district. In elections to these bodies, the voters were rarely given
any choice of candidate other than those presented by the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union (CPSU), which, until the amendment of Article 6 of the constitution in
March 1990, was the “leading and guiding force of Soviet society and the nucleus of its
political system.” In theory, all legislation required the approval of both chambers of the
Supreme Soviet; in practice, all decisions were made by the small group known as
the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, itself strongly influenced by the Politburo of the
CPSU, and were unanimously approved by the deputies. The role of the soviets in the
individual republics and other territories was primarily to put into effect the decisions
made by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.

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The political system was thus authoritarian and highly centralized, and this also applied
to the economic system. The economic foundation of the U.S.S.R. was “Socialist
ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange,” and the economy of
the entire country was controlled by a series of five-year plans that set targets for all
forms of production.
Perestroika
Dramatic changes, both political and economic, occurred during the late 1980s and
early ’90s, ushered in by the adoption of perestroika (“restructuring”)
and glasnost (“openness”). On the economic side the planned, highly
centralized command economy was to be replaced by the progressive introduction of
elements of a market economy, a change that proved difficult to achieve and was
accompanied by declining production in many sectors and increasing distribution
problems. In the political sphere, amendments to the constitution in 1988 replaced the
old Supreme Soviet with the Congress of People’s Deputies of the U.S.S.R. The new
congress had 2,250 members; one-third of these were elected on a constituency basis,
one-third represented the political territories (as in the old Supreme Soviet), and the
remaining third came from “all-union social organizations” such as the trade unions, the
CPSU, and the Academy of Sciences. Voters were presented with a choice of candidates,
and many non-Communists were elected. The Congress of People’s Deputies elected a
new Supreme Soviet of 542 members and also chose the chairman of that body, who was
to be the executive president of the U.S.S.R. Congresses of People’s Deputies were also
established in each republic.
These congresses could be legitimately described as parliaments, and they engaged in
vigorous debate over the economic and political future of the country. From 1989,
conflicts developed between the parliament of the U.S.S.R. and those of the individual
republics, mainly over the respective powers of the centre (the U.S.S.R. government)
and the republics. These conflicts were exacerbated by the resurgence of
ethnic nationalism and increasing demands for autonomy and even for full
independence. Following the abortive coup of August 1991, in which the CPSU was
heavily implicated, the party itself was abolished.
By December 1991 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had virtually ceased to exist,
and the future of its territories and peoples was uncertain.

Table
City Total

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Taraz 67
Atyrau 88
Aktau 91
My city 55
Total 301

Contents
Largest Country.......................................................................................................................................2
Creation of the USSR...............................................................................................................................3
Reform.....................................................................................................................................................3
Perestroika..........................................................................................................................................4

At the top

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