The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (abbreviated USSR) ( ; tr.: Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik *), more commonly known as the Soviet Union (; tr.: Sovetskiy Soyuz) was a socialist state that existed from 1922 to 1991. From 1945 until its dissolution in 1991, it was, along with the United States, one of the world's two superpowers.
The USSR was created and expanded as a union of Soviet republics formed within the territory of the Russian Empire abolished by the Russian Revolution of 1917 followed by the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920. The geographic boundaries of the Soviet Union varied with time, but from 1945 until dissolution they approximately corresponded to those of late Imperial Russia, with the notable exclusions of Poland and Finland.
The Soviet Union became the primary model for future Communist states during the Cold War; the government and the political organization of the country were defined by the only permitted political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
More on [ Soviet Union ]
Cold War :: Twentieth Century
Communism :: Marxism

Culture of Russia / The Path to Revolution - Article on the Soviet era.
A Soveit Tragedy: A History of Socialism in USSR, 1917 - 1991 - Critical essay examining the course of socialism in the Soviet Union. PDF file.
Black Market Secrets - Author Raelynn Hillhouse shares insider info from her experiences dealing on the black market in Eastern Europe, including the Soviet Union.
Meta Description: [ An insiders look at smuggling and the black market behind the Berlin Wall. ]
Collect Russia - Items for sale to collectors of military memorobilia from the Revolution through WWII and beyond.
CPSU Plenums, Leadership Struggles, and Soviet Cold War Politics, by Vladislav M. Zubok - Information from the transcripts of plenums of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the Khrushchev era.
Declassified Materials from CPSU Central Committee Plenums: Sources, Context, Highlights, by Mark Kramer - Describes the significance of a Khrushchev-era Soviet archive at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Early Soviet History Internet Archive - Information on the developmental period of the USSR.
Meta Description: [ Information on the USSR: 1917-1919 ]
How Lenin Led To Stalin - An essay from Workers Solidarity Movement.
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Kiselev's memorandum - Details the starvation induced by the forced collectivization of the peasentry under Stalin.
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Lectures for the History of Stalin's Russia - Presentations by Professor Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College.
Liquidation of Kulaks as a Class - Essay by Ludwik Kowalski on the Stalinist policy.
Meinhard Stark's scientific project about women in GULAG - Reports on project, background of researcher, personal links in English and German language
Meta Description: [ Women in Soviet concentration camps between
1934-1956 ]
Soviet Archive Project - Since 1991, the non-profit, collaborative scholarly Russian Archive Project has produced eleven volumes of guides to formerly classified collections in the Soviet Union.
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Soviet Democide - An overview of political mass murder in the Soviet Union, and a set of mortality figures (unattributed). By R. J. Rummel.
Meta Description: [ Domain name renewal and affordable web hosting packages from Network Solutions ]
Soviet Militaria - Includes information on Red Army uniforms from the 1930s to the 1960s, miliatria for sale to collectors, uniforms worn during the 1945 Victory Parade of the generals and information on the NKVD and KGB.
Soviet-Empire.com - Information about and ephemera from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Also a virtual recreation of the Soviet Union.
Meta Description: [ Welcome to the U.S.S.R. comrade. This is the home of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ]
Stalin-Era Research and Archives Project - A collaborative, multidisciplinary undertaking based at the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Toronto
Meta Description: [ University of Toronto, Stalin-Era Research and Archives
Project ]
The Commissar Vanishes - Chapter One of the book by David King which examines the politically motivated falsification of photographs, documents and art in Stalinist Russia.
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The New Economic Policy - Lecture on the NEP, an experiment with market economics which was introduced by the Bolsheviks following the Civil War.
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The Soviet Army - Detailed information on the Soviet Army - weapons, equipment, uniforms, capabilities and analysis.
Meta Description: [ Detailed information on the Soviet Army - weapons, equipment, uniforms, capabilities and analysis. ]
Yale Russian Archive Project - Clearinghouse for information in order to facilitate access to the newly available documents in the archives of the former Soviet Union.
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