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Place

Soviet Union

Federal socialist state in Eurasia, 1922–1991.

16 links, 12 backed by primary records

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Dates
30 Dec 1922 – 26 Dec 1991
Also known as
USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Over time
  1. Span 30 Dec 1922 – 26 Dec 1991
  2. adopted Union republics' right to secede 30 Dec 1922 – 26 Dec 1991
  3. headed by Vladimir Lenin (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR) 6 Jul 1923 – 21 Jan 1924
  4. headed by Joseph Stalin (Leader of party and state) c. 1929 – 5 Mar 1953
  5. headed by Nikita Khrushchev (Chairman of the Council of Ministers; also First Secretary of the Communist Party) 27 Mar 1958 – 14 Oct 1964
  6. headed by Leonid Brezhnev (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet) 16 Jun 1977 – 10 Nov 1982
  7. headed by Mikhail Gorbachev (President of the USSR) 1990 – 25 Dec 1991
How each side tells it

According to Mikhail Gorbachev

According to Fidel Castro

Records from opposing sides confirm

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, ruled from Moscow by the Soviet government from 1922 to 1991.

It was founded on 30 December 1922 (Founding of the Soviet Union) and dissolved in December 1991 (Dissolution of the Soviet Union).

Connections 16

founded by

headed by

  • Vladimir Lenin 6 Jul 1923 – 21 Jan 1924 Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR Scholarship & press 2
  • Joseph Stalin c. 1929 – 5 Mar 1953 Leader of party and state Primary record 234
  • Nikita Khrushchev 27 Mar 1958 – 14 Oct 1964 Chairman of the Council of Ministers; also First Secretary of the Communist Party Primary record 25
  • Leonid Brezhnev 16 Jun 1977 – 10 Nov 1982 Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Scholarship & press 2
  • Mikhail Gorbachev 1990 – 25 Dec 1991 President of the USSR Both sides agree Primary record 67

led by

involved in

adopted

  • Union republics' right to secede 30 Dec 1922 – 26 Dec 1991 Primary record 111

    Article 26 of the 1922 Union Treaty; the Library of Congress notes the 1991 dissolution was based on it.

benefited from

harmed by

Timeline 11 dates
  1. 30 Dec 1922 – 26 Dec 1991 Soviet Union
  2. 30 Dec 1922 Belarus founded Soviet Union
  3. 30 Dec 1922 Russia founded Soviet Union
  4. 30 Dec 1922 Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic founded Soviet Union
  5. 30 Dec 1922 Ukraine founded Soviet Union
  6. 30 Dec 1922 – 26 Dec 1991 Soviet Union adopted Union republics' right to secede
  7. 6 Jul 1923 – 21 Jan 1924 Vladimir Lenin head of Soviet Union
  8. c. 1929 – 5 Mar 1953 Joseph Stalin head of Soviet Union
  9. 27 Mar 1958 – 14 Oct 1964 Nikita Khrushchev head of Soviet Union
  10. 16 Jun 1977 – 10 Nov 1982 Leonid Brezhnev head of Soviet Union
  11. 1990 – 25 Dec 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev head of Soviet Union
Proof 13 sources
  1. Declaration of Union and Treaty of Union, December 30, 1922, Seventeen Moments in Soviet History, Michigan State University, 30 Dec 1922. Primary record
    The Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic (RSFSR), the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR), the Belorussian Socialist Soviet Republic (BSSR) and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federal Soviet Republics (Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia), hereby conclude a treaty for their union
    hereby conclude a treaty for their union into a single united State, the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics
    Each of the united Republics retains its full liberty to leave the Union if it so desires.
  2. Soviet Union: A Country Study, Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, 1991. Scholarship & press
    Lenin chaired the Sovnarkom when he was the de facto head of the party.
    when Lenin died in January 1924
    By gradually consolidating influence and isolating his rivals within the party, Joseph V. Stalin became the sole leader of the Soviet Union by the end of the 1920s.
    when Stalin died on March 5, 1953
    Khrushchev became prime minister in March 1958 when Bulganin resigned, thus formally confirming his predominant position in the state as well as in the party.
    Khrushchev removed from power; Leonid I. Brezhnev becomes CPSU first secretary.
    Brezhnev assumed the chairmanship of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1977, confirming his primacy in both party and state.
    Soon after reviewing the traditional Bolshevik Revolution parade in November 1982, Brezhnev died.
  3. Revelations from the Russian Archives: Internal Workings of the Soviet Union, Library of Congress. Primary record
    Stalin had eliminated all likely potential opposition to his leadership by late 1934 and was the unchallenged leader of both party and state.
  4. Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945: list of persons, U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Primary record
    Stalin, Marshal of the Soviet Union Iosif Vissarionovich, Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union.
  5. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XIV, Soviet Union, October 1971–May 1972: list of persons, U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Primary record
    Khrushchev, Nikita S., former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party and Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers (1953–1964)
  6. The Collapse of the Soviet Union (Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations), U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Primary record
    Earlier in the day, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state.
  7. Mikhail Gorbachev's Resignation Speech, World History Commons, George Mason University, 25 Dec 1991. Primary record
    Dear compatriots, fellow citizens, as a result of the newly formed situation, creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, I cease my activities in the post of the U.S.S.R. president.
  8. Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, adopted 7 October 1977, Bucknell University Russian Program, 7 Oct 1977. Primary record
    The leading and guiding force of the Soviet society and the nucleus of its political system, of all state organisations and public organisations, is the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
  9. The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962 (Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations), U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Primary record
    The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War
  10. U.S.-Soviet Relations, 1981-1991 (Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations), U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Primary record
    On the evening of December 25, after speaking to Gorbachev on the telephone, Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office to announce that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist.
  11. Treaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union: Signed, Sealed, and Delivered?, Law Library of Congress (In Custodia Legis), 8 Jan 2013. Scholarship & press
    The dissolution was based on article 26, which provided for the right to leave the Union.
  12. ‘Meeting Gorbachev’ Review: Sitting Down With the Last Soviet Leader, The New York Times, 2 May 2019. Scholarship & press Archived copy
    “Americans thought they’d won the Cold War, and this went to their heads,” he says. “What victory? It was our joint victory. We all won.”
  13. CNN Cold War - Interviews: Fidel Castro (Episode 24), CNN, 1999. Scholarship & press Archived copy
    And I don't know whether anyone can doubt that the socialist camp and the USSR lost the Cold War.
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