FEATURED ESSAYS 1. Stalin And The Soviet Union 2. Causes Of The Cold War 3. British Imperialism In America 4. The Dangers Of Nuclear "Progress" 5. The Cold War: Conflicting Aims An... 6. Significant Presidential Decision... 7. Atom Bomb 8. Who Was Responsible For The Cold ... 9. Joesph Stalin 10. Joseph Stalin 11. Stalin 12. Economy Of Russia 13. The Cold War 14. Berlin Events

The History of the Soviet Union

Chronological _____________

1533-1584

    The Russian Empire, covering over one-sixth of the world, is governed
by the sovereignty of Czar Ivan the Terrible. The feudal system oppresses
every man, woman and child as the Czar releases "Tax Collectors" to
maintain support for the nobles in the land. Brigands and financial
extortionists persecute any lower class citizen who refuses to help
contribute to the Czar's regime.

1682-1725

    Under Czar Peter I (Peter the Great), the Russian Empire begins to
flourish with traces of traditional social structure modifications in the
country. Observing the radical advances of western civilizations, Peter
orders the modernization of the army, creation of a navy, encourages
mercantilism and foreign trade, and gives women more rights. Nevertheless,
the Empire remains stricken in poverty over slow reforms and the
overbearing presence of feudalism.

1825-1861

    The feudal system begins to fail when the goals and desires of the
common peasant cannot be achieved through such an archaic doctrine. Various
successive Czars attempt social reforms which do not leave an impact on the
country's well-being. In December of 1825, an uprising from the populace
occures when they demand changes to the economic system. With the
development of the American, French and Spanish constitutions, the serfs
now demanded the abolishment of the monarchy dictatorship, communal
ownership of land and many other civil and social reforms. Unfortunately,
their rebellion was quickly dismantled by the Czar's military faction and
the system remained in tact.

1861-1905

    Czar Nicholas II finally realized that his current economic monarchy
was holding back the development of the empire. He therefore created a
parliamentary system in 1905 which would decrease the number of strikes and
violent outbursts generating from the peasants. This representative
assembly (called a Duma) was convened a total of four times during the
first World War and gave legitimacy to other political factions within the
empire and would hopefully increase civil rights.

1917-1924

    World War I led to the abdication (resignation) of the Czar as the
people revolted against his useless monarchy. Famine, disease and death
were spreading like wildfire as the Russians aided France against the
militia of Germany during World War I. The population lost its faith in the
monarchy and installed a provisional government that would keep the country
from disintegrating. However, this government refused to intervene during
the fragile years of the war and lost its power to a communist party called
the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Nikolai
Lenin), overthrew the provisional government and implemented their style of
authority to the empire. Their objectives were to lead the Russian empire
into prosperity while utilizing Karl Marx's proposed doctrine for a
communal, classless environment where the workers will be using their
abilities to satisfy their own needs. The Union was now born and the
Communist Manifesto was finally going to be activated. The C zar and his
family were captured and executed, thus ending the oppressive autocracy
that had befallen the empire for hundreds of years. Eventually, the central
government was overtaken by Lenin and his military leaders, Leon Trotsky
and Josef Stalin. Although a minority party, the Bolsheviks decided to
implement capitalistic modifications to the fragile economy in order to aid
the communistic backlash that would follow. The New Economic Policy (NEP)
created by Lenin would allow peasants to keep a certain amount of profit
for themselves, rather than having the government subsidize all of it.
Unfortunately, Lenin died just as his policy had started to work.

1925-1953

    The two apparent heirs to Lenin's regime were Josef Stalin and Leon
Trotsky. Although Trotsky was better suited for the position (with his
strong political inclinations towards reasonable social adaptability),
Josef Stalin assumed controlled and subsequently ordered the exile of all
apposing cabinet ministers, including Trotsky. Anyone in the Union who
objected to his decisions was sent to Siberian prison camps or murdered. He
now had full control without any intervention from other liberal or
moderate parties. He decided to concentrate on improving military strength
and building on improving the Soviet economy, rather than follow Lenin's
revolutionary goal of dominating the world. In order to obtain the immense
amount of money needed to maintain his militia, he began a series of five
year programs which would force the average farmer to meet a quota by the
end of the harvest and then have the state subsidize all of the production.
This system, aptly named collectivization, reprimanded all of the average
worker's liberties and created great suffering during the Stalin regime.
Such suffering was magnified during an anti-war treaty that Stalin had
signed with Hitler's Germany in an effort to avoid a confrontation with the
Nazi military. However, Hitler violated this treaty in an effort to
dominate all of Europe and was denied at the expense of millions of Soviet
lives who fought for freedom against his tyranny. Not only did this lead to
millions of deaths and a severe decrease in productivity. Stalin eventually
passed away in 1953, and the conservative trend would now shifted to a more
liberal form.

1953-1964

    Nikita Krushchev, a dedicated liberal leader, managed to become the
leader of the Soviet Union after a conservative mogul by the name of
Malenkov could not gather enough support from the Political Bureau.
Krushchev proceeded to moderately alter the rigid, despotic structure of
the Union and dealt vigorously with other foreign countries. The
improvement in foreign relations, outer space developments and
housing/employment allowed Krushchev to improve the Soviet economy. In 1964,
he became the first leader ever to lose power when the Political Bureau
(Politburo) ousted him due to his extreme radical policies.

1964-1982

    Brezhnev had now assumed control of the Union. A rigid Stalinist with
hard-line ethics, Brezhnev's goal was to make the USSR into one of the
strongest political superpowers in the world. The military was richly
funded and the authoritative influence of Brezhnev could be felt in the
asperity of the population. When Brezhnev died in 1982, he left behind an
empire with one of the world's strongest military sectors, but weakest
population morale. The Soviet Union was an empty superpower with crumbling
financial, social and political sectors.

1985-1991

    In the following years, the Union witnessed very little political
reform in terms of enhancing social and production factors. Yuri Andropov
died early before he could establish any noticeable reforms and Konstantin
Chernenko was inefficient as the leader of the KGB and the Union. At age 54,
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev emerged to inherit the economically
devastated Union and began establishing political reforms that the world
had not encountered since the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. With radical
ideologies such as Glasnost (Openess) and Perestroika (long-range
capitalistic restructing), along with improved foreign trade and diplomatic
association with the United States (elimination of most ballistic nuclear
missiles), the reformist had arrived to change the face of his dominion.
Gorbachev's economical strategies had transformed the Soviet Union from a
desolate oppressed wasteland to a socially liberated jungle. Such radical
policies and reforms not only encouraged the development of a revolution,
but the global transformation of Europe as we know it. As the hard-line
coup was formed in early 1991, Gorbachev managed to hold on to power thanks
in part to his liberal nemesis, Boris Yeltsin. In return, he had lost all
popularity and support from the people and eventually witnessed the
destruction of the Union and the death of communism in Russia.