The Soviet Union: 9 Points for Understanding What a Communist Nation Was – International

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday (24/2), in a conflict between two countries that were part of the Soviet Union, raised questions about what a communist nation is. The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was a nation that existed from 1922 to 1991, created as an offshoot of the Russian Revolution, which led to the implementation of socialism in Russia.

Read: Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

a report Mining condition I spoke with experts in history and geography to understand more about what the Soviet Union was and how its collapse explained the invasions of Russia and Ukraine.

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“The leader of the Russian revolutionary movement, Vladimir Lenin, believed that by uniting Russia with other neighboring republics, he could strengthen the movement for the consolidation of socialism in Europe and in the world,” explains Professor Leonardo Miranda, author of World Geography, an educational channel on social networks.

How did the Soviet Union arise?

The Soviet Union emerged as a result of the crisis of the Russian imperial system, known as tsarism, allied with the political impotence of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, at the beginning of the 20th century, according to Jose Claudio Lemes Netto, a professor of history. In the municipal network of Iberet, in the metropolitan area of ​​Belo Horizonte.

At the moment, the Russian people, consisting of farmers and some workers, are suffering from the consequences of the First World War. This situation opens the way for groups inspired by the communist model created by the German philosopher Karl Marx”, explains the professor.

In 1917, the Russian Revolution began and the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II. After internal disagreements and the civil war, the Bolsheviks – the Communist faction – emerged victorious, and under Lenin’s leadership, the USSR was created.

How did the Soviet Union end?

The Soviet Union ended with a number of factors. According to Professor Leonardo Miranda, in the early 1980s, the country was already showing signs of economic and political wear and tear, mainly due to high public spending, as a result of large investments in armaments in the context of the Cold War.

“At the same time, the lack of freedom of expression and the press has led to resentment on the part of the population, as well as strengthening nationalist movements within the country,” the professor wonders. In this context, former President Mikhail Gorbachev encouraged two reforms to contain the crisis, which became known as perestroika and glasnost.

What are perestroika and glasnost?

Perestroika represented the Soviet economic openness, which allowed companies of foreign capital to enter the country, especially of capitalist origin. On the other hand, glasnost has strengthened freedom of expression and the press, as well as more transparency in political decisions,” explains Professor Leonardo Miranda about the reforms of former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev.

What countries broke away from the Soviet Union?

The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to the emergence of 15 new countries on the world map: Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine maintained control over territories of Russian interest, such as Crimea, which were annexed to the country in 1954 by then-President Nikita Khrushchev. “This peninsula provides access to the warm waters of the Black Sea, as well as the presence of a Russian naval base, Sevastopol,” analyzes Leonardo Miranda.

In 2014, after a referendum and invasion, Crimea was ended up being annexed to Russia, although the Ukrainians and the potential world did not recognize it.

Moreover, in eastern Ukraine, the descendants of the Russians have remained since the times of the Soviet Union, which led to a strong identity association with the neighboring country.

Last week, in recognizing the independence of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed he was defending the interests of Russian citizens in the region.

From a geographical point of view, Ukraine has a strategic location, as it consists of a large plain that gives access to the Russian lands. In this way, it is in the interests of the Russians for Ukraine to be a non-NATO country, even if the Ukrainians insist on such a candidacy,” pondered Leonardo Miranda.

What was the cold war?

The Cold War was an indirect conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union that took place between the end of World War II in 1945 and the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.

“In general, they both fought a struggle for world domination, both in terms of hostile economic models, capitalism on the part of the United States and socialism on the Soviet side, as well as the search for spheres of influence and allied states,” says Leonardo Miranda.

What conflicts did the Soviet Union participate in?

The conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union triggered conflicts such as the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1959-1975), as well as the Missile War (1962) and the space race. Leonardo Miranda explains: “The two countries began to argue about the pioneering spirit of space technology, through satellites and sending man into space on the moon.”

Despite the search for spheres of influence, the main force of the two powers was the public authority. The arms race led the United States and the Soviet Union to develop large arsenals of nuclear bombs, which increased global tensions over a possible direct conflict between the two countries, which is very likely to lead to mutual destruction, in addition to affecting global geopolitics. ‘ asks the creator of the geographer.

Afghanistan war?

This conflict, which took place between 1979 and 1989, was fought by the Soviet Union and Afghan rebel forces known as the Mujahideen. They relied on American support for arms and military training.

The American concern was the erosion of the Soviet economy, and it is estimated that the Soviet Union spent about 2.6 billion US dollars over the ten years of the war.

What was the Warsaw Pact?

The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance between socialist countries allied with the Soviet Union. According to historian Jose, this alliance was created in 1955 in response to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949.

“Just as it is up to NATO to defend the countries of Western Europe, as well as the United States and Canada, it is up to the Warsaw Pact to defend the Soviet Union and its allies,” the professor explains.

What was the communist bloc?

With the Warsaw Pact, the communist bloc emerged, also known as the Soviet Union or the East. The group consisted of: the USSR, Hungary, Romania, East Germany, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Despite being outside the geographic area, countries such as North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba and Mongolia were considered part of the bloc due to ideology.

What was the Iron Curtain?

According to Leonardo, the “Iron Curtain” was an expression coined by then British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, in a speech he gave in 1946, in which he outlined the division of Europe between capitalist countries (Western Europe) and socialist countries (Eastern Europe). ) as an iron curtain that descended on the European continent and divided it.