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UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

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The Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, tr. Sovetsky Soyuz), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik; IPA: [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲetskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪˈstʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪsˈpublʲɪk] ( listen); abbreviated СССР, SSSR), was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991. Russia is the legal successor of the USSR.

The Soviet Union was a single-party state ruled by the Communist Party from its foundation until 1990. Even though the USSR was technically a union of 15 subnational Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused the downfall of the Russian Empire. Following the Russian Revolution, there was a struggle for power between the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the anti-communist White movement. In December 1922, the Bolsheviks won the civil war, and the Soviet Union was formed with the merger of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Following the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924, Joseph Stalin took power, leading the USSR through a large-scale industrialization program. Stalin established a planned economy and suppressed political opposition to him even from his own party, the Russian Communist party.

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April's selected article

Bezhin Meadow (Russian: Бежин луг, Bezhin lug) is a 1937 Soviet film famous for having been suppressed and believed destroyed before its completion. Directed by Sergei Eisenstein, it tells the story of a young farm boy whose father attempts to betray the government for political reasons by sabotaging the year's harvest and the son's efforts to stop his own father to protect the Soviet state, culminating in the boy's murder and a social uprising. The film draws its title from a story by Ivan Turgenev, but is based on the life of Pavlik Morozov, a young Russian boy who became a political martyr following his death in 1932, after he denounced his father to Soviet government authorities and subsequently died at the hands of his family. Pavlik Morozov was immortalized in school programs, poetry, music, and in film. (More…)

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Selected biography

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine (October 31 [O.S. October 19] 1892 – March 24, 1946) ([Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Але́хин] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help), pronounced [ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ ɐˈlʲexʲɪn]) was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.

By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played. In 1927, he became the fourth World Chess Champion by defeating Capablanca, widely considered invincible, in what would stand as the longest chess championship match held until 1985.

In the early 1930s, Alekhine dominated tournament play and won two top-class tournaments by large margins. He also played first board for France in five Chess Olympiads, winning individual prizes in each (four medals and a brilliancy prize). Alekhine offered Capablanca a rematch on the same demanding terms that Capablanca had set for him, and negotiations dragged on for years without making much progress. Meanwhile, Alekhine defended his title with ease against Bogoljubov in 1929 and 1934. He was defeated by Euwe in 1935, but regained his crown in the 1937 rematch. His tournament record, however, remained uneven, and rising young stars like Keres, Fine, and Botvinnik threatened his title. Negotiations for a title match with Keres or Botvinnik were halted by the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939. Negotiations with Botvinnik for a world title match were proceeding in 1946 when Alekhine died in Portugal, in unclear circumstances. (more...)

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Did you know...

... that the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic lasted for only nine months as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which turned it into the Altai Republic?

... that tickets bought for the ceremonial opening of Kiev Republican Stadium scheduled for June 22, 1941 were still valid 7 years later, as the event was "postponed until after the Victory" due to the Nazi invasion to the USSR?

... that the Soviet 383rd Rifle Division was originally comprised completely of miners, from the Ukrainian Donets Basin?

... that Valentin Pavlov, the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union and de facto Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, was involved in the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev?

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Selected anniversaries for April

Cosmonautics Day - 12 April - the day Yuri Gagarin became the first man in Space, in 1961.

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Selected picture

[[File:{{{image}}}|center|300px|A picture of a person with a red flag and a gun, with tanks in the background.|alt=A picture of a person with a red flag and a gun, with tanks in the background.]]

Credit: Soviet government

a Soviet Propaganda Poster used in World War II. The text reads "(We fight) For the Motherland, for Stalin!"

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Привет and welcome! Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit. If you are interested in the Soviet Union and have some information that can be added to an existing article, please help. Here are some things you can do:

Cleanup:
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Notability: articles with notability concerns, listed at WikiProject Notability
Rate: the Unassessed Soviet Union articles in the Soviet Union WikiProject
Requested articles: See the list of Missing articles
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Add {{Portal|Soviet Union}} to the See also section of Soviet-related articles
Tag the talk pages of Soviet-related articles with the {{WikiProject Soviet Union}} banner

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Selected quote

“

If the Russian word "perestroika" has easily entered the international lexicon, this is due to more than just interest in what is going on in the Soviet Union. Now the whole world needs restructuring, that is progressive development, a fundamental change.

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— Mikhail Gorbachev, talking about future change in the USSR and the world

...Archive/nominations

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Recognized content

Featured articles

Former featured articles

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Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia

Featured lists

Former featured lists

List of spacewalks and moonwalks 1965–1999

A-Class articles

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Former good articles

Good article nominees

Deportation of the Crimean Tatars

Featured pictures

File:German instrument of surrender2.jpg
File:Instrument of surrender Japan2.jpg

Picture of the day pictures

File:German instrument of surrender2.jpg (2009-05-07)
File:Instrument of surrender Japan2.jpg (2009-09-02)

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