Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), also called the Soviet Union, was a socialist state centered on Russia which was founded in 1922 and dissolved in 1991. The Russian Federation is widely accepted as the Soviet Union's successor state in diplomatic affairs. The formation of the Soviet Union was the culmination of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which overthrew Tsar Nicholas II, and later the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War from 1918-1920 confirmed them as Russia's new rulers. The Soviet Union was socialist in theory and the political organization of the country was defined by the only permitted political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Soviet government, being founded 3 decades before the Cold War, became a primary model for future Communist nations. The territory of the Soviet Union varied, and in its most recent times approximately corresponded to that of the late Imperial Russia, with notable exclusions of Poland and Finland. The Soviet Union is notable in history as one of the world's two superpowers from 1945 until its dissolution.