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Light Green-1922 Dark Green-1924 Pink-1929 Blue-1936 Orange-1940. Soviet Times. Soviet Beginnings. Began with two revolutions: February and October Revolutions. Result was the overthrow of the monarchy. October Revolution. Relatively bloodless revolution.
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Light Green-1922 Dark Green-1924 Pink-1929 Blue-1936 Orange-1940 Soviet Times
Soviet Beginnings • Began with two revolutions: February and October Revolutions • Result was the overthrow of the monarchy
October Revolution • Relatively bloodless revolution • Revolution of armed workers, solders, and sailors • Established the Soviet Union with the uniting of the Russian Empire’s territories
Soviet Government • Governed by select group of ministers • Very few checks and balances in the Soviet Government • Government had allot of power
Soviet Union after WWII • Not very open to outsiders • Controlled many eastern European nations and East Germany • Established Warsaw Pact and isolated itself from the West • Winston Churchill referred to this as the Iron Curtain • Iron Curtain(1939-1945) was a time of censorship and restrictions on travel • Not only a political isolation but also isolation from Western ideas
KGB • Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (State Security Committee) • 1954 – 1991 • Domestic function: monitoring soviet citizens an suppressing political discontent • Also responsible for guarding Soviet borders, protecting party and government leaders, and enforcing security in the Soviet armed forces • The largest and most active foreign intelligence apparatus in the world. Estimated at 400,000 to 700,000 full-time employees
Soviet Citizen Liberties • Citizens had very few liberties • Initially there were restrictions on speech and religion • Eventually religion was banned
Soviet Advancements • First to put a satellite (sputnik) into orbit • First to put a man into orbit • Instrumental in developing the small pox vaccine
Soviet Union Dissolution • Soviet Union collapsed at the end of 1991 • Arms race with the United States had drained the Soviet economy