Soviet Union-Lost but not forgotten-Part 1

Portrait of Vladimir Lenin.


Vladimir Lenin was the founder of the Soviet Union also known as the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. Lenin's communist party overthrew Nicholas II of Imperialist Russia and created the USSR. However, USSR wasn't officially established till 1922. The famous Russian revolution took place in November, but it is referred to as October Revolution as the Tsar regime was following the Gregorian calendar. However, 1905 a revolution took place through entire Russia, but it failed. Later, there was a split between the parties resulting in the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Lenin led Bolsheviks and Julius Martov led Mensheviks. After the Tsarist rule ended, power struggle took place between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Allied forces assisted the Mensheviks. This later promoted to strained relations between the USSR and USA. This could have also been the initial cause of the Cold War. Russian Civil war devastated the entire economy. USSR was officially established during 1922 and Vladimir Illyich Lenin took over as its first General Secretary.



American troops in Vladivostok. These troops fought against Lenin's men. This led to a distrust amongst the minds of the Russians.

Lenin ruled the Soviet Union till his death in 1925. There was a brief power struggle. Joseph Stalin took over and very soon he seized total control. In the mid 1930's, anyone conspiring against the Soviet state was killed. Senior officers, military commanders, commissars were eliminated. Stalin took brutal and harsh steps to eliminate all enemies. Personally, in one-way I feel what Stalin did was right. However, taking the law in your own hand is right? As on date, I don't know to answer this question. During Stalin's period, regular life was monitored under the strict vigilance of the Red Army.



Bolsheviks march in the Red Square, Moscow.

Meanwhile, Hitler has been eyeing the USSR for his "lebensraum". He wanted more land for his German population. He felt the Slavics, baltics, Russians belonged to an inferior race. Moreover, he viewed the Soviet Union as a weak state. Stalin had other plans. He was determined to spread Communism across Europe. Soviet Union with a communist ideology believed that all people are equal. Nazi Germany with a fascist ideology believed that Germans were a part of a superior race, while the Russians, English, Slavics were an inferior race. With two opposite ideologies, a war was always eminent. Hitler had already opened up a front fighting the British. So he approached the USSR for a neutral pact popularly known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. German Foreign minister Ribbentrop and Soviet foreign minister Molotov signed it.



Field Marshall Georgy Zhukov inspects captured German tank during the German Invasion of USSR.

On June 22nd, 1941 Hitler violated the pact and invaded the USSR in Operation Barborassa. German troops were better trained than the Soviets. German tanks proved to be a real threat. Italians assisted Germans, Romanians while the USSR fought alone. Russian women were brutally raped, mutilated and killed. Soviet Union suffered the most casualties in any fought over in history and lost majority of its population. Hitler hoped to wrap up things before the onset of the Russian winter. Hitler targeted Stalingrad though his Generals suggested that Stalingrad(Volgograd) was not important. Stalingrad had the name of Stalin and capturing it would lower Soviet morale. Battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in human history in which Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany, after which began the German retreat. German troops invaded rapidly but very soon ran out of supplies as the Russians were following scorched earth policy. They destroyed everything so that the Nazi's wouldn't use anything when they invade. Hitler took many wrong decisions despite his Generals giving him better decisions. Siege of Leningrad(now Petro grad) lasted for more than a year. Leningrad was cut off from outside world. Hitler ordered that Leningrad must die of starvation. Russian industries, small arms factory were shifted to Central Asian part of the USSR. Russian winter was too much for the Germans. Their tanks stopped working. But Soviet tanks designed for Russian winter proved to be too good for the Germans. Soviet women, children dug trenches, holes while men headed to the front lines. Unity was their strength. As the Germans retreated, Allied and Soviet leaders met at Yalta, Southern Ukraine(then USSR) to discuss about rebuilding Europe after German defeat. Joseph Stalin, Franklin Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill attended the meeting. Later, the Clement Atlee, Joseph Stalin and Harry Truman met at Potsdam to discuss about rebuilding Europe. On April 30th, 1945 Soviet flag was raised over the Reichstag. Horrible was over! After World War II, East Germany was controlled by the Soviets while the West was under Allied control. Soviet military was spread all over Europe. The Red Army was now feared. Britain and the United States were quite alarmed. This was known as the "Red Scare".


Soviet artillery division in operation during Second World War.


United States after dropping atomic bombs in Japan was regarded as a Super power. On the other hand, due to it's large size and military, Soviet Union was regarded as a major power. This led to a geopolitical tensed environment with each suspecting each other. This led to an arms race and both these nations spent heavily on military equipments.