Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was a very large country that stretched across Europe and Asia. It began during World War I after the Russian Revolution in 1917. The Russian Empire fell, and a new group called the Bolsheviks took control. Led by Vladimir Lenin, they formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. The new government had total control over the land, the factories, and the military. It grew into a powerful nation ruled by a dictator named Joseph Stalin.

In 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union during World War II. This started the deadliest part of the war in Europe, known as the Eastern Front. Soviet soldiers and civilians suffered terrible losses, but they defended their major cities bravely. In famous battles at Stalingrad and Kursk, the Soviet army stopped the Germans and pushed them all the way back to Berlin. The Soviet Union and its Western allies won the war in 1945, but millions of Soviet people died in the fight.

After World War II, the Soviet Union became a superpower alongside the United States. The two powerful nations never fought each other directly in a major war, but they competed in a tense standoff called the Cold War. The Soviet Union supported communist fighters in the Korean War and the Vietnam War by sending weapons, money, and military advisers. Later, in 1979, the Soviet army entered Afghanistan to fight in a long, costly conflict. Over time, the country faced severe economic trouble and political change, which finally led to the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.