492- Soviet Union, history of
493
Space race
On October 4, 1957, the whole world
listened in amazement to a strange
beeping sound that came from space.
The Soviet Union had launched
the first satellite, called Sputnik 1,
into orbit around earth. It was
followed four years later
by Yuri Gagarin (left), the
first human in space.chernObYl
In 1986, there was a major disaster
at chernobyl, near Kiev. a nuclear
power station exploded, killing
at least 30 people and injuring
hundreds more. radioactive dust
and smoke blew all over europe
and exposed thousands of people
to contamination. Instead of
keeping this disaster secret, the
Soviets followed their new policy of
glasnost, or openness, and warned
the rest of the world of the danger.WOrld War II
In 1941, German armies invaded the Soviet Union
and reached the gates of Moscow, the capital.
The Soviets resisted heroically. Stalingrad and
leningrad survived long and bitter sieges. new
factories in the east began to
produce advanced weapons,
such as the T-34 tank, in large
numbers. In 1943, Soviet
armored forces, led by
Marshal Zhukov, fought
and won the largest tank
battle ever. but the
Soviets paid a high price
for victory. They suffered
more military casualties than
any other country in the war.
More than 20 million people died.GOrbachev and YelTSIn
Throughout the late 1980s, Soviet people suffered from
terrible economic hardship. Many thought that the changes
brought about by Gorbachev’s policy of perestroika were too
slow. Mikhail Gorbachev (right) resigned in 1991. boris
Yeltsin (left) became the leader of the new russian
Federation. The Soviet
Union broke up as the
republics formed their own
governments. Yeltsin resigned
in 1999 and was replaced by
vladimir putin, who served
as president until 2008 and
was reelected in 2012.cOllapSe OF cOMMUnISM
after his appointment in 1985,
Soviet premier Mikhail
Gorbachev introduced policies
of glasnost (openness), and
perestroika (economic reform),
to improve the poor state of
the Soviet economy. people
under Soviet control began to
demand more freedom. The
communist party ceased to be
the only political party. In
romania, the communist
dictator, nicolae ceausescu,
was overthrown and executed
in 1989. In the Soviet Union,
anti-communist demonstrations
took place. people destroyed
statues of lenin and other
communist leaders. In Moscow,
the statue of Felix dzerzhinsky,
head of the hated KGb, or
security police, was toppled.Soviet Union
1917 russian revolution.
1922 Soviet Union formed.
1924 lenin dies and is
replaced by Stalin.
1941-45 More than 20 million
Soviets die in World War II.
1955 Warsaw pact, an alliance
of communist states, created.
1962 Soviet Union builds
missile bases on cuba. US
navy blockades island. Soviet
Union removes missiles.
1980 Soviet invasion
of afghanistan.
1988 Soviet troops withdraw
from afghanistan.
1991 Soviet Union breaks
up as lithuania, latvia,
and other republics declare
their independence.Find out more
caucasus republics
cold war
communism
russian revolution
Women’s rights
World war iiUS_493_Soviet_union_Hist_of_2.indd 493 12/02/16 11:19 am