ProleWiki - User contributions [en]

Alt-right

2026-07-10T21:46:43Z

KnifeOrSomething: Added an etymology and history section.

The '''alt-right''' (shortening of "'''alternative right'''") is a loose collection of [[Fascism|neo-fascist]] and [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] groups mostly based in online circles. The alt-right gained popularly in the 2010s in which various online right-wing extremist groups established an internet presence.

== Etymology and history ==
The phrase "alt-right" was coined in 2010 by [[Richard Spencer]], head of the [[National Policy Institute]], a [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] organization. It later became widely used in the media to describe a range of far-right figures, including Richard Spencer, [[Milo Yiannopoulos]], and [[Steve Bannon]]. Spencer has promoted the creation of a "White European ethno-state" in the United States. Following the [[2016 U.S. presidential election]], Spencer attracted national attention at a National Policy Institute conference where he proclaimed, "Hail [[Donald Trump|Trump]], hail our people, hail victory!" while members of the audience responded with [[National socialism|Nazi]] salutes.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Ava Lipatti|newspaper=Workers World|title=The ‘Alt-Right’: A new mask for white supremacy|date=2017-02-13|url=https://www.workers.org/2017/02/29668/}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Alt-right pipeline]]
* [[Online right]]

[[Category:Neo-Nazism]]
[[Category:Neo-fascism]]

Jackson Hinkle

2026-07-09T17:48:19Z

KnifeOrSomething: Fixed a minor misspelling

[[Category:Patriotic socialists]]
[[Category:Plagiarists]]
{{Infobox politician|name=Jackson Hinkle|image_size=200|birth_date=1999, October 15 (age 26)|birth_place=San Clemente, [[California]], [[United States of America|United States]]|nationality=Statesian|political_orientation=[[Conservatism]] [[MAGA Communism]] [[Patriotic socialism]] [[Populism]]|image=Jackson Hinkle.png}}'''Jackson Hinkle''' (born October 15, 1999) is a [[United States of America|Statesian]] [[YouTuber]] and political commentator who identifies as a [[Patriotic socialism|patriotic socialist]]<ref name=":02">{{YouTube citation|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgYfMNy30w0&t=592s|channel=[[Midwestern Marx]]|title=Podcast #14- Jackson Hinkle on Patriotism, Marxism Leninism, the People's Party, and more!|quote=9:52 I think if you're a communist, you have to be a patriot. That's just what I believe. And if you're a patriot, you have to be a communist. 12:38 [[Fidel Castro]] encouraged Americans to be patriots. [[Mao Zedong]] encouraged Americans to be patriots and Japanese people to be patriots.}}</ref> and "[[MAGA Communism|MAGA Communist]]." He has appeared regularly on right-wing outlets such as [[Fox News Channel|''Fox News'']] and [[One America News Network|''One America News'']], and has been platformed by [[Tucker Carlson]] and [[Alex Jones]]. He has debated [[Vaush]],<ref>[[Vaush]] (2021-07-10).: [https://youtu.be/ilUJi6v3pZc "Debating the SLIPPERIEST CONSPIRACY THEORIST I Have Ever Met"]. ''YouTube''.</ref> [[Destiny (streamer)|Destiny]],<ref name=":12">[[Modern-Day Debate]] (2022-06-04).: [https://youtu.be/0GV5BatBK3M "DEBATE: Causes of the Russian War | Jackson Hinkle & Infrared Vs AdamSomething & Destiny | Podcast"]. ''YouTube''.</ref> [[Adam Something]],<ref name=":12" /> and [[Sam Seder]].<ref>[[The Majority Report with Sam Seder|''The Majority Report with Sam Seder'']] (2022-01-26).: [https://youtu.be/FgdtZVWjN3s "Sam Debates Electoral Politics With A Jimmy Dore Fan"]. ''YouTube''.</ref>

In July 2024, Hinkle co-founded the [[American Communist Party (current)|American Communist Party]] (ACP), a formation that blends a [[Tailism|tailist]] rhetoric of [[Marxism]] with social conservatism, anti-trans bigotry, and [[Trumpism|Trump-style]] imperialist nationalism.<ref name=":guardian">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title='Deranged fringe movement': MAGA Communism and the online campaign to co-opt the left|date=2024-05-24|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/24/what-is-maga-communism|retrieved=2025-05-06}}</ref> Hinkle has often distorted communist theory for personal gain,<ref name=":wolff">{{Web citation|author=Wolff, Richard|title=Ask Prof Wolff: MAGA Communism|date=2024-05-20|url=https://www.democracyatwork.info/askprofwolff_maga_communism|retrieved=2025-05-06|publisher=Democracy at Work}}</ref> serving his own brand (social media profiles, etc.) over the American Communist Party that he co-founded.

== Distortion of Marxist Theory ==
Hinkle frequently distorts Marxist theory to fit his nationalist agenda. He claims [[Mao Zedong]] encouraged people in [[Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Japan]] and the United States to be [[Patriotism|patriotic]],<ref name=":02" /> when in fact Mao condemned the patriotism of Imperial Japan and [[Nazi Germany]] as reactionary and called on communists in those countries to work for their own nations' defeat in the war.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Mao Zedong]]|year=1966|title=Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung|title-url=http://www.marx2mao.com/Mao/QCM66.html|chapter=Patriotism and Internationalism|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch18.htm|quote=The specific content of patriotism is determined by historical conditions. There is the "patriotism" of the Japanese aggressors and of [[Hitler]], and there is our patriotism. Communists must resolutely oppose the "patriotism" of the Japanese aggressors and of Hitler.|pdf=http://www.marx2mao.com/PDFs/QCM66.pdf|city=Beijing|publisher=Foreign Languages Press|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/index.htm}}</ref>

Hinkle has also claimed that [[Communism|communists]] do not support the abolition of [[private property]] and that Marxism has always been conservative. He argues that the goal of Communists is more capitalist enterprises.<ref><blockquote>"You know, communists today in America don't support the eradication of, say, private property or anything like that."</blockquote>[[The Dive with Jackson Hinkle|''The Dive with Jackson Hinkle'']] (2022-09-20).: [https://youtu.be/BVR3XU0S6Ig "COMMUNIST On One America News (OAN)"]. ''YouTube''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220920193554/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVR3XU0S6Ig Archived] from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved on 2022-09-23.</ref>

Hinkle has engaged in slavery apologia. In a 2023 social media post, he argued that the transatlantic slave trade was not uniquely blameworthy because slaves were purchased from African traders.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Jackson Hinkle|newspaper=Twitter|title=Hinkle doing slavery apologia now.|date=2023-02-07|url=https://twitter.com/TheWastingTimes/status/1622951427017691144|retrieved=2024-04-18|quote=And now we have 'all white people are bad and they owe me money, based upon something I have no knowledge about' and I must have missed in that song -- I didn't hear them talking about how, you know, when we brought the slaves over here, there was [sic] active slave trades in Africa that we actually purchased them from, but... maybe that's the next episode.}}</ref> From a Marxist perspective, this argument ignores how European colonialism transformed and militarized pre-existing African slave systems into chattel slavery — a mode of production that drove [[primitive accumulation]] and the development of capitalism itself. Slavery was not a morally neutral transaction; it was the violent foundation of capitalist wealth.

Despite such a poor, chauvinistic understanding of Marxism, Hinkle still considers himself a Marxist-Leninist, further alienating the term and positions of communists from the broader public by making the association unpalatable.

== "MAGA Communism" and the American Communist Party ==
{{Main article}}
Hinkle's stated platform includes banning "antifa street terrorism," ending "woke academia," deporting the Obamas and Clintons, opposing transgender rights, and subsidizing gym memberships.<ref name=":guardian" /> This is essentially "[[culture war]]" nonsense and not a coherent platform that marxists would organize for, only appealing to right-wingers.

Economist [[Richard Wolff]] described MAGA Communism as a "contradiction in terms," comparing it to the [[Nazi Party|Nazi]] strategy of co-opting socialist language to seize power in 1930s Germany.<ref name=":wolff" /> [[VICE News]] reported that Hinkle's content aims to "become viral by creating edgy, contradictory content rather than building any coherent political movement."<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=VICE News|title=What the Hell Is MAGACommunism?|date=2022-12-15|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-the-hell-is-magacommunism/|retrieved=2025-05-06}}</ref>

In July 2024, Hinkle co-founded the [[American Communist Party (current)|American Communist Party]] (ACP). The party was immediately condemned by established Marxist organizations and parties. [[MLToday]] described it as an "abomination" born of "eclecticism and opportunism" that offers no revolutionary option for US workers.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=MLToday|title=Regarding the So-Called 'American Communist Party'|date=2024-07-20|url=https://mltoday.com/regarding-the-so-called-american-communist-party/|retrieved=2025-05-06}}</ref> The party's plenary committee consisted of ten men, and its "social conservative" line<ref name=":guardian" /> — including anti-trans positions and hostility to feminism — places it squarely outside the Marxist tradition of liberation politics.

== Refuted ties to China ==
As a media personality, Hinkle often posts pictures of himself with figures known within anti-imperialist circles. Part of his media presence is to amplify his ties to the [[People's Republic of China]], which has the effect of alienating new communists from wanting to learn about China's system and its place within modern-day [[socialism]] as a dictatorship of the proletariat and anti-imperialist state, as they start associating the People's Republic with the social conservatism and crypto-fascist rhetoric of the MAGA Communists.

For example, in August 2024 Hinkle briefly opened a Weibo and Bilibili accounts and promoted them on his social media, posting a doctored photo of himself walking alongside [[Xi Jinping]] with the caption "#1 American on Chinese social media"<ref>https://x.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1823881126949347425</ref> but was swiftly banned from the platforms no later than four months later, and his profiles completely emptied.<ref>Hinkle's banned page on Weibo: https://weibo.com/7759817363.</ref><ref>Only surviving screenshots of his accounts and subsequent ban: https://x.com/TGTM_Official/status/1869612499383034178</ref>

Likewise, Hinkle once appeared on a Shanghai-based TV station, ''Guancha'', which is a private network owned by a venture capitalist in China's most free-market city.<ref>"the outlet ''Guancha'', the China Academy and its Wave Media ecosystem — hosted Hinkle in Shanghai, conducted interviews, and promoted his commentary and ideological messaging labeled as “MAGA Communism.”"

https://yournews.com/2026/04/08/6771584/chinas-influence-machine-singham-network-uses-propaganda-outlets-to-amplify/</ref> However, Hinkle failed to mention the station's status and freely let people infer that he had appeared on State TV, i.e. that the Communist Party of China had personally invited him. He did so by downplaying the independence of the media in China and never correcting people who misunderstood his appearance on the station. Conversely, state-owned media ''The Paper'' called him a "spreader of false information" when he made the false claim on social media that an IOF sniper had been killed by the Al-Qassam brigades.<ref>https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_25292999</ref>

== Disinformation About Gaza ==
After the [[Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa]] in 2023, Hinkle grew his following on [[Twitter|X]] from roughly 417,000 to 2.6 million in months. The [[New York Times]] reported that much of this growth was fueled by networks of inauthentic accounts amplifying his content.<ref name=":nytimes">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Jackson Hinkle's Misinformation Machine|date=2024-04-11|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/business/media/jackson-hinkle-israel-gaza-misinformation.html|retrieved=2025-05-06}}</ref> Hinkle repeatedly shared old footage from [[Syria]] as Gaza hospital bombings, fabricated [[Haaretz]] articles (a labor-zionist publication in the [[Zionist entity|entity]]), and doctored imagery. Haaretz directly called him out for attributing a fake "investigation" to their newspaper.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Haaretz]]|title=Jackson Hinkle Fabricates Haaretz Investigation|date=2023-12-15|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-15/ty-article/.premium/jackson-hinkle-fabricates-haaretz-investigation/0000018c-6b96-d5dc-a5ec-6b9e0f600000|retrieved=2025-05-06}}</ref>

Critics have accused Hinkle of profiting from Palestinian suffering. His company, Fake News Media LLC, reportedly earned substantial revenue posting graphic images of dead children while making no donations to Palestinian causes.<ref name=":algemeiner">{{Web citation|newspaper=The Algemeiner|title=The Meteoric Rise of Jackson Hinkle on X|date=2023-12-14|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/12/14/the-meteoric-rise-of-jackson-hinkle-on-x-how-hateful-influencer-became-internets-biggest-hamas-fanboy/|retrieved=2025-05-06}}</ref> He sold "Zionist Tears" merchandise and posted AI-generated self-portraits of himself in combat gear — behavior widely mocked as performative grifting rather than genuine solidarity, as he never participated in [[mutual aid]] for Palestinian fundraisers.<ref name=":algemeiner" /> At a pro-Palestine event at [[Emory University]] co-hosted by [[CAIR]], Hinkle and his collaborator [[Infrared|Haz]] were jeered off stage after attacking Palestinian solidarity activists. CAIR issued a statement condemning the disruption, saying they had "unwittingly damaged the movement for Palestinian liberation."<ref>{{Web citation|title=CAIR Statement on Emory University Event Disruption|date=2024-04-22|url=https://www.cair.com/press-center/cair-statement-on-emory-university-event-disruption/|retrieved=2025-05-06|publisher=CAIR}}</ref> In response, Hinkle and Haz took to social media to insult the organizers of the event, calling them slurs.<ref>https://atlantaantifa.org/2024/05/11/emory-law-student-grayson-walker-is-responsible-for-antisemitic-maga-communist-publicity-stunt-sabotaging-pro-palestinian-event/</ref>

Hinkle has also been known to plagiarize social media posts made by others, posting them under his own account without attribution. In this way, during the Gaza genocide, he has silenced Palestinian and other anti-zionist accounts by refusing to credit them for their work and seizing their content for himself. He has never once even posted or promoted a Gaza fundraiser, using the attention on the genocide for his own clout.

== Ties to the Far Right ==
Despite claiming to be a communist, Hinkle has repeatedly allied with white nationalists. He streamed on [[Nick Fuentes]]' platform Cozy.tv, attended dinner with Fuentes (a white nationalist and [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]]), and collaborated on content.<ref name=":guardian" /> He spoke at the same "Rage Against the War Machine" rally in Washington D.C. as [[Matthew Heimbach]], an organizer of the "[[Unite the Right rally|Unite the Right]]" rally in Charlottesville. He has appeared on [[Alex Jones]]' [[InfoWars]] and has been platformed multiple times by [[Tucker Carlson]].<ref name=":guardian" />

More recently, the heads of the ACP, including Hinkle, have started promoting rapist and sex trafficker [[Andrew Tate]] to their impressionable audience, thereby considering him a more important figure aligned with their movement over the likes of [[Karl Marx]] or [[Vladimir Lenin]].<ref>https://x.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1727352846792655134</ref><ref>https://x.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1726716799981633566</ref><ref>https://x.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1726716799981633566</ref> He called the legal case against Tate for human trafficking "fake" and falsely claimed it had been "dismissed".<ref>https://x.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1858850494224953497</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Infrared|Haz]]
* [[Caleb Maupin]]
* [[Eddie Liger Smith]]
* [[American Communist Party (current)|American Communist Party]]
* [[MAGA Communism]]

== References ==
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinkle, Jackson}}

Republic of South Sudan

2026-07-08T01:05:00Z

KnifeOrSomething: Added info about US and Israeli support in the creation of South Sudan.

{{Infobox country|name=Republic of South Sudan|native_name=Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän|image_flag=Flag of South Sudan.svg|image_coat=Coat of arms of South Sudan.svg|capital=Juba|largest_city=Juba|government_type=Federal provisional government|leader_title1=President|leader_name1=[[Salva Kiir Mayardit]]|image_map=South Sudan map.svg|map_width=260|official_languages=English|area_km2=644,329|population_estimate=11,544,905|population_estimate_year=2022}}

'''South Sudan''', officially the '''Republic of South Sudan''', is a landlocked country in [[East Africa]] bordered by [[Republic of the Sudan|Sudan]], [[Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]], [[Republic of Kenya|Kenya]], [[Republic of Uganda|Uganda]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] and the [[Central African Republic]].

== History ==
The [[United States of America|United States]] and [[State of Israel|"Israel"]] supported South Sudan's secession from Sudan in order to exploit the region's oil resources, to keep it out of the hands of Sudan's government which was pro-[[People's Republic of China|China]] and to spread chaos in the [[Islam|Muslim]] and Arab world.<ref>{{Web citation|author=[[Jeremy Kuzmarov]]|newspaper=[[CovertAction Magazine]]|title=The Trillion Dollar Silencer|date=2023-01-06|url=https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/01/06/the-trillion-dollar-silencer/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106164423/https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/01/06/the-trillion-dollar-silencer/|archive-date=2023-01-06|retrieved=2023-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Black Agenda Report|title=South Sudan: When the Empire is Your Liberator, You're Not Really Independent|date=2014-01-15|url=https://blackagendareport.com/content/south-sudan-when-empire-your-liberator-youre-not-really-independent}}</ref>

South Sudan formally split from Sudan on July 9, 2011, following a referendum that grew out of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The [[Sudan People's Liberation Army]] (SPLA), the [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] force that fought Sudan for decades and became the ruling party of the new state, was built up for years as a U.S. proxy, including through arms and logistics funneled via [[Republic of Uganda|Uganda]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Julian Cola|newspaper=CovertAction Magazine|title=Western Media Distorts Conflict in Sudan, Underplaying U.S. Interests that have Driven its Past Interference in the Country|url=https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/05/23/western-media-distorts-conflict-in-sudan-underplaying-u-s-interests-that-have-driven-its-past-interference-in-the-country/}}</ref>

Israeli intelligence also played a role in South Sudan's creation, delivering mercenaries to fight the [[Khartoum]] government. The government of South Sudan, led by [[Salva Kiir]], chose "Israel" for one of Kiir's first official visits as president in December 2011, and in July 2012 signed over water rights and infrastructure development concessions to "Israel" in what was described as payback for years of covert Israeli backing of the SPLA's war.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Jeremy Kuzmarov|newspaper=CovertAction Magazine|title=Keith Harmon Snow Was a Courageous Investigative Journalist Who Exposed Lies Regarding the Rwandan Genocide|date=2025-02-03|url=https://covertactionmagazine.com/2025/02/03/keith-harmon-snow-was-a-courageous-investigative-journalist-who-exposed-lies-regarding-the-rwandan-genocide/}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:African countries]]
<references />
[[Category:Global south]]

Benito Mussolini

2026-07-07T20:48:46Z

KnifeOrSomething: Added a ton of info and moved some stuff around.

{{Infobox politician|name=Benito Mussolini|birth_date=29 July 1883|death_date=28 April 1945|birth_place=Predappio, [[Kingdom of Italy]]|death_place=Giulino, Kingdom of Italy|nationality=Italian|image=Mussolini biografia.jpg|political_line=[[Fascism]]}}

'''Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini''' (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was the fascist dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943.

== Early life ==
Mussolini was a member of the [[Italian Socialist Party]] until being expelled in 1914 for supporting the [[First World War]]. In November 1914, he founded the [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]] newspaper ''Il Popolo d'Italia''. In 1919, Mussolini's Fascists burned down the headquarters of the PSI's newspaper and killed three [[Socialism|socialists]].<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Luca Tavan|newspaper=Red Flag|title=Lessons from the rise of Mussolini, 100 years on|date=2022-10-28|url=https://redflag.org.au/article/lessons-rise-mussolini-100-years|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103132830/https://redflag.org.au/article/lessons-rise-mussolini-100-years|archive-date=2022-11-03|retrieved=2022-11-04}}</ref>

While working as a journalist, Mussolini was recruited by British intelligence (MI5) to assist in suppressing Italy's anti-war movement and maintaining support for the war effort. He received regular financial support from [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Britain]] and, between 1917 and 1922, British officials advised, financed, and politically supported his rise, including the establishment of the Fascist movement. The British conservative establishment viewed fascism as a useful anti-socialist force capable of suppressing the growing Italian workers' movement and preventing the spread of revolutionary [[Marxism]] following the [[Russian revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]].<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|author=Mihalis Panayiotakis|newspaper=Defend Democracy Press|title=From Churchill to NATO: How the west built and empowered Italian Fascism|date=2022-10-18|url=https://www.defenddemocracy.press/from-churchill-to-nato-how-the-west-built-and-empowered-italian-fascism/}}</ref>

== Rise to power ==
On 28 October 1922, Mussolini and his supporters carried out the March on Rome without resistance from the state or military. The following day, King [[Victor Emmanuel III]] appointed Mussolini prime minister.<ref name=":0" /> The March on Rome has been heavily mythologized by fascists. In reality, only around 5,000 poorly equipped fascist militants initially answered Mussolini's call, with their numbers growing to roughly 15,000 by the following day. Meanwhile, Mussolini remained in [[Milan]] attending an opera, prepared to flee to [[Swiss Confederation|Switzerland]] if the [[Coup d'état|coup]] failed. The Italian army was fully capable of dispersing the fascist squads, and Prime Minister [[Luigi Facta]] ordered a state of emergency, but King Vittorio Emanuele III refused to sign it and instead invited Mussolini to form a government.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Peter Schwarz|newspaper=World Socialist Web Site|title=100 years since Mussolini’s March on Rome|date=2022-10-31|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/10/31/vgyl-o31.html}}</ref>

== Rule ==
Following Mussolini's seizure of power, sections of the British political establishment continued to view the Fascist regime favorably because of its anti-communist orientation. In 1927, [[Winston Churchill]] praised Mussolini's government for providing, what he called, "the necessary antidote to the Russian poison" and declared that, had he been Italian, he would have supported Mussolini's fight against [[Leninism]].<ref name=":1" />

Mussolini pursued expansionist [[Colonialism|colonial]] wars to build a new [[Roman Empire (27 BCE–395 CE)|Roman Empire]]. His regime conducted brutal colonial wars in [[State of Libya|Libya]] and [[Ethiopian Empire (1270–1974)|Ethiopia]], classifying Africans, Slavs, and Jews as "subhuman" and using the defense of a "pure Italian race" to justify massacres and genocide.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Marianne Arens|newspaper=World Socialist Web Site|title=Former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi praises Mussolini|date=2013-02-08|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/08/berl-f08.html}}</ref> Italy, with [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Nazi Germany]]'s support, launched a second invasion of Ethiopia on 3 October 1935 with roughly 200,000 troops from its colony of [[State of Eritrea|Eritrea]], conquering [[Adwa]] and bringing Ethiopia under fascist rule by 1937. The invasion prompted [[Pan-Africanism|pan-Africanist]] solidarity campaigns abroad, including the [[London]]-based International African Friends of Abyssinia, also known as [[International African Friends of Ethiopia]] (IAFE).<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Black Agenda Report|title=EDITORIAL: Abyssinia’s War and What Comes Next. Marcus Garvey, January, 1937|url=https://www.blackagendareport.com/editorial-abyssinias-war-and-what-comes-next-marcus-garvey-january-1937}}</ref>

== Death ==
On 27 April 1945, Mussolini was captured by partisans near the town of [[Dongo]] on Lake Como while attempting to flee to Switzerland. The next day, he was executed, most likely by [[Walter Audisio]], a communist partisan operating under the nom de guerre "Colonel Valerio." His body, along with that of his mistress [[Clara Petacci]] and other executed fascists, were taken to Milan and hung upside down from a girder in the Piazzale Loreto, the same square where fascists had publicly displayed the bodies of executed partisans the year before.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Christopher Klein|newspaper=History|title=Benito Mussolini’s Final Hours|date=2015-04-28|url=https://www.history.com/articles/mussolinis-final-hours}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Adolf Hitler]]
* [[Francisco Franco]]
* [[Oswald Mosley]]

== References ==
[[Category:Fascists]]

Cambodian genocide

2026-07-07T19:18:20Z

KnifeOrSomething: There were two sections at the beginning which were the same text basically so i removed one

'''Cambodian genocide''', also referred to as the '''Khmer Rouge genocide''', was the mass killing, forced labor, starvation, disease, forced displacement, and political repression carried out under [[Democratic Kampuchea (1975–1979)|Democratic Kampuchea]], the state ruled by the [[Khmer Rouge]] from 1975 to 1979. The regime was led by genocidal anti-communist [[Pol Pot]] and attempted to remake Cambodian society through an extreme agrarian program, abolishing money, attacking religion, emptying cities, and forcing much of the population into rural labor camps. Approximately 1.7 million people died, around one fifth of Cambodia's population at the time.<ref>https://macmillan.yale.edu/gsp/cambodian-genocide-program</ref>
[[File:Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum.jpg|thumb|Prison cells at Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21, one of the most infamous prisons used by the Khmer Rouge.]]Although Democratic Kampuchea claimed communist legitimacy and is often described in anti-communist sources as a communist regime, many communists reject Pol Pot's politics as a nationalist, ultra-left, anti-Vietnamese deviation rather than socialism. The Khmer Rouge's rule destroyed working-class organization, attacked urban life, targeted minority groups, and produced a coercive agrarian state hostile to proletarian democracy. The regime was also closely aligned with the [[People's Republic of China]] against Vietnam and the Soviet Union, especially during the conflicts that developed into the [[Third Indochina War]].<ref>https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/03/mertha-documents-chinese-tutelage-khmer-rouge</ref>

== Background ==
Cambodia attempted to maintain a neutral position during the [[Vietnam War]], but this position became increasingly unstable as the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, China, and other powers treated Southeast Asia as a major Cold War battlefield. In March 1970, Prince [[Norodom Sihanouk]] was overthrown by General [[Lon Nol]], who established the anti-communist Khmer Republic. The coup pulled Cambodia more directly into the war and weakened the neutralist position that Sihanouk had attempted to maintain.

After the coup, Sihanouk allied with the Khmer Rouge from exile. This gave the insurgency greater nationalist legitimacy among many rural Cambodians, since Sihanouk remained a widely recognized symbol of Cambodian independence. The Khmer Rouge therefore grew not only through its own organization, but also through the crisis produced by war, displacement, and the collapse of the old political order.

== U.S. bombing and destabilization ==
Under President [[Richard Nixon]] and National Security Adviser [[Henry Kissinger]], the United States expanded the war into Cambodia. U.S. bombing campaigns, including [[Operation Menu]] and later bombing under [[Operation Freedom Deal]], targeted Vietnamese communist bases and supply routes but also devastated rural Cambodian society. Researchers Ben Kiernan and Taylor Owen argue that the bombing drove many ordinary Cambodians toward the Khmer Rouge and helped transform a relatively small insurgency into a mass movement.{{Web citation|title=Bombs Over Cambodia: New Light on US Air War|date=2007-05-02|url=https://apjjf.org/taylor-owen/2420/article|website=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus|access-date=2026-06-27}}

The bombing destroyed villages, displaced peasants, damaged agriculture, and deepened hatred toward the U.S.-backed Lon Nol government. The Khmer Rouge used this devastation in its propaganda and recruitment, presenting itself as the force capable of resisting foreign intervention and the collapsing Khmer Republic. Although the United States did not create the Khmer Rouge as an organization, U.S. policy helped create the conditions in which the Khmer Rouge could grow.

The expansion of the war into Cambodia also produced major opposition inside the United States. In May 1970, protests against Nixon's Cambodia campaign culminated in the [[Kent State massacre]], where the Ohio National Guard killed four student protesters. In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords ended direct U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but U.S. bombing in Cambodia continued until Congress cut off funding in August 1973.

== Khmer Rouge seizure of power ==
By 1974 and 1975, Lon Nol's government was collapsing. The Khmer Rouge surrounded [[Phnom Penh]], and on 17 April 1975 they captured the capital. Soon after taking power, the regime forcibly evacuated Phnom Penh and other cities, sending millions of people into the countryside. The Khmer Rouge claimed that this evacuation was necessary for revolutionary reconstruction and protection from possible U.S. bombing, but in practice it began a vast system of forced labor, starvation, political repression, and mass death.

The regime declared the beginning of "Year Zero", attempting to destroy the old society and build a new agrarian order. Money, markets, many schools, religious institutions, and private property were abolished. People associated with the former Khmer Republic, urban life, education, religion, foreign influence, or suspected opposition were targeted as enemies of the revolution. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum describes the Khmer Rouge as promoting a radical agrarian ideology based on one-party rule, rejection of urban and Western ideas, and abolition of private property.<ref>https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/cambodia/origins-of-the-khmer-rouge</ref>

== Genocide and mass repression ==
From 1975 to 1979, Democratic Kampuchea carried out mass killing, forced labor, starvation policies, forced transfers, political purges, and persecution of ethnic and religious minorities. Deaths resulted from execution, torture, hunger, disease, exhaustion, and the destruction of normal social life. Victims included former officials of the Khmer Republic, intellectuals, Buddhist monks, ethnic Vietnamese, Cham Muslims, suspected dissidents, and many ordinary peasants and workers accused of disloyalty.

The security prison S-21, also known as Tuol Sleng, became one of the most infamous sites of Khmer Rouge repression. Prisoners were tortured, forced to confess to imaginary conspiracies, and then executed. Across Cambodia, local prisons, worksites, cooperatives, and execution sites became part of the regime's machinery of terror.

In 2018, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia convicted senior Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan of genocide, crimes against humanity, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. The judgment found that they were guilty of genocide against ethnic Vietnamese, while Nuon Chea was also found guilty of genocide against the Cham. <ref>https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-legal-materials/article/trial-chamber-case-00202-against-nuon-chea-and-khieu-samphan-extraordinary-chambers-in-the-courts-of-cambodia/0A1B861657D78185D9BDB0C9A5AA9DCA</ref>

== Third Indochina War and Vietnam's intervention ==
The fall of Democratic Kampuchea took place within the wider [[Third Indochina War]], a period of conflict involving Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Laos, Thailand, and rival Cold War blocs after the communist victories in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in 1975. Relations between Democratic Kampuchea and [[Vietnam]] deteriorated after 1975. Khmer Rouge forces carried out attacks along the Vietnamese border, killing civilians and escalating conflict between the two states.

In December 1978, Vietnam launched a major invasion of Cambodia. Vietnamese forces entered Phnom Penh in January 1979 and overthrew the Khmer Rouge government, establishing the [[People's Republic of Kampuchea]]. Vietnam's intervention ended the Khmer Rouge's rule over most of Cambodia, but it also intensified the Third Indochina War by bringing Cambodia into the wider Sino-Soviet split and the conflict between China and Vietnam. <ref>https://www.routledge.com/The-Third-Indochina-War-Conflict-between-China-Vietnam-and-Cambodia-1972-79/Westad-Quinn-Judge/p/book/9780415545051</ref>

The overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea ended the Khmer Rouge's control over most of Cambodia, but it did not destroy the movement. Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge forces retreated toward the Thai-Cambodian border, where they continued to operate as part of the anti-Vietnamese resistance.

== China and Democratic Kampuchea ==
Democratic Kampuchea was closely aligned with the People's Republic of China. China provided political, military, and diplomatic support to the Khmer Rouge, and Pol Pot's regime was shaped in part by its relationship with Maoist China. This alignment was especially important because Vietnam was increasingly aligned with the Soviet Union, making Cambodia a battlefield in the Sino-Soviet split as well as the Third Indochina War. <ref>https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/03/mertha-documents-chinese-tutelage-khmer-rouge</ref>

This relationship complicates anti-communist attempts to present the Cambodian genocide as a simple result of communism in general. Democratic Kampuchea was not aligned with Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, or the Soviet Union, and it fought violently against Vietnam, which was the state that overthrew it. The genocide was carried out by the Khmer Rouge state itself, but its rise and survival were shaped by U.S. bombing, civil war, Chinese support, Thai border policy, and wider Cold War conflict.

== Ford administration and the Mayaguez incident ==
The Ford administration's most direct confrontation with Democratic Kampuchea came shortly after the Khmer Rouge victory. In May 1975, Khmer Rouge naval forces seized the American cargo ship SS Mayaguez. President [[Gerald Ford]] ordered a military operation in response, leading to combat between U.S. forces and Khmer Rouge forces near Koh Tang.<ref>https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196018/final-combat-the-mayaguez-incident-at-koh-tang/</ref>

The incident showed that the United States and the Khmer Rouge were not simple allies during the Khmer Rouge's time in power. However, after Vietnam overthrew Democratic Kampuchea in 1979, U.S. policy shifted toward opposing the Vietnamese-backed government and favoring the anti-Vietnamese diplomatic position.

== International support after 1979 ==
After the fall of Democratic Kampuchea, Cold War politics shaped the international response. The United States under President [[Jimmy Carter]], China, Thailand, and other U.S.-aligned states opposed Vietnam's intervention and refused to recognize the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea. Instead, Democratic Kampuchea retained Cambodia's seat at the United Nations after 1979, despite the Khmer Rouge's responsibility for the genocide. The Association for Asian Studies describes this as a situation in which the Khmer Rouge retained the UN seat in spite of its widely known atrocities. <ref>https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/the-rise-and-fall-of-democratic-kampuchea/</ref>

In 1982, the Khmer Rouge joined with royalist and republican anti-Vietnamese factions to form the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea. This coalition continued to hold Cambodia's UN seat for years. Although the coalition included non-Khmer Rouge factions, the arrangement allowed the Khmer Rouge to remain internationally relevant after its overthrow. China and ASEAN states pressured the Khmer Rouge to join this wider anti-Vietnamese coalition along the Thai border. <ref>https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/the-rise-and-fall-of-democratic-kampuchea/</ref>

== Thailand's role ==
Thailand became central to the post-1979 conflict. After Vietnam overthrew Democratic Kampuchea, Khmer Rouge forces and other anti-Vietnamese Cambodian factions operated along the Thai-Cambodian border. Yale's Cambodian Genocide Program describes the Vietnamese intervention as transforming the Khmer Rouge from Thailand's enemy into a useful anti-Vietnamese ally from Bangkok's perspective.<ref>https://macmillan.yale.edu/gsp/thailands-response-cambodian-genocide</ref>

Thailand also hosted large numbers of Cambodian refugees, but the border camp system became entangled with the armed struggle against the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea. Some camps and border zones became linked to Khmer Rouge and other anti-Vietnamese forces. This made the refugee crisis inseparable from the wider Cold War proxy struggle over Cambodia after 1979.

== Legacy ==
The Cambodian genocide remains one of the most severe mass atrocities of the twentieth century. It devastated Cambodian society, killed a large share of the population, and left lasting trauma across generations. It also became a major ideological weapon in Cold War politics, often used by anti-communists to equate the Khmer Rouge with all communism while ignoring the role of U.S. bombing, the Lon Nol regime, Chinese support, Thai border policy, and Western diplomatic support for anti-Vietnamese forces after 1979.

The Cambodian genocide cannot be understood only as the product of Pol Pot's ideology. It must also be understood in the wider context of colonialism, the Vietnam War, U.S. imperial intervention, the collapse of Cambodian neutrality, the destruction of rural society, the Sino-Soviet split, the Third Indochina War, and Cold War opposition to Vietnam. The Khmer Rouge carried out the genocide, but the conditions of war and the later international protection of anti-Vietnamese forces show how imperialist and geopolitical interests helped shape both the rise and survival of the movement.

== References ==
<references />

New York City

2026-07-06T17:55:31Z

KnifeOrSomething: Added info about the indigenous history and the labor movement and class struggle.

'''New York''' (Lenape: ''Manaháhtaan'', lit. "the place where wood is gathered to make bows"), often called '''New York City''' ('''NYC''') to distinguish it from the [[State of New York]], is the most populous city in the [[United States of America]]. The city is a center for worldwide banking and finance, and is typically regarded as the headquarters for the U.S. financial industry, metonymically known as ''[[Wall Street]]''.

As of 2022, New York City was home to the highest number of billionaires of any city in the world at 107. Media mogul turned politician [[Michael Bloomberg]], founder of [[Bloomberg]], is the wealthiest individual in New York City, with a net worth of more than $82 billion.<ref>Archana Kabra. [https://www.thetealmango.com/featured/richest-cities-in-the-world/ “Top 10 Richest Cities in the World with Most Billionaires”] The Teal Mango. June 15, 2022.</ref> He was also mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination for [[President of the United States]].

The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings, including the Twin Towers, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the [[September 11 attacks]].

The [[Stonewall rebellion|Stonewall]] uprising was a series of spontaneous protests by members of the [[LGBT+]] community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The rebellion erupted after a [[police]] raid on the Stonewall Inn.<ref>Wood, Preston. [https://www.liberationschool.org/05-06-01-the-1969-stonewall-rebellion-les-html/ “The 1969 Stonewall Rebellion and Lessons for Today.”] Liberation School. June 2005. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220122043907/https://www.liberationschool.org/05-06-01-the-1969-stonewall-rebellion-les-html/ Archived] 2022-01-22.</ref>

== Indigenous history ==
Before European [[Colonialism|colonization]], the land that became New York City was inhabited by the [[Munsee]] people, a subtribe of the [[Lenape]] people whose territory (Lenapehoking) stretched across the Lower Hudson region to Delaware Bay, including parts of [[State of New York|New York]], [[State of New Jersey|New Jersey]], [[Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] and [[Delaware]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Betsy McCully|newspaper=New York Nature|title=Lenape Indians {{!}} The First People of New York|date=2026-02-21|url=https://newyorknature.us/lenapes/}}</ref>

During the seventeenth century, Dutch colonists established trading posts and settlements throughout the Delaware River valley, acquiring land from the Lenape through purchase agreements that were frequently based on coercion or differing understandings of land ownership, while competing with [[Swedish Empire (1611–1721)|Swedish]] and later [[Kingdom of England (927–1707)|English]] settlers for control of the region. Continued European expansion and settlement gradually displaced the Lenape from much of their ancestral territory, a process that accelerated under English rule through agreements such as the fraudulent [[Walking Purchase of 1737]].<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|newspaper=West Philadelphia Collaborative History|title=The Original People and Their Land: The Lenape, Pre-History to the 18th Century|url=https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/stories/original-people-and-their-land-lenape-pre-history-18th-century}}</ref>

Over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Lenape communities were progressively displaced westward by British colonial expansion and later U.S. expansion. Following the [[Battle of Fallen Timbers]], many Lenape were resettled in [[State of Indiana|Indiana]], then dispersed to [[Kansas]], before most were relocated to present-day [[State of Oklahoma|Oklahoma]] in 1866. Other Lenape communities are today located in [[Wisconsin]] and [[Ontario]].<ref name=":0" />

== Labor Movement and Class Struggle ==
In the early twentieth century, New York City's garment industry relied heavily on the labor of [[Judaism|Jewish]] and [[Italian Republic|Italian]] immigrant women, many of whom worked long hours for low wages in overcrowded and unsafe factories.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Tenement Museum|title=Strikers and Stylemakers|url=https://www.tenement.org/strikers-and-stylemakers/}}</ref> In response to these conditions, workers organized a series of early strikes and unionization efforts. The [[International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union]] (ILGWU) played a central role in the 1909-1910 [[Uprising of the 20,000]], a strike of mostly female shirtwaist makers in New York City notable for its size, duration, and support from middle-class women. Together with the [[1910 Great Revolt]], the strike contributed to major workplace reforms and strengthened the union's influence within the garment industry.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=ILGWU|title=Early Struggles|url=https://ilgwu.ilr.cornell.edu/history/earlyStruggles}}</ref>

== Homelessness ==
The number of [[Homelessness|homeless]] people murdered in New York City rose by 300% from 2018 to 2021.

In 2022, following the end of the [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID]] eviction moratorium, [[Landlord|landlords]] evicted over 100,000 families while keeping many available homes empty. In December 2022, 68,884 people, including 21,805 children, had to sleep in homeless shelters. 58% of people in New York's homeless shelters are Black and 31% are [[Aztlán|Latino]]. During his reign, Mayor [[Eric Adams]] funded the police to attack homeless people and cut the budget of the Department of Homeless Services by 20%.<ref>{{Web citation|date=2023-05-05|title=Justice for Jordan Neely!|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/justice-for-jordan-neely/|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513103404/https://www.liberationnews.org/justice-for-jordan-neely/|archive-date=2023-05-13}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:United States of America]]
[[Category:Cities]]

Eugene V. Debs

2026-07-06T03:58:01Z

KnifeOrSomething: Edited the formatting, spilt it up into 3 sections.

{{Infobox politician|image_size=200|birth_date=November 5, 1855|birth_place=Terre Haute, [[Indiana]], [[United States of America|United States]]|death_date=October 20, 1926|death_place=Elmhurst, [[Illinois]], United States|political_orientation=Alleged [[Marxism]] [[Democratic socialism]] [[Opportunism]] [[Revisionism]]|political_party=[[Socialist Party of America]]|image=Eugene V. Debs.png}}

'''Eugene Victor''' "'''Gene'''" '''Debs''' (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was a [[United States of America|Statesian]] [[Socialism|socialist]], [[political activist]], [[Trade union|trade unionist]], one of the founding members of the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] (IWW), and five times the candidate of the [[Socialist Party of America]] for President of the United States. Through his presidential candidacies as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States.

== Early political career and labor organizing ==
Early in his political career, Debs was a member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. He was elected as a Democrat to the Indiana General Assembly in 1884. After working with several smaller unions, including the [[Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen]], Debs led his union in [[Burlington railway strike of 1888|a major ten-month strike against the CB&Q Railroad in 1888]]. Debs was instrumental in the founding of the [[American Railway Union]] (ARU), one of the nation's first [[Industrial union|industrial unions]].

After workers at the [[Pullman Palace Car Company]] organized a [[Wildcat strike action|wildcat strike]] over pay cuts in the summer of 1894, Debs signed many into the ARU. He led a [[boycott]] by the ARU against handling trains with Pullman cars in what became the nationwide [[Pullman Strike]], affecting most lines west of Detroit and more than 250,000 workers in 27 states. Purportedly to keep the mail running, President Grover Cleveland used the United States Army to break the strike. As a leader of the ARU, Debs was convicted of federal charges for defying a court injunction against the strike and served six months in prison.

== Socialist Party career ==
In prison, Debs read various works of socialist theory and emerged six months later as a committed adherent of the [[Marxism|international socialist]] movement. Debs was a founding member of the [[Social Democracy of America]] (1897), the [[Social Democratic Party of America]] (1898) and the Socialist Party of America (1901). Debs ran as a Socialist candidate for [[President of the United States]] five times, including 1900 (earning 0.6 percent of the popular vote), 1904 (3.0 percent), 1908 (2.8 percent), 1912 (6.0 percent), and 1920 (3.4 percent), the last time from a prison cell.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Deirdre Grisworld|newspaper=[[Workers World]]|title=The anti-war presidential candidate|date=2020-02-24|url=https://www.workers.org/2020/02/46531/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203052940/https://www.workers.org/2020/02/46531/|archive-date=2022-12-03|retrieved=2023-01-14}}</ref> He was also a candidate for United States Congress from his native state Indiana in 1916.

In 1896, Debs became involved with a [[Utopian socialism|Utopian]] [[Settler colonialism|settler colonial]] project of settling sparsely populated western or southern states to create co-operative colonies in league with the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth<ref>{{Web citation|author=Chicago Record|newspaper=Chicago Record|title=Plan to Redeem Toil|date=1897-05-24|url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Plan_to_Redeem_Toil;_Eugene_V._Debs|quote=He is confident that a membership of 1 million could be obtained in six months. These members would be asked to contribute whatever amount they felt able to give, and the fund thus raised would be used in sending men into that Western or Southwestern state where the effort is to be made to obtain political control.}}</ref>. Even begging John D. Rockefeller for financial assistance<ref>{{Citation|author=William D. Haywood|year=1929|title=Original: Bill Haywood’s Book
Electronic: BIG BILL HAYWOOD
The Autobiography of William D. Haywood.|chapter=Telluride|quote=Debs was already well known to the delegates, as he had helped the W.F.M. as a speaker and organizer when the Cloud City Miners’ Union had been on strike at Leadville in 1896. He was known to all of us as one of the finest orators in the labor movement. We all knew his weaknesses and some of us knew of his pathetic letter to John D. Rockefeller appealing for funds for his colonization scheme.|city=New York|publisher=Original: International Publishers Co, original
Electronic: NightHawk Books}}</ref>.

== Later years and death ==
Debs was noted for his oratorical skills, and his speech denouncing American participation in [[World War I]] led to his second arrest in 1918. He was convicted under the [[Sedition Act of 1918]] and sentenced to a ten-year term. President [[Warren G. Harding]] commuted his sentence in December 1921. Debs died in 1926, not long after being admitted to a sanatorium due to cardiovascular problems that developed during his time in prison.

== Library works ==
The following are works by Eugene V. Debs in ProleWiki's own Library.
<categorytree mode="pages" depth="5">Library works by Eugene V. Debs</categorytree>

== See also ==

* [[Appeal to Reason]]

== References ==
[[Category:Statesian communists]]
[[Category:Communist political candidates]]

Radio Free Asia

2026-06-21T05:02:31Z

KnifeOrSomething: Added more of Radio Free Asia's false claims about the DPRK.

{{Infobox organization
| name = Radio Free Asia
| image = Radio Free Asia Logo 2021.png
| abbreviation = RFA
| formation = 12 March 1996<ref>{{News citation|title=History|url=https://www.rfa.org/about/info/history-04202007142923.html|access-date=2021-07-03|website=Radio Free Asia}}</ref> (27 years ago)
| type = 501(c)(3) organization
| tax_id = 52-1968145
| purpose = Broadcast Media
| headquarters = [[Washington]], [[District of Columbia|D.C]], [[United States of America]]
| languages = Burmese, Cantonese, English, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Vietnamese
| owner = [[U.S. Agency for Global Media]]
| leader_title = President
| leader_name = Bay Fang<ref name="Bay">{{News citation|title=Bay Fang Named Radio Free Asia's New President|url=https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/bayfang_president-11202019123259.html |date=20 November 2019 |website=RFA |access-date=8 November 2019 |archive-date=December 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222110943/https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/bayfang_president-11202019123259.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| leader_title2 = Executive Editor
| leader_name2 = Min Mitchell<ref>{{News citation|title=Min Mitchell, Executive Editor |url=https://www.rfa.org/about/directors/min-mitchell-executive-editor |website=rfa.org |publisher=Radio Free Asia |access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref>
| parent_organization = [[U.S. Agency for Global Media]]
| num_staff = 253<ref name=USAGM/>
| budget = $39.5 million (2021)<ref name=USAGM>{{News citation|title=RFA – USAGM |url=https://www.usagm.gov/our-work/strategy-and-results/strategic-priorities/budget-submissions/ |access-date=7 April 2021 |archive-date=January 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104072813/https://www.usagm.gov/networks/rfa/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| website =
* [https://www.rfa.org/ www.rfa.org]
* [https://rfa62zl6z6owmtlf.onion rfa62zl6z6owmtlf.onion][''Dead link as of May 2022''].
}}

'''Radio Free Asia''' ('''RFA''') is a [[United States of America|US]] propaganda outlet. RFA media is available in several Asian languages and mainly spreads imperialist slander about the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|DPRK]] and [[People's Republic of China|China]].

==History==

Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a sister organization to [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]], both sharing similar missions. RFA was established in 1996 with funding from the U.S. government, specifically through the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), which is now part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Similar to RFE/RL, RFA has also received grants from the NED to support some of its activities.{{Citation needed}}

Radio Free Asia was established in 1994 by the US Congress and is funded by the US government.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=|date=1994-05-01|title=Radio Free Asia, Taiwan Sales Approved|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/01/world/radio-free-asia-taiwan-sales-approved.html|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=2022-01-01}}</ref>

==Claims==

===China's Genocide of Muslims===

Radio Free Asia has repeatedly claimed or insinuated that the Chinese government is [[Uyghur genocide allegations|actively committing a genocide against Uyghur Muslims]].

===DPRK Fashion Police===

Radio Free Asia claimed that the DPRK has fashion police that stop people from wearing leather jackets.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Hyemin Son|date=2021-11-24|title=North Korea bans leather coats to stop citizens from copping leader’s iconic look|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/leather-11242021180637.html|newspaper=Radio Free Asia|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=2022-01-01}}</ref> They also claimed that the DPRK has banned shirts with foreign lettering, long or dyed hair, and tight jeans worn by women.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Chang Gyu Ahn and Myung Chul Lee|newspaper=Radio Free Asia|title=Tight jeans, dyed hair forbidden as North Korea cracks down on ‘capitalist’ fashion|date=2022-05-06|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/fashion-05062022172129.html}}</ref>

=== DPRK Squid Game Execution ===
Radio Free Asia claimed that the DPRK executed a man for smuggling and selling copies of "Squid Game", gave a life sentence to the student who bought one of the drives, sentenced six others who watched it to five years of hard labor, and fired the teachers and administrators involved, banishing them to remote mines.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Myungchul Lee|newspaper=Radio Free Asia|title=North Korean sentenced to death after students caught watching Squid Game|date=2021-11-23|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/squidgame-11232021180155.html}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:CIA front groups]]
[[Category:Imperialist propaganda]]

Nicola Bombacci

2026-06-20T02:46:50Z

KnifeOrSomething: Expanded info and added an Early life section.

{{Message box/Stub}}{{Infobox politician|name=Nicola Bombacci|birth_date=24 October 1879|birth_place=Civitella di Romagna, Forlì, [[Italy]]|death_date=28 April 1945 (aged 65)|death_place=Dongo, Como, Italy|political_orientation=[[Fascism]] [[Imperialism]]|political_party=[[Republican Fascist Party]] (1943–1945) [[Communist Party of Italy]] (1921–1927) [[Italian Socialist Party]] (1911–1921)|image=Nicola Bombacci.jpg}}

'''Nicola Bombacci''' (24 October 1879 – 28 April 1945) was an [[Italian Republic|Italian]] politician, trade unionist, [[Fascism|fascist]] journalist, and teacher. He was a leading member of the [[Italian Socialist Party]] (PSI), one of the founders of the [[Italian Communist Party|Communist Party of Italy]] in 1921 and later became a supporter of fascism after his expulsion from the communist movement. During the [[Italian Social Republic]], Bombacci collaborated with [[Benito Mussolini]] and played a major role in promoting the idea of fascist "socialization". He was captured by Italian partisans at Dongo and executed on 28 April 1945.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Enzo Santarelli|newspaper=Treccani|title=BOMBACCI, Nicolò - Enciclopedia|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/nicolo-bombacci_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Bombacci was born in Civitella di Romagna on 24 October 1879. He worked as an elementary school teacher and became active in the trade union movement during the early twentieth century. In 1911 he was elected to the national council of the General Confederation of Labour and was reelected at the Mantua congress in 1914.<ref name=":0" />
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:Italian Communist Party politicians]]
[[Category:Italian fascists]]
[[Category:Italian Socialist Party politicians]]

Cult of personality

2026-06-19T23:44:18Z

KnifeOrSomething: Added links to Stalin and Mao's pages since everyone else on the page has a link to their page

[[File:Mount Rushmore.png|thumb|Mount Rushmore in the [[United States of America|United States]] depicting former rulers [[George Washington]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], and [[Abraham Lincoln]]]]
[[File:Apotheosis of Washington.jpg|thumb|Painting in the U.S. Capitol depicting George Washington (seated center) as a god. The woman on his right is holding a fasces.]]
A '''cult of personality''' is an excessive devotion to an idealized image of a person, often but not always a political leader. Cults of personality are often associated with [[Far-right politics|far-right]] and [[Nationalism|nationalist]] leaders, such as [[Narendra Modi|Modi]] in [[Republic of India|India]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Satya Mohapatra|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=Indian election: Victorious Modi masks attacks on workers with far-right bigotry|date=2019-06-09|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/indian-election-victorious-modi-masks-attacks-on-workers-with-far-right-bigotry/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316034536/https://www.liberationnews.org/indian-election-victorious-modi-masks-attacks-on-workers-with-far-right-bigotry/|archive-date=2021-03-16|retrieved=2022-12-17}}</ref>

== Accusations against Stalin, Mao, and the Kim family ==
Many western sources claim that [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], [[Mao Zedong|Mao]], and members of the Kim family ([[Kim Il Sung]], [[Kim Jong Il]], [[Kim Jong Un]]) fostered a cult of personality in order to maintain control over the population. While they are all highly respected politicians, and in some cases idolized to a worrying degree, it is untrue that this was a conscious effort. Stalin personally ordered a book about his childhood to not be printed in order to avoid idolization <ref>{{Citation|last=Stalin|first=Josef|year=1938|title=Letter on Publications for Children Directed to the Central Committee of the All Union Communist Youth|title-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1938/02/16.htm|quote=The important thing resides in the fact that the book has a tendency to engrave on the minds of Soviet children (and people in general) the personality cult of leaders, of infallible heroes. This is dangerous and detrimental.}}</ref>, and the [[Juche]] ideology places a precedence on the masses as the movers of history, not any great men <ref>{{Citation|last=Kim|first=Jong Il|year=1994|title=Socialism is a Science|title-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/kim-jong-il/works/Socialism-Is-A-Science.pdf|quote=Love and trust constitute the essence of politics in socialist society, where the
masses of the people have been transformed from objects of politics to the masters of politics.|publisher=Rodong Sinmun}}</ref>.

== See also ==

* [[Great man theory]]

== References ==
[[Category:Idealism]]
[[Category:Imperialist propaganda]]

Kim Il Sung

2026-06-19T22:28:07Z

KnifeOrSomething: Added info to the Early life section from the first couple chapters of With the Century.

{{Infobox politician|honorific_prefix=Eternal President|name=Kim Il Sung|native_name=김일성|image=Kim Il Sung.jpeg|birth_name=Kim Seong Ju|birth_date=15 April 1912|nationality=Korean|political_orientation=[[Juche]] [[Marxism–Leninism]] [[Anti-imperialism]]|political_party=[[Workers' Party of Korea]]|death_date=8 July 1994 (aged 82)|death_place=North Pyangan Province, [[DPRK|Korea]]|caption=Portrait of comrade Kim Il Sung|image_size=|birth_place=Pyongyang, [[Japanese Empire|Japanese]]-occupied Korea}}
'''Kim Il Sung''' (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a [[Korea|Korean]] freedom fighter and [[Communism|communist]] leader. He served as the founder and only president of the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea]] from 1972 to 1994, and as head of the [[Workers' Party of Korea]] from 1949 to 1994. He was the father of [[Kim Jong Il|Kim Jong-il]], and the grandfather of [[Kim Jong-un]], the current head of state of the DPRK. His ideology would later develop into the [[Juche|''Juche'' idea]].

==Early life==
Kim Il Sung was born Kim Seong Ju on 15 April 1912, in [[Pyongyang]], in [[Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Japanese]]-occupied Korea. His father, [[Kim Hyong Jik]], was an anti-Japanese revolutionary who taught him from an early age to foster patriotism for his country.<ref>{{Citation|last=Kim|first=Il Sung|author=Kim Il Sung|year=1992|title=With the Century|title-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/kim-il-sung/autobio/index.htm|chapter=My Family|page=10}}</ref>

When Kim Il Sung was six years old, he took part in the [[March First Popular Uprising]], the mass peaceful protest against Japanese rule, which was met with the brutal killings of civilians by Japan. Kim Il Sung later described this as his first encounter with violence and death, which he said instilled in him an anger towards Japanese rule.<ref>{{Citation|last=Kim|first=Il Sung|author=Kim Il Sung|year=1992|title=With the Century|title-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/kim-il-sung/autobio/index.htm|chapter=An Echo of Cheers for Independence|page=37 - 38}}</ref> Kim Il Sung also later reflected that the protest was limited by the reformist tendencies of its leaders, who lacked both the ideological foundation of [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxism-Leninism]] and a [[vanguard party]] capable of uniting the working masses against colonial rule.<ref>{{Citation|last=Kim|first=Il Sung|author=Kim Il Sung|year=1992|title=With the Century|title-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/kim-il-sung/autobio/index.htm|chapter=An Echo of Cheers for Independence|page=43 - 44}}</ref>

His father participated in an uprising against the Japanese in 1919 and was imprisoned until 1925. In high school, Kim Il Sung joined an underground [[Marxism|Marxist]] group, leading to his arrest in 1929. After Japan created a puppet state in [[Empire of (Great) Manchuria|Manchuria]], he joined the [[Communist Party of China]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Stephen Gowans|year=2018|title=Patriots, Traitors and Empires: The Story of Korea’s Struggle for Freedom|chapter=The Patriot|page=66–68|pdf=https://ipfs.io/ipfs/bafykbzaced4iiga4ngtxusr2civjxewbili5jne2sbpefbx2s3im2kphattzc?filename=Stephen%20Gowans%20-%20Patriots%2C%20Traitors%20and%20Empires_%20The%20Story%20of%20Korea%E2%80%99s%20Struggle%20for%20Freedom-Baraka%20Books%20%282018%29.pdf|city=Montreal|publisher=Baraka Books|isbn=9781771861427|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=8435F6FF91279531705764823FDC2A7F}}</ref>

== Anti-Japanese resistance ==
[[File:Kim Il Sung partisan painting.png|thumb|Painting of Kim Il Sung during the anti-Japanese resistance war]]
When he was 14, Kim Il Sung founded the [[Down-with-Imperialism Union]], the predecessor of the Workers' Party of Korea.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Lydia Smith|date=2014-07-08|title=Kim Il Sung Death Anniversary: How the North Korea Founder Created a Cult of Personality|url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/kim-il-sung-death-anniversary-how-north-korea-founder-became-cult-personality-1455758|newspaper=International Business Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006150839/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/kim-il-sung-death-anniversary-how-north-korea-founder-became-cult-personality-1455758|archive-date=2014-10-06|retrieved=2021-12-31}}</ref> After joining the CPC, he founded his first guerrilla unit in 1932. By 1936, he became commander of the 3rd division of the [[Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army]]. The Japanese created a special division led by [[Nozoe Shotoku]] dedicated to hunting him down. In 1939, the Japanese sent 24,000 troops to put down the resistance, and they killed most of Kim Il Sung's soldiers. The survivors were reorganized into a brigade of mostly Chinese and [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet]] troops.<ref name=":1" /> In 1942, Kim Il Sung joined the [[Red Army]] and became a major, fighting until the Japanese surrendered in 1945.<ref>{{Citation|author=Buzo Adrian|year=2016|title=The Making of Modern Korea|chapter=|section=|page=270|quote=|pdf=|city=London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317422785|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDolDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA270#v=onepage&q&f=false|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref>

==Fatherland Liberation War==
After the end of the war, the [[United States of America|United States]] divided Korea in half across the 38th parallel. Kim Il Sung was elected as premier of the DPRK in 1948. After the US-backed [[Republic of Korea|puppet government]] in the South brutally crushed the [[Jeju Uprising|Jeju uprising]]<ref>{{News citation|journalist=|date=2000-06-18|title=Ghosts of Cheju|url=|newspaper=Newsweek|archive-url=https://www.newsweek.com/ghosts-cheju-160665|archive-date=|retrieved=2021-21-30}}</ref> and southern troops crossed the border, Kim Il Sung invaded in June 1950 in an attempt to reunify the country. The South Korean military initially retreated and massacred its own people,<ref>{{Citation|author=Kim Dong-Choon|year=2004|title=Forgotten war, forgotten massacres--the Korean War (1950-1953) as licensed mass killings|chapter=|section=|page=|quote=|pdf=https://www.academia.edu/6417696|city=|publisher=Journal of Genocide Research|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> and most of the South was liberated by August. At this point, US forces entered Korea and pushed the [[Korean People's Army]] north to the border of [[People's Republic of China|China]], where the Chinese People's Volunteer Army joined them and pushed the reactionary forces back to around the 38th parallel. In 1953, an armistice was signed, but the war never officially ended.

==Later life==
[[File:EjqAFwUWoAEnWah.png|thumb|Kim Il Sung in 1970]]
During the 1960s and 1970s, Kim Il Sung supported [[Anti-colonialism|anti-colonial]] struggles in [[Africa]] and [[Asia]].<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Lalkar]]|title=Kim Il Sung: 110 years since the birth of Korea’s great revolutionary leader|date=2021-07-20|url=https://thecommunists.org/2021/07/20/news/ireland-britain-dirty-war-ballymurphy-finucane-imperialism/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521054438/https://thecommunists.org/2022/04/15/news/history/kim-il-sung-110-years-birth-great-korean-revolutionary/|archive-date=2022-05-21|retrieved=2022-12-04}}</ref> In 1972, the [[Supreme People's Assembly]] elected Kim Il Sung as President of the DPRK. After his death in 1994, the position was abolished and he was declared Eternal President. His son, Kim Jong Il, became the General Secretary of the party in 1997.

== International support ==
For the [[Day of the Sun]] in 2023, groups in [[Kingdom of Cambodia|Cambodia]], [[Italian Republic|Italy]], [[Republic of Namibia|Namibia]], [[Russian Federation|Russia]],<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Rodong Sinmun]]|title=President Kim Il Sung Praised Abroad|date=2023-04-21|url=http://rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?MTJAMjAyMy0wNC0yMS1IMDAzQDExQDFAYWJyb2FkQDBAMjQ===|retrieved=2023-07-20}}</ref> [[Republic of Belarus|Belarus]], [[Republic of Guinea|Guinea]], [[Republic of India|India]], [[Kyrgyz Republic|Kyrgyzstan]], [[Republic of South Africa|South Africa]],<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Rodong Sinmun]]|title=President Kim Il Sung Praised Abroad|date=2023-04-25|url=http://rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?MTJAMjAyMy0wNC0yNS1IMDA0QDExQDFAYWJyb2FkQDBAMjE===|retrieved=2023-07-20}}</ref> [[People's Republic of Bangladesh|Bangladesh]], the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo]], [[State of Kuwait|Kuwait]], [[Lebanese Republic|Lebanon]], [[Mongolia]], [[Republic of the Union of Myanmar|Myanmar]], [[Romania]], [[Kingdom of Sweden|Sweden]], [[Syrian Arab Republic|Syria]], and [[Kingdom of Thailand|Thailand]]<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Rodong Sinmun]]|title=President Kim Il Sung Praised Abroad|date=2023-04-26|url=http://rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?MTJAMjAyMy0wNC0yNS1IMDA0QDExQDFAYWJyb2FkQDBAMjE===|retrieved=2023-07-20}}</ref> sent messages congratulating Kim Il Sung.

{{Library works|name=Kim Il Sung}}

==References==
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Anti-imperialists]]
[[Category:Communist leaders]]
<references />
[[Category:Featured page]]
[[Category:Former heads of state]]
[[Category:Jucheists]]
[[Category:Leaders of the DPRK]]

Jeffrey Epstein

2026-06-18T23:05:21Z

KnifeOrSomething: Added links to the pages of Epstein's connections

{{Infobox person|name=Jeffrey Epstein|birth_place=New York City, New York, [[United States of America|United States]]|birth_date=January 20, 1953|death_date=August 10, 2019|death_cause=Strangulation|nationality=Statesian|image=Epstein.png|death_place=New York City, New York, United States}}

'''Jeffrey Edward Epstein''' (January 20, 1953 – August 10, 2019) was a [[United States of America|Statesian]] [[Bourgeoisie|capitalist]], rapist, billionaire, and pedophile. He had connections to former [[United States of America|U.S.]] presidents [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Donald Trump]],<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|author=[[Alan MacLeod]]|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|title=Corporate Media Silence Deafening as Former Clinton Aide Confirms Ties to Jeffrey Epstein|date=2020-12-07|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/media-silence-deafening-former-clinton-aide-confirms-ties-jeffrey-epstein/273456/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921230825/https://www.mintpressnews.com/media-silence-deafening-former-clinton-aide-confirms-ties-jeffrey-epstein/273456/|archive-date=2022-09-21|retrieved=2022-10-30}}</ref> fellow billionaire [[Elon Musk]],<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Whitney Webb|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|title=How the CIA, Mossad, and "the Epstein Network" Are Exploiting Mass Shootings to Create an Orwellian Nightmare|date=2019-09-06|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/cia-israel-mossad-jeffrey-epstein-orwellian-nightmare/261692/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002185148/https://www.mintpressnews.com/cia-israel-mossad-jeffrey-epstein-orwellian-nightmare/261692/|archive-date=2022-10-02|retrieved=2022-10-30}}</ref> and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]] royal family.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation|author=Whitney Webb|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|title=These Scrubbed Reports Reveal New Secrets|date=2019-10-14|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/scrubbed-reports-reveal-new-secrets-of-the-prince-andrew-jeffrey-epstein-relationship/262330/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806223123/https://www.mintpressnews.com/scrubbed-reports-reveal-new-secrets-of-the-prince-andrew-jeffrey-epstein-relationship/262330/|archive-date=2022-08-06|retrieved=2022-10-30}}</ref>

== Crimes ==
Epstein's crimes date back to the 1990s at least and involved hundreds of victims. He was in prison from 2007 to 2009 but was allowed to leave his cell for 12 hours a day.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Candice Yanez|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes covered up to protect the ultra-rich|date=2019-07-15|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/pedophile-billionaire-jeffrey-epsteins-crimes-covered-up-to-protect-the-ultra-rich/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107232109/https://www.liberationnews.org/pedophile-billionaire-jeffrey-epsteins-crimes-covered-up-to-protect-the-ultra-rich/|archive-date=2020-11-07|retrieved=2022-10-30}}</ref>

== Arrest and death ==
The New York City Police Department arrested Epstein on July 6, 2019 at an airport in [[New Jersey]] for sex trafficking minors.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Whitney Webb|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|title=Hidden in Plain Sight: The Shocking Origins of the Jeffrey Epstein Case|date=2019-07-18|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/shocking-origins-jeffrey-epstein-blackmail-roy-cohn/260621/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027235149/https://www.mintpressnews.com/shocking-origins-jeffrey-epstein-blackmail-roy-cohn/260621/|archive-date=2022-10-27|retrieved=2022-10-30}}</ref> He was murdered in prison later that year.<ref name=":0" /> Epstein's prison footage was released to the public in July 2025, but the footage was doctored.<ref>{{Web citation|author=DHRUV MEHROTRA|newspaper=WIRED|title=Metadata Shows the FBI’s ‘Raw’ Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified|url=https://www.wired.com/story/metadata-shows-the-dojs-raw-jeffrey-epstein-prison-video-was-likely-modified/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250716132342/https://www.wired.com/story/metadata-shows-the-dojs-raw-jeffrey-epstein-prison-video-was-likely-modified/|archive-date=2025-07-16}}</ref>

== Connections ==

* [[Bill Clinton]]<ref>{{Web citation|author=Joe Sommerlad|newspaper=The Independent|title=Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein’s friendship timeline: From philanthropy to ‘Lolita Express’ trips|date=2025-08-06|url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/bill-clinton-jeffrey-epstein-timeline-b2802828.html|archive-date=2025-08-22|retrieved=2025-08-22}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Web citation|author=Gabriel Sherman|newspaper=Vanity Fair|title=Confessions of a Clintonworld Exile|date=2020-12-02|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/12/confessions-of-a-clintonworld-exile|archive-url=https://archive.is/57bcj|archive-date=2020-12-02|retrieved=2025-08-22|quote=Band told me he had been trying to push Epstein out of Clinton’s orbit ever since their much-discussed 2002 trip to Africa aboard Epstein’s private 727, dubbed the “Lolita Express.” Band recalled that Epstein had made a bunch of ridiculous claims on the trip, like boasting that he invented the derivatives market. Band said he had no idea about Epstein’s sex crimes back then but got enough bad vibes that he advised Clinton to end the relationship. But Clinton continued to socialize with Epstein and take his money. In 2006 Epstein donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Clinton made more than two dozen trips on Epstein’s jet around this time, Epstein’s flight logs show. In January 2003, according to Band, Clinton visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little St. James}}</ref>
* [[Donald Trump]]<ref>{{Web citation|author=James Hill|newspaper=ABC News|title=The times Trump's name appeared in the Epstein files the DOJ has already released|date=2025-07-17|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/times-trumps-appeared-epstein-files-doj-released/story?id=123848078|archive-url=https://megalodon.jp/2025-0823-0005-52/https://abcnews.go.com:443/US/times-trumps-appeared-epstein-files-doj-released/story?id=123848078|archive-date=2025-08-22|retrieved=2025-08-22|quote=In the files, Trump was also listed as a passenger on Epstein’s plane eight times between 1993 and 1997.}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|author=Hugh Dougherty|newspaper=Daily Beast|title=Listen To The Jeffrey Epstein Tapes: ‘I Was Donald Trump’s Closest Friend’|date=2024-11-02|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/listen-to-the-jeffrey-epstein-tapes-i-was-donald-trumps-closest-friend/|archive-url=https://archive.is/y2ubq|archive-date=2024-11-02|retrieved=2025-08-22}}</ref>
* [[Prince Andrew]]<ref>{{Web citation|author=Sean Coughlan|newspaper=BBC|title=Andrew emails show contact with Epstein lasted beyond 2010|date=2025-01-31|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8qz22dqdzo|archive-url=https://archive.is/rqADE|archive-date=2025-01-31|retrieved=2025-08-22}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
* [[Elon Musk]]<ref>{{Web citation|author=Andrew Stanton|newspaper=Newsweek|title=Elon Musk's Ties to Jeffrey Epstein Explained|date=2025-06-06|url=https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-jeffrey-epstein-family-ghislaine-maxwell-trump-2082228|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250710193845/http://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-jeffrey-epstein-family-ghislaine-maxwell-trump-2082228|archive-date=2025-07-10|retrieved=2025-08-22}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
* [[Ehud Barak]]<ref>{{Web citation|author=JTA|newspaper=Times of Israel|title=Ehud Barak met with Jeffrey Epstein dozens of times, flew on private plane — report|date=2023-05-04|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/ehud-barak-met-with-jeffrey-epstein-dozens-of-times-flew-on-private-plane-report/|archive-url=https://archive.is/ulOtb|archive-date=2023-11-07|retrieved=2025-08-22}}</ref>
* [[FBI]]<ref>{{Web citation|author=Matthew Acton|newspaper=Radar|title=EXCLUSIVE: Leaked FBI Document Reveals Jeffrey Epstein's Secret History as an FBI Informant|date=2025-08-05|url=https://radaronline.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-fbi-source-leaked-document/|archive-url=https://archive.is/G4zv2|archive-date=2025-08-05|retrieved=2025-08-22}}</ref>
* [[Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations|Israeli military intelligence/Mossad]]<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Middle East Monitor|title=Jeffrey Epstein was blackmailing politicians for Israel’s Mossad, new book claims|date=2020-01-06|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200106-jeffrey-epstein-was-blackmailing-politicians-for-israels-mossad-new-book-claims/|archive-url=https://archive.is/f1gj2|archive-date=2020-01-08|retrieved=2025-08-22}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

== See also ==

* [[MeToo movement|#MeToo]]
*[[TrueAnon]]

== References ==
[[Category:Capitalists]]
[[Category:Billionaires]]
<references />
[[Category:Pedophiles]]
[[Category:People on Epstein flight logs]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Jeffrey}}
[[Category:Assassinations ruled as suicides]]

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)

2026-06-18T21:07:57Z

KnifeOrSomething: I changed the formatting of the section Weightlifting under Culture to be more in line with the rest of the article. I also included info under the Film subsection under the Culture section, sourced from Lenin's 1922 Directives on the Film Business.

{{Infobox country
| name = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| native_name = Союз Советских Социалистических Республик
| image_flag = File:Flag of the Soviet Union (1955-1991).svg
| image_coat = File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union.svg
| image_map = File:Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (orthographic projection).svg
| map_width = 220px
| official_languages = None (1922–1990) Russian (1990–1991)| capital = [[Moscow]]
| largest_city = capital
| mode_of_production = [[Socialism]]
| government_type = Federal [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] [[socialist state]] (until 1990)
| established_event1 = October Revolution
| established_date1 = 1917 November 7th
| established_event2 = [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Establishment of the USSR]]
| established_date2 = 1922 December 30th
| established_event3 = [[World War II]] victory
| established_date3 = 1945 May 9th
| established_event4 = Dissolution
| established_date4 = 1991 December 26th
| population_estimate = 285,742,511<ref>Демоскоп Weekly. [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР] [The 1989 All-Union Population Census. National composition of the population by republics of the USSR].</ref>
| population_estimate_year = 1989
| labour_force = 152.3 million<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990">CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_(1990)/Soviet_Union Soviet Union – World Factbook (Wikisource)]''</ref>
| labour_occupation = 80% industry and other nonagricultural fields 20% agriculture<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| unemployment = 1–2%<ref name="CIA-factbook-1991">CIA World Factbook (1991). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html Soviet Union Economy]''</ref>
| leader_title1 = Notable leaderships
| leader_name1 = [[Vladimir Lenin]] (1922–1924) [[Joseph Stalin]] (1924–1953)
|HDI_year=1990|HDI=0.920| currency = Soviet ruble (РУБ)
| p1 = '''1922:'''
| flag_p1 =
| p2 = [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991)|Russian SFSR]]
| flag_p2 = Flag_of_the_RSFSR_%281918–1925%29.svg
| p3 = [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–1991)|Ukrainian SSR]]
| flag_p3 = Flag_of_the_UkSSR_%281919-1929%29.svg
| p4 = [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1991)|Byelorussian SSR]]
| flag_p4 = Flag of the BSSR (1919–1927).svg
| p5 = [[Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1922–1936)|Transcaucasian SFSR]]
| flag_p5 = Flag of the Transcaucasian SFSR (1925-1936).svg
| p6 = '''1923:'''
| flag_p6 =
| p7 = [[Provisional Priamurye Government]]
| flag_p7 = Flag of the Provisional Priamurye Government (1896–1918).svg
| p8 = '''1924:'''
| flag_p8 =
| p9 = [[Bukharan People's Soviet Republic|Bukharan SSR]]
| flag_p9 = Flag of the Bukharan PSR (1920-1924).png
| p10 = [[Khorezm People's Soviet Republic|Khorezm SSR]]
| flag_p10 = Flag of the Khorezm PSR (1920-1923).svg
| p11 = '''1939:'''
| flag_p11 =
| p12 = [[Republic of Poland (1918–1939)|Poland]] (portion)
| flag_p12 = Flag_of_Poland_(1927–1980).svg
| p13 = '''1940:'''
| flag_p13 =
| p14 = [[Republic of Finland|Finland]] (portion)
| flag_p14 = Flag_of_Finland.svg
| p15 = [[Kingdom of Romania (1881–1947)|Romania]] (portion)
| flag_p15 = Flag of Romania.svg
| p16 = [[Republic of Estonia|Estonia]]
| flag_p16 = Flag of Estonia.svg
| p17 = [[Republic of Latvia|Latvia]]
| flag_p17 = Flag_of_Latvia.svg
| p18 = [[Republic of Lithuania|Lithuania]]
| flag_p18 = Flag_of_Lithuania.svg
| p19 = '''1944:'''
| flag_19 =
| p20 = [[Tuvan People's Republic|Tuva]]
| flag_p20 = Flag of the Tuvan People's Republic (1943-1944).svg
| p21 = '''1945:'''
| flag_21 =
| p22 = [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Nazi Germany]] (portion)
| flag_p22 = Flag of Germany (1935–1945).svg
| p23 = [[Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Japan]] (portion)
| flag_p23 = Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg
| p24 = '''1946:'''
| flag_p24 =
| p25 = [[Czechoslovak Republic (1945–1948)|Czechoslovakia]] (portion)
| flag_p25 = Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
| s1 = '''1990:'''
| flag_s1 =
| s2 = [[Republic of Lithuania|Lithuania]]
| flag_s2 = Flag_of_Lithuania.svg
| s3 = '''1991:'''
| flag_s3 =
| s4 = [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
| flag_s4 = Flag of Georgia (1990–2004).svg
| s5 = [[Republic of Estonia|Estonia]]
| flag_s5 = Flag of Estonia.svg
| s6 = [[Republic of Latvia|Latvia]]
| flag_s6 = Flag_of_Latvia.svg
| s7 = [[Ukraine]]
| flag_s7 = Flag of Ukraine (1991-1992).svg
| s8 = [[Republic of Moldova|Moldova]]
| flag_s8 = Flag of Moldova (1990–2010).svg
| s9 = [[Kyrgyz Republic|Kyrgyzstan]]
| flag_s9 = Flag of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
| s10 = [[Republic of Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]]
| flag_s10 = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
| s11 = [[Republic of Tajikistan|Tajikistan]]
| flag_s11 = Flag of Tajikistan (1991–1992).svg
| s12 = [[Republic of Armenia|Armenia]]
| flag_s12 = Flag of Armenia.svg
| s13 = [[Republic of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]]
| flag_s13 = Flag of Azerbaijan.svg
| s14 = [[Republic of Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]]
| flag_s14 = Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1973–1991).svg
| s15 = [[Republic of Belarus|Belarus]]
| flag_s15 = Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991–1995).svg
| s16 = [[Russian Federation|Russia]]
| flag_s16 = Flag of Russia (1991–1993).svg
| s17 = [[Republic of Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]]
| flag_s17 = Flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.svg
| s18 = [[People's Republic of China|China]] (portion)
| flag_s18 = Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg
| GDP_nominal_year = 1989
| GDP_nominal = $2.66 trillion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| GDP_nominal_rank = 2nd
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $9,211<ref>CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_per_capita_1.html GDP per Capita 1990]''</ref>
| export_year = 1988
| export = $110.7 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_commodities = Petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods (primarily capital goods and arms)<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_partners = Eastern Europe (49%), Western Europe (14%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] (5%), [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_year = 1988
| import = $107.3 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_commodities = Grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer manufactures<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_partners = Eastern Europe (43%), Western Europe (18%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| flag_caption = [[Flag of the Soviet Union|Flag]] (1955–1991)
| motto = Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!
| englishmotto = [[Workers of the world, unite!]]
| anthem = [[State Anthem of the Soviet Union|Государственный гимн СССР]][[File:Soviet anthem 1944.ogg]]
| life_span = 1922–1991
}}

The '''Soviet Union''', officially known as the '''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics''' ('''USSR'''),<ref group="note">Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР)</ref> was a transnational union of [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] [[socialist state|socialist states]] that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.

It was established in 1922 as a union of four [[Socialist state|socialist republics]] created after the 1917 [[October Revolution of 1917|October Revolution]], namely the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917-1991)|Russian SFSR]], the [[Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1922–1936)|Transcaucasian SFSR]], the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] and [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]]. The years that followed saw the addition of the [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (1924–1991)|Uzbek]] and [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (1929–1991)|Tajik SSRs]]; the Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved in 1936 in favor of the elevated SSRs of [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991)|Georgia]], [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenia]] and [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991)|Azerbaijan]]. From 1956 to 1991, the union comprised 15 member republics, two of which had their own member seats at the [[United Nations]].

The USSR represented a groundbreaking political alternative for the [[working class]] as the first stable socialist state in history. This was remarkable especially in a time period where workers in the [[Imperial core|Western world]] were still struggling for basic [[Trade union|union]] rights; the [[1924 Soviet Constitution]] and the [[1936 Soviet Constitution]] represented some of the most progressive political advancements in history.

The Soviet Union developed under extreme pressure from [[capitalist]] states and global [[Imperialist|imperialism]]; during the [[Russian Civil War]], starting from 1918, it suffered successive invasions by [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Britain]], [[French Republic (1870–1940)|France]], the [[United States of America|United States]], [[Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Japan]], [[Republic of Poland (1918–1939)|Poland]], and several other minor European powers. Some of these interventions temporarily succeeded in overthrowing local [[Soviet (governmental body)|soviets]] and installing [[anti-communist]] puppet regimes, although they were ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the founding of the Soviet Union.

Barely two decades later, during [[World War II]], the [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Nazi]] invasion represented the second imperialist war on the USSR, this time in the name of [[fascism]]. Although the fascists inflicted catastrophic damage on the western USSR and its population, the [[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Red Army]] ultimately succeeded in repelling the Nazi forces and went on to play an integral role in the defeat of German [[National Socialism|Nazism]] in 1945.

Despite these difficulties, the Soviet Union achieved some of the most impressive economic developments in modern history. Socialism transformed a country of illiterate and starving [[Peasantry|peasants]] into an industrial superpower with one of the fastest growing economies on Earth. The Soviet people were one of the world's best-educated and healthiest populations, responsible for some of history's most impressive industrial and scientific achievements to date. And it provided a very influential model for other later socialist projects in places such as [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] and [[Socialist Republic of Vietnam|Vietnam]].

Starting from 1988, many SSRs seceded from the USSR before [[Dissolution of the USSR|its illegal overthrow]] in 1991. Its former territory has been divided among the successor states of [[Russian Federation|Russia]], [[Republic of Latvia|Latvia]], [[Republic of Lithuania|Lithuania]], [[Republic of Estonia|Estonia]], [[Republic of Belarus|Belarus]], [[Ukraine]], [[Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic|Pridnestrovie]], [[Republic of Moldova|Moldova]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Republic of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]], [[Republic of Armenia|Armenia]], [[Artsakh]] (existing until 2024), [[Republic of Abkhazia|Abkhazia]], [[Republic of South Ossetia|South Ossetia]], [[Republic of Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]], [[Republic of Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]], [[Republic of Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]], [[Republic of Tajikistan|Tajikistan]], and [[Kyrgyz Republic|Kyrgyzstan]].

== History ==

=== Background ===
In early 20th century, the [[Russian Empire]] was a semi-feudal country ruled by an absolute [[monarchy]]. The average life expectancy in Russia was about 35 years. Literacy rates were only about 20%. The [[Proletariat|workers]] and [[Peasant|peasants]] lived horrible lives without minimum wage laws or basic work safety regulations and worked 60 or 70 hours per week.<ref name=":7">{{Web citation|newspaper=Oktaybr|title=Standard of living in the Soviet Union|date=2021-08-23|url=https://oktyabrvperedi.wordpress.com/2021/08/23/standard-of-living-in-the-soviet-union/?preview=true|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824102918/https://oktyabrvperedi.wordpress.com/2021/08/23/standard-of-living-in-the-soviet-union/?preview=true|archive-date=2021-08-24|retrieved=2022-09-11}}</ref>

Despite the size of the country, there was a constant shortage of farm land and famines were common. Most of the land belonged to the wealthy [[Landlord|landlords]] and [[Kulak|rich peasants]]. Because of technological backwardness, only the softest and most fertile soil could be used, which severely limited the amount of available farm land. There were many large [[Strike action|strikes]] and protests but it was not uncommon that the [[police]] would be deployed and break the strike, often by firing at the strikers.

In 1898, the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]] (RSDLP) was created, uniting the several communist study groups scattered around Russia. Among its founders were people like [[Vladimir Lenin]] and [[Julius Martov]]. It established itself as a Marxist party that had the task of overthrowing the monarchy and bring about socialism. However, during the course of the struggle, there was a lot of disagreement about when this goal was to be implemented and how. In 1903, emerged a ''de facto'' split in the party, and two factions were formed: the [[Mensheviks]] led by Martov and the [[Bolsheviks]] led by Lenin.

Through the leadership of the RSDLP, and against the worsening life conditions, the Russian workers attempted a [[Russian revolution of 1905|democratic revolution in 1905]]. Massive protests erupted all over the country, mutinies were widespread in the army and the people organized public meetings, called “soviets” or councils, which would get together and discuss what to do in an early form of organisation. The revolution eventually failed however. It won some democratic liberties from the Tsar, but those liberties would be constantly under attack by the monarchy afterwards. This revolution would be seen as a rehearsal for the later revolution.

In 1914, the [[First World War]] began and launched Russia into chaos. The economy was ruined by the war, there was a shortage of food and large amounts of the population were drafted to fight in the war. The war is seen by many people, especially the socialist, as an unjust imperialist conquest, where millions of poor and working class people from different countries had to die for the profits and wealth of the capitalist and monarchist governments of their countries.

The attitude towards the war ended up splitting the international socialist movement and the [[Second International]]. Many parties initially opposed the war, but then chose to support their own government in it, so as to protect their country from the other imperialist powers. Lenin, [[Rosa Luxemburg]] and other revolutionaries saw this as treachery. In their opinion, if everyone only supported their own imperialist government in an imperialist war, it wouldn't do anything to stop the war. They called for “turning the imperialist war to a class war”, friendship between the workers of the various countries, and unity against the capitalist governments of all warring countries. This led to the splitting of the International.

==== February Revolution ====
In February 1917, the Russian monarchy was overthrown. This led to the creation of the [[Russian Provisional Government]], consisting of the capitalist [[Constitutional Democratic Party|Cadet]] party, the [[Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries|Socialist-Revolutionary Party]] (or SRs) and the Mensheviks.

The Bolsheviks initially gave “conditional support” for the Provisional Government, meaning they supported it to the degree that it carried out the democratic reforms and other policies demanded by the population. However, it soon became very evident the Provisional Government was a failure.

The Provisional government refused to carry out [[Land reform|land reforms]]. This was necessary to prevent famine and reduce the land shortage, but it would have meant going against the landlords.

The Provisional government also refused to impose stricter regulations on trading and the economy. This would have been necessary to prevent economic disaster, but it would have meant going against the capitalists who greatly profited from the war and chaos.

Lastly, the Provisional government supported the war. They advocated a “war to a finish”, meaning until they won. It became evident that Russia was losing the war, however the Provisional government was still committed to fulfill the treaties and agreements with their allies in World War 1.

The Bolsheviks were quick to point out that the Provisional government acted exactly like the Tsarist government, which also sided with the landlords, capitalists and started the imperialist war. In their view, the Provisional government was continuing the Tsarist policy.

In April 1917, Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from exile and puts forward his ''April theses'', political proposals which call for the overthrow of the Provisional government.

The Bolsheviks put forward their slogans:<blockquote>Down with the provisional government!

Down with the capitalist ministers!

Factories for the workers, land to the peasants, end to the imperialist war!

Peace, Bread & Land</blockquote>In June of that year, the capital city Petrograd (today called St. Petersburg) held municipal elections. Bolsheviks achieved a massive victory, growing from essentially nothing to one of the biggest parties in Russia. The so-called “defencist bloc” still held the majority of seats however. This bloc consisted of the SR-party and Mensheviks. Defencism meant that they supported the war effort. The biggest loser of the election was the Cadet party, which achieved only 15% of the votes and lost its power as the biggest party.

On July 1, Russia launched an offensive on the front, which was known as the “Kerensky offensive” or the “July offensive.” The war was going badly and casualties were mounting for Russia, the thirst for blood from the imperialists and the Provisional government were very evident.

On July 3 and 4, there was a massive demonstration in Petrograd, of hundreds of thousands of people. Among the demonstrators were armed soldiers who came from the front to demand change and revolution. The Bolsheviks urged caution and said that the demonstration should be peaceful and organized. They opposed bringing weapons to the demonstration and said that they were not yet strong enough for a revolution. The workers and soldiers decided to bring weapons despite the advice of the Bolsheviks but the Bolsheviks still took part in the demonstrations to lend support to the workers.

The workers and soldiers carried the Bolshevik slogans of "End the war”, "Peace, bread and land". There was a government crack down against the demonstrators. Machine guns were turned towards the crowd, leaving countless dead. The Bolsheviks were now seen as a serious threat by the government. A warrant was issued for Lenin’s arrest, which forced him into hiding. Bolshevik newspaper ''[[Pravda]]'' was banned, their printing plant and party offices were destroyed. This period of repression is known as the “July Days". The Provisional government restored the death penalty on the front against soldiers who disobeyed orders.

The Bolsheviks lost a lot of their forces, and many of their important resources. They began publishing their newspapers under new names to avoid censorship. Despite all their difficulties the workers supported them more than ever, the Provisional government was exposed as a supporter of the capitalist elite and the imperialists. The Provisional government started forming stronger ties with the old capitalist party, the Cadets, to make up for the support they lost from the workers.

In August, there was an attempted coup against the Provisional government, called the “Kornilov Affair”. Kornilov was a general of the White Guard in the Russian army, who wanted to institute military dictatorship and strong rule of law, to stop the chaos in Russia. In other words, complete counter-revolution, end to the demonstrations, end to democracy, end to the working class movement.

The railway workers started a strike and refused to transport his troops while the workers and soldiers of Petrograd formed the armed Red Guard units and took up the defence of Petrograd against Kornilov. Kornilov’s coup ended in failure.

After the overthrow of the monarchy, the formation of soviets had begun again in all large cities, but at the time their leadership would be predominantly Menshevik.

In September, the Bolsheviks gained the majority in the Petrograd Soviet and soon after in the soviets of Moscow and other large cities. The Soviets already carried out many important functions in the cities as the Russian government was incapable of doing so. The Soviets even organized the defence of Petrograd. As the economy was in ruins and the war effort was failing, more people turned towards the Soviets' leadership.

==== Great October Socialist Revolution ====
{{Main article|October Revolution}}
[[File:Lenin_proclaims_Soviet_power.jpeg|thumb|315x315px]]
The 6th Bolshevik party congress had agreed that they should carry out an armed revolution. In October, the Petrograd Soviet created a Military Revolutionary Committee. These special bodies were formed all over the country connected with each soviet in each city. The Menshevik and SR minorities in the soviets opposed revolution, but the SR party split. The “left-SR” group sided with the Bolsheviks.

The Bolshevik soldiers organization took over the garrison. On 24 October the Military Revolutionary Committee occupied the telegraph, telephone offices and other important buildings. The cruiser ''Aurora'', which was controlled by Bolshevik sailors, fired a shot to signal the beginning of the revolution. The workers and soldiers stormed the winter palace. The same evening there was a congress of Soviets, where delegates arrived from all over the country. This congress elected the new Russian government, elected by the soviets of workers and soldiers, the Soviet Government. The October Revolution had taken power.

The October Revolution showed that a revolution by the ordinary people was possible. It showed that capitalism is ultimately incapable of solving its internal contradictions. Despite getting moderate leftists into the government, the policy was as imperialist, profit-driven and anti-popular as during the Tsarist era. The moderate leftists didn’t improve capitalism, they were used by capitalism. Only revolution stopped Russia’s involvement in the World War, carried out land reform and dealt with the crisis of unregulated capitalism, and began the process of building a new economic model which would serve the needs and interests of the people, not profits.<ref name=":9">{{News citation|journalist=TheFinnishBolshevik|date=2017-11-08|title=Brief History of the October Revolution|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2017/11/08/brief-history-of-the-october-revolution/|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref>

==== Civil War ====
{{Main article|Russian Civil War}}
The October Revolution led to a civil war where the capitalists tried to seize back the state. 14 capitalist governments including the [[United States of America|USA]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Great Britain]], [[French Republic (1870–1940)|France]], [[Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Japan]], [[Republic of Poland (1918–1939)|Poland]] and many others invaded [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991)|Soviet Russia]] to destroy the Soviet government, but they failed, and the Soviet Union was created.<ref name=":9" />

===Treaty on formation of the USSR ===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]]''</blockquote>

=== New Economic Policy ===
Lenin proposed the [[New Economic Policy]] at the [[10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|10th Party Congress]] in March 1921. The NEP allowed peasants to keep their grain and sell their surplus. By 1924, the Soviet Union had defeated foreign invaders and the counterrevolutionary Whites and nationalized key industries. [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]] and the [[Left Opposition]] believed that the Soviet Union could only survive if there was a socialist revolution in the [[imperial core]]. The [[14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|14th Party Congress]] in 1925 rejected the Left Opposition and adopted a course of rapid industrialization for the Soviet economy to catch up to the West.<ref name=":02" />:18–25 The Central Committee purged Trotsky and his supporters from the party in 1927.<ref name=":0223">{{Citation|author=Ludo Martens|year=1996|title=Another View of Stalin|chapter=|page=|pdf=https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/bafykbzaceab64vxtxpqt2cdl4zsrsftmedqidn4foq74gr25qkd35z5nwogdi?filename=Ludo%20Martens%20-%20Another%20View%20of%20Stalin-Editions%20EPO%20%281996%29.pdf|publisher=Editions EPO|isbn=9782872620814}}</ref>:116–9

The [[Right Opposition]], led by [[Nikolai Bukharin|Bukharin]] and [[Alexei Rykov|Rykov]], strongly supported the NEP and encouraged private enterprise. They opposed [[collectivization]] and rapid industrialization.<ref name=":02">{{Citation|author=Roger Keeran, Thomas Kenny|year=2010|title=Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union|chapter=|page=|pdf=https://ipfs.io/ipfs/bafykbzaceaj5ucph44bjwyhlhsbycckr3ts76zbucn2hbrea32tltcd4s5ekg?filename=Roger%20Keeran_%20Thomas%20Kenny%20-%20Socialism%20Betrayed_%20Behind%20the%20Collapse%20of%20the%20Soviet%20Union-iUniverse.com%20%282010%29.pdf|publisher=iUniverse.com|isbn=9781450241717}}</ref>:18–25 When the Five Year Plans finally began, Bukharin wanted to prioritize light industry over heavy industry.<ref name=":0223" />:35–42

During the NEP, the rural economy recovered from the wars. The agricultural production of the peasants alone in 1926 was higher than the peasants and landlord's estates combined before World War I. The number of pigs and cattle in 1928 was between 7% and 10% higher than in 1914. Agriculture continued to be mostly individualized. Kulaks and Orthodox priests controlled much of the countryside and continued to take land from poor and middle peasants.<ref name=":0223" />:45–61

=== Industrialization and collectivization ===
[[File:Life has become better poster.png|thumb|315x315px|"Widen the front of the [[Alexei Stakhanov|Stakhanovite]] movement."]]
By the end of the NEP in 1928, different fields of heavy industry had reached or surpassed the pre-war level. The Soviet Union began its first Five Year Plan in 1928 to create modern industry in order to mechanize agriculture and strengthen the country against invaders.<ref name=":0223" />:35–42 From 1928 to 1940, industrial production grew by an average of 11% every year. Literacy rates increased from 46% to 80%.<ref name=":02" />:18–25

In 1936, the Soviet Union adopted a [[Library:Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1936)|new constitution]] that replaced the previous constitution from 1924. It guaranteed [[gender]], [[Race|racial]], and [[Nation|national]] equality and freedom of [[religion]], speech, and the press. It also established universal suffrage and equal election of deputies, whereas urban areas had previously had previously been overrepresented.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Joseph Stalin]]|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Bolshevik Party in the Struggle to Complete the Building of the Socialist Society. Introduction of the New Constitution|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch12.htm}}</ref>

Between 1938 and 1941, the Red Army grew from two to six or seven million soldiers. Construction of railroads and factories continued in the Urals, Siberia, and Central Asia.<ref name=":0223" />:35–42

==== Industrialization ====
The industrial output of the Soviet Union doubled between 1929 and 1933. During this same time period, the economies of capitalist countries were shrinking because of the [[Great Depression]], which did not affect the Soviet Union.<ref name=":6">{{Web citation|author=[[TheFinnishBolshevik]]|newspaper=ML-Theory|title=The results of the 1st & 2nd Five-Year Plans: Soviet industrial revolution.|date=2016-08-07|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2016/08/07/the-results-of-the-1st-2nd-soviet-five-year-plans-soviet-industrial-revolution/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622100104/https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2016/08/07/the-results-of-the-1st-2nd-soviet-five-year-plans-soviet-industrial-revolution/|archive-date=2022-06-22|retrieved=2022-08-07}}</ref> Electrical generation reached 4.07 gigawatts by 1935, surpassing Lenin's goal by 133%.<ref name=":0223" />:35–42

From 1928 to 1932, the number of industrial workers in the USSR doubled from three to six million, and the country began establishing industrial centers in the Urals and Siberia. By 1932, 56% of the USSR's national income was reinvested in capital outlay.<ref name=":0223" />:35–42

==== Collectivization ====
A series of bad harvests in 1924, 1927, and 1928 led the Soviet government to seize grain from the kulaks to avoid famine in the cities. The government decided to collectivize farming as fast as possible, but Bukharin disagreed and believed kulak production would naturally develop into collective farms. By 1929, cities had to ration bread, meat, sugar, and tea.<ref name=":0223" />:45–61 The Central Committee officially began collectivization in November 1929 and divided the USSR into three groups: the North Caucasus and Middle and Lower Volga would have to collectivize by spring 1931; Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Urals, and the Central Black Earth Region by spring 1932; and Transcaucasia, Moscow, and the rest of Central Asia by 1933.<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Bolshevik Party in the Struggle for the Collectivization of Agriculture|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch11.htm}}</ref>

Collective farms (''kolkhozy'') surpassed the kulaks in 1929, and 7.5% of peasants had joined collective farms by October 1929. The peasants expropriated kulaks and exiled many of them. By January 1930, 18.1% of peasant families were collectivized including more than 39% in the Volga and Ural regions. Some local authorities were overenthusiastic and tried to collectivize too quickly. Because rural areas lacked a strong party presence, the Central Committee sent [[Sergo Orjonikidze|Orjonikidze]], [[Lazar Kaganovich|Kaganovich]], and [[Yakov Yakovlev|Yakovlev]] to the countryside in February 1930 to educate and oversee the peasantry. Ukraine organized almost 4,000 courses for 275,000 peasants, and the Red Army trained tractor drivers and radio and agriculture specialists.

In January 1930, the party sent 25,000 industrial workers to the countryside to help with collectivization and prevent excesses. Many were [[All-Union Leninist Young Communist League|Komsomol]] members or veterans of the Civil War. They criticized local authorities for forcing peasants to collectivize without preparation and helped win support for collectivization. Kulaks murdered many of these workers and claimed they made an alliance with the antichrist. The workers organized literacy campaigns and ended the cycle of famines that had existed for centuries.<ref name=":0223" />:45–61

During the First Five Year Plan, crop area increased from 118 million hectares to 129.7 million. In 1929, only 3.9% of farms had been collectivized, but by 1933 75% of farmland was in collective farms, 10.8% was in state farms (''sovkhozy''), and 15.7% was farmed by individual peasants. Over 167,000 collective farms were established during this period. The number of livestock decreased dramatically due to kulaks killing their animals to sabotage the Soviet Union. The number of tractors increased from 34,900 to 204,100 during the First Five Year Plan, and the number of combine harvesters increased from 1,700 to 13,500.

During the Second Five Year Plan, livestock recovered from the kulak sabotage. By 1938, there were more than twice as many sheep, goats, and hogs as there had been in 1933. The number of cattle increased by 64.6% during the Second Five Year Plan and the number of horses increased by 5.4%. The amount of mechanical farm equipment continued to increase, and the number of tractors grew from 210,900 to 483,500.<ref name=":6" />

==== Internal struggles ====
In early 1932, Trotsky sent letters to [[Karl Radek|Radek]], [[Grigory Sokolnikov|Sokolnikov]] and [[Yevgeni Preobrazhensky|Probrazhensky]] and encouraged them to join anti-[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] activities. [[Leonid Nikolaev]] assassinated [[Sergei Kirov]] in December 1934 in a party office in Leningrad. [[Grigory Zinoviev]], a [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]], had inspired the assassination.<ref name=":0223" />:116–9

Members of the Right Opposition also planned to overthrow the Soviet government, and Moscow party leader [[Martemyan Ryutin]] released a 200-page platform calling for the overthrow of the CPSU leadership and decollectivization.<ref name=":0223" />:135–41

Marshal [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky|Tukhachevsky]] and other military officials were executed in 1937 for planning to assassinate Stalin and install a pro-German government, and the political commissar system of the Civil War was introduced to prevent a [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]]-style military coup.<ref name=":0223" />:150–2 In 1939, Colonel Tokaev met with five high-ranking Red Army officers and discussed a plan to overthrow Stalin in the case of war.<ref name=":0223" />:135–41

In July 1937, Stalin and [[Vyacheslav Molotov|Molotov]] released a list of 72,950 criminals and wreckers to be executed, and [[Nikolai Yezhov|Yezhov]] signed the list. All executions had to be approved by troikas. In late 1937, local authorities attempted to increase execution quotas and purge innocent party members. In January 1938, the Central Committee criticized excessive repression, and [[Lavrentiy Beria|Beria]] even called Yezhov a [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Nazi]] agent in late 1938. On 11 November 1938, Stalin ordered Yezhov to stop the purges.<ref name=":0223" />:166–7

===Great Patriotic War===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Second World War]]''</blockquote>[[File:Death to invaders poster.png|thumb|290x290px|"Death to the German invaders"]]Contrary to the propaganda that mentioned that Stalin wasn't ready for the war, on January 31st, 1931, he mentions the importance of the creation of an industrial base in the Ural mountains, Siberia and Kazakhstan.<ref>{{Citation|author=Domenico Losurdo, David Ferreira|year=2020|title=Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend|chapter=How to Cast a God into Hell: The Khrushchev Report|section=The Quick Unraveling of the Blitzkrieg|page=22|quote=In fact, Stalin had insisted repeatedly and vigorously on this. On January 31st, 1931, he pushes forward the “creation of a new and well-equipped industrial base in the Ural Mountains, Siberia and Kazakhstan.”|lg=http://library.lol/main/fab891d8f6bbf7bb49e78240483751e4|trans-lang=Italian}}</ref> Following the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Italian]] invasion of [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]] in 1935, the USSR proposed a collective security system for Europe and signed defense treaties with France and [[Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938)|Czechoslovakia]]. Germany and [[Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Japan]] signed the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]] in November 1936, and Italy joined soon after. In May 1938, the USSR sent 40 divisions to guard the western border of Czechoslovakia from Germany, but Britain and France negotiated with Germany to let the Nazis annex the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia. When the Nazis annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia, the USSR began more negotiations with Britain and France, but they refused to make an alliance and Britain instead made a secret agreement with the Nazis agreeing to protect the British Empire. Poland also refused a defense agreement against Germany. From May to August 1939, the USSR fought off a Japanese invasion of [[Mongolian People's Republic (1924–1992)|Mongolia]].<ref name=":0223" />:185–7

In March 1941, Stalin sent 800,000 reservists to the western border of the USSR. On 21 June, a German deserter reported that the Nazis would attack the next night. [[Semen Tymoshenko|Tymoshenko]] and [[Georgy Zhukov|Zhukov]] alerted all units and told them to occupy firing posts in fortified areas. Germany bombed border cities in the morning of 22 June and Stalin ordered the Politburo to convene. Two days after the Nazi invasion, the Soviets managed to move over 1500 major industrial companies after the Urals.<ref>{{Citation|author=Domenico Losurdo, David Ferreira|year=2020|title=Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend|chapter=How to Cast a God into Hell: The Khrushchev Report|section=The Quick Unraveling of the Blitzkrieg|page=22|quote=Yes, “created two days after the German invasion, the Evacuation Committee managed to move to the East 1,500 major industrial companies, after titanic operations of great logistic complexity.”|lg=http://libgen.li/ads.php?md5=fab891d8f6bbf7bb49e78240483751e4|trans-lang=Italian}}</ref> On 26 June, the Red Army began building a reserve front 300 km behind the front lines. The Nazis broke the Western Front and approached Minsk in the same day.<ref name=":0223" />:191–223 Hitler himself was amazed at the resistance posed by the Soviet Union, mentioning that they found railways that weren't on the maps, huge factories where only villages were before, and himself exclaiming "How is it possible that such a primitive people can reach such technical objectives in such a short period of time?"<ref>{{Citation|author=Domenico Losurdo, David Ferreira|year=2020|title=Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend|chapter=How to Cast a God into Hell: The Khrushchev Report|section=The Quick Unraveling of the Blitzkrieg|page=23|quote=November 29th, 1941:
How is it possible that such a primitive people can reach such technical objectives in such a short period of time?

August 26th, 1942:
With respect to Russia, it is incontestable that Stalin raised the standard of living. The
Russian people don’t go hungry [at the moment when Operation Barbarossa was launched]. In general, it’s necessary to recognize that they have built factories of similar importance to Hermann Goering Reichswerke where two years ago nothing but unknown villages existed. We come across railway lines that aren’t on the maps.|lg=http://library.lol/main/fab891d8f6bbf7bb49e78240483751e4|trans-lang=Italian}}</ref>

During the Second World War, the Soviet Union took control of the [[Baltics|Baltic states]] and liberated them from [[Fascism|fascist]] rule.<ref name=":04">{{Citation|author=Albert Szymanski|year=1984|title=Human Rights in the Soviet Union|chapter=|page=|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceazdmtb2y3qq27fve5ib3gk7uv2unt6ae2xss74xmfpur7k5uhl5m?filename=Albert%20Szymanski%20-%20Human%20Rights%20in%20the%20Soviet%20Union_%20Including%20Comparisons%20with%20the%20U.S.A.-Zed%20Books%20Ltd.%20%281984%29.pdf|city=London|publisher=Zed Books Ltd|isbn=0862320186|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=C597B1232D9EA6B0F3DCB438D7E15A81}}</ref>:78–82 On 8 August 1945, exactly three months after the defeat of Nazi Germany, Soviet troops entered [[Empire of (Great) Manchuria|Manchuria]] and [[Korea]], and Japan surrendered within a week.<ref name=":12">{{Citation|author=Stephen Gowans|year=2018|title=Patriots, Traitors and Empires: The Story of Korea’s Struggle for Freedom|chapter=|page=|pdf=https://ipfs.io/ipfs/bafykbzaced4iiga4ngtxusr2civjxewbili5jne2sbpefbx2s3im2kphattzc?filename=Stephen%20Gowans%20-%20Patriots%2C%20Traitors%20and%20Empires_%20The%20Story%20of%20Korea%E2%80%99s%20Struggle%20for%20Freedom-Baraka%20Books%20%282018%29.pdf|city=Montreal|publisher=Baraka Books|isbn=9781771861427|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=8435F6FF91279531705764823FDC2A7F}}</ref>:72 The USSR and United States then agreed to temporarily divide Korea along the 38th parallel, with the occupation lasting no more than five years. The Soviets left Korea in late 1948, but the US military did not and continues to occupy [[Republic of Korea|south Korea]] to this day.<ref name=":12" />:79

=== Postwar period ===
==== Stalin's last years ====
The Fourth Five-Year Plan began in February 1946, and industry recovered to prewar levels by 1948. By 1950, industrial production was 73% higher than 1940 and consumer goods were 23% higher. The USSR developed its first [[Nuclear weapon|atomic bomb]] in 1947, ending the USA's nuclear monopoly.<ref name=":0223" />:239–45

After the war, Stalin and [[Andrei Zhdanov|Zhdanov]] initially wanted to reduce military and heavy industry spending. Stalin changed his mind when the [[Marshall Plan]] and [[Truman Doctrine]] showed that the United States was committed to destroying the USSR. By 1952, industrial production reached 2.5 times the amount from before the Second World War.<ref name=":02" />:18–53

The USSR recognized [[State of Israel|Israel]] shortly after its founding but reversed its position in 1953 and supported [[Arab Republic of Egypt|Egypt]] against Israel in the [[Six-Day War]].'''<ref name=":04" />''':90–5

==== Khrushchev period ====
After Stalin died in 1953, [[Nikita Khrushchev]] became General Secretary and [[Georgy Malenkov]] became Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. The Central Committee under Khrushchev secretly arrested [[Lavrentiy Beria]], head of the [[People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs|NKVD]], and began releasing [[Counterrevolution|counterrevolutionaries]] from prison.

In January 1954, Khrushchev introduced the Virgin Lands policy in an attempt to increase agricultural production by farming new areas in Siberia and Kazakhstan. 300,000 volunteers cultivated 13 million hectares of land in the first year and another 14 million the next year. Molotov criticized this policy for redirecting resources away from industrialization. The campaign was initially very successful, peaking in 1956, but it declined after that and ended in 1964. Khrushchev also tried to increase cattle production by growing corn to feed livestock and promoted chemical fertilizers instead of rotating crops.

Khrushchev delivered a "Secret Speech" in 1956 condemning Stalin. Although most of the Central Committee supported the speech, Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich, and [[Kliment Voroshilov|Voroshilov]] said it gave an unbalanced account of Stalin. In 1957, the Presidium voted 7 to 3 (with one abstention) to remove Khrushchev from power. The Central Committee then expelled Molotov, Malenkov, Shepilov, and Kaganovich from positions of power.

Khrushchev decentralized economic planning and replaced it with local planning authorities. He allowed some counterrevolutionary propaganda including [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn|Solzhenitsyn]]'s novels to be published. He reduced quality of cadre by allowing mass recruitment into the party, required a third of officials to be replaced at every election, and split the party into industrial and agricultural sections.<ref name=":02" />:18–53

In the late 1950s, the Soviet Union rescinded the 1920 [[Karakhan Manifesto]], which returned all Chinese territories occupied by the Russian Empire to China.<ref name=":122222">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=Tawang|page=166|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref>

==== Brezhnev period ====
The [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]] removed Khrushchev from power in 1964 and reintroduced central planning. [[Leonid Brezhnev|Brezhnev]] succeeded Khrushchev as General Secretary and served until 1982. He replaced Khrushchev's replacement policy with a stability of cadre policy which resisted changes in leadership. He also reversed Khrushchev's division of the party and mass recruitment. Although the Brezhnev period is often seen as a period of stagnation, the Soviet economy continued to grow more than twice as fast as Western countries. Unfortunately, Brezhnev was also responsible for nepotism and corruption.<ref name=":02" />:18–53 In addition, the black market grew during this period and led to the creation of a [[Petty bourgeoisie|petty-bourgeois]] class.<ref name=":02" />:63

==== Andropov year ====
After Brezhnev's death in 1982, [[Yuri Andropov]] was elected as General Secretary. He attempted to reverse the revisionist policies of his predecessors but died of kidney failure only 15 months into his term. He planned to modernize Soviet technology, improve economic planning, and combat absenteeism and drunkenness in the workplace.<ref name=":02" />:18–53

===Decline and counterrevolution===

====Glasnost and perestroika====
[[Mikhail Gorbachev]] became General Secretary of the CPSU in 1985 and introduced [[Liberalism|liberal]] reforms. A group led by Premier [[Nikolai Ryzhkov]] favored using science and technology to increase production instead of Gorbachev's privatization. Central Committee Secretary [[Lev Zaikov]] supported changing investment policy and promoting inspections and wage differentials. Second Secretary [[Yegor Ligachyov]] opposed consumerism and corruption and upheld central planning and discipline.<ref name=":02" />:110–1

At the 19th Party Conference in June 1988, Gorbachev proposed a new system of government. It consisted of a Congress of People's Deputies with 50% of seats reserved for non-party members, and a smaller Supreme Soviet elected by the Congress. The Congress would elect an executive president instead of a Council of People's Commissars.<ref name=":02" />:148–9

Gorbachev ended assistance to Soviet allies in [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978–1992)|Afghanistan]] and [[Warsaw Pact|Eastern Europe]] in 1988, allowing widespread [[Counterrevolutions of 1989|counterrevolution]]. He and [[Alexander Yakovlev|Yakovlev]] ignored [[Nationalism|nationalist]] and separatist movements in the Baltics. Gorbachev also failed to respond to nationalist riots in [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991)|Kazakhstan]] and even incited a rebellion of Armenians in [[Nagorno-Karabakh]] to embarrass his political opponents.<ref name=":02" />:157–64 Shortages were common, caused by Gorbachev's policies, as well as economic sanctions, and being forced to participate in the Arms Race, which drained money and resources.

Between 1989 and 1991, Gorbachev changed the CPSU from a [[vanguard party]] into a parliamentary party, undermined central planning, encouraged black market activity, allowed the West to infiltrate media through ''[[glasnost]]'', and surrendered to the United States in terms of foreign policy, abandoning [[anti-imperialism]] and seeking Western support. He changed positions on the national question and initially attempted to repress Baltic separatists before negotiating with them.<ref name=":02" />:170–205

==== Yeltsin–Gorbachev struggle ====
The March 1989 elections to Congress of People's Deputies overrepresented intellectuals and underrepresented workers and peasants. 87% of its members were from the CPSU, but 44% of party members who ran unopposed were not elected. [[Boris Yeltsin]] was elected, but many party leaders lost their positions. Members of the Congress disputed basic ideas of Marxism–Leninism such as the vanguard party and [[Marxist economics]].

In 1989, a massive mine strike began, which was the first major labor unrest since the 1920s. The government shipped large quantities of food and supplies to mining areas.

By early 1990, there was a system of [[dual power]] in which Gorbachev controlled the USSR and Yeltsin controlled Russia. Yeltsin took control of most of the Soviet media between 1989 and 1991 and took power in Moscow and Leningrad by March 1990. Anti-Soviet groups such as the [[Social democracy|social-democratic]] [[Democratic Platform]] and the [[Market socialism|market socialist]] [[Marxist Platform]] formed within the CPSU. After the 28th Party Congress in July 1990, Yeltsin and the Democratic Platform left the CPSU, and left-oppositionists such as [[Yegor Ligachyov|Ligachyov]] founded the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation|CPRF]]. The party collapsed after the Congress and approached bankruptcy.

Gorbachev removed the CPSU's influence in the [[Soviet Army]] and shrank the army from 5.3 million to under 4 million. As late as May 1990, 70% of the Central Committee opposed Gorbachev, and the majority of the workers voted to keep the USSR in March 1991. Black market profits and organized crime funded pro-capitalist politicians. The [[Democratic Russia]] group opposed the vanguard party and promoted parliamentary control of the [[Committee for State Security|KGB]], a market economy, and the sovereignty of the RSFSR.

In July 1990, Gorbachev removed Ryzhkov from power and made a deal with Yeltsin, then the head of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet. Ryzhkov and his economist, [[Leonid Abalkin]], had proposed a six-year plan of gradual privatization, but Gorbachev and Yeltsin chose [[Stanislav Shatalin]] to privatize the economy within 500 days. The plan gave all taxing power to the republics and prioritized the laws of each republic over all-union laws. Gorbachev eventually criticized the plan for being too rapid, but his followers, including Yakovlev, [[Eduard Shevardnadze|Shevardnadze]], [[Georgy Shakhnazarov|Shakhnazarov]], [[Roy Medvedev|Medvedev]], and [[Anatoly Chernyayev|Chernyayev]], supported it.<ref name=":02" />:170–205

==== August Coup ====
<blockquote>''See main article: [[August Coup|August Coup]]''</blockquote>The August Coup occurred between August 19 and 22, 1991 and was an attempt by hardliners in the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU) to oust revisionist [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] from office and roll-back his policies. The coup was planned by top military and civilian officials, including Vice President [[Gennady Yanayev]], who together formed the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP).

The GKChP hardliners dispatched [[KGB]] agents, who detained Gorbachev at his dacha in [[Crimea]] but failed to detain the recently elected president of a newly reconstituted [[Russia]], [[Boris Yeltsin]], who had been both an ally and critic of Gorbachev. The coup's failure was instrumental in the [[Overthrow of the Soviet Union|counterrevolution which overthrew the Soviet Union]] four months later in December 1991.{{Citation needed}}

====Dissolution====
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Overthrow of the Soviet Union|Overthrow of the USSR]]''</blockquote>The overthrow of the Soviet Union was the process of [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] counter-revolution which culminated in the disintegration of the USSR into independent states in December of 1991. Among the various causes for dissolution was the organization of a bourgeois class inside the USSR under a 'shadow economy' which effectively guaranteed their interests through corrupt officials of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). It's generally accepted that the political and economic policies of Khrushchev, Brezhnev and ultimately Gorbachev paved the way for counter-revolution in the USSR.

==Government==

===Elections===
[[File:British vs. Soviet electoral system.png|thumb|371x371px|Diagram contrasting the British and Soviet electoral systems]]
Before 1936, [[Clergy|priests]], landlords, [[Bourgeoisie|capitalists]], and former [[White movement|Whites]] were not allowed to vote. The 1936 Soviet constitution removed these restrictions so all citizens aged 18 or older could vote, with the exception of insane people and convicted criminals disenfranchised by a court. Under the 1924 constitution, the people elected the lowest level of representatives and higher soviets were elected indirectly. The 1936 constitution made all soviets from the local to all-union level directly elected.<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Bolshevik Party in the Struggle to Complete the Building of the Socialist Society. Introduction of the New Constitution|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch12.htm}}</ref>

===Supreme Soviet===
The [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]] was the legislature of the USSR and was elected every four years. It consisted of two branches: the [[Soviet of the Union]], which was elected based on population, and the [[Soviet of Nationalities]], which was elected according to the republics, [[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics|ASSRs]], [[autonomous oblasts]], and [[autonomous okrugs]] of the Soviet Union. Either house could initiate legislation and it had to be passed by a majority vote of both houses to become law. Each house elected a chairman and two vice-chairmen to preside over their sessions, which occurred twice every year. The [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] could also convene special sessions.<ref name=":2" /> Before 1936, the Supreme Soviet was known as the [[Congress of Soviets]] and the Soviet of the Union was known as the [[Federal Soviet]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Second All-Union Congress of Soviets|year=1924|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1924)|chapter=}}</ref>

The Federal Soviet was elected with one deputy per 25,000 urban inhabitants or 125,000 rural inhabitants.<ref name=":1" /> After 1936, the Soviet of the Union had one deputy for every 300,000 inhabitants.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=[[Joseph Stalin]]|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=The Highest Organs of State Authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}}</ref>

From 1924 to 1936, the Soviet of Nationalities had five deputies for every union republic and one for every autonomous republic and autonomous oblast.<ref name=":1" /> In 1936, this was changed to 25 for every union republic, ten for each ASSR, five for each autonomous oblast, and one for each autonomous okrug.<ref name=":2" /> In 1977, it was changed again so that every SSR would have 32 deputies and every ASSR would have 11.<ref>{{Citation|author=Government of the Soviet Union|year=1977|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1977,_Unamended)|chapter=Higher Bodies of State Authority and Administration of the USSR}}</ref>

===Presidium===
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was elected at a combined session of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. It consisted of a [[President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|President]], Secretary, one vice president from every union republic, and 24 members.<ref name=":1" />

===Council of People's Commissars===
The [[Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union|Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom) was the executive branch of the USSR and was elected at a joint session of the Soviet of the Union and Soviet of Nationalities.<ref name=":1" />

===Supreme Court===
The [[Supreme Court of the Soviet Union|Supreme Court]] was the highest court in the Soviet Union and was elected by the Supreme Soviet once every five years.<ref name=":1" />

==Administrative divisions==
<blockquote>''See main articles: [[Soviet republic (system of government)]] and [[Republics of the Soviet Union]]''</blockquote>
Constitutionally, the USSR was a federation of constituent Union Republics, which were either unitary states, such as [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] or [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussia]] (SSRs), or federations, such as [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]] or [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Transcaucasia]] (SFSRs), all four being the founding republics who signed the [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] in December 1922. In 1924, during the [[National delimitation in the Soviet Union|national delimitation]] in [[Central Asia]], [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbekistan]] and [[Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic|Turkmenistan]] were formed from parts of Russia's [[Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Turkestan ASSR]] and two Soviet dependencies, the [[Khorezm People's Soviet Republic|Khorezm]] and [[Bukharan People's Soviet Republic|Bukharan SSRs]]. In 1929, [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic|Tajikistan]] was split off from the Uzbekistan SSR. With the constitution of 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved, resulting in its constituent republics of [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenia]], [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgia]] and [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan]] being elevated to Union Republics, while [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakhstan]] and [[Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic|Kirghizia]] were split off from Russian SFSR, resulting in the same status.<ref>{{Citation|last=Adams, Simon |title=Russian Republics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LyqIDCc-cSsC |year=2005 |page=21 |publisher=Black Rabbit Books |isbn=978-1-58340-606-9|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041101/http://books.google.com/books?id=LyqIDCc-cSsC&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 1940, [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavia]] was formed from parts of Ukraine and [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina|Bessarabia]] and Ukrainian SSR. [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonia]], [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvia]] and [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]] (SSRs) were also [[Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)|admitted into the union]]. [[Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic|Karelia]] was split off from Russia as a Union Republic in March 1940 and was reabsorbed in 1956. Between July 1956 and September 1991, there were 15 union republics (see map below).<ref>{{Citation|last=Feldbrugge, Ferdinand Joseph Maria |title=Russian Law: The Rnd of the Soviet system and the Role of Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWt7MN3Dch8C |year=1993 |page=94 |publisher=[[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-7923-2358-7|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512041218/http://books.google.com/books?id=JWt7MN3Dch8C&dq|archive-date=12 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

While nominally a union of equals, in practice the Soviet Union was dominated by [[Russians]]. The domination was so absolute that for most of its existence, the country was commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as "Russia". While the RSFSR was technically only one republic within the larger union, it was by far the largest (both in terms of population and area), most powerful, and most highly developed. The RSFSR was also the industrial center of the Soviet Union.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
! colspan="2" |Republic
!Map of the Union Republics between 1956 and 1991
|-
|1
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Armenian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1952–1990).svg|25x25px|]] [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenian SSR]]
| rowspan="15" style="width:350px;" |[[File:Republics_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1956-1991).svg|600px]]
|-
|2
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Azerbaijan_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1956–1991).svg|25x25px|]] [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991)|Azerbaijan SSR]]
|-
|3
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Byelorussian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1951–1991).svg|25x25px|]] [[Byelorussian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1920–1991)|Byelorussian SSR]]

|-
|4
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Estonian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1953–1990).svg|25x25px|]] [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1991)|Estonian SSR]]
|-
|5
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Georgian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1951–1990).svg|25x25px|]] [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991)|Georgian SSR]]
|-
|6
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Kazakh_Soviet_Socialist_Republic.svg|25x25px|]] [[Kazakh_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1936–1991)|Kazakh SSR]]

|-
|7
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Kyrgyz_Soviet_Socialist_Republic.svg|25x25px|]] [[Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991)|Kirghiz SSR]]
|-
|8
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Latvian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1953–1990).svg|25x25px|]] [[Latvian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic|Latvian SSR]]

|-
|9
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Lithuanian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1953–1988).svg|25x25px|]] [[Lithuanian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic|Lithuanian SSR]]

|-
|10
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Moldavian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1952–1990).svg|25x25px|]] [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1991)|Moldavian SSR]]
|-
|11
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic_(1954–1991).svg|25x25px|]] [[Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic_(1917–1991)|Russian SFSR]]

|
|-
|12
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Tajik_Soviet_Socialist_Republic.svg|25x25px|]] [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (1929–1991)|Tajik SSR]]
|-
|13
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Turkmen_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1973–1991).svg|25x25px|]] [[Turkmen_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1925–1991)|Turkmen SSR]]

|-
|14
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Ukrainian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic.svg|25x25px|]] [[Ukrainian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1919–1991)|Ukrainian SSR]]

|-
|15
|[[File:Flag_of_the_Uzbek_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1952–1991).svg|25x25px|]] [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (1924–1991)|Uzbek SSR]]
|}

==Economy==
In the Soviet Union, the richest people earned about five times as much money as the poorest. The income gap was tiny compared to the United States, where billionaires have many thousands of times more money than the poorest workers.<ref name=":8">{{Web citation|author=Carlos Martinez|newspaper=[[Invent the Future]]|title=Why doesn’t the Soviet Union exist any more? Part 1: Introduction|date=2017-11-19|url=https://invent-the-future.org/2017/11/why-doesnt-the-soviet-union-exist-any-more-part-1-introduction/#fnref:12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211213148/https://invent-the-future.org/2017/11/why-doesnt-the-soviet-union-exist-any-more-part-1-introduction/|archive-date=2022-02-11|retrieved=2022-10-08}}</ref> Peasants made up 83% of the population in 1926 but only 20% in 1975, while the industrial workforce grew from five to 62 million during the same period.<ref name=":02" />:63

===Planning===
[[File:Tenth five year plan poster.png|thumb|240x240px|"Shock work for the 10th five-year plan!"]]
The Soviet economy was a [[planned economy]], in which much of the economic planning was aided by teams of mathematicians and economists. These plans were enacted in the form of five year plans.

These five year plans used production quotas to encourage growth of the Soviet economy. Contrary to popular belief, these quotas were based on previous production records, available technology, amid many other factors

===Agriculture===
Farms and farm equipment in the USSR were collectively owned. Grain production increased by 63% from the late 1950s to the late 1970s to reach 199 million tonnes per year. In the late 1950s, the USSR began to increase the proportion of grain used as animal feed in order to increase meat, egg, and dairy production. Total agricultural production increased by 147% between 1950 and 1977 while U.S. production only increased by 64% during the same period.

The USSR's geography made agriculture difficult because only 10% of its land was suitable for grain farming and 30% was too cold for any agriculture.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

===Housing and construction===
After the October Revolution, hundreds of thousands of workers moved from slums to nationalized houses. In 1919, a decree was passed setting a minimum of at least 8.25 square meters of living space per person, 30 cubic meters of air space for every adult, and 20 cubic meters for every child. This space only included living and bed rooms, not bathrooms or entrances. Rent in the Soviet Union was kept at under 4% of workers' total incomes,<ref name=":3">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Stalin Society]]|title=Housing in the USSR|date=2017-01-13|url=https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330020740/https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-date=2022-03-30|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref> and its proportion of income gradually decreased because rent was not increased at all after 1928.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

In 1920, 254 residential buildings were built and 2,347 were repaired. From 1923 to 1927, 12.5 million square meters of living space were built. From 1927 to 1931, another 28.85 million were built. The average living space for each worker greatly increased from the revolution to 1938: there was a 94% increase in Moscow, 100% in Leningrad, 176% in the [[Donbass]], and 195% in the Urals.<ref name=":3" />

===Industry and manufacturing===

===Services===

===Environment===

==Infrastructure==

===Transportation===
The standard fare for the Soviet subway was only five kopeks, or roughly eight U.S. cents, and remained constant from the 1930s to the 1980s.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

===Energy===

===Science and technology===

== Demographics ==

=== National groups ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Nationalities by republic<ref name=":04" />:52–7
!Republic
!Local nationality (1979)
!Russian population (1979)
!Change in local nationality (1959–1979)
|-
|Armenia
|89.7%
|2.3%
| +1.7%
|-
|Azerbaijan
|78.1%
|7.9%
| +10.6%
|-
|Belarus
|79.4%
|11.9%
| -1.7%
|-
|Estonia
|64.7%
|27.9%
| -9.9%
|-
|Georgia
|68.8%
|7.4%
| +4.5%
|-
|Kazakhstan
|36.0%
|40.8%
| +6.0%
|-
|Kyrgyzstan
|47.9%
|25.9%
| +7.2%
|-
|Latvia
|53.7%
|32.8%
| -8.3%
|-
|Lithuania
|80.0%
|8.9%
| +0.7%
|-
|Moldova
|63.9%
|12.8%
| -1.5%
|-
|Russia
|82.6%
|82.6%
| -0.7%
|-
|Tajikistan
|58.8%
|10.4%
| +5.7%
|-
|[[Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990)|Tatarstan]]<ref group="note">Data from 1970 instead of 1979</ref>
|49.1%
|
| +1.9%
|-
|Turkmenistan
|68.4%
|12.6%
| +7.5%
|-
|Ukraine
|73.6%
|21.1%
| -3.2%
|-
|Uzbekistan
|68.7%
|10.8%
| +7.6%
|}

=== Languages ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Languages by republic (1970)<ref name=":04" />:52–3
!Republic
!Native speakers from local nationality
!Books titles in local language
!Newspapers in local language
|-
|Armenia
|91.4%
|75%
|88%
|-
|Azerbaijan
|98.2%
|64%
|80%
|-
|Belarus
|80.2%
|21%
|75%
|-
|Estonia
|95.5%
|74%
|72%
|-
|Georgia
|98.4%
|73%
|86%
|-
|Kazakhstan
|98.0%
|31%
|37%
|-
|Kyrgyzstan
|98.8%
|47%
|55%
|-
|Latvia
|95.2%
|52%
|64%
|-
|Lithuania
|97.9%
|64%
|81%
|-
|Moldova
|95.0%
|31%
|47%
|-
|Russia
|
|93%
|93%
|-
|Tajikistan
|98.5%
|52%
|84%
|-
|Tatarstan
|89.2%
|
|
|-
|Turkmenistan
|98.9%
|65%
|70%
|-
|Ukraine
|85.7%
|37%
|80%
|-
|Uzbekistan
|98.6%
|44%
|57%
|}
In several republics, the circulation of books and newspapers in the local language was much higher than the percentage of book titles. For example, in Kazakhstan, the majority of individual books were in Kazakh even though only 31% of titles were in Kazakh. In Azerbaijan, 97% of magazine circulation was in Azeri.<ref name=":04" />:52

== Living standards ==
In 1917, the Bolsheviks reduced the working day to 8 hours. Workers had 12 to 48 guaranteed vacation days per year. The average person in the Soviet Union ate over 3,000 kilocalories per day and had a better diet than in the United States. By the 1980s, the Soviet Union had the seventh best diet in the world.<ref name=":7" /> Soviet citizens ate an average of 103 grams of protein per day, more than the UK, [[Federal Republic of Germany|West Germany]], [[Kingdom of Sweden|Sweden]], or [[Italian Republic|Italy]], and had a higher caloric intake than the UK, West Germany, or Sweden.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

Literacy increased from under 30% before the revolution to 87.4% in 1939 and reached 100% by 1970.<ref name=":7" />

Basic foods like bread, meat, dairy, and potatoes were heavily subsidized. Housing, medicine, transportation, and insurance combined only took up 15% of an average family's income.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

=== Working conditions ===
In the late 1960s, the Soviet Union adopted the 40-hour work week. The 1977 Constitution set the maximum at 41 hours with exceptions for national security; averting disasters; socially essential work such as transport, water supply, and electricity; completing work to avoid damage to [[means of production]]; and repair/maintenance to avoid putting other workers out of work.

Workers throughout the USSR had three weeks of paid vacation plus optional unpaid vacation. People who worked at night or in dangerous industries such as coal mining only worked for six or seven hours but received eight hours of pay.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

=== Education ===
Education in the Soviet Union was free<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens|section=Article 121|city=Moscow}}</ref> and was mandatory between the ages of 8 and 15. There were also ten-year schools that went to the age of 18, but the last three years were not mandatory before the Great Patriotic War. The curriculum included nature study, art, music, social science, and foreign languages.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Anglo-Soviet Youth Friendship Alliance|newspaper=Revolutionary Democracy|title=Education in the U.S.S.R.|url=http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/anglosov.htm|retrieved=2022-04-17|date=1942}}</ref> School days lasted between 4.5 and 6 hours, depending on age.<ref name=":0" /> Education was available in 52 different languages.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Eugene Puryear|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=Nations and Soviets: The National Question in the USSR|date=2022-06-12|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/nations-and-soviets-the-national-question-in-the-ussr/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613003437/https://www.liberationschool.org/nations-and-soviets-the-national-question-in-the-ussr/|archive-date=2022-06-13|retrieved=2022-08-31}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Number of school students
!
!1913
!1929
!1933
!1942
|-
|7-year schools
|6,800,000
|11,700,000
|21,300,000
|23,000,000
|-
|10-year schools
|1,000,000
|2,700,000
|5,500,000
|17,000,000
|-
|Total
|7,800,000
|14,400,000
|33,400,000
|40,000,000
|}
Between 1932 and 1937, 20,000 schools were built in the Soviet Union. Between 1938 and 1941, 20,000 more schools were built and 500,000 new teachers were trained. Between 1913 and 1940, the number of libraries in the USSR increased by 57,400. 12% of the USSR's national budget was spent on education.

Children aged 12 and older formed committees to care for school property and help other students. Corporal punishment was illegal.<ref name=":0" />

====Literacy rates====
[[File:To have more we must produce more.png|thumb|257x257px|"To have more, we must produce more. To produce more, we must know more."]]
Before the October Revolution, most people in Central Asia were illiterate. By the late 1930s, most people throughout the Soviet Union could read and literacy was nearly universal by the late 1950s.<ref name=":8" />

====Preschool====
Optional preschool and kindergarten were available in the Soviet Union from birth to the age of 8. In 1932, there were 600,000 children in daycares; this number increased to three million by 1937.<ref name=":0" /> Child care was either free or very cheap.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

====Universities====
In 1940, there were 700 universities in the USSR with 650,000 students enrolled. There were 22 universities in [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]], 13 in [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan]], and 30 in [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbekistan]].<ref name=":0" /> The Soviet Union had one of the highest levels of university attendance in the world.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

=== Health ===
[[File:Soviet doctor poster.png|thumb|323x323px|"Honor and Respect for the Rural Doctor! The Doctor is the Friend of the People!"]]
[[Nikolai Semashko]], the People's Commissar for Public Health from 1918 to 1930, proposed a health system based on the following principles:

*Unified principles of organization and centralization of the health care system
*Equal accessibility of healthcare for all citizens
*Priority attention to childhood and maternity
*Unity of preventive healthcare and treatment
*Elimination of social bases of diseases
*Involvement of the society in the cause of healthcare

The public health budget of the USSR increased by 75 times from the Russian Empire's budget in 1913. From the Civil War to 1928, the number of physicians increased from 19,785 to 63,219,<ref name=":5">{{News citation|author=Carlos Rule|newspaper=[[Stalin Society]]|title=Health in the USSR|date=2017-01-18|url=https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/18/health-in-the-ussr/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216095354/https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/18/health-in-the-ussr/|archive-date=2022-02-16|retrieved=2022-06-27}}</ref> and it reached 334,000 doctors (including dentists) by 1955. Production of pharmaceutical chemicals increased by five times from 1940 to 1950 and 3.1 times from 1950 to 1955 and there were 1,290,000 hospital beds in 1955.<ref name=":4">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Politsturm]]|title=Healthcare Under Socialism: The History of the Soviet Healthcare System|date=2021-09-07|url=https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112182526/https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-date=2021-11-12|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

Infant mortality decreased from 25% before the revolution to lower than [[Italian Republic|Italy]] or [[Republic of Austria|Austria]] by 1960,<ref name=":4" /> and child mortality decreased by half from 1917 to 1928.<ref name=":5" />

In 1978, the [[World Health Organization]] recognized the Soviet principles of healthcare as some of the best in the world.<ref name=":4" /> The Soviet Union had the most doctors per capita in the world, 34.6 per 10,000 people, which was more than twice the British level and almost twice the U.S. level. Drugs from hospitals or prescribed for chronic illnesses (70% of all medicines) were completely free.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

====By republic====
By 1941, [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991)|Azerbaijan]] had 2,500 doctors compared to 291 before the revolution. The number of physicians in [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (1929–1991)|Tajikistan]] increased from 13 to 372 over the same time period.<ref name=":5" />

====Life expectancy====
In the Russian Empire, the life expectancy was only 30 years.<ref name=":04" />:128–40 Soviet life expectancy was 59.4 years in 1953. By 1965, it had increased to 68.4 years, more than twice as long as before the revolution and 15 years more than the world average at the time.<ref name=":7" /> It increased to 70.4 years by 1975, which was slightly lower than [[Japan]] or Western Europe but higher than [[Republic of Finland|Finland]] or [[Latin America]]. The Soviet life expectancy was 2.5 years longer than the non-white life expectancy in the United States.<ref name=":04" />:128–40

====Infectious diseases====
[[File:Soviet cholera poster.png|thumb|352x352px|"Citizens! Get yourself a cholera vaccine. Only against a vaccine death is powerless."]]
During the [[Russian Civil War]], there were outbreaks of cholera, typhus, and smallpox. The prevalence of typhus decreased by more than twice from 1919 to 1922 and by 80 times by 1927 and the prevalence of malaria decreased by more than three times from 1917 to 1930. Compulsory vaccination for smallpox was introduced in 1919 and it was eradicated by 1937.<ref name=":4" />

==Human rights==
Article 123 of the 1936 [[Constitution of the Soviet Union|Soviet Constitution]] guaranteed national equality and banned [[racism]].<ref name=":10">{{Citation|author=[[Joseph Stalin]]|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union (1936)|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens|section=|city=Moscow}}</ref> In 1977, it was moved to article 36.<ref name=":11">{{Citation|author=Government of the Soviet Union|year=1977|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union (1977, Unamended)|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1977,_Unamended)|chapter=The State and the Individual|city=Moscow}}</ref>

===Women's rights===
After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks gave women equal rights in marriage. Women did not have to live with their husbands anymore and could now divorce without their husband's permission as well as own [[personal property]]. Husbands could also divorce without their wife's permission unless she was pregnant or had a child under one year old.<ref name=":04" />:102–11 Article 122 of the 1936 Constitution and 35 of the 1977 Constitution banned [[sexism]] and guaranteed equal rights for women.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" />

Spouses and ex-spouses did not have to support each other economically in most cases. However, an ex-husband had to pay child support to his ex-wife if she was looking after children: 25% of his income for one child, one-third for two children, and 50% for three or more children.<ref name=":04" />:102–11

Women's pay could not be lowered because of pregnancy or caring for young children. It was illegal to fire women who were pregnant or had children under one year of age. They could receive pensions starting at the age of 55, five years earlier than men.<ref name=":04" />:102–11

In higher education, women earned a majority of the country's economics, law, biology, and chemistry degrees. They also earned engineering, math, and physics degrees at a higher ratio than women in the United States.<ref name=":04" />:102–11

===Workers' rights===
{{quote|Stalin, the press, and the Stakhanovite movement all regularly encouraged ordinary people to criticize those in authority. […] Far from basing its rule on the negative means of coercion, the Soviet régime in the late 1930s fostered a limited but positive political role for the populace[.] [A]t lower levels of society, in day-to-day affairs and implementation of policy, [the political structure] was participatory. Only by staying on the surface of the story and limiting the use of evidence to certain kinds of sources can the system be described as one in which coercion overwhelmingly determined the course of workers’ lives. […] Stalin may have been a vicious murderer in the Kremlin, but a few blocks away managers had to grapple with the question of how to make the plan and keep workers on the job at the same time. This and similar issues meant that ultimately relatively little was controlled by government or party decree, which often expressed wishes rather than commands which were then fulfilled.|Robert W. Thurston|<ref name="Thurston">{{Citation|author=Robert W. Thurston|year=1992|title=Reassessing the history of Soviet workers: opportunities to criticize and participate in decision-making, 1935–1941|title-url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wRzUh9CXT7IP1NoPwE3mBIEKPvRoztqz|page=160–88}}</ref>}}

Many arrests in the 1930s were actually late punishments for genuine offenses such as serving in the White Army. Thurston asked ‘If the citizenry was supposed to be terrorized and stop thinking, why encourage criticism and input from below on a large scale?’ and concluded that his ‘evidence suggests that widespread fear did not exist in the case at hand [the Soviet ‘Great Terror’ period]’.<ref>{{Citation|author=Robert W. Thurston|year=1986|title=On Desk-Bound Parochialism, Commonsense Perspectives, and Lousy Evidence: A Reply to Robert Conquest|title-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2499177|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=238–244|doi=10.2307/2499177}}</ref> Soviet trades unions were allowed to criticize and participate in state policies;<ref name="Thurston"/> Soviet workers could openly criticize management, the result of which often ended in favour of the critic.<ref>{{Citation|author=Harry Schwartz|year=1960|title=Soviet Men At the Top; THE RED EXECUTIVE. A Study of the Organization Man in Russian Industry. By David Granick. 334 pp. New York: Doubleday & Co. $4.50|title-url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/05/22/archives/soviet-men-at-the-top-the-red-executive-a-study-of-the-organization.html}}</ref> Thus,

{{quote|One factory director […] implied that production meetings were a real ordeal for him. But at a question as to whether workers dared to criticize openly, he said, “any director who suppressed criticism would be severely punished. he would not only be removed, he would be tried.”|David Granick|<ref name="Granick">{{Citation|author=David Granick|year=1975|title=Restoration of Capitalism in the USSR|title-url=http://www.marx2mao.com/Other/RCSU75.html}}</ref>}}

==Culture==
[[File:Youth-soviet-sports.jpg|thumb|334x334px|"Youth to the stadiums!" B. Reshetnikov, 1962]]

===Sports===
The USSR put a lot of emphasis on sports, as evidenced by the material they produced (such as posters). They were also a participant in the Olympic Games and created their own competing event, the [[Spartakiads]] (named after [[Spartacus]], the rebel slave).

=== Weightlifting ===
The USSR produced many record-setting athletes, mainly in weightlifting, which was a very popular sport in the USSR and remains one to this day in existing socialist countries such as [[People's Republic of China|China]] or the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|DPRK]].

The Soviets pioneered their own system, which is today mostly saved and translated by [[Pavel Tsatsouline]]. While most weightlifters today reach their peak around 26 and retire around the age of 35, a few Soviet weightlifters produced world records well past their 30s. This is because their method focused on preserving longevity in their athletes, developed with the scientific method. Athletes were followed by scientists who analysed their data and produced a routine adapted to their level.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Craig Marker|date=2014-11-14|title=4 secrets of Soviet weightlifting as revealed by Pavel Tsatsouline|url=https://breakingmuscle.com/4-secrets-of-soviet-weightlifting-as-revealed-by-pavel/|newspaper=Breaking Muscle}}</ref>

The most famous Soviet weightlifter is arguably [[Vasily Alekseyev]], who set 80 world records in an eight-year period. He retired at the age of 38 after failing to register a total at the Moscow Olympics, following an injury he sustained in 1978.<ref>{{News citation|title=Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev Soviet weightlifter|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vasily-Ivanovich-Alekseyev|newspaper=Britannica}}</ref>

===Film===
In January 1922, Lenin issued a series of directions to the [[People’s Commissariat for Education]] on bringing film under socialist administration in the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991)|RSFSR]]. Lenin called on the Commissariat to supervise all film showings and to register and number every film shown in the republic. Lenin specified that all film screenings maintain a fixed proportion between non-counterrevolutionary entertainment films and a dedicated educational category titled "From the life of peoples of all countries", which would expose Soviet audiences to the realities of imperialism and international capitalism, with examples including Britain's colonial policy in [[British Raj (1858–1947)|India]], the workings of the League of Nations, and the poverty of post-war Berlin.<ref name=":13">{{Citation|last=Lenin|first=Vladimir|author=Vladimir Lenin|year=1922|title=Directives on the Film Business|title-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/jan/17.htm}}</ref>

Instead of immediately nationalizing all remaining privately owned cinemas, Lenin instead took a pragmatic approach in allowing private operators to continue under strict state oversight, granted they paid the state in the form of rent. This allowed private operators to have incentive to produce and acquire new pictures. Lenin also said that propaganda and educational films should be reviewed by experienced Marxists and writers before distribution, warning against poor-quality [[Propaganda|agitprop]] that had previously undermined its own message by alienating audiences.<ref name=":13" />

Lenin put a focus on showing films in villages and in the East.<ref name=":13" />

== Further reading ==

* [[:Category:Library works about the Soviet Union|All library works about the Soviet Union]]
* [[:Category:Library documents from the Soviet Union|All library works from the Soviet Union]]

=== Pre-1953 ===

* ''[[Library:Another view of Stalin|Another View of Stalin]]''
* ''[[Library:History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]''
* ''[[Library:Soviet Democracy|Soviet Democracy]]''
* ''[[Library:Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend|Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend]]''

=== Post-1953 ===

* ''[[Library:Human Rights in the Soviet Union|Human Rights in the Soviet Union]]''
* ''[[Library:Socialism Betrayed|Socialism Betrayed]]''

==References==
<references />

===Notes===
<references group="note" />
[[Category:Marxist-Leninist states]]
[[Category:Targets of bourgeois media]]
[[Category:Targets of intelligence operations]]
[[Category:Former socialist states]]
[[Category:Targets of imperialism]]

Giorgia Meloni

2026-06-18T19:11:22Z

KnifeOrSomething: I expanded info about her early life, and her political career, focusing on showing her and her party's clear admiration for Mussolini. I also reordered some info into a newly created Early life section.

{{Infobox politician|name=Giorgia Meloni|birth_date={{birth date and age|1977|1|15|df=y}}|birth_place=[[Rome]], [[Italy]]|nationality=Italian|political_orientation=[[Fascism]] [[Imperialism]] [[Xenophobia]] [[Zionism]] [[Islamophobia]] [[Homophobia]]|political_party=[[Brothers of Italy|FdI]]|image=Giorgia Meloni.png}}

'''Giorgia Meloni''' (born 15 January 1977) is a [[Far-right politics|far-right]] Italian politician who has served as the first female [[Prime Minister of Italy]] since 2022. Meloni has also served as president of the [[Brothers of Italy]] (Fdl) since 2014 and previously served as president of the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Party]] from 2020 to 2025. She also previously served as Minister for Youth Policies from 2008 to 2011 under [[Silvio Berlusconi]].

As prime minister she has moderated her image as an overt [[Fascism|fascist]] to appear more moderate whilst still pushing [[reactionary]] policies. Meloni has consistently attacked the judiciary, bourgeois democratic structures and the media in order to consolidate her power whilst passing repressive legislation on [[migration]] and [[LGBT+|LGBT rights]]. [[Imperial core|Western]] leaders have offered little criticism of her regime due to her support for [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]], [[imperialism]] in [[Ukraine]] and her assistance in deporting non-[[white people]].<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Politico]]|title=Giorgia Meloni|date=2024|url=https://www.politico.eu/list/politico-28-class-of-2025/giorgia-meloni/|archive-url=https://archive.ph/Y5I3a|archive-date=2024-12-11}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Giorgia Meloni grew up in the working-class Garbatella district of Rome. In 1992, at the age of 15, she joined the Youth Front, the youth wing of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a neo-fascist political party founded by supporters of [[Benito Mussolini]]'s fascist regime after [[World War II]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Carlo Bastasin|newspaper=Brookings|title=Meloni’s tough choice: Merkel, Thatcher, or Mussolini?|date=2024-09-09|url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/melonis-tough-choice-merkel-thatcher-or-mussolini/}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> As a youth activist, Meloni publicly praised Mussolini, describing him in 1996 as "a good politician, the best of the last 50 years."

== Political career ==
In 2012, she founded the [[Brothers of Italy]] party.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Luca Tavan|newspaper=Red Flag|title=Global ruling classes welcome fascist-led government in Italy|date=2022-10-02|url=https://redflag.org.au/article/global-ruling-classes-welcome-fascist-led-government-italy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002215954/https://redflag.org.au/article/global-ruling-classes-welcome-fascist-led-government-italy|archive-date=2022-10-02|retrieved=2022-10-06}}</ref> Brothers of Italy continues to use the tricolor flame symbol it adopted in 2014, previously used by the fascist party MSI, after Meloni refused to change it. The tricolor flame is said to be inspired by [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]]’s fascist [[National Rally]] in [[French Republic|France]], and possibly represents Mussolini's tomb in Predappio, which still draws thousands of visitors annually despite the fascist regime's actions in World War II.<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|newspaper=RKS News|title=Meloni Rejects Calls to Remove Fascist Symbols from Party Logo|date=2025-01-03|url=https://rks.news/meloni-rejects-removal-of-fascist-symbols/}}</ref>

She promoted the [[Great Replacement]] [[conspiracy theory]] in her 2021 autobiography.<ref name=":0" />

Many senior officials in Brothers of Italy, the party she leads, openly admire Mussolini and his fascist regime. Libero Quotidiano, a fascist newspaper run by a former spokesperson of Meloni's government, featured Mussolini on the cover and named him the "Man of the Year" in December 2024.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Lettera43|title=La prima pagina di Libero: «È Benito Mussolini l’uomo dell’anno del 2024»|date=2024-12-31|url=https://www.lettera43.it/prima-pagina-libero-benito-mussolini-uomo-dell-anno-2024/}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:1977 births]]
[[Category:Brothers of Italy politicians]]
[[Category:Current heads of government]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
<references />
[[Category:National Alliance (Italy) politicians]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Italy]]
[[Category:The People of Freedom politicians]]