Soviet Empire (original) (raw)
Soviet Empire was a term used to critically describe the actions and nature of the Soviet Union. It gained popularity after US President Ronald Reagan famously denounced the USSR as an "Evil Empire" in a 1982 speech to the House of Commons.
Motivation of the term
Though it was not ruled by an Emperor and never formally considered itself to be an Empire, the Soviet Union had typical imperialistic tendencies common to historic empires:
- Territorial expansion through invasion or subversion (e.g.: Poland, Baltic States, Finland, Afghanistan).
- Strong central "Imperial" government controlling the governments of all subsidiary and satellite territories.
- The union is held together by strong coersion, including military force (see histories of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland).
For these reasons and others, the Soviet Union is sometimes considered by historians to be one of the main empires of history, equal to such notables as a the British Empire or the Ottoman Empire.
Countries dominated by the Soviet Union
At the height of its existence, the "Soviet Empire" consisted of the following nations:
- Within the Soviet Union
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Estonia
- Georgia
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Moldova
- Russian Federation (which in its turn consisted of several autonomous respiblics)
- Tajikistan
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
- The so-called "Socialist Camp"
Marxist countries that avoided the domination of the Soviet Union
Countries attempted to introduce Marxist-type socialism
In the political terminology of the
Soviet Union, they were "countries moving along the socialist way of development", as opposed to the "countries of developed socialism", listed above.
Countries that still have Marxist-type socialist republics
All other countries listed above are either no longer exist or no longer have socialism.