The Soviet Union, officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a federal socialist state in Northern Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital.
Think of the Soviet Union like an extremely strict school with only one teacher (the Communist Party) who decides everything - what subjects you study, when you have breaks, even what you can say and do outside school hours.
Communism: A political theory derived from Karl Marx advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.
Cold War: A period of geopolitical tension between powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states) and powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others).
Glasnost & Perestroika: Policies initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev during his tenure as General Secretary. Glasnost ("openness") aimed at transparency in government institutions while Perestroika ("restructuring") aimed at reforming economic policy.
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