Soviet Union

Soviet Union

On 28 December 1922, a conference of plenipotentiary delegations from the Russian SFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSRapproved the Treaty of Creation of the USSR[16] and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.[17] IBM ThinkPad T40-2374 laptop keyboard

These two documents were confirmed by the 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR and signed by the heads of the delegations,[18] Mikhail Kalinin, Mikhail Tskhakaya, Mikhail Frunze, Grigory Petrovsky, and Aleksandr Chervyakov,[19] on 30 December 1922.

On 1 February 1924, the USSR was recognized by the British Empire. The same year, a Soviet Constitution was approved, legitimizing the December 1922 union. TOSHIBA Satellite L505-S6946 laptop keyboard

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An intensive restructuring of the economy, industry and politics of the country began in the early days of Soviet power in 1917. A large part of this was done according to the Bolshevik Initial Decrees, government documents signed by Vladimir Lenin. One of the most prominent breakthroughs was the GOELRO plan, which envisioned a major restructuring of the Soviet economy based on total electrification of the country. TOSHIBA Satellite l20-c430 laptop keyboard

The plan was developed in 1920 and covered a 10-to 15-year period. It included construction of a network of 30 regional power plants, including ten large hydroelectric power plants, and numerous electric-powered large industrial enterprises.[20] The plan became the prototype for subsequent Five-Year Plans and was fulfilled by 1931.[21] SONY Vaio PCG-K415B Laptop Keyboard

From its creation, the government in the Soviet Union was based on the one-party rule of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks).[22] After the economic policy of "War Communism" during the Russian Civil War, as a prelude to fully developingsocialism in the country, the Soviet government permitted some private enterprise to coexist alongside nationalized industry in the 1920s and total food requisition in the countryside was replaced by a food tax (see New Economic Policy).  IBM Lenovo ThinkPad X300 Laptop Keyboard

The stated purpose of the one-party state was to ensure that capitalist exploitation would not return to the Soviet Union and that the principles of Democratic Centralism would be most effective in representing the people's will in a practical manner. Debate over the future of the economy provided the background for a power struggle in the years after Lenin's death in 1924. Initially, Lenin was to be replaced by a "troika" consisting of Grigory Zinoviev of Ukraine, Lev Kamenev of Moscow, andJoseph Stalin of Georgia. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 Laptop Keyboard

On 3 April 1922, Stalin was named the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Lenin had appointed Stalin the head of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate, which gave Stalin considerable power. COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard

By gradually consolidating his influence and isolating and outmaneuvering his rivals within the party, Stalin became the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union and, by the end of the 1920s, established totalitarian rule. In October 1927, Grigory Zinoviev and Leon Trotsky were expelled from the Central Committee and forced into exile. ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard

In 1928, Stalin introduced the First Five-Year Plan for building a socialist economy. While encompassing the internationalismexpressed by Lenin throughout the Revolution, it also aimed to build socialism in one country. In industry, DELL Vostro PP37L Laptop Keyboard

the state assumed control over all existing enterprises and undertook an intensive program of industrialization. In agriculture, rather than adhering to the "lead by example" policy advocated by Lenin,[23] forced collectivisation of farms was implemented all over the country.

Famines ensued, causing millions of deaths; surviving kulaks were persecuted and many sent to Gulags to do forced labour.[24]Social upheaval continued in the mid-1930s. ACER NSK-H361D Laptop Keyboard

Stalin's Great Purge resulted in the execution or detainment of many "Old Bolsheviks" who had participated in the October Revolution with Lenin. According to declassified Soviet archives, in 1937 and 1938, the NKVD arrested more than one and a half million people, of whom 681,692 were shot – an average of 1,000 executions a day.[25] Lenovo 3000 Y500 Laptop Keyboard

The excess deaths during the 1930s as a whole were in the range of 10–11 million.[26] Yet despite the turmoil of the mid-to-late 1930s, the Soviet Union developed a powerful industrial economy in the years before World War II. DELL Vostro 3450 Laptop Keyboard

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1930s

The early 1930s saw closer cooperation between the West and the USSR. From 1932 to 1934, the Soviet Union participated in the World Disarmament Conference. In 1933, diplomatic relations between the United States and the USSR were established when in November, the newly elected President of the United States, TOSHIBA NSK-TK001 Laptop Keyboard

Franklin D. Roosevelt chose to formally recognize Stalin's Communist government and negotiated a new trade agreement between the two nations.[27] In September 1934, the Soviet Union joined the League of Nations. After the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, the USSR actively supported the Republican forces against theNationalists, who were supported by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.  Lenovo 63Y0047 Laptop Keyboard

In December 1936, Stalin unveiled a new Soviet Constitution. The constitution was seen as a personal triumph for Stalin, who on this occasion was described byPravda as a "genius of the new world, the wisest man of the epoch, the great leader of communism." By contrast, Western historians and historians from former Soviet occupied countries have viewed the constitution as a meaningless propaganda document. HP Pavilion DV6-1000 Laptop Keyboard

The late 1930s saw a shift towards the Axis powers. In 1938, after the United Kingdom and France had concluded the Munich Agreement with Germany, the USSR dealt with the Nazis as well, both militarily and economically during extensive talks. The two countries concluded the German–Soviet Nonaggression Pact and theGerman–Soviet Commercial Agreement. The nonaggression pact made possible Soviet occupation of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, HP V061130AS1 Laptop Keyboard

andeastern Poland. In late November of the same year, unable to coerce the Republic of Finland by diplomatic means into moving its border 25 kilometres (16 mi) back from Leningrad, Joseph Stalin ordered the invasion of Finland. HP Envy 15 Laptop Keyboard

In the east, the Soviet military won several decisive victories during border clashes with the Japanese Empire in 1938 and 1939. However, in April 1941, USSR signed the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact with the Empire of Japan, recognizing the territorial integrity of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state. HP 519265-001 Laptop Keyboard

Although it has been debated whether the Soviet Union intended to invade Germany once it was strong enough,[28] Germany itself broke the treaty and invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, starting what was known in the USSR as the "Great Patriotic War". The Red Army stopped the seemingly invincible German Army at the Battle of Moscow, HP 492991-001 Laptop Keyboard

aided by an unusually harsh winter. The Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted from late 1942 to early 1943, dealt a severe blow to the Germans from which they never fully recovered and became a turning point in the war. After Stalingrad, Soviet forces drove through Eastern Europe to Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945. The German Army suffered 80% of its military deaths in the Eastern Front.[29] SAMSUNG N145 Laptop Keyboard

The same year, the USSR, in fulfillment of its agreement with the Allies at the Yalta Conference, denounced the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1945[30] and invaded Manchukuo and other Japan-controlled territories on 9 August 1945.[31] This conflict ended with a decisive Soviet victory, Compaq Presario CQ42-228LA Laptop Keyboard

contributing to the unconditional surrender of Japan and the end of World War II.

The Soviet Union suffered greatly in the war, losing around 27 million people.[32] Despite this, it emerged as a superpower in the post-war period. Once denied diplomatic recognition by the Western world, the Soviet Union had official relations with practically every nation by the late 1940s. DELL Latitude D620 Laptop Keyboard

A member of the United Nations at its foundation in 1945, the Soviet Union became one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which gave it the right to veto any of its resolutions (seeSoviet Union and the United Nations). ACER Aspire 4743 Series Laptop CPU Cooling Fan

The Soviet Union maintained its status as one of the world's two superpowers for four decades through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, military strength, economic strength, aid to developing countries, and scientific research, especially in space technology and weaponry.

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Stalin died on 5 March 1953. Without a mutually agreeable successor, the highest Communist Party officials opted to rule the Soviet Union jointly. Nikita Khrushchev, who had won the power struggle by the mid-1950s, Lenovo Thinkpad T520 laptop keyboard

denounced Stalin's use of repression in 1956 and eased repressive controls over party and society. This was known as de-Stalinization.

Moscow considered Eastern Europe to be a buffer zone for the forward defense of its western borders, and ensured its control of the region by transforming the Eastern European countries into satellite states. Soviet military force was used to suppress anti-Stalinist uprisings in Hungary and Poland in 1956. TOSHIBA Satellite U205-s5044 laptop keyboard

In the late 1950s, a confrontation with China regarding the USSR's rapprochement with the West and what Mao Zedong perceived as Khrushchev's revisionism led to the Sino–Soviet split. This resulted in a break throughout the global Communist movement, with Communist regimes in Albania, Cambodia and Somalia choosing to ally with China in place of the USSR. TOSHIBA NB100 laptop keyboard

During this period, the Soviet Union continued to realize scientific and technological exploits: Launching the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 in 1957; a living dog, Laika in 1957; the first human being, Yuri Gagarin in 1961; the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova in 1963; Alexey Leonov, the first person to walk in space in 1965; the first soft landing on moon by spacecraft Luna 9 in 1966 and the first moon rovers, Lunokhod 1 and Lunokhod 2.[34] HP Pavilion ze5200 laptop keyboard

Khrushchev initiated "The Thaw" (better known as Khrushchev's Thaw), a complex shift in political, cultural and economic life in the Soviet Union. This included some openness and contact with other nations and new social and economic policies with more emphasis on commodity goods, allowing living standards to rise dramatically while maintaining high levels of economic growth. Censorship was relaxed as well. HP Pavilion DV6-1000 laptop keyboard

Khrushchev's reforms in agriculture and administration, however, were generally unproductive. In 1962, he precipitated a crisis with the United States over the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. An agreement was made between the Soviet Union and the United States to remove enemy nuclear missiles from both Cuba and Turkey, concluding the crisis. This event caused Khrushchev much embarrassment and loss of prestige, resulting in his removal from power in 1964. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard

Following the ousting of Khrushchev, another period of collective leadership ensued, consisting of Leonid Brezhnev as General Secretary, Alexei Kosygin as Premier and Nikolai Podgorny as Chairman of the Presidium, lasting until Brezhnev established himself in the early 1970s as the preeminent Soviet leader. In 1968, the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact allies invadedCzechoslovakia to halt the Prague Spring reforms. HP Pavilion DV6-1128el laptop keyboard

Two developments dominated the decade that followed: the increasingly apparent crumbling of the Soviet Union's economic and political structures, and the patchwork attempts at reforms to reverse that process. Kenneth S. COMPAQ Presario V6106AU laptop keyboard

Deffeyes argued in Beyond Oil that the Reagan administration encouraged Saudi Arabia to lower the price of oil to the point where the Soviets could not make a profit selling their oil, so that the USSR's hard currencyreserves became depleted.[35] SONY A1565184C laptop keyboard

Brezhnev's next two successors, transitional figures with deep roots in his tradition, did not last long. Yuri Andropov was 68 years old and Konstantin Chernenko 72 when they assumed power; both died in less than two years. In an attempt to avoid a third short-lived leader, in 1985, the Soviets turned to the next generation and selected Mikhail Gorbachev. HP 550 Laptop Keyboard

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Brezhnev presided over a period of détente with the West (see SALT I, SALT II, Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty) while at the same time building up Soviet military might.

In October 1977, the third Soviet Constitution was unanimously adopted. The prevailing mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to change. The long period of Brezhnev's rule had come to be dubbed one of "standstill", with an aging and ossified top political leadership. TOSHIBA Satellite P300 Laptop Keyboard

Gorbachev made significant changes in the economy and party leadership, calledperestroika. His policy of glasnost freed public access to information after decades of heavy government censorship.  HP Pavilion DV6-1030us Laptop Keyboard

Gorbachev also moved to end the Cold War. In 1988, the Soviet Union abandoned its nine-year war in Afghanistan and began to withdraw its forces. In the late 1980s, he refused military support to the Soviet Union's former satellite states, resulting in the toppling of multiple communist regimes. With the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and with East Germany and West Germany pursuing unification, the Iron Curtain came down.  ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard

In the late 1980s, the constituent republics of the Soviet Union started legal moves towards potentially declaringsovereignty over their territories, citing Article 72 of the USSR constitution, which stated that any constituent republic was free to secede.[36] On 7 April 1990, a law was passed allowing a republic to secede if more than two-thirds of its residents voted for it in a referendum.[37] TOSHIBA Satellite L750-ST4N02 Laptop Keyboard

Many held their first free elections in the Soviet era for their own national legislatures in 1990. Many of these legislatures proceeded to produce legislation contradicting the Union laws in what was known as the "War of Laws".TOSHIBA Satellite A300 Laptop Keyboard

In 1989, the Russian SFSR, which was then the largest constituent republic (with about half of the population) convened a newly elected Congress of People's Deputies. Boris Yeltsin was elected its chairman. On 12 June 1990, the Congress declared Russia's sovereignty over its territory and proceeded to pass laws that attempted to supersede some of the USSR's laws. The period of legal uncertainty continued throughout 1991 as constituent republics slowly became de facto independent. HP AESP7U00110 Laptop Keyboard

A referendum for the preservation of the USSR was held on 17 March 1991, with the majority of the population voting for preservation of the Union in nine out of the 15 republics. The referendum gave Gorbachev a minor boost. In the summer of 1991, the New Union Treaty, which would have turned the Soviet Union into a much looser Union, was agreed upon by eight republics. HP G72-b67CA Laptop Keyboard

The signing of the treaty, however, was interrupted by the August Coup—an attempted coup d'état by hardline members of the government and the KGB who sought to reverse Gorbachev's reforms and reassert the central government's control over the republics. After the coup collapsed, Yeltsin was seen as a hero for his decisive actions, while Gorbachev's power was effectively ended. DELL INSPIRON 1464 Laptop Keyboard

The balance of power tipped significantly towards the republics. In August 1991, Latvia and Estonia immediately declared the restoration of their full independence (following Lithuania's 1990 example), while the other twelve republics continued discussing new, increasingly looser, models of the Union. SONY KFRMBA151B Laptop Keyboard

On 8 December 1991, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belavezha Accords, which declared the Soviet Union dissolved and established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place. While doubts remained over the authority of the accords to do this, on 21 December 1991, the representatives of all Soviet republics except Georgia signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which confirmed the accords.  Lenovo 3000 N200 Laptop Keyboard

On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev yielded to the inevitable and resigned as the President of the USSR, declaring the office extinct. He turned the powers that had been vested in the presidency over to Yeltsin, the President of Russia. HP G62-361TX Laptop Keyboard

The following day, the Supreme Soviet, the highest governmental body of the Soviet Union, dissolved itself. This is generally recognized as marking the official, final dissolution of the Soviet Union as a functioning state. The Soviet Army remained in place in the early months of 1992, but was thereafter absorbed into the different military forces of the newly independent states. SONY VAIO PCG-792L Laptop Keyboard

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991, Russia was internationally recognized[38] as its legal successor on the international stage. To that end, Russia voluntarily accepted all Soviet foreign debt and claimed overseas Soviet properties as its own. Under the 1992 Lisbon Protocol, Russia also agreed to receive all nuclear weapons remaining in the territory of other former Soviet republics. Since then, the Russian Federation has assumed the Soviet Union's rights and obligations. SONY VAIO VGN-AW15G Laptop Keyboard

Post-Soviet States

The analysis of the succession of states with respect to the 15 post-Soviet states is complex. The Russian Federation is seen as the continuator state and is for most purposes the heir to the Soviet Union, retaining ownership of all former Soviet embassy properties and UN Security Council seat.[39] IBM Lenovo Thinkpad X201 Laptop Keyboard

The Baltic statesare not successor states to the Soviet Union;[40] they are considered to have de jure continuity with their pre-World War Two governments through the non-recognition of the original Soviet incorporation in 1940.[39] The other 11 post-Soviet states are considered newly independent successor states to the Soviet Union.[39] Compaq Presario CQ71-310SB laptop keyboard

At the top of the Communist Party was the Central Committee, elected at Party Congresses and Conferences. The Central Committee in turn voted for a Politburo (called the Presidium between 1952–1966), Secretariat and the General Secretary (First Secretary from 1953 to 1966), the de facto highest office in the USSR.[42] HP Pavilion dv6-2030ev laptop keyboard

Depending on the degree of power consolidation, it was either the Politburo as a collective body or the General Secretary, who always was one of the Politburo members, that effectively led the party and the country[43] (except for the period of the highly personalized authority of Stalin, exercised directly through his position in the Council of Ministers rather than the Politburo after 1941).[44] HP G71-329WM laptop keyboard

They were not controlled by the general party membership, as the key principle of the party organization was democratic centralism, demanding strict subordination to higher bodies, and elections went uncontested, endorsing the candidates proposed from above.[45] HP Pavilion dv5-1215ee laptop keyboard

The Communist Party maintained its dominance over the state largely through its control over the system of appointments. All senior government officials and most deputies of the Supreme Soviet were members of the CPSU. Of the party heads themselves, Stalin in 1941–1953 and Khrushchev in 1958–1964 were Premiers. Upon the forced retirement of Khrushchev, the party leader was prohibited from this kind of double membership,[46] TOSHIBA G83c00018610 laptop keyboard

but the later General Secretaries for at least some part of their tenure occupied the largely ceremonial position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the nominal head of state. The institutions at lower levels were overseen and at times supplanted by primary party organizations.[47] ASUS F81 laptop keyboard

In practice, however, the degree of control the party was able to exercise over the state bureaucracy, particularly after the death of Stalin, was far from total, with the bureaucracy pursuing different interests that were at times in conflict with the party.[48] Nor was the party itself monolithic from top to bottom, HP Pavilion DV4305US laptop keyboard

although factions were officially banned.[49]

The Supreme Soviet (successor of the Congress of Soviets and Central Executive Committee) was nominally the highest state body for most of the Soviet history,[50] at first acting as a rubber stamp institution, approving and implementing all decisions made by the party. However, the powers and functions of the Supreme Soviet were extended in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including the creation of new state commissions and committees. TOSHIBA Satellite U205 laptop keyboard

It gained additional powers when it came to the approval of the Five-Year Plans and the Soviet state budget.[51] The Supreme Soviet elected a Presidium to wield its power between plenary sessions,[52] ordinarily held twice a year, and appointed the Supreme Court,[53] the Procurator General[54]and the Council of Ministers (known before 1946 as the Council of People's Commissars), HP AETT3U00010 laptop keyboard

headed by the Chairman (Premier) and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society.[52] State and party structures of the constituent republics largely emulated the structure of the central institutions, although the Russian SFSR, unlike the other constituent republics, Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard

for most of its history had no republican branch of the CPSU, being ruled directly by the union-wide party until 1990. Local authorities were organized likewise into party committees, local Sovietsand executive committees. While the state system was nominally federal, the party was unitary.[55] FUJITSU Lifebook P7120D laptop keyboard

The state security police (the KGB and its predecessor agencies) played an important role in Soviet politics. It was instrumental in the Stalinist terror,[56] but after the death of Stalin, the state security police was brought under strict party control. Under Yuri Andropov, KGB chairman in 1967–1982 and General Secretary from 1982 to 1983, HP AESP7U00110 laptop keyboard

the KGB engaged in the suppression of political dissent and maintained an extensive network of informers, reasserting itself as a political actor to some extent independent of the party-state structure,[57] culminating in the anti-corruption campaign targeting high party officials in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[58] TOSHIBA KFRSBA064A laptop keyboard

The Soviet constitutions, which were promulgated in 1918, 1924, 1936 and 1977,[59] did not limit state power. No formal separation of powers existed between the Party, Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers[60] that represented executive and legislative branches of the government. SAMSUNG NP-N145-JP02 laptop keyboard

Bitter and at times deadly power struggles took place in the Politburo after the deaths of Lenin[61] and Joseph Stalin,[62] as well as after Khrushchev's dismissal,[63] itself due to a decision by both the Politburo and the Central Committee.[64] All Soviet party leaders before Gorbachev died in office, except Georgy Malenkov[65] and Khrushchev, both dismissed from the party leadership amid internal struggle within the party.[64] SONY VAIO VGN-CS16G/Q Laptop Keyboard

Between 1988 and 1990, facing considerable opposition, Mikhail Gorbachev enacted reforms shifting power away from the highest bodies of the party and making the Supreme Soviet less dependent on them. The Congress of People's Deputies was established, the majority of whose members were directly elected in competitive elections held in March 1989. The Congress now elected the Supreme Soviet, Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 Laptop Keyboard

which became a full-time parliament, much stronger than before. For the first time since the 1920s, it refused to rubber stamp proposals from the party and Council of Ministers.[66] In 1990, Gorbachev introduced and assumed the position of thePresident of the Soviet Union, concentrated power in his executive office, HP Compaq NC8430 Laptop Keyboard

independent of the party, and subordinated the government,[67] now renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, to himself.[68]

Tensions grew between the union-wide authorities under Gorbachev, reformists led in Russia by Boris Yeltsin and controlling the newly elected Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, and Communist Party hardliners. On 19–21 August 1991, ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard

a group of hardliners staged an abortive coup attempt. Following the failed coup, theState Council of the Soviet Union became the highest organ of state power "in the period of transition".[69] Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary, only remaining President for the final months of the existence of the USSR.[70] HP Probook 4510S Laptop Keyboard

Constitutionally, the Soviet Union was a union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs) and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), although the rule of the highly centralized Communist Party made the union merely nominal.[41] The Treaty on the Creation of the USSR was signed in December 1922 by four founding republics, TOSHIBA Satellite L775D-S7340 Laptop Keyboard

the RSFSR, Transcaucasian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR and Belorussian SSR. In 1924, during the national delimitation in Central Asia, the Uzbek andTurkmen SSRs were formed from parts of the RSFSR's Turkestan ASSR and two Soviet dependencies, the Khorezm and Bukharan SSR. In 1929, the Tajik SSR was split off from the Uzbek SSR. With the constitution of 1936, the constituents of the Transcaucasian SFSR, HP 608558-001 Laptop Keyboard

namely the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijan SSRs, were elevated to union republics, while the Kazakh and Kirghiz SSRs were split off from the RSFSR.[72] In August 1940, the Soviet Union formed the Moldavian SSR from parts of the Ukrainian SSR and parts of Bessarabia annexed from Romania. SONY KFRMBA151B Laptop Keyboard

It also annexed the Baltic states as the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian SSRs. TheKarelo-Finnish SSR was split off from the RSFSR in March 1940 and merged back in 1956. Between July 1956 and September 1991, there were 15 union republics (see map below).[73] HP 640436-001 Laptop Keyboard

On 16 November 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR passed the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration that asserted Estonia's sovereignty and declared the supremacy of Estonian laws over those of the Soviet Union.[74] In March 1990, the newly elected Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR declared independence, followed by the Georgian Supreme Soviet in April 1991. Although the symbolic right of the republics to secede was nominally guaranteed by the constitution and the union treaty,[41] Lenovo 3000 Y500 Laptop Keyboard

Soviet authorities at first refused to recognize it. After the August coup attempt, most of the other republics followed suit. The Soviet Union ultimately recognized the secession of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on 6 September 1991. The remaining republics were recognized as independent with the Soviet Union's final dissolution in December 1991.[75] DELL Inspiron 500m Laptop Keyboard

The Soviet Union became the first country to adopt a planned economy, whereby production and distribution of goods were centralized and directed by the government. The first Bolshevik experience with a command economy was the policy of War Communism, which involved nationalization of industry, centralized distribution of output, HP Pavilion dm1-1010st Laptop Keyboard

coercive requisition of agricultural production, and attempts to eliminate the circulation of money, as well as private enterprises and free trade. As it had suffered a severe economic collapse caused by the war, in 1921, Lenin replaced War Communism with the New Economic Policy (NEP), legalizing free trade and private ownership of smaller businesses. The economy quickly recovered.[76] ASUS F6A Laptop Keyboard

Following a lengthy debate among the members of Politburo over the course of economic development, by 1928–1929, upongaining control of the country, Joseph Stalin abandoned the NEP and pushed for full central planning, starting forced collectivization of agriculture and enacting draconian labor legislation. DELL Inspiron M5030 Laptop Keyboard

Resources were mobilized for rapid industrialization, which greatly expanded Soviet capacity in heavy industry and capital goods during the 1930s.[76]Preparation for war was one of the main driving forces behind industrialization, DELL PF236 Laptop Keyboard

mostly due to distrust of the outside capitalistic world.[77] As a result, the USSR was transformed from a largely agrarian economy into a great industrial power, leading the way for its emergence as a superpower after World War II.[78] During the war, the Soviet economy and infrastructure suffered massive devastation and required extensive reconstruction.[79] DELL PVDG3 Laptop Keyboard

By the early 1940s, the Soviet economy had become relatively self-sufficient; for most of the period until the creation of Comecon, only a very small share of domestic products was traded internationally.[80] After the creation of the Eastern Bloc, external trade rose rapidly. Still the influence of the world economyon the USSR was limited by fixed domestic prices and a state monopoly on foreign trade.[81] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard

Grain and sophisticated consumer manufactures became major import articles from around the 1960s.[80] During the arms race of the Cold War, the Soviet economy was burdened by military expenditures, COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard

heavily lobbied for by a powerful bureaucracy dependent on the arms industry. At the same time, the Soviet Union became the largest arms exporter to the Third World. Significant amounts of Soviet resources during the Cold War were allocated in aid to the other socialist states.[80]

From the 1930s until its collapse in the late 1980s, HP 516884-001 Laptop Keyboard

the way the Soviet economy operated remained essentially unchanged. The economy was formally directed bycentral planning, carried out by Gosplan and organized in five-year plans. In practice, however, the plans were highly aggregated and provisional, subject to ad hoc intervention by superiors. All key economic decisions were taken by the political leadership. Allocated resources and plan targets were normally denominated in rubles rather than in physical goods. Credit was discouraged, but widespread. ACER Aspire 4743 Series Laptop CPU Cooling Fan

Final allocation of output was achieved through relatively decentralized, unplanned contracting. Although in theory prices were legally set from above, in practice the actual prices were often negotiated, and informal horizontal links (between producer factories etc.) were widespread.[76]

A number of basic services were state-funded, such as education and healthcare. In the manufacturing sector, IBM 42T4026 laptop keyboard

heavy industry and defense were assigned higher priority than the production of consumer goods.[82] Consumer goods, particularly outside large cities, were often scarce, of poor quality and limited choice. Packard Bell Easynote TK85 laptop keyboard

Under command economy, consumers had almost no influence over production, so the changing demands of a population with growing incomes could not be satisfied by supplies at rigidly fixed prices.[83] A massive unplanned second economy grew up alongside the planned one at low levels, providing some of the goods and services that the planners could not. Legalization of some elements of the decentralized economy was attempted with the reform of 1965.[76] SONY VAIO VGN-AW21M laptop keyboard

Although statistics of the Soviet economy are notoriously unreliable and its economic growth difficult to estimate precisely,[84][85] by most accounts, the economy continued to expand until the mid-1980s. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet economy experienced comparatively high growth and was catching up to the West.[86] Lenovo 63Y0047 laptop keyboard

 However, after 1970, the growth, while still positive, steadily declined much more quickly and consistently than in other countries despite a rapid increase in the capital stock (the rate of increase in capital was only surpassed by Japan).[76]  Lenovo 63Y0047 laptop keyboard

Overall, between 1960 and 1989, the growth rate of per capita income in the Soviet Union was slightly above the world average (based on 102 countries).[citation needed] According to Stanley Fischer and William Easterly, growth could have been faster. By their calculation, per capita income of Soviet Union in 1989 should have been twice as high as it was considering the amount of investment, education and population. TOSHIBA PK130260100 laptop keyboard

The authors attribute this poor performance to low productivity of capital in the Soviet Union.[87] Steven Rosenfielde states that the standard of living actually declined as a result of Stalin's despotism, and while there was a brief improvement following his death, lapsed into stagnation.[88] HP Mini 311-1000NR laptop keyboard

In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev tried to reform and revitalize the economy with his program of perestroika. His policies relaxed state control over enterprises, but did not yet allow it to be replaced by market incentives, ultimately resulting in a sharp decline in production output. The economy, already suffering fromreduced petroleum export revenues, SONY VAIO VGN-NW23GF laptop keyboard

started to collapse. Prices were still fixed, and property was still largely state-owned until after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[76][83] For most of the period after World War II up to its collapse, the Soviet economy was the second largest in the world by GDP (PPP), and was 3rd in the world during the middle of the 1980s to 1989.[89] though in per capita terms the Soviet GDP was behind that of the First World countries.[90] SONY KFRMBA151B laptop keyboard

The need for fuel declined in the Soviet Union from the 1970s to the 1980s,[91] both per ruble of gross social product and per ruble of industrial product. At the start, this decline grew very rapidly, but gradually slowed down between 1970 and 1975. From 1975 and 1980, it grew even slower,[clarification needed] only 2.6 percent.[92] TOSHIBA Satellite M40x Series laptop keyboard

David Wilson, a historian, believed that the gas industry would account for 40 percent of Soviet fuel production by the end of the century. His theory did not come to fruition because of the USSR's collapse.[93] The USSR, in theory, would have continued to have an economic growth rate of 2–2.5 percent during the 1990s because of Soviet energy fields[clarification needed].[94] SONY Vaio VGN-FW100 laptop keyboard

However, the energy sector faced many difficulties, among them the country's high military expenditure and hostile relations with the First World(pre-Gorbachev era).[95]

In 1991, the Soviet Union had a pipeline network of 82,000 kilometres (51,000 mi) for crude oil and another 206,500 kilometres (128,300 mi) for natural gas.[96] Petroleum and petroleum-based products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, HP Pavilion dv3-2320es Laptop Keyboard

and a variety of manufactured goods, primarily machinery, arms and military equipment, were exported.[97] In the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union heavily relied on fossil fuel exports to earn hard currency.[80] At its peak in 1988, it was the largest producer and second largest exporter of crude oil, surpassed only by Saudi Arabia.[98] Lenovo 63Y0047 Laptop Keyboard

The Soviet Union placed great emphasis on science and technology within its economy,[99] however, the most remarkable Soviet successes in technology, such as producing the world's first space satellite, typically were the responsibility of the military.[82] Lenin believed that the USSR would never overtake the developed world if it remained as technologically backward as it was. Soviet authorities proved their commitment to Lenin's belief by developing massive networks, research and development organizations. TOSHIBA PK130260100 Laptop Keyboard

By 1989, Soviet scientists were among the world's best-trained specialists in several areas, such as energy physics, selected areas of medicine, mathematics, welding and military technologies. Due to rigid state planning and bureaucracy, the Soviets remained far behind technologically in chemistry, biology, and computers when compared to the First World.  Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard

Project Socrates, under the Reagan administration, determined that the Soviet Union addressed the acquisition of science and technology in a manner that was radically different from what the US was using. In the case of the US, economic prioritization was being used for indigenous research and development as the means to acquire science and technology in both the private and public sectors. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 Laptop Keyboard

In contrast, the Soviet Union was offensively and defensively maneuvering in the acquisition and utilization of the worldwide technology, to increase the competitive advantage that they acquired from the technology, while preventing the US from acquiring a competitive advantage. However, in addition, the Soviet Union's technology-based planning was executed in a centralized, government-centric manner that greatly hindered its flexibility. DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard

It was this significant lack of flexibility that was exploited by the US to undermine the strength of the Soviet Union and thus foster its reform.[100][101][102]

Transport was a key component of the nation's economy. The economic centralization of the late 1920s and 1930s led to the development of infrastructure on a massive scale, most notably the establishment of Aeroflot, an aviation enterprise.[103] Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard

The country had a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air.[96] However, due to bad maintenance, much of the road, water and Soviet civil aviation transport were outdated and technologically backward compared to the First World.[104] IBM Lenovo Thinkpad X201 Laptop Keyboard

Soviet rail transport was the largest and most intensively used in the world;[104] it was also better developed than most of its Western counterparts.[105] By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Soviet economists were calling for the construction of more roads to alleviate some of the burden from the railways and to improve the Soviet state budget.[106] The road network andautomobile industry[107] ACER 9J.N9482.11B Laptop Keyboard

remained underdeveloped,[108] and dirt roads were common outside major cities.[109] Soviet maintenance projects proved unable to take care of even the few roads the country had. By the early-to-mid-1980s, the Soviet authorities tried to solve the road problem by ordering the construction of new ones.[109] Meanwhile, the automobile industry was growing at a faster rate than road construction.[110] The underdeveloped road network led to a growing demand for public transport.[111] HP Pavilion dv4-1070ee Laptop Keyboard

Despite improvements, several aspects of the transport sector were still riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure, lack of investment, corruption and bad decision-making. Soviet authorities were unable to meet the growing demand for transport infrastructure and services.

The Soviet merchant fleet was one of the largest in the world.[96] HP 576835-001 Laptop Keyboard

The first fifty years of the 20th century in tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union were marked by a succession of disasters, each accompanied by large–scale population losses. Excess deaths over the course of World War I and theRussian Civil War (including the postwar famine) amounted to a combined total of 18 million,[112] some 10 million in the 1930s,[26] and more than 26 million in 1941–5. The postwar Soviet population was 45 to 50 million smaller than it would have been if pre-war demographic growth had continued.[32] Lenovo 0A62075 Laptop Keyboard

The crude birth rate of the USSR decreased from 44.0 per thousand in 1926 to 18.0 in 1974, largely due to increasing urbanization and the rising average age of marriages. The crude death rate demonstrated a gradual decrease as well – from 23.7 per thousand in 1926 to 8.7 in 1974. In general, SONY VAIO VGN-CR210EL Laptop Keyboard

the birth rates of the southern republics in Transcaucasia and Central Asia were considerably higher than those in the northern parts of the Soviet Union, and in some cases even increased in the post–World War II period, a phenomenon partly attributed to slower rates of urbanization and traditionally earlier marriages in the southern republics.[113] Soviet Europe moved towards sub-replacement fertility, while Soviet Central Asia continued to exhibit population growth well above replacement-level fertility.[114] DELL Vostro 1015 Laptop Keyboard

The late 1960s and the 1970s witnessed a reversal of the declining trajectory of the rate of mortality in the USSR, and was especially notable among men of working age, but was also prevalent in Russia and other predominantly Slavic areas of the country.[115] An analysis of the official data from the late 1980s showed that after worsening in the late-1970s and the early 1980s, HP 608558-001 Laptop Keyboard

adult mortality began to improve again.[116] The infant mortality rate increased from 24.7 in 1970 to 27.9 in 1974. Some researchers regarded the rise as largely real, a consequence of worsening health conditions and services.[117] The rises in both adult and infant mortality were not explained or defended by Soviet officials, and the Soviet government simply stopped publishing all mortality statistics for ten years. Soviet demographers and health specialists remained silent about the mortality increases until the late-1980s, when the publication of mortality data resumed and researchers could delve into the real causes.[118] TOSHIBA Satellite L300 Laptop Keyboard

Before 1917, education was not free in the Russian Empire and was therefore either inaccessible or barely accessible for many children from lower-class working and peasant families. Estimates from 1917 recorded that 75–85 percent of the Russian population was illiterate.

Anatoly Lunacharsky became the first People's Commissar for Education of Soviet Russia. At the beginning, ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard

the Soviet authorities placed great emphasis on the elimination of illiteracy. People who were literate were automatically hired as teachers. For a short period, quality was sacrificed for quantity. By 1940, Joseph Stalin could announce that illiteracy had been eliminated. In the aftermath of the Great Patriotic War, SONY 148024421 Laptop Keyboard

the country's educational system expanded dramatically. This expansion had a tremendous effect. In the 1960s, nearly all Soviet children had access to education, the only exception being those living in remote areas. Nikita Khrushchev tried to make education more accessible, making it clear to children that education was closely linked to the needs of society. Education also became important in creating the New Soviet Man.[119]

Only 20 percent of applicants were accepted. SONY VAIO VGN-FS742/W Laptop Keyboard

Students from families of dubious political reliability were barred from higher education.[120] The Brezhnev administration introduced a rule that required all university applicants to present a reference from the local Komsomol party secretary.[121] According to statistics from 1986, the number of students per 10,000 population was 181 for the USSR, compared to 517 for the US.[122] HP Envy 17-2077ez Laptop CPU Cooling Fan

The Soviet Union was a very ethnically diverse country, with more than 100 distinct ethnic groups. The total population was estimated at 293 million in 1991. According to a 1990 estimate, the majority were Russians (50.78%), followed byUkrainians (15.45%) and Uzbeks (5.84%).[123]

All citizens of the USSR had their own ethnic affiliation. The ethnicity of a person was chosen at the age of sixteen[124] HP Envy 17-1190nr Laptop CPU Cooling Fan

by the child's parents. If the parents did not agree, the child was automatically assigned the ethnicity of the father. Partly due to Soviet policies, some of the smaller minority ethnic groups were considered part of larger ones, such as the Mingrelians of the Georgian SSR, who were classified with the linguistically related Georgians.[125]Some ethnic groups voluntarily assimilated, Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard

while others were brought in by force. Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians shared close cultural ties, while other groups did not. With multiple nationalities living in the same territory, ethnic antagonisms developed over the years.[126][neutrality is disputed]

In 1917, before the Bolshevik uprising, health conditions were significantly behind the developed countries. As Lenin later noted, TOSHIBA Satellite L505D-ES5025 laptop keyboard

"Either the lice will defeat socialism, or socialism will defeat the lice".[127] The Soviet principle of health care was conceived by the People's Commissariat for Health in 1918. Health care was to be controlled by the state and would be provided to its citizens free of charge, this at the time being a revolutionary concept. HP G72-a10SA laptop keyboard

Article 42 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution gave all citizens the right to health protection and free access to any health institutions in the USSR. BeforeLeonid Brezhnev became head of state, the healthcare system of the Soviet Union was held in high esteem by many foreign specialists. This changed however, HP Pavilion dv6-2030ev laptop keyboard

from Brezhnev's accession and Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure as leader, the Soviet health care system was heavily criticised for many basic faults, such as the quality of service and the unevenness in its provision.[128] Lenovo 04W0872 laptop keyboard

Minister of Health Yevgeniy Chazov, during the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, while highlighting such Soviet successes as having the most doctors and hospitals in the world, recognised the system's areas for improvement and felt that billions of Soviet rubles were squandered.[129] DELL 0RT129 laptop keyboard

After the socialist revolution, the life expectancy for all age groups went up. This statistic in itself was seen by some that the socialist system was superior to the capitalist system. These improvements continued into the 1960s, when the life expectancy in the Soviet Union surpassed that of the United States. It remained stable during most years, although in the 1970s, it went down slightly, possibly because of alcohol abuse. HP Pavilion dm3-1020CA Laptop Keyboard

At the same time, infant mortality began to rise. After 1974, the government stopped publishing statistics on this. This trend can be partly explained by the number of pregnancies rising drastically in the Asian part of the country where infant mortality was highest, while declining markedly in the more developed European part of the Soviet Union.[130] The USSR had several centers of excellence, such as the Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Complex, founded in 1988 by Russian eye surgeon Svyatoslav Fyodorov. DELL Precision M4500 Laptop Keyboard

Language

Main article: Languages of the Soviet Union

The Soviet government headed by Vladimir Lenin gave small language groups their own writing systems.[131] The development of these writing systems was very successful, even though some flaws were detected. HP G71-449WM Laptop Keyboard

During the later days of the USSR, countries with the same multilingual situation implemented similar policies. A serious problem when creating these writing systems was that the languages differed dialectally greatly from each other.[132] When a language had been given a writing system and appeared in a notable publication, that language would attain "official language" status. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 Laptop Keyboard

There were many minority languages which never received their own writing system; therefore their speakers were forced to have a second language.[133] There are examples where the Soviet government retreated from this policy, most notable under Stalin's regime, where education was discontinued in languages which were not widespread enough. DELL Precision M4500 Laptop Keyboard

These languages were then assimilated into another language, mostly Russian.[134] During the Great Patriotic War (World War II), some minority languages were banned, and their speakers accused of collaborating with the enemy.[135] DELL Vostro 3450 Laptop Keyboard

As the most widely spoken of the Soviet Union's many languages, Russian de facto functioned as an official language as the "language of interethnic communication" (Russian: язык межнационального общения), but only assumed the de jure status as the official national language in 1990.[136] TOSHIBA Satellite A110 Series Laptop Keyboard

Christianity and Islam had the greatest number of adherents among the Soviet state's religious citizens.[137] Eastern Christianity predominated among Christians, with Russia's traditional Russian Orthodox Church being the Soviet Union's largestChristian denomination. About 90 percent of the Soviet Union's Muslims were Sunnis, with Shiites concentrated in the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic.[137] Smaller groups included Roman Catholics, Jews, Buddhists, and a variety of Protestant sects.[137] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard

Religious influence had been strong in the Russian Empire. The Russian Orthodox Church enjoyed a privileged status as the church of the monarchy and took part in carrying out official state functions.[138] The immediate period following the establishment of the Soviet state included a struggle against the Orthodox Church, which the revolutionaries considered an ally of the formerruling classes.[139] HP Pavilion dv6-3035sl Laptop Keyboard

In Soviet law, the "freedom to hold religious services" was constitutionally guaranteed, although the ruling Communist Party regarded religion as incompatible with the Marxist spirit of scientific materialism.[139] In practice, the Soviet system subscribed to a narrow interpretation of this right, and in fact utilized a range of official measures to discourage religion and curb the activities of religious groups.[139] HP Pavilion DV7-4053 Laptop Keyboard

The 1918 Council of People's Commissars decree establishing the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) as a secular state also decreed that "the teaching of religion in all [places] where subjects of general instruction are taught, is forbidden. Citizens may teach and may be taught religion privately."[140] Among further restrictions, those adopted in 1929, a half-decade into Stalin's rule, SONY VAIO VPCF126FM Laptop Keyboard

included express prohibitions on a range of church activities, including meetings for organizedBible study.[139] Both Christian and non-Christian establishments were shut down by the thousands in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1940, as many as 90 percent of the churches, synagogues, and mosques that had been operating in 1917 were closed.[141] Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard

Convinced that religious anti-Sovietism had become a thing of the past, the Stalin regime began shifting to a more moderate religion policy in the late 1930s.[142] Soviet religious establishments overwhelmingly rallied to support the war effort duringthe Soviet war with Nazi Germany. Amid other accommodations to religious faith, SONY VAIO VGN-N21S/W Laptop Keyboard

churches were reopened, Radio Moscow began broadcasting a religious hour, and a historic meeting between Stalin and Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Sergius I of Moscowwas held in 1943.[142] The general tendency of this period was an increase in religious activity among believers of all faiths.[143] DELL Vostro 1510 Laptop Keyboard

The Soviet establishment again clashed with the churches under General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's leadership in 1958–1964, a period when atheism was emphasized in the educational curriculum, and numerous state publications promoted atheistic views.[142]During this period, the number of churches fell from 20,000 to 10,000 from 1959 to 1965, and the number of synagogues dropped from 500 to 97.[144] The number of working mosques also declined, falling from 1,500 to 500 within a decade.[144] Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard

Religious institutions remained monitored by the Soviet government, but churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques were all given more leeway in the Brezhnev era.[145] Official relations between the Orthodox Church and the Soviet government again warmed to the point that the Brezhnev government twice honored Orthodox Patriarch Alexy I with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.[146] A poll conducted by Soviet authorities in 1982 recorded 20 percent of the Soviet population as "active religious believers."[147] HP Compaq G50-123NR laptop keyboard

Although the Russian Orthodox Church maintained a cozy relationship with the Communists, the Ukrainian Catholic Church was suppressed in Soviet-controlledUkraine until 1989.

The culture of the Soviet Union passed through several stages during the USSR's 70-year existence. HP Pavilion DV6-6B00 laptop keyboard

During the first eleven years following the Revolution (1918–1929), there was relative freedom and artists experimented with several different styles to find a distinctive Soviet style of art. Lenin wanted art to be accessible to the Russian people. On the other hand, hundreds of intellectuals, writers, HP Pavilion DV7-3180us laptop keyboard

and artists were exiled or executed, and their work banned, for example Nikolay Gumilev(shot for conspiring against the Bolshevik regime) and Yevgeny Zamyatin (banned).[148]

The government encouraged a variety of trends. In art and literature, numerous schools, some traditional and others radically experimental, proliferated. HP Pavilion dv6-2146so laptop keyboard

Communist writers Maksim Gorky and Vladimir Mayakovsky were active during this time. Film, as a means of influencing a largely illiterate society, received encouragement from the state; much of director Sergei Eisenstein's best work dates from this period.

Later, during Stalin's rule, HP Pavilion dv6-2108sa laptop keyboard

Soviet culture was characterised by the rise and domination of the government-imposed style of socialist realism, with all other trends being severely repressed, with rare exceptions, for example Mikhail Bulgakov's works. Many writers were imprisoned and killed.[149]

Following the Khrushchev Thaw of the late 1950s and early 1960s, censorship was diminished. During this time, SAMSUNG R518 laptop keyboard

a distinctive period of Soviet culture developed characterized by conformist public life and intense focus on personal life. Greater experimentation in art forms were again permissible, with the result that more sophisticated and subtly critical work began to be produced. The regime loosened its emphasis on socialist realism; TOSHIBA Satellite Pro C650-EZ1515D laptop keyboard

thus, for instance, many protagonists of the novels of author Yury Trifonov concerned themselves with problems of daily life rather than with building socialism. An underground dissident literature, known as samizdat, developed during this late period. In architecture the Khrushchev era mostly focused on functional design as opposed to the highly decorated style of Stalin's epoch. HP Pavilion dv6-2135ev laptop keyboard

In the second half of the 1980s, Gorbachev's policies of perestroika and glasnost significantly expanded freedom of expression in the media and press.[150]

Industrialisation (or industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one. It is a part of a wider modernisationprocess, SONY N860-7676-T101 laptop keyboard

where social change and economic development are closely related with technological innovation, particularly with the development of large-scale energy and metallurgy production. It is the extensive organisation of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing.[2]

Industrialisation also introduces a form of philosophical change where people obtain a different attitude towards their perception of nature, and a sociological process of ubiquitous rationalisation. HP Pavilion dv6-2140ef laptop keyboard

There is considerable literature on the factors facilitating industrial modernisation and enterprise development.[3] Key positive factors identified by researchers have ranged from favourable political-legal environments for industry and commerce, through abundant natural resources of various kinds, to plentiful supplies of relatively low-cost, skilled and adaptable labour.

As industrial workers' incomes rise, HP Pavilion dv6-2135ev laptop keyboard

markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds tend to expand and provide a further stimulus to industrial investment and economic growth.

The first country to industrialise was the United Kingdom during the Industrial Revolution, commencing in the 18th century.[4]

By the end of the 20th century, East Asia had become one of the most recently industrialised regions of the world.[5] SONY VAIO VGN-AR230G laptop keyboard

Historically, the industrialisation process involves the expansion of the secondary sector in an economy originally dominated by primary-sector activities.

The first transformation to an industrial economy from an agricultural one, known as the Industrial Revolution, took place from the mid-18th to early 19th century in certain areas in Europe and North America; starting in Great Britain, followed by Belgium, Germany, and France. Later commentators have called this the first industrial revolution.[4][6] GATEWAY MG2 laptop keyboard

The "Second Industrial Revolution" labels the later changes that came about in the mid-19th century after the refinement of the steam engine, the invention of the internal combustion engine, the harnessing of electricity and the construction of canals, railways and electric-power lines. The invention of the assembly line gave this phase a boost.[7][8][9] DELL NSK-D8001 Laptop Keyboard

The lack of an industrial sector in a country can slow growth in the country's economy and power, so governments often encourage or enforce industrialisation. On the other hand, the presence of industry in a country does not mean in general that it will bring wealth and prosperity to the people of that country. And third, the presence of an industry in one country can make it more difficult for other countries to develop the same type of industry. This can be seen in thecomputer software and internet industries. DELL Inspiron 1526 Laptop Keyboard

Started from the US around the 1990s these industries seemed to spread over the world. But after a period of monopolisation less than a decade long, the globally-leading companies remain concentrated in the US.[citation needed] Their economic power and capacity to dominate the media work against the developing of the same types of industry in other states. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 Laptop Keyboard

Most pre-industrial economies had standards of living not much above subsistence, among that the majority of the population were focused on producing their means of survival. For example, in medieval Europe, as much as 80% of the labour force was employed in subsistence agriculture.[citation needed] TOSHIBA Satellite A305 Laptop Keyboard

Some pre-industrial economies, such as classical Athens, had trade and commerce as significant factors, so native Greeks could enjoy wealth far beyond a sustenance standard of living through the use of slavery[citation needed]. Famines were frequent in most pre-industrial societies, although some, SAMSUNG N148 Laptop Keyboard

such as the Netherlands and England of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Italian city states of the 15th century, the medieval Islamic Caliphate, and the ancient Greek and Romancivilisations were able to escape the famine cycle through increasing trade and commercialisation of the agricultural sector[citation needed]. It is estimated that during the seventeenth century Netherlands imported nearly 70% of its grain supply and in the fifth century BC Athens imported three quarters of its total food supply.[citation needed] HP AEUT5U00010 Laptop Keyboard

Industrialisation through innovation in manufacturing processes first started with the Industrial Revolution in the north-west and Midlands of England in the 18th century.[11] It spread to Europe and North America in the 19th century.

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Due to the limited amount of arable land and the overwhelming efficiency of mechanised farming, the increased population could not be dedicated to agriculture. New agricultural techniques allowed a single peasant to feed more workers than previously; however, these techniques also increased the demand for machines and other hardware, which had traditionally been provided by the urban artisans. Artisans, collectively called bourgeoisie, employed rural exodus workers to increase their output and meet the country's needs. HP 597635-001 Laptop Keyboard

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British industrialisation involved significant changes in the way that work was performed. The process of creating agood was divided into simple tasks, each one of them being gradually mechanised in order to boost productivity and thus increase income. Dell Inspiron 8100 Laptop Keyboard

However, industrialisation also involved the exploitation of new forms of energy. In the pre-industrial economy, most machinery was powered by human muscle, by animals, by wood-burning or by water-power. With industrialistion these sources of fuel were replaced with coal, HP Mini 210-1014TU Laptop Keyboard

which could deliver significantly more energy than the alternatives. Indeed, much of the new technology that accompanied the industrial revolution was for machines which could be powered by coal. One outcome of this was an increase in the overall amount of energy consumed within the economy - a trend which has continued in all industrialised nations to the present day.[12] HP Pavilion dv5-1104tu Laptop Keyboard

The accumulation of capital allowed investments in the conception and application of new technologies, enabling the industrialisation process to continue to evolve. The industrialisation process formed a class of industrial workers who had more money to spend than their agricultural cousins. COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard

They spent this on items such as tobacco and sugar, creating new mass markets that stimulated more investment as merchants sought to exploit them.[13]

The mechanisation of production spread to the countries surrounding England geographically in Europe such as France and to British settler colonies, helping to make those areas the wealthiest, and shaping what is now known as the Western world. Lenovo 3000 Y500 Laptop Keyboard
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Some economic historians argue that the possession of so-called 'exploitation colonies' eased the accumulation of capital to the countries that possessed them, speeding up their development.[14] The consequence was that the subject country integrated a bigger economic system in a subaltern position, emulating the countryside, which demands manufactured goods and offers raw materials, TOSHIBA 9J.N7482.901 Laptop Keyboard

while the colonial power stressed its urban posture, providing goods and importing food. A classical example of this mechanism is said to be the triangular trade, which involved England, southern United States and western Africa. Some have stressed the importance of natural or financial resources that Britain received from its many overseas colonies or that profits from the British slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean helped fuel industrial investment.[15] Compaq Presario CQ56-103EG laptop keyboard

Whilst these arguments still find some favour with historians of the colonies, most historians of the British Industrial Revolution do not consider that colonial possessions formed a significant role in the country's industrialisation. Whilst not denying that Britain could profit from these arrangement, they believe that industrialisation would have proceeded with or without the colonies.[16] HP Pavilion dv5-1080el laptop keyboard

After the Convention of Kanagawa issued by Commodore Matthew C. Perry forced Japan to open the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade, the Japanese government realised that drastic reforms were necessary to stave off Western influence. The Tokugawa shogunate abolished the feudal system. TOSHIBA Satellite P300-1FC laptop keyboard

The government instituted military reforms to modernise the Japanese army and also constructed the base for industrialisation. In the 1870s, the Meiji government vigorously promoted technological and industrial development that eventually changed Japan to a powerful modern country. SONY VAIO VGN-FS415E laptop keyboard

The Soviet Union's centrally controlled economy decided to invest a big part of its resources to enhance its industrial production and infrastructures to assure its survival, thus becoming a world superpower.[17]

During the Cold war, the other European socialist countries, organised under the Comecon framework, followed the same developing scheme, albeit with a less emphasis on heavy industry.

Southern European countries such as Spain or Italy saw a moderate industrialisation during the 1950s-1970s, HP Pavilion dv3-2320tx laptop keyboard

caused by a healthy integration of the European economy, though their levels of development, as well as those of Socialist European Countries, do not match the more advanced standards of other European countries like Germany.[18][19] HP Mini 110 laptop keyboard

Since the mid-late 20th century, a few countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, such as Indonesia,Turkey, South Africa, Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico, Costa Rica, and El Salvador have experienced substantial industrial growth, fueled by exporting to countries that have bigger economies: the United States, China, India and the EU. They are sometimes called newly industrialised countries.[citation needed] SONY VAIO VGN-NW50JB laptop keyboard

Despite this trend being artificially influenced by the oil price increases since 2003, the phenomenon is not entirely new nor totally speculative (for instance see: Maquiladora).

Japan and Russia both were successful in the fact that they imitated many other societies giving them flexibility. HP Mini 110-1033cl Laptop Keyboard

Yet they both had very little in common before the 19th century. Japan was isolated from the world with its ongoing traditions and forms of centralised government. Russia featured a more strong centralised government under the emperor. Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard

Both would soon discover that westernisation and industrialism were expanding and their own ways would not hold up against the new changing world of industrialisation. In the late 19th century the requirement for them to begin industrializing would become even more prevalent for the success of their nation in this new, growing society. Lenovo Thinkpad X220i Laptop Keyboard

Currently the "international development community" (World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), many United Nations departments, and some other organizations)[citation needed] endorses development policies like water purification or primary education[citation needed] and Co-Operation amongst third world communities.[24] HP G61-420SL Laptop Keyboard

There are members of the Economic communities who don't believe in recognising that contemporaryl industrialization policies as being adequate to the global south (Third World countries) or beneficial in the longer term, with the perception that it could only create inefficient local industries unable to compete in the free-trade dominated political order which it has created.[citation needed] SAMSUNG Q320 Laptop Keyboard

The relationship between economic growth, employment and poverty reduction is complex. Higher productivity is argued to be leading to lower employment (see jobless recovery).[25] There are differences across sectors, TOSHIBA 48.N5601.001A Laptop Keyboard

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whereby manufacturing is less able than the tertiary sector to accommodate both increased productivity and employment opportunities; over 40% of the world's employees are "working poor" whose incomes fail to keep themselves and their families above the $2 a day poverty line.[25] There is also a phenomenon ofdeindustrialization, such as in the former USSR countries' transition to market economies, and the agriculture sector often is the key sector in absorbing the resultant unemployment.[25] HP G42-164LA Laptop Keyboard

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