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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (abbreviated USSR) (Russian: () listen (help·info); tr.: Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik SSSR), more commonly known as the Soviet Union (Russian: ; tr.: Sovetskiy Soyuz) was a socialist state that existed from 1922 to 1991. From 1945 until its dissolution in 1991, it was, along with the United States, one of the world's two superpowers.
The USSR was created and expanded as a union of Soviet republics formed within the territory of the Russian Empire abolished by the Russian Revolution of 1917 followed by the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920. The geographic boundaries of the Soviet Union varied with time, but from 1945 until dissolution they approximately corresponded to those of late Imperial Russia, with the notable exclusions of Poland and Finland.
The Soviet Union became the primary model for future Communist states during the Cold War; the government and the political organization of the country were defined by the only permitted political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Established by four Soviet Socialist Republics, the USSR grew and from 1956 to 1991 politically contained 15 constituent or union republics — Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Byelorussian SSR, Estonian SSR, Georgian SSR, Kazakh SSR, Kyrgyz SSR, Latvian SSR, Lithuanian SSR, Moldavian SSR, Russian SFSR, Tajik SSR, Turkmen SSR, Ukrainian SSR, and Uzbek SSR — joined in a strongly centralized federal union.[1] After the USSR's collapse, all 15 SSRs became independent countries.
The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, and the successor states are a collection of 15 countries commonly dubbed "the former Soviet Union."[2] Eleven of these states are aligned through a loose confederation known as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Turkmenistan, originally a full member of the CIS, is now an associate member. The three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) did not join this Commonwealth; instead, they joined both the European Union and the NATO alliance in 2004. Russia and Belarus also belong to the Union of Russia and Belarus.
Hammer and Sickle
The hammer and sickle is a symbol used to represent communism and communist political parties. It features a sickle superimposed on a hammer. The two tools are symbols of the peasantry and the industrial proletariat; placing them together symbolises the unity between agricultural and industrial workers.
It is best known from having been incorporated into the red flag of the Soviet Union, along with the Red Star. It has also been used in other flags and emblems.
It should be noted that, although the symbol is widespread in communism, it contradicts Karl Marx's beliefs that the revolution would come entirely from the proletariat. Including the peasantry as part of the movement was part of Lenin's variation on the idea. The peasantry was also a strong force in the Chinese form of communism.
In Unicode, the "hammer and sickle" symbol is U+262D ().
Other Symbols
A number of symbols show some stylistical similarity to the hammer and sickle without necessarily featuring an actual hammer or a sickle. For example, such symbols appear on the flag of Angola, Communist Party of the USA, and on some renditions of Britain's Transport and General Workers Union logo.
Further variations on the theme of crossed tools include the symbol of the Korean Workers' Party (hammer, writing brush and hoe), the old symbol of the British Labour Party (spade, torch and hoe), the crossed monkey wrench and tomohawk of the Earth First! movement, the pickaxe and rifle symbol of communist Albania, and the hammer and compasses of the emblem of the German Democratic Republic.
In 1990, after Nelson Mandela was released from prison, he made a speech to the South African people from a balcony decked out with the hammer and sickle flag in Cape Town. [citation needed]
The Far Eastern Republic used an Anchor crossed over a Spade or Pick axe, symbolising the union of fishermen and miners.
The Communist Party of Guadeloupe uses a letter "G" in the style of a hammer and sickle on its flag [1].
The Communist Party of Britain uses the Hammer and Dove symbol. Designed in 1988 by Mikhal Boncza, it is intended to highlight the party's connection to the peace movement. It is usually used in conjunction with the hammer and sickle, and appears on all of the CPB's publications. Some members of the CPB prefer one symbol over the other, although the party's 1994 congress reaffirmed the hammer and dove's position as the official emblem of the Party.
The Austrian coat of arms depicts an eagle holding an (uncrossed) hammer and sickle in each claw. Though unrelated to communism, the design was meant to represent the two main classes in Austrian society at the time of its conception, the workers and peasants.
Red Star
The five-pointed red star (a pentagram without the inner pentagon) is a symbol of Communism and Socialism and represents the five fingers of the worker's hand, as well as the five continents (as traditionally counted). A lesser known suggestion is that the five points on the star were intended to represent the five social groups that would lead the nation to communism. In no particular order, they are: the youth (the future generations), the military (to protect and defend socialism), industrial workers (labourers), agricultural workers (peasantry), and the intelligentsia (to criticize and to improve the ideas and practices of life in order to attain communism). In general, it was the emblem, symbol, and signal that indicated the truth of the new order under the rule and guidance of the Communist Party
The origins of the Red Star are found in the Russian civil war and the end of the First World War. Those Russian troops fleeing from the Austrian and German fronts who found themselves in Moscow in 1917 mixed with the local Moscow garrison. To distinguish the Moscow troops from the influx of retreating Russians the officers gave out tin stars to the Moscow garrison soldiers, to wear on their hats. When those troops joined the Red army and the Bolsheviks they painted their tin stars red (for Communism), thus creating the original Red Star. Another story has it that the Red Star was introduced by Jews in the Red Army. According to this story these Jewish members of the Red Army believed that the Revolution would create the Promised Land in Russia, although this story is believed to be dubious. This presumption is based on a common confusion among both anti-semites and anti-communists that the Jewish star (with six points) is similar to the Communist red star (with five points). Yet another claimed origin for the red star relates to an alleged encounter between Leon Trotsky and Nikolai Krylenko. Krylenko, an esperantist, was wearing a green star lapel badge; Trotsky enquired as to its meaning and received an explanation that each arm of the star represented one of the five traditional continents. On hearing this, he specified that a red star should be worn by soldiers of the Red Army.
The red star is or was used on several flags and coats of arms of communist states, for example on the flag of former Yugoslavia, and in some separatist and socialist movements, like estelada flag in Catalan Countries. Sometimes the hammer and sickle was depicted inside or below the star. Since the fall of the Soviet bloc, the red star has been banned in some countries (e.g. in Hungary, it is a criminal offense to publicly show or use the symbol). The Russian military still uses the Red Star and many former USSR member nations still have it on military equipment and uniforms. The Russian military newspaper is also called the Red Star (Russian Krasnaya Zvezda). Several sporting clubs from communist countries used the red star as a symbol, and these named themselves after it:
Crvena zvezda (Serbian: ), Belgrade
Roter Stern, Leipzig
The red star has been used by many supporters of socialism in the US, perhaps the best-known contemporary example being Rage Against the Machine, a rock band of the 1990s. The band members used the red star as a symbolic representation of their own progressive ideas, and used their music to advocate for activism and social change.
A yellow star, particularly on a red field, often has the same symbolism. The Far Eastern Republic used a yellow star on its military uniforms (The People's Revolutionary Army), with the same symbolism as that of the Red Star. The flag of the People's Republic of China has five yellow stars on a red field.
The Ruble
The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. It is currently the currency unit of Belarus, Russia, and Transnistria, and was the currency unit of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia/the Soviet Union. The word "ruble" is derived from the Russian verb , rubit, i.e., to chop. Historically, "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna), hence the name. One ruble is divided into 100 kopeks or copecks. The following articles contain more information (list may not contain all historical rubles, especially rubles issued by sub-national entities):
The soviet Ruble
The ruble or rouble (Russian: , plural ´; see note on spelling below) is the name of the currency of the Russian Federation and the two self-proclaimed republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia (and formerly, of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire).
One rouble is divided into 100 kopeks, kopecks, or copecks (Russian: ´, plural ´).
The ISO 4217 currency code for the Russian ruble is RUB; the former code, RUR, refers to the Russian ruble prior to the 1998 denomination (1RUB=1,000RUR).
As yet there is no official symbol for the ruble, though Rand are currently in use. and an R with two horizontal strokes across the top (similar to the peso sign, ) have both been put forward as possibilities.
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