By: HISTORY.com Editors

1922

USSR established

HISTORY.com Editors

Universal History Archive/Univer

Published: November 24, 2009Last Updated: December 19, 2025

On December 30, 1922, in post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan and Armenian republics). Also known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

This Day in History: 12/30/1922 - USSR Established

Watch what happened on December 30, 1922 in this video of This Day in History. On this day the U.S.S.R. was formed under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, who followed the teachings of Karl Marx. The U.S.S.R., or the Soviet Union, was the first government to ever be ruled under the principles of communism. Communism was based on the ideas of Karl Marx, such as the public controlling the nations natural resources. A group of workers and lower-class citizens took over the government under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. Lenin's goal was to establish public ownership over industry and natural resources. Thus, he wanted the socialization of the economy. Lenin thought that these ideas would create an utopian society. However, the Soviet Union turned out to be more of a military dictatorship. Therefore, communism was better as a theory than in implementation, and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

1:00m watch

During the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent three-year Russian Civil War, the Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin dominated the soviet forces, a coalition of workers’ and soldiers’ committees that called for the establishment of a socialist state in the former Russian Empire. In the USSR, all levels of government were controlled by the Communist Party, and the party’s politburo, with its increasingly powerful general secretary, effectively ruled the country. Soviet industry was owned and managed by the state, and agricultural land was divided into state-run collective farms.

In the decades after it was established, the Russian-dominated Soviet Union grew into one of the world’s most powerful and influential states and eventually encompassed 15 republics—Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved following the collapse of its communist government.

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Citation Information

Article Title: USSR established
Author: HISTORY.com Editors
Website Name: History
URL: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-30/ussr-established

Date Accessed: December 24, 2025
Publisher: A&E Television Networks
Last Updated: December 19, 2025
Original Published Date: November 24, 2009

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