The Soviet Union (USSR), which existed from 1922 to 1991, did not really rob the people of their freedom. Before the creation of the USSR, the country was ruled for three centuries by Romanov czars (1613–1917). A progressive and short-lived provisional government (1917) served as a mere interregnum between the autocratic czars and totalitarian Communism. The country was not free either before or during the Soviet era. Only for a brief time in the 1990s was Russia a free country. Although the USSR did not invent Russian dictatorship, it was more repressive and cruel than its Romanov predecessors—especially during Stalin's rule (1924–1953).
Fear was much more pervasive during the Soviet era. The USSR had extremely efficient secret police who eliminated real or potential opponents. There were purges. Stalin-era purges led to the deaths or exile of thousands of people.
Peasants suffered more than the urban population during Soviet rule. Farms were taken over by force under Stalin. Many peasants starved or were sent into forced labor in Siberia.
After the death of Stalin in 1953, Soviet citizens enjoyed slightly more freedom. But only the last leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, was willing to give some rights to Soviet citizens. Western-style democracy has always been alien to Russia as it has almost always been ruled by an autocrat.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
What are two ways that the Soviet people lost their freedom due to communism in the Soviet Union?
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