December 30, 2012
SOVIET UNION ESTABLISHED 90 YEARS AGO TODAY
Moscow, Russia (JFK+50) Ninety years ago today, December 30, 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was established consolidating Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine & the Transcaucasian Federation into a single communist state.
The Soviet Union's creation came as a result of the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II & a 3 year civil war in which the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin* struggled to establish a coalition of workers' & soldiers' committees.
The abdication of Tsar Nicholas II ended 3 centuries of the Romanov dynasty.
With the establishment of the USSR, Vladimir Lenin became premier & served until his death in 1924.
After Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin came to power & the USSR became a Marxist-Leninist state with a centrally planned economy.
Nikita Khrushchev followed Stalin in the 1950s as the COLD WAR heated up between the USSR & the USA.
The struggle between the two superpowers culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 in which JFK & Khrushchev reached a mutually accepted solution & narrowly averted nuclear war.
The Soviet Union would eventually include 15 republics before dissolving on December 26, 1991.
*Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) was born in Simbirsk to a Russian schoolmaster. He studied law at Kazan University but was expelled for taking part in student protests. He graduated from St. Petersburg University, passed the bar & began a law practice.
Lenin formed "The Union for the Liberation of the Working Class" in 1895 but was forced to leave Russia for 17 years.
In Switzerland, he established a Bolshevik newspaper titled "PRAVDA" or "TRUTH" & returned to Russia in 1917 to lead the revolution.
Arriving at the train station in Moscow, Lenin said:
"Hail to the global socialist revolution!"
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Lenin Speaks in Sverdlov Square
May 5, 1920
JFK CALLS FOR PEACE & PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy gave the commencement address at American University in the Nation's Capitol.
In his speech, JFK called for world peace & paid tribute to the Russian people.
He said:
"Let us reexamine our attitudes toward the Soviet Union.
No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered lacking in virtue.
As Americans, we find communism profoundly repugnant as a negation of personal freedom & dignity.
But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements in science & space, in economic & industrial growth, in culture, (and) in acts of personal courage."
You Tube Video
JFK American University Speech
