ProleWiki - User contributions [en]

Topic:Wya1zt6kjj8vgobn

2022-06-28T05:45:58Z

PrimersophiaXVII (talk | contribs) commented on "Change title from "riot" to "insurrection " or "coup"." (i second this change, even libs recognize it as an insurrection)

2021 United States Capitol insurrection

2022-06-28T02:09:20Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

[[File:2021 Capitol storming.png|thumb|Far-right rioters flying flags of the [[United States of America|United States]] and [[Republic of Vietnam (1955–1975)|South Vietnam]].]]
On January 6, 2021, over 2,000 supporters of [[Donald Trump]] stormed the United States Capitol building in an attempt to prevent congress from certifying the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]] and installing Donald Trump as the president. Many far-right groups were involved, including the [[Oath Keepers]],<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Alan Feuer, Adam Goldman|date=2022-01-23|title=Oath Keepers Leader Charged With Seditious Conspiracy in Jan. 6 Investigation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/us/politics/oath-keepers-stewart-rhodes.html|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307005209/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/us/politics/oath-keepers-stewart-rhodes.html|archive-date=2022-03-07|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref> [[Proud Boys]],<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Anthony Zurcher|date=2021-02-13|title=Trump impeachment trial: What verdict means for Trump, Biden and America|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56057849|newspaper=BBC|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref> [[Neo-Nazism|Neo-Nazis]],<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Curt Devine, Scott Bronstein|date=2021-01-10|title=Man in ‘Camp Auschwitz’ sweatshirt during Capitol riot identified|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/10/politics/man-camp-auschwitz-sweatshirt-capitol-riot-identified/index.html|newspaper=CNN|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref> and [[Three Percenters]].<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Thomas Pallini|date=2021-01-07|title=Photos show the aftermath of an unprecedented and destructive siege on the US Capitol that left 4 rioters dead|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-the-aftermath-of-a-siege-on-capitol-building-2021-1?IR=T|newspaper=Insider|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref> Many rioters had firearms and some brought pipe bombs.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=Assault on the Capitol: 24 questions and answers|date=2022-01-06|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/assault-on-the-capitol-24-questions-and-answers/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218050731/https://www.liberationnews.org/assault-on-the-capitol-24-questions-and-answers/|archive-date=2022-02-18|retrieved=2022-06-22}}</ref>

== Reactions ==
President-elect Joe Biden claimed that the United States' "democracy" was under assault,<ref>{{News citation|date=2021-01-6|title=‘Our Democracy Is Under Unprecedented Assault,’ Biden Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000007537323/our-democracy-is-under-unprecedented-assault-biden-says.html|newspaper=The New York Times|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref> but there was never true democracy in the United States before or after the riot. The riot was blamed on [[Antifa]] by the right.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Ben Collins, Brandy Zadrozny|date=2021-01-06|title=Trump loyalists push evidence-free claims that antifa activists fueled mob|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/trump-loyalists-push-evidence-free-claims-antifa-activists-fueled-mob-n1253176|newspaper=NBC News|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref>

After the riot, Donald Trump and 70,000 [[QAnon]]-related accounts were banned from [[Twitter]].<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
[[Category:United States of America]]

Topic:Wy20ioz5iff0of1f

2022-06-28T01:32:57Z

PrimersophiaXVII (talk | contribs) commented on "You can now create articles and upload images" (cool)

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)

2022-06-24T07:52:05Z

PrimersophiaXVII: I will go back later and correct spelling sorry

{{Infobox country
| name = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| native_name = Союз Советских Социалистических Республик
| image_flag = File:The Flag of the USSR.png
| image_coat = File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union.svg
| image_map = File:Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (orthographic projection).svg
| map_width = 220px
| capital = [[Moscow]]
| largest_city = capital
| government_type = Federal [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] [[socialist state]]
| established_event1 = October Revolution
| established_date1 = 1917 November 7th
| established_event2 = [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Establishment of the USSR]]
| established_date2 = 1922 December 30th
| established_event3 = [[World War II]] victory
| established_date3 = 1945 May 9th
| established_event4 = Dissolution
| established_date4 = 1991 December 26th
| population_estimate = 285,742,511<ref>Демоскоп Weekly. [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР] [The 1989 All-Union Population Census. National composition of the population by republics of the USSR].</ref>
| population_estimate_year = 1989
| labour_force = 152.3 million<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990">CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_(1990)/Soviet_Union Soviet Union – World Factbook (Wikisource)]''</ref>
| labour_occupation = 80% industry and other nonagricultural fields 20% agriculture<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| unemployment = 1–2%<ref name="CIA-factbook-1991">CIA World Factbook (1991). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html Soviet Union Economy]''</ref>
| leader_title1 = Notable leaderships
| leader_name1 = [[Vladimir Lenin]] (1922–1924) [[Joseph Stalin]] (1924–1953)
| currency = Soviet ruble (РУБ)
| GDP_nominal_year = 1989
| GDP_nominal = $2.66 trillion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| GDP_nominal_rank = 2nd
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $9,211<ref>CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_per_capita_1.html GDP per Capita 1990]''</ref>
| export_year = 1988
| export = $110.7 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_commodities = Petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods (primarily capital goods and arms)<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_partners = Eastern Europe (49%), Western Europe (14%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] (5%), [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_year = 1988
| import = $107.3 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_commodities = Grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer manufactures<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_partners = Eastern Europe (43%), Western Europe (18%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
|motto=Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!|englishmotto=Workers of the world, unite!|anthem=[[State Anthem of the Soviet Union|Государственный гимн СССР]]|life_span=1922–1991}}
The '''Soviet Union,''' officially known as the '''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics''' ('''USSR'''),<ref group="note">Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР)</ref> was a [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] federal [[socialist state]] that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.

The USSR was established in 1922 as a union of four Soviet socialist republics formed after the [[October Revolution of 1917]], the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], the [[Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Transcaucasian SFSR]], the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] and the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]]. From 1956 to 1991, the union had 15 member nations in total.

The Soviet Union developed under conditions of extreme pressure provoked by [[Capitalism|capitalist]] powers, from the [[Russian Civil War]], the Nazi invasion, and espionage from the West. Besides the difficulties that it faced, the USSR managed to provide a positive political role for the [[Working class|working people]], especially in a time when workers in the capitalist world were still struggling for basic union rights. The USSR also played an essential military role in the defeat of [[fascism]] in [[World War II]].

The Soviet Union was the subject of some of the most impressive economical achievements in modern history. The socialist system transformed a nation of illiterate and starving peasants into an industrial superpower, with one of the fastest growing economies on Earth, one of the world's best-educated and healthiest populations, and some of the most impressive industrial and technological achievements to date. It provided a very influential model for other socialist nations of the world, such as [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] and [[Socialist Republic of Vietnam|Vietnam]].

From 1988, many Soviet Socialist Republics seceded from the USSR before [[Dissolution of the USSR|its dissolution]] in 1991. Its past territory is now occupied by the states of [[Russian Federation|Russia]], [[Republic of Latvia|Latvia]], [[Republic of Lithuania|Lithuania]], [[Republic of Estonia|Estonia]], [[Republic of Belarus|Belarus]], [[Ukraine]], [[Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic|Transnistria]], [[Republic of Moldova|Moldova]], [[Georgia]], [[Republic of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Republic of Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]], [[Republic of Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]], [[Republic of Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]], [[Republic of Tajikistan|Tajikistan]], and [[Kyrgyz Republic|Kyrgyzstan]].

== History ==

=== Background ===
In early 20th century, the [[Russian Empire]] was a semi-feudal country ruled by an absolute [[monarchy]]. The average life expectancy in Russia was about 35 years. Literacy rates were only about 20%. The [[Proletariat|workers]] and [[Peasant|peasants]] lived horrible lives, without the 8 hour working day, minimum wage laws or basic work safety regulations.

Despite the size of the country, there was a constant shortage of farm land and famines were common. Most of the land belonged to the wealthy landlords and rich peasants. Because of technological backwardness, only the softest and most fertile soil could be used, which severely limited the amount of available farm land. There were many large strikes and protests but it was not uncommon that the police would be deployed and break the strike, often by firing at the strikers.

In 1898 the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]] (RSDLP) was created, uniting the several communist study groups scattered around Russia. Among its founders were people like [[Vladimir Lenin]] and [[Julius Martov]]. It established itself as a Marxist party that had the task of overthrowing the monarchy and bring about socialism. However during the course of the struggle there was a lot of disagreement about when this goal was to be implemented and how. In 1903 emerged a ''de facto'' split in the party, and two factions were formed: the [[Mensheviks]] led by Martov and the [[Bolsheviks]] led by Lenin.

Through the leadership of the RSDLP, and against the worsening life conditions, the Russian workers attempted a [[Russian revolution of 1905|democratic revolution in 1905]]. Massive protests erupted all over the country, mutinies were widespread in the army and the people organized public meetings, called “soviets” or councils, which would get together and discuss what to do in an early form of organisation. The revolution eventually failed however. It won some democratic liberties from the Tsar, but those liberties would be constantly under attack by the monarchy afterwards. This revolution would be seen as a rehearsal for the later revolution.

In 1914 the [[First World War]] began and launched Russia into chaos. The economy was ruined by the war, there was a shortage of food and large amounts of the population were drafted to fight in the war. The war is seen by many people, especially the socialist, as an unjust imperialist conquest, where millions of poor and working class people from different countries had to die for the profits and wealth of the capitalist and monarchist governments of their countries.

The attitude towards the war ended up splitting the international socialist movement, the so-called ''Second international working men’s association''. Many parties initially opposed the war, but then chose to support their own government in it, so as to protect their country from the other imperialist powers. Lenin, [[Rosa Luxemburg]] and other revolutionaries saw this as treachery. In their opinion, if everyone only supported their own imperialist government in an imperialist war, it wouldn't do anything to stop the war. They called for “turning the imperialist war to a class war”, friendship between the workers of the various countries, and unity against the capitalist governments of all warring countries. This led to the splitting of the [[International]].

In February 1917 the Russian monarchy was overthrown. This led to the creation of the [[Russian Provisional Government]], consisting of the capitalist Cadet party, the Socialist-Revolutionary party (or SR) and the Mensheviks.

The Bolsheviks initially gave “conditional support” for the Provisional Government, meaning they supported it to the degree that it carried out the democratic reforms and other policies demanded by the population. However it soon became very evident the Provisional Government was a failure.

The Provisional government refused to carry out land reforms. This was necessary to prevent famine and reduce the land shortage, but it would have meant going against the landlords.

The Provisional government also refused to impose stricter regulations on trading and the economy. This would have been necessary to prevent economic disaster, but it would have meant going against the capitalists who greatly profited from the war and chaos.

Lastly, the Provisional government supported the war. They advocated a “war to a finish”, meaning until they won. It became evident that Russia was losing the war, however the Provisional government was still committed to fulfil the treaties and agreements with their allies in World War 1.

The Bolsheviks were quick to point out that the Provisional government acted exactly like the Tsarist government, which also sided with the landlords, capitalists and started the imperialist war. In their view, the Provisional government was continuing the Tsarist policy.

In April 1917, Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from exile and puts forward his ''April theses'', political proposals which call for the overthrow of the Provisional government.

The Bolsheviks put forward their slogans:<blockquote>Down with the provisional government!

Down with the capitalist ministers!

Factories for the workers, land to the peasants, end to the imperialist war!

Peace, Bread & Land</blockquote>In June of that year, the capital city Petrograd (today called St. Petersburg) held municipal elections. Bolsheviks achieved a massive victory, growing from essentially nothing to one of the biggest parties in Russia. The so-called “defencist bloc” still held the majority of seats however. This bloc consisted of the SR-party and Mensheviks. Defencism meant that they supported the war effort. The biggest loser of the election was the Cadet party, which achieved only 15% of the votes and lost its power as the biggest party.

On July 1, Russia launched an offensive on the front, which was known as the “Kerensky offensive” or the “July offensive.” The war was going badly and casualties were mounting for Russia, the thirst for blood from the imperialists and the Provisional government were very evident.

On July 3 and 4, there was a massive demonstration in Petrograd, of hundreds of thousands of people. Among the demonstrators were armed soldiers who came from the front to demand change and revolution. The Bolsheviks urged caution and said that the demonstration should be peaceful and organized. They opposed bringing weapons to the demonstration and said that they were not yet strong enough for a revolution. The workers and soldiers decided to bring weapons despite the advice of the Bolsheviks but the Bolsheviks still took part in the demonstrations to lend support to the workers.

The workers and soldiers carried the Bolshevik slogans of "End the war”, "Peace, bread and land". There was a government crack down against the demonstrators. Machine guns were turned towards the crowd, leaving countless dead. The Bolsheviks were now seen as a serious threat by the government. A warrant was issued for Lenin’s arrest, which forced him into hiding. Bolshevik newspaper ''[[Pravda]]'' was banned, their printing plant and party offices were destroyed. This period of repression is known as the “July Days”. The Provisional government restored the death penalty on the front, against soldiers who disobeyed orders.

The Bolsheviks lost a lot of their forces, and many of their important resources. They began publishing their newspapers under new names to avoid censorship. Despite all their difficulties the workers supported them more than ever, the Provisional government was exposed as a supporter of the capitalist elite and the imperialists. The Provisional government started forming stronger ties with the old capitalist party, the Cadets, to make up for the support they lost from the workers.

In August, there was an attempted coup against the Provisional government, called the “Kornilov Affair”. Kornilov was a general of the White Guard in the Russian army, who wanted to institute military dictatorship and strong rule of law, to stop the chaos in Russia. In other words, complete counter-revolution, end to the demonstrations, end to democracy, end to the working class movement.

The railway workers started a strike and refused to transport his troops while the workers and soldiers of Petrograd formed the armed Red Guard units and took up the defence of Petrograd against Kornilov. Kornilov’s coup ended in failure.

After the overthrow of the monarchy, the formation of soviets had begun again in all large cities, but at the time their leadership would be predominantly Menshevik.

In September the Bolsheviks gained the majority in the Petrograd Soviet and soon after in the soviets of Moscow and other large cities. The Soviets already carried out many important functions in the cities as the Russian government was incapable of doing so. The Soviets even organized the defence of Petrograd. As the economy was in ruins and the war effort was failing, more people turned towards the Soviets' leadership.

The 6th Bolshevik party congress had agreed that they should carry out an armed revolution. In October, the Petrograd Soviet created a Military Revolutionary Committee. These special bodies were formed all over the country connected with each soviet in each city. The Menshevik and SR minorities in the soviets opposed revolution, but the SR party split. The “left-SR” group sided with the Bolsheviks.

The Bolshevik soldiers organization took over the garrison. On October 24 the Military Revolutionary Committee occupied the telegraph, telephone offices and other important buildings. The cruiser Aurora, which was controlled by Bolshevik sailors, fired a shot to signal the beginning of the revolution. The workers and soldiers stormed the winter palace. The same evening there was a congress of Soviets, where delegates arrived from all over the country. This congress elected the new Russian government, elected by the soviets of workers and soldiers, the Soviet Government. The October Revolution had taken power.

This would lead to a civil war where the Capitalists tried to seize back the state. 14 capitalist governments including the [[United States of America|USA]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Great Britain]], [[French Republic|France]], [[Japan]], [[Republic of Poland|Poland]] and many others invaded Soviet Russia to destroy the Soviet government. But they failed, and the Soviet Union was created.

The October Revolution showed that a revolution by the ordinary people was possible. It showed that capitalism is ultimately incapable of solving its internal contradictions. Despite getting moderate leftists into the government, the policy was as imperialist, profit-driven and anti-popular as during the Tsarist era. The moderate leftists didn’t improve capitalism, they were used by capitalism. Only revolution stopped Russia’s involvement in the World War, carried out land reform and dealt with the crisis of unregulated capitalism, and began the process of building a new economic model which would serve the needs and interests of the people, not profits.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=TheFinnishBolshevik|date=2017-11-08|title=Brief History of the October Revolution|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2017/11/08/brief-history-of-the-october-revolution/|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref>

===Treaty on formation of the USSR ===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]]''</blockquote>

===World War II===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[World War II]]''</blockquote>

=== Dissolution===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Dissolution of the USSR]]''</blockquote>

== Government ==

=== Supreme Soviet ===
The [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]] was the legislature of the USSR and was elected every four years. It consisted of two branches: the [[Soviet of the Union]], which was elected based on population, and the [[Soviet of Nationalities]], which was elected according to the republics, [[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics|ASSRs]], [[autonomous oblasts]], and [[autonomous okrugs]] of the Soviet Union. Either house could initiate legislation and it had to be passed by a majority vote of both houses to become law. Each house elected a chairman and two vice-chairmen to preside over their sessions, which occurred twice every year. The [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] could also convene special sessions.<ref name=":2" /> Before 1936, the Supreme Soviet was known as the [[Congress of Soviets]] and the Soviet of the Union was known as the [[Federal Soviet]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Second All-Union Congress of Soviets|year=1924|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1924)|chapter=}}</ref>

The Federal Soviet was elected with one deputy per 25,000 urban inhabitants or 125,000 rural inhabitants.<ref name=":1" /> After 1936, the Soviet of the Union had one deputy for every 300,000 inhabitants.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=[[Joseph Stalin]]|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=The Highest Organs of State Authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}}</ref>

From 1924 to 1936, the Soviet of Nationalities had five deputies for every union republic and one for every autonomous republic and autonomous oblast.<ref name=":1" /> In 1936, this was changed to 25 for every union republic, ten for each ASSR, five for each autonomous oblast, and one for each autonomous okrug.<ref name=":2" /> In 1977, it was changed again so that every SSR would have 32 deputies and every ASSR would have 11.<ref>{{Citation|author=Government of the Soviet Union|year=1977|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1977,_Unamended)|chapter=Higher Bodies of State Authority and Administration of the USSR}}</ref>

=== Presidium ===
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was elected at a combined session of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. It consisted of a [[President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|President]], Secretary, one vice president from every union republic, and 24 members.<ref name=":1" />

=== Council of People's Commissars ===
The [[Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union|Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom) was the executive branch of the USSR and was elected at a joint session of the Soviet of the Union and Soviet of Nationalities.<ref name=":1" />

=== Supreme Court ===
The [[Supreme Court of the Soviet Union|Supreme Court]] was the highest court in the Soviet Union and was elected by the Supreme Soviet once every five years.<ref name=":1" />

==Economy==

===Planning ===
The soviet economy was planned by teams of mathmatitions and economists. These plans were inacted in the form of five year plans.

These five year plans used production quotas to encourage growth of the soviet economy. contrary to popular belif, these quotas were based on previous production records, avalible technology, amd many other facors

===Agriculture===
Farms and farm equipment in the USSR were colectavly owned.

===Housing and construction ===
After the October Revolution, hundreds of thousands of workers moved from slums to nationalized houses. In 1919, a decree was passed setting a minimum of at least 8.25 square meters of living space per person, 30 cubic meters of air space for every adult, and 20 cubic meters for every child. This space only included living and bed rooms, not bathrooms or entrances. Rent in the Soviet Union was kept at under 4% of workers' total incomes.<ref name=":3">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Stalin Society]]|title=Housing in the USSR|date=2017-01-13|url=https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330020740/https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-date=2022-03-30|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

In 1920, 254 residential buildings were built and 2,347 were repaired. From 1923 to 1927, 12.5 million square meters of living space were built. From 1927 to 1931, another 28.85 million were built. The average living space for each worker greatly increased from the revolution to 1938: there was a 94% increase in Moscow, 100% in Leningrad, 176% in the [[Donbass]], and 195% in the Urals.<ref name=":3" />

===Industry and manufacturing===

===Services===

===Environment===

==Infrastructure==

===Transportation===

===Energy===

=== Science and technology===

==Demographics==

===Living standards ===

===Education===
Education in the Soviet Union was free<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens|section=Article 121|city=Moscow}}</ref> and was mandatory between the ages of 8 and 15. There were also ten-year schools that went to the age of 18, but the last three years were not mandatory. The curriculum included nature study, art, music, social science, and foreign languages.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Anglo-Soviet Youth Friendship Alliance|newspaper=Revolutionary Democracy|title=Education in the U.S.S.R.|url=http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/anglosov.htm|retrieved=2022-04-17|date=1942}}</ref> School days lasted between 4.5 and 6 hours, depending on age.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Number of School Students
!
!1913
!1929
! 1933
!1942
|-
|7-year schools
|6,800,000
|11,700,000
|21,300,000
|23,000,000
|-
|10-year schools
|1,000,000
|2,700,000
|5,500,000
|17,000,000
|-
|Total
|7,800,000
|14,400,000
|33,400,000
|40,000,000
|}
Between 1932 and 1937, 20,000 schools were built in the Soviet Union. Between 1938 and 1941, 20,000 more schools were built and 500,000 new teachers were trained. Between 1913 and 1940, the number of libraries in the USSR increased by 57,400. 12% of the USSR's national budget was spent on education.

Children aged 12 and older formed committees to care for school property and help other students. Corporal punishment was illegal.<ref name=":0" />

====Preschool====
Optional preschool and kindergarten were available in the Soviet Union from birth to the age of 8. In 1932, there were 600,000 children in daycares; this number increased to three million by 1937.<ref name=":0" />

====Universities====
In 1940, there were 700 universities in the USSR with 650,000 students enrolled. There were 22 universities in [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]], 13 in [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan]], and 30 in [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbekistan]].<ref name=":0" />

===Health ===
[[File:Soviet doctor poster.png|thumb|323x323px|"Honor and Respect for the Rural Doctor! The Doctor is the Friend of the People!"]]
[[Nikolai Semashko]], the People's Commissar for Public Health from 1918 to 1930, proposed a health system based on the following ideas:

* Unified principles of organization and centralization of the health care system
* Equal accessibility of healthcare for all citizens
* Priority attention to childhood and maternity
* Unity of preventive healthcare and treatment
* Elimination of social bases of diseases
* Involvement of the society in the cause of healthcare

During the [[Russian Civil War]], there were outbreaks of cholera, typhus, and smallpox. The prevalence of typhus decreased by more than twice from 1919 to 1922 and by 80 times by 1927 and the prevalence of malaria decreased by more than three times from 1917 to 1930. Compulsory vaccination for smallpox was introduced in 1919 and it was eradicated by 1937.<ref name=":4">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Politsturm]]|title=Healthcare Under Socialism: The History of the Soviet Healthcare System|date=2021-09-07|url=https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112182526/https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-date=2021-11-12|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

By the late 1950's, the life expectancy of the Soviet Union had increased to 68.7 years, which was as high as the [[United States of America|United States]] at the time.<ref>{{Citation|author=Reiner Dinkel|year=1986|title=Paradoxical Effects of Social Behavior|title-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316183154/http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-95874-8_22|chapter=Declining Life Expectancy in a Highly Developed Nation: Paradox or Statistical Artifact?|page=311–321|city=Munich|publisher=Department of Economics, University of Munich}}</ref> Infant mortality decreased from 25% before the revolution to lower than [[Italian Republic|Italy]] or [[Republic of Austria|Austria]] by 1960. In 1955, the USSR had 334,000 doctors (including dentists) and 1,290,000 hospital beds. Production of pharmaceutical chemicals increased by five times from 1940 to 1950 and 3.1 times from 1950 to 1955.<ref name=":4" />

In 1978, the [[World Health Organization]] recognized the Soviet principles of healthcare as some of the best in the world.<ref name=":4" />

==Culture==
[[File:Youth-soviet-sports.jpg|thumb|334x334px|"USSR is a mighty sports power!" B. Reshetnikov, 1962]]

=== Sports===
The USSR put a lot of emphasis on sports, as evidenced by the material they produced (such as posters). They were also a participant in the Olympic Games and created their own competing event, the Spartakiads (named after Spartacus, the slave rebel).

====Weightlifting====
Moreover, the USSR produced many record-setting athletes, mainly in weightlifting, which was a very popular sport in the USSR and remains one to this day in existing socialist countries such as [[People's Republic of China|China]] or the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|DPRK]].

The Soviets pioneered their own system, which is today mostly saved and translated by Pavel Tsatsouline. While most weightlifters today reach their peak around 26 and retire around the age of 35, a few Soviet weightlifters produced world records well past their 30s. This is because their method focused on preserving longevity in their athletes, developed with the scientific method. Athletes were followed by scientists who analysed their data and produced a routine adapted to their level.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Craig Marker|date=2014-11-14|title=4 secrets of Soviet weightlifting as revealed by Pavel Tsatsouline|url=https://breakingmuscle.com/4-secrets-of-soviet-weightlifting-as-revealed-by-pavel/|newspaper=Breaking Muscle}}</ref>

The most famous Soviet weightlifter is arguably Vasily Alekseyev, who set 80 world records in an eight-year period. He retired at the age of 38 after failing to register a total at the Moscow Olympics, following an injury he sustained in 1978.<ref>{{News citation|title=Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev Soviet weightlifter|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vasily-Ivanovich-Alekseyev|newspaper=Britannica}}</ref>

===Film===

==References==
<references />

=== Notes ===
<references group="note" />

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)

2022-06-24T07:47:24Z

PrimersophiaXVII: breif description of the way the soviet economy was planned

{{Infobox country
| name = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| native_name = Союз Советских Социалистических Республик
| image_flag = File:The Flag of the USSR.png
| image_coat = File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union.svg
| image_map = File:Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (orthographic projection).svg
| map_width = 220px
| capital = [[Moscow]]
| largest_city = capital
| government_type = Federal [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] [[socialist state]]
| established_event1 = October Revolution
| established_date1 = 1917 November 7th
| established_event2 = [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Establishment of the USSR]]
| established_date2 = 1922 December 30th
| established_event3 = [[World War II]] victory
| established_date3 = 1945 May 9th
| established_event4 = Dissolution
| established_date4 = 1991 December 26th
| population_estimate = 285,742,511<ref>Демоскоп Weekly. [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР] [The 1989 All-Union Population Census. National composition of the population by republics of the USSR].</ref>
| population_estimate_year = 1989
| labour_force = 152.3 million<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990">CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_(1990)/Soviet_Union Soviet Union – World Factbook (Wikisource)]''</ref>
| labour_occupation = 80% industry and other nonagricultural fields 20% agriculture<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| unemployment = 1–2%<ref name="CIA-factbook-1991">CIA World Factbook (1991). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html Soviet Union Economy]''</ref>
| leader_title1 = Notable leaderships
| leader_name1 = [[Vladimir Lenin]] (1922–1924) [[Joseph Stalin]] (1924–1953)
| currency = Soviet ruble (РУБ)
| GDP_nominal_year = 1989
| GDP_nominal = $2.66 trillion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| GDP_nominal_rank = 2nd
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $9,211<ref>CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_per_capita_1.html GDP per Capita 1990]''</ref>
| export_year = 1988
| export = $110.7 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_commodities = Petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods (primarily capital goods and arms)<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_partners = Eastern Europe (49%), Western Europe (14%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] (5%), [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_year = 1988
| import = $107.3 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_commodities = Grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer manufactures<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_partners = Eastern Europe (43%), Western Europe (18%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
|motto=Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!|englishmotto=Workers of the world, unite!|anthem=[[State Anthem of the Soviet Union|Государственный гимн СССР]]|life_span=1922–1991}}
The '''Soviet Union,''' officially known as the '''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics''' ('''USSR'''),<ref group="note">Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР)</ref> was a [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] federal [[socialist state]] that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.

The USSR was established in 1922 as a union of four Soviet socialist republics formed after the [[October Revolution of 1917]], the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], the [[Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Transcaucasian SFSR]], the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] and the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]]. From 1956 to 1991, the union had 15 member nations in total.

The Soviet Union developed under conditions of extreme pressure provoked by [[Capitalism|capitalist]] powers, from the [[Russian Civil War]], the Nazi invasion, and espionage from the West. Besides the difficulties that it faced, the USSR managed to provide a positive political role for the [[Working class|working people]], especially in a time when workers in the capitalist world were still struggling for basic union rights. The USSR also played an essential military role in the defeat of [[fascism]] in [[World War II]].

The Soviet Union was the subject of some of the most impressive economical achievements in modern history. The socialist system transformed a nation of illiterate and starving peasants into an industrial superpower, with one of the fastest growing economies on Earth, one of the world's best-educated and healthiest populations, and some of the most impressive industrial and technological achievements to date. It provided a very influential model for other socialist nations of the world, such as [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] and [[Socialist Republic of Vietnam|Vietnam]].

From 1988, many Soviet Socialist Republics seceded from the USSR before [[Dissolution of the USSR|its dissolution]] in 1991. Its past territory is now occupied by the states of [[Russian Federation|Russia]], [[Republic of Latvia|Latvia]], [[Republic of Lithuania|Lithuania]], [[Republic of Estonia|Estonia]], [[Republic of Belarus|Belarus]], [[Ukraine]], [[Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic|Transnistria]], [[Republic of Moldova|Moldova]], [[Georgia]], [[Republic of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Republic of Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]], [[Republic of Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]], [[Republic of Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]], [[Republic of Tajikistan|Tajikistan]], and [[Kyrgyz Republic|Kyrgyzstan]].

== History ==

=== Background ===
In early 20th century, the [[Russian Empire]] was a semi-feudal country ruled by an absolute [[monarchy]]. The average life expectancy in Russia was about 35 years. Literacy rates were only about 20%. The [[Proletariat|workers]] and [[Peasant|peasants]] lived horrible lives, without the 8 hour working day, minimum wage laws or basic work safety regulations.

Despite the size of the country, there was a constant shortage of farm land and famines were common. Most of the land belonged to the wealthy landlords and rich peasants. Because of technological backwardness, only the softest and most fertile soil could be used, which severely limited the amount of available farm land. There were many large strikes and protests but it was not uncommon that the police would be deployed and break the strike, often by firing at the strikers.

In 1898 the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]] (RSDLP) was created, uniting the several communist study groups scattered around Russia. Among its founders were people like [[Vladimir Lenin]] and [[Julius Martov]]. It established itself as a Marxist party that had the task of overthrowing the monarchy and bring about socialism. However during the course of the struggle there was a lot of disagreement about when this goal was to be implemented and how. In 1903 emerged a ''de facto'' split in the party, and two factions were formed: the [[Mensheviks]] led by Martov and the [[Bolsheviks]] led by Lenin.

Through the leadership of the RSDLP, and against the worsening life conditions, the Russian workers attempted a [[Russian revolution of 1905|democratic revolution in 1905]]. Massive protests erupted all over the country, mutinies were widespread in the army and the people organized public meetings, called “soviets” or councils, which would get together and discuss what to do in an early form of organisation. The revolution eventually failed however. It won some democratic liberties from the Tsar, but those liberties would be constantly under attack by the monarchy afterwards. This revolution would be seen as a rehearsal for the later revolution.

In 1914 the [[First World War]] began and launched Russia into chaos. The economy was ruined by the war, there was a shortage of food and large amounts of the population were drafted to fight in the war. The war is seen by many people, especially the socialist, as an unjust imperialist conquest, where millions of poor and working class people from different countries had to die for the profits and wealth of the capitalist and monarchist governments of their countries.

The attitude towards the war ended up splitting the international socialist movement, the so-called ''Second international working men’s association''. Many parties initially opposed the war, but then chose to support their own government in it, so as to protect their country from the other imperialist powers. Lenin, [[Rosa Luxemburg]] and other revolutionaries saw this as treachery. In their opinion, if everyone only supported their own imperialist government in an imperialist war, it wouldn't do anything to stop the war. They called for “turning the imperialist war to a class war”, friendship between the workers of the various countries, and unity against the capitalist governments of all warring countries. This led to the splitting of the [[International]].

In February 1917 the Russian monarchy was overthrown. This led to the creation of the [[Russian Provisional Government]], consisting of the capitalist Cadet party, the Socialist-Revolutionary party (or SR) and the Mensheviks.

The Bolsheviks initially gave “conditional support” for the Provisional Government, meaning they supported it to the degree that it carried out the democratic reforms and other policies demanded by the population. However it soon became very evident the Provisional Government was a failure.

The Provisional government refused to carry out land reforms. This was necessary to prevent famine and reduce the land shortage, but it would have meant going against the landlords.

The Provisional government also refused to impose stricter regulations on trading and the economy. This would have been necessary to prevent economic disaster, but it would have meant going against the capitalists who greatly profited from the war and chaos.

Lastly, the Provisional government supported the war. They advocated a “war to a finish”, meaning until they won. It became evident that Russia was losing the war, however the Provisional government was still committed to fulfil the treaties and agreements with their allies in World War 1.

The Bolsheviks were quick to point out that the Provisional government acted exactly like the Tsarist government, which also sided with the landlords, capitalists and started the imperialist war. In their view, the Provisional government was continuing the Tsarist policy.

In April 1917, Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from exile and puts forward his ''April theses'', political proposals which call for the overthrow of the Provisional government.

The Bolsheviks put forward their slogans:<blockquote>Down with the provisional government!

Down with the capitalist ministers!

Factories for the workers, land to the peasants, end to the imperialist war!

Peace, Bread & Land</blockquote>In June of that year, the capital city Petrograd (today called St. Petersburg) held municipal elections. Bolsheviks achieved a massive victory, growing from essentially nothing to one of the biggest parties in Russia. The so-called “defencist bloc” still held the majority of seats however. This bloc consisted of the SR-party and Mensheviks. Defencism meant that they supported the war effort. The biggest loser of the election was the Cadet party, which achieved only 15% of the votes and lost its power as the biggest party.

On July 1, Russia launched an offensive on the front, which was known as the “Kerensky offensive” or the “July offensive.” The war was going badly and casualties were mounting for Russia, the thirst for blood from the imperialists and the Provisional government were very evident.

On July 3 and 4, there was a massive demonstration in Petrograd, of hundreds of thousands of people. Among the demonstrators were armed soldiers who came from the front to demand change and revolution. The Bolsheviks urged caution and said that the demonstration should be peaceful and organized. They opposed bringing weapons to the demonstration and said that they were not yet strong enough for a revolution. The workers and soldiers decided to bring weapons despite the advice of the Bolsheviks but the Bolsheviks still took part in the demonstrations to lend support to the workers.

The workers and soldiers carried the Bolshevik slogans of "End the war”, "Peace, bread and land". There was a government crack down against the demonstrators. Machine guns were turned towards the crowd, leaving countless dead. The Bolsheviks were now seen as a serious threat by the government. A warrant was issued for Lenin’s arrest, which forced him into hiding. Bolshevik newspaper ''[[Pravda]]'' was banned, their printing plant and party offices were destroyed. This period of repression is known as the “July Days”. The Provisional government restored the death penalty on the front, against soldiers who disobeyed orders.

The Bolsheviks lost a lot of their forces, and many of their important resources. They began publishing their newspapers under new names to avoid censorship. Despite all their difficulties the workers supported them more than ever, the Provisional government was exposed as a supporter of the capitalist elite and the imperialists. The Provisional government started forming stronger ties with the old capitalist party, the Cadets, to make up for the support they lost from the workers.

In August, there was an attempted coup against the Provisional government, called the “Kornilov Affair”. Kornilov was a general of the White Guard in the Russian army, who wanted to institute military dictatorship and strong rule of law, to stop the chaos in Russia. In other words, complete counter-revolution, end to the demonstrations, end to democracy, end to the working class movement.

The railway workers started a strike and refused to transport his troops while the workers and soldiers of Petrograd formed the armed Red Guard units and took up the defence of Petrograd against Kornilov. Kornilov’s coup ended in failure.

After the overthrow of the monarchy, the formation of soviets had begun again in all large cities, but at the time their leadership would be predominantly Menshevik.

In September the Bolsheviks gained the majority in the Petrograd Soviet and soon after in the soviets of Moscow and other large cities. The Soviets already carried out many important functions in the cities as the Russian government was incapable of doing so. The Soviets even organized the defence of Petrograd. As the economy was in ruins and the war effort was failing, more people turned towards the Soviets' leadership.

The 6th Bolshevik party congress had agreed that they should carry out an armed revolution. In October, the Petrograd Soviet created a Military Revolutionary Committee. These special bodies were formed all over the country connected with each soviet in each city. The Menshevik and SR minorities in the soviets opposed revolution, but the SR party split. The “left-SR” group sided with the Bolsheviks.

The Bolshevik soldiers organization took over the garrison. On October 24 the Military Revolutionary Committee occupied the telegraph, telephone offices and other important buildings. The cruiser Aurora, which was controlled by Bolshevik sailors, fired a shot to signal the beginning of the revolution. The workers and soldiers stormed the winter palace. The same evening there was a congress of Soviets, where delegates arrived from all over the country. This congress elected the new Russian government, elected by the soviets of workers and soldiers, the Soviet Government. The October Revolution had taken power.

This would lead to a civil war where the Capitalists tried to seize back the state. 14 capitalist governments including the [[United States of America|USA]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Great Britain]], [[French Republic|France]], [[Japan]], [[Republic of Poland|Poland]] and many others invaded Soviet Russia to destroy the Soviet government. But they failed, and the Soviet Union was created.

The October Revolution showed that a revolution by the ordinary people was possible. It showed that capitalism is ultimately incapable of solving its internal contradictions. Despite getting moderate leftists into the government, the policy was as imperialist, profit-driven and anti-popular as during the Tsarist era. The moderate leftists didn’t improve capitalism, they were used by capitalism. Only revolution stopped Russia’s involvement in the World War, carried out land reform and dealt with the crisis of unregulated capitalism, and began the process of building a new economic model which would serve the needs and interests of the people, not profits.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=TheFinnishBolshevik|date=2017-11-08|title=Brief History of the October Revolution|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2017/11/08/brief-history-of-the-october-revolution/|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref>

===Treaty on formation of the USSR ===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]]''</blockquote>

===World War II===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[World War II]]''</blockquote>

=== Dissolution===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Dissolution of the USSR]]''</blockquote>

== Government ==

=== Supreme Soviet ===
The [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]] was the legislature of the USSR and was elected every four years. It consisted of two branches: the [[Soviet of the Union]], which was elected based on population, and the [[Soviet of Nationalities]], which was elected according to the republics, [[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics|ASSRs]], [[autonomous oblasts]], and [[autonomous okrugs]] of the Soviet Union. Either house could initiate legislation and it had to be passed by a majority vote of both houses to become law. Each house elected a chairman and two vice-chairmen to preside over their sessions, which occurred twice every year. The [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] could also convene special sessions.<ref name=":2" /> Before 1936, the Supreme Soviet was known as the [[Congress of Soviets]] and the Soviet of the Union was known as the [[Federal Soviet]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Second All-Union Congress of Soviets|year=1924|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1924)|chapter=}}</ref>

The Federal Soviet was elected with one deputy per 25,000 urban inhabitants or 125,000 rural inhabitants.<ref name=":1" /> After 1936, the Soviet of the Union had one deputy for every 300,000 inhabitants.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=[[Joseph Stalin]]|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=The Highest Organs of State Authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}}</ref>

From 1924 to 1936, the Soviet of Nationalities had five deputies for every union republic and one for every autonomous republic and autonomous oblast.<ref name=":1" /> In 1936, this was changed to 25 for every union republic, ten for each ASSR, five for each autonomous oblast, and one for each autonomous okrug.<ref name=":2" /> In 1977, it was changed again so that every SSR would have 32 deputies and every ASSR would have 11.<ref>{{Citation|author=Government of the Soviet Union|year=1977|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1977,_Unamended)|chapter=Higher Bodies of State Authority and Administration of the USSR}}</ref>

=== Presidium ===
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was elected at a combined session of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. It consisted of a [[President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|President]], Secretary, one vice president from every union republic, and 24 members.<ref name=":1" />

=== Council of People's Commissars ===
The [[Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union|Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom) was the executive branch of the USSR and was elected at a joint session of the Soviet of the Union and Soviet of Nationalities.<ref name=":1" />

=== Supreme Court ===
The [[Supreme Court of the Soviet Union|Supreme Court]] was the highest court in the Soviet Union and was elected by the Supreme Soviet once every five years.<ref name=":1" />

==Economy==

===Planning ===
The soviet economy was planned by teams of mathmatitions and economists. These plans were inacted in the form of five year plans.

These five year plans used production quotas to encourage growth of the soviet economy. contrary to popular belif, these quotas were based on previous production records, avalible technology, amd many other facors

===Agriculture===

===Housing and construction ===
After the October Revolution, hundreds of thousands of workers moved from slums to nationalized houses. In 1919, a decree was passed setting a minimum of at least 8.25 square meters of living space per person, 30 cubic meters of air space for every adult, and 20 cubic meters for every child. This space only included living and bed rooms, not bathrooms or entrances. Rent in the Soviet Union was kept at under 4% of workers' total incomes.<ref name=":3">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Stalin Society]]|title=Housing in the USSR|date=2017-01-13|url=https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330020740/https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-date=2022-03-30|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

In 1920, 254 residential buildings were built and 2,347 were repaired. From 1923 to 1927, 12.5 million square meters of living space were built. From 1927 to 1931, another 28.85 million were built. The average living space for each worker greatly increased from the revolution to 1938: there was a 94% increase in Moscow, 100% in Leningrad, 176% in the [[Donbass]], and 195% in the Urals.<ref name=":3" />

===Industry and manufacturing===

===Services===

===Environment===

==Infrastructure==

===Transportation===

===Energy===

=== Science and technology===

==Demographics==

===Living standards ===

===Education===
Education in the Soviet Union was free<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens|section=Article 121|city=Moscow}}</ref> and was mandatory between the ages of 8 and 15. There were also ten-year schools that went to the age of 18, but the last three years were not mandatory. The curriculum included nature study, art, music, social science, and foreign languages.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Anglo-Soviet Youth Friendship Alliance|newspaper=Revolutionary Democracy|title=Education in the U.S.S.R.|url=http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/anglosov.htm|retrieved=2022-04-17|date=1942}}</ref> School days lasted between 4.5 and 6 hours, depending on age.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Number of School Students
!
!1913
!1929
! 1933
!1942
|-
|7-year schools
|6,800,000
|11,700,000
|21,300,000
|23,000,000
|-
|10-year schools
|1,000,000
|2,700,000
|5,500,000
|17,000,000
|-
|Total
|7,800,000
|14,400,000
|33,400,000
|40,000,000
|}
Between 1932 and 1937, 20,000 schools were built in the Soviet Union. Between 1938 and 1941, 20,000 more schools were built and 500,000 new teachers were trained. Between 1913 and 1940, the number of libraries in the USSR increased by 57,400. 12% of the USSR's national budget was spent on education.

Children aged 12 and older formed committees to care for school property and help other students. Corporal punishment was illegal.<ref name=":0" />

====Preschool====
Optional preschool and kindergarten were available in the Soviet Union from birth to the age of 8. In 1932, there were 600,000 children in daycares; this number increased to three million by 1937.<ref name=":0" />

====Universities====
In 1940, there were 700 universities in the USSR with 650,000 students enrolled. There were 22 universities in [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]], 13 in [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan]], and 30 in [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbekistan]].<ref name=":0" />

===Health ===
[[File:Soviet doctor poster.png|thumb|323x323px|"Honor and Respect for the Rural Doctor! The Doctor is the Friend of the People!"]]
[[Nikolai Semashko]], the People's Commissar for Public Health from 1918 to 1930, proposed a health system based on the following ideas:

* Unified principles of organization and centralization of the health care system
* Equal accessibility of healthcare for all citizens
* Priority attention to childhood and maternity
* Unity of preventive healthcare and treatment
* Elimination of social bases of diseases
* Involvement of the society in the cause of healthcare

During the [[Russian Civil War]], there were outbreaks of cholera, typhus, and smallpox. The prevalence of typhus decreased by more than twice from 1919 to 1922 and by 80 times by 1927 and the prevalence of malaria decreased by more than three times from 1917 to 1930. Compulsory vaccination for smallpox was introduced in 1919 and it was eradicated by 1937.<ref name=":4">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Politsturm]]|title=Healthcare Under Socialism: The History of the Soviet Healthcare System|date=2021-09-07|url=https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112182526/https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-date=2021-11-12|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

By the late 1950's, the life expectancy of the Soviet Union had increased to 68.7 years, which was as high as the [[United States of America|United States]] at the time.<ref>{{Citation|author=Reiner Dinkel|year=1986|title=Paradoxical Effects of Social Behavior|title-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316183154/http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-95874-8_22|chapter=Declining Life Expectancy in a Highly Developed Nation: Paradox or Statistical Artifact?|page=311–321|city=Munich|publisher=Department of Economics, University of Munich}}</ref> Infant mortality decreased from 25% before the revolution to lower than [[Italian Republic|Italy]] or [[Republic of Austria|Austria]] by 1960. In 1955, the USSR had 334,000 doctors (including dentists) and 1,290,000 hospital beds. Production of pharmaceutical chemicals increased by five times from 1940 to 1950 and 3.1 times from 1950 to 1955.<ref name=":4" />

In 1978, the [[World Health Organization]] recognized the Soviet principles of healthcare as some of the best in the world.<ref name=":4" />

==Culture==
[[File:Youth-soviet-sports.jpg|thumb|334x334px|"USSR is a mighty sports power!" B. Reshetnikov, 1962]]

=== Sports===
The USSR put a lot of emphasis on sports, as evidenced by the material they produced (such as posters). They were also a participant in the Olympic Games and created their own competing event, the Spartakiads (named after Spartacus, the slave rebel).

====Weightlifting====
Moreover, the USSR produced many record-setting athletes, mainly in weightlifting, which was a very popular sport in the USSR and remains one to this day in existing socialist countries such as [[People's Republic of China|China]] or the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|DPRK]].

The Soviets pioneered their own system, which is today mostly saved and translated by Pavel Tsatsouline. While most weightlifters today reach their peak around 26 and retire around the age of 35, a few Soviet weightlifters produced world records well past their 30s. This is because their method focused on preserving longevity in their athletes, developed with the scientific method. Athletes were followed by scientists who analysed their data and produced a routine adapted to their level.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Craig Marker|date=2014-11-14|title=4 secrets of Soviet weightlifting as revealed by Pavel Tsatsouline|url=https://breakingmuscle.com/4-secrets-of-soviet-weightlifting-as-revealed-by-pavel/|newspaper=Breaking Muscle}}</ref>

The most famous Soviet weightlifter is arguably Vasily Alekseyev, who set 80 world records in an eight-year period. He retired at the age of 38 after failing to register a total at the Moscow Olympics, following an injury he sustained in 1978.<ref>{{News citation|title=Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev Soviet weightlifter|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vasily-Ivanovich-Alekseyev|newspaper=Britannica}}</ref>

===Film===

==References==
<references />

=== Notes ===
<references group="note" />

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)

2022-06-24T07:37:35Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

{{Infobox country
| name = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| native_name = Союз Советских Социалистических Республик
| image_flag = File:The Flag of the USSR.png
| image_coat = File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union.svg
| image_map = File:Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (orthographic projection).svg
| map_width = 220px
| capital = [[Moscow]]
| largest_city = capital
| government_type = Federal [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] [[socialist state]]
| established_event1 = October Revolution
| established_date1 = 1917 November 7th
| established_event2 = [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Establishment of the USSR]]
| established_date2 = 1922 December 30th
| established_event3 = [[World War II]] victory
| established_date3 = 1945 May 9th
| established_event4 = Dissolution
| established_date4 = 1991 December 26th
| population_estimate = 285,742,511<ref>Демоскоп Weekly. [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР] [The 1989 All-Union Population Census. National composition of the population by republics of the USSR].</ref>
| population_estimate_year = 1989
| labour_force = 152.3 million<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990">CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_(1990)/Soviet_Union Soviet Union – World Factbook (Wikisource)]''</ref>
| labour_occupation = 80% industry and other nonagricultural fields 20% agriculture<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| unemployment = 1–2%<ref name="CIA-factbook-1991">CIA World Factbook (1991). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html Soviet Union Economy]''</ref>
| leader_title1 = Notable leaderships
| leader_name1 = [[Vladimir Lenin]] (1922–1924) [[Joseph Stalin]] (1924–1953)
| currency = Soviet ruble (РУБ)
| GDP_nominal_year = 1989
| GDP_nominal = $2.66 trillion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| GDP_nominal_rank = 2nd
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $9,211<ref>CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_per_capita_1.html GDP per Capita 1990]''</ref>
| export_year = 1988
| export = $110.7 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_commodities = Petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods (primarily capital goods and arms)<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_partners = Eastern Europe (49%), Western Europe (14%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] (5%), [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_year = 1988
| import = $107.3 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_commodities = Grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer manufactures<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_partners = Eastern Europe (43%), Western Europe (18%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
|motto=Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!|englishmotto=Workers of the world, unite!|anthem=[[State Anthem of the Soviet Union|Государственный гимн СССР]]|life_span=1922–1991}}
The '''Soviet Union,''' officially known as the '''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics''' ('''USSR'''),<ref group="note">Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР)</ref> was a [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] federal [[socialist state]] that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.

The USSR was established in 1922 as a union of four Soviet socialist republics formed after the [[October Revolution of 1917]], the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], the [[Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Transcaucasian SFSR]], the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] and the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]]. From 1956 to 1991, the union had 15 member nations in total.

The Soviet Union developed under conditions of extreme pressure provoked by [[Capitalism|capitalist]] powers, from the [[Russian Civil War]], the Nazi invasion, and espionage from the West. Besides the difficulties that it faced, the USSR managed to provide a positive political role for the [[Working class|working people]], especially in a time when workers in the capitalist world were still struggling for basic union rights. The USSR also played an essential military role in the defeat of [[fascism]] in [[World War II]].

The Soviet Union was the subject of some of the most impressive economical achievements in modern history. The socialist system transformed a nation of illiterate and starving peasants into an industrial superpower, with one of the fastest growing economies on Earth, one of the world's best-educated and healthiest populations, and some of the most impressive industrial and technological achievements to date. It provided a very influential model for other socialist nations of the world, such as [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] and [[Socialist Republic of Vietnam|Vietnam]].

From 1988, many Soviet Socialist Republics seceded from the USSR before [[Dissolution of the USSR|its dissolution]] in 1991. Its past territory is now occupied by the states of [[Russian Federation|Russia]], [[Republic of Latvia|Latvia]], [[Republic of Lithuania|Lithuania]], [[Republic of Estonia|Estonia]], [[Republic of Belarus|Belarus]], [[Ukraine]], [[Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic|Transnistria]], [[Republic of Moldova|Moldova]], [[Georgia]], [[Republic of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Republic of Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]], [[Republic of Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]], [[Republic of Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]], [[Republic of Tajikistan|Tajikistan]], and [[Kyrgyz Republic|Kyrgyzstan]].

== History ==

=== Background ===
In early 20th century, the [[Russian Empire]] was a semi-feudal country ruled by an absolute [[monarchy]]. The average life expectancy in Russia was about 35 years. Literacy rates were only about 20%. The [[Proletariat|workers]] and [[Peasant|peasants]] lived horrible lives, without the 8 hour working day, minimum wage laws or basic work safety regulations.

Despite the size of the country, there was a constant shortage of farm land and famines were common. Most of the land belonged to the wealthy landlords and rich peasants. Because of technological backwardness, only the softest and most fertile soil could be used, which severely limited the amount of available farm land. There were many large strikes and protests but it was not uncommon that the police would be deployed and break the strike, often by firing at the strikers.

In 1898 the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]] (RSDLP) was created, uniting the several communist study groups scattered around Russia. Among its founders were people like [[Vladimir Lenin]] and [[Julius Martov]]. It established itself as a Marxist party that had the task of overthrowing the monarchy and bring about socialism. However during the course of the struggle there was a lot of disagreement about when this goal was to be implemented and how. In 1903 emerged a ''de facto'' split in the party, and two factions were formed: the [[Mensheviks]] led by Martov and the [[Bolsheviks]] led by Lenin.

Through the leadership of the RSDLP, and against the worsening life conditions, the Russian workers attempted a [[Russian revolution of 1905|democratic revolution in 1905]]. Massive protests erupted all over the country, mutinies were widespread in the army and the people organized public meetings, called “soviets” or councils, which would get together and discuss what to do in an early form of organisation. The revolution eventually failed however. It won some democratic liberties from the Tsar, but those liberties would be constantly under attack by the monarchy afterwards. This revolution would be seen as a rehearsal for the later revolution.

In 1914 the [[First World War]] began and launched Russia into chaos. The economy was ruined by the war, there was a shortage of food and large amounts of the population were drafted to fight in the war. The war is seen by many people, especially the socialist, as an unjust imperialist conquest, where millions of poor and working class people from different countries had to die for the profits and wealth of the capitalist and monarchist governments of their countries.

The attitude towards the war ended up splitting the international socialist movement, the so-called ''Second international working men’s association''. Many parties initially opposed the war, but then chose to support their own government in it, so as to protect their country from the other imperialist powers. Lenin, [[Rosa Luxemburg]] and other revolutionaries saw this as treachery. In their opinion, if everyone only supported their own imperialist government in an imperialist war, it wouldn't do anything to stop the war. They called for “turning the imperialist war to a class war”, friendship between the workers of the various countries, and unity against the capitalist governments of all warring countries. This led to the splitting of the [[International]].

In February 1917 the Russian monarchy was overthrown. This led to the creation of the [[Russian Provisional Government]], consisting of the capitalist Cadet party, the Socialist-Revolutionary party (or SR) and the Mensheviks.

The Bolsheviks initially gave “conditional support” for the Provisional Government, meaning they supported it to the degree that it carried out the democratic reforms and other policies demanded by the population. However it soon became very evident the Provisional Government was a failure.

The Provisional government refused to carry out land reforms. This was necessary to prevent famine and reduce the land shortage, but it would have meant going against the landlords.

The Provisional government also refused to impose stricter regulations on trading and the economy. This would have been necessary to prevent economic disaster, but it would have meant going against the capitalists who greatly profited from the war and chaos.

Lastly, the Provisional government supported the war. They advocated a “war to a finish”, meaning until they won. It became evident that Russia was losing the war, however the Provisional government was still committed to fulfil the treaties and agreements with their allies in World War 1.

The Bolsheviks were quick to point out that the Provisional government acted exactly like the Tsarist government, which also sided with the landlords, capitalists and started the imperialist war. In their view, the Provisional government was continuing the Tsarist policy.

In April 1917, Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from exile and puts forward his ''April theses'', political proposals which call for the overthrow of the Provisional government.

The Bolsheviks put forward their slogans:<blockquote>Down with the provisional government!

Down with the capitalist ministers!

Factories for the workers, land to the peasants, end to the imperialist war!

Peace, Bread & Land</blockquote>In June of that year, the capital city Petrograd (today called St. Petersburg) held municipal elections. Bolsheviks achieved a massive victory, growing from essentially nothing to one of the biggest parties in Russia. The so-called “defencist bloc” still held the majority of seats however. This bloc consisted of the SR-party and Mensheviks. Defencism meant that they supported the war effort. The biggest loser of the election was the Cadet party, which achieved only 15% of the votes and lost its power as the biggest party.

On July 1, Russia launched an offensive on the front, which was known as the “Kerensky offensive” or the “July offensive.” The war was going badly and casualties were mounting for Russia, the thirst for blood from the imperialists and the Provisional government were very evident.

On July 3 and 4, there was a massive demonstration in Petrograd, of hundreds of thousands of people. Among the demonstrators were armed soldiers who came from the front to demand change and revolution. The Bolsheviks urged caution and said that the demonstration should be peaceful and organized. They opposed bringing weapons to the demonstration and said that they were not yet strong enough for a revolution. The workers and soldiers decided to bring weapons despite the advice of the Bolsheviks but the Bolsheviks still took part in the demonstrations to lend support to the workers.

The workers and soldiers carried the Bolshevik slogans of "End the war”, "Peace, bread and land". There was a government crack down against the demonstrators. Machine guns were turned towards the crowd, leaving countless dead. The Bolsheviks were now seen as a serious threat by the government. A warrant was issued for Lenin’s arrest, which forced him into hiding. Bolshevik newspaper ''[[Pravda]]'' was banned, their printing plant and party offices were destroyed. This period of repression is known as the “July Days”. The Provisional government restored the death penalty on the front, against soldiers who disobeyed orders.

The Bolsheviks lost a lot of their forces, and many of their important resources. They began publishing their newspapers under new names to avoid censorship. Despite all their difficulties the workers supported them more than ever, the Provisional government was exposed as a supporter of the capitalist elite and the imperialists. The Provisional government started forming stronger ties with the old capitalist party, the Cadets, to make up for the support they lost from the workers.

In August, there was an attempted coup against the Provisional government, called the “Kornilov Affair”. Kornilov was a general of the White Guard in the Russian army, who wanted to institute military dictatorship and strong rule of law, to stop the chaos in Russia. In other words, complete counter-revolution, end to the demonstrations, end to democracy, end to the working class movement.

The railway workers started a strike and refused to transport his troops while the workers and soldiers of Petrograd formed the armed Red Guard units and took up the defence of Petrograd against Kornilov. Kornilov’s coup ended in failure.

After the overthrow of the monarchy, the formation of soviets had begun again in all large cities, but at the time their leadership would be predominantly Menshevik.

In September the Bolsheviks gained the majority in the Petrograd Soviet and soon after in the soviets of Moscow and other large cities. The Soviets already carried out many important functions in the cities as the Russian government was incapable of doing so. The Soviets even organized the defence of Petrograd. As the economy was in ruins and the war effort was failing, more people turned towards the Soviets' leadership.

The 6th Bolshevik party congress had agreed that they should carry out an armed revolution. In October, the Petrograd Soviet created a Military Revolutionary Committee. These special bodies were formed all over the country connected with each soviet in each city. The Menshevik and SR minorities in the soviets opposed revolution, but the SR party split. The “left-SR” group sided with the Bolsheviks.

The Bolshevik soldiers organization took over the garrison. On October 24 the Military Revolutionary Committee occupied the telegraph, telephone offices and other important buildings. The cruiser Aurora, which was controlled by Bolshevik sailors, fired a shot to signal the beginning of the revolution. The workers and soldiers stormed the winter palace. The same evening there was a congress of Soviets, where delegates arrived from all over the country. This congress elected the new Russian government, elected by the soviets of workers and soldiers, the Soviet Government. The October Revolution had taken power.

This would lead to a civil war where the Capitalists tried to seize back the state. 14 capitalist governments including the [[United States of America|USA]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Great Britain]], [[French Republic|France]], [[Japan]], [[Republic of Poland|Poland]] and many others invaded Soviet Russia to destroy the Soviet government. But they failed, and the Soviet Union was created.

The October Revolution showed that a revolution by the ordinary people was possible. It showed that capitalism is ultimately incapable of solving its internal contradictions. Despite getting moderate leftists into the government, the policy was as imperialist, profit-driven and anti-popular as during the Tsarist era. The moderate leftists didn’t improve capitalism, they were used by capitalism. Only revolution stopped Russia’s involvement in the World War, carried out land reform and dealt with the crisis of unregulated capitalism, and began the process of building a new economic model which would serve the needs and interests of the people, not profits.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=TheFinnishBolshevik|date=2017-11-08|title=Brief History of the October Revolution|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2017/11/08/brief-history-of-the-october-revolution/|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref>

===Treaty on formation of the USSR ===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]]''</blockquote>

===World War II===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[World War II]]''</blockquote>

=== Dissolution===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Dissolution of the USSR]]''</blockquote>

== Government ==

=== Supreme Soviet ===
The [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]] was the legislature of the USSR and was elected every four years. It consisted of two branches: the [[Soviet of the Union]], which was elected based on population, and the [[Soviet of Nationalities]], which was elected according to the republics, [[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics|ASSRs]], [[autonomous oblasts]], and [[autonomous okrugs]] of the Soviet Union. Either house could initiate legislation and it had to be passed by a majority vote of both houses to become law. Each house elected a chairman and two vice-chairmen to preside over their sessions, which occurred twice every year. The [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] could also convene special sessions.<ref name=":2" /> Before 1936, the Supreme Soviet was known as the [[Congress of Soviets]] and the Soviet of the Union was known as the [[Federal Soviet]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Second All-Union Congress of Soviets|year=1924|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1924)|chapter=}}</ref>

The Federal Soviet was elected with one deputy per 25,000 urban inhabitants or 125,000 rural inhabitants.<ref name=":1" /> After 1936, the Soviet of the Union had one deputy for every 300,000 inhabitants.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=[[Joseph Stalin]]|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=The Highest Organs of State Authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}}</ref>

From 1924 to 1936, the Soviet of Nationalities had five deputies for every union republic and one for every autonomous republic and autonomous oblast.<ref name=":1" /> In 1936, this was changed to 25 for every union republic, ten for each ASSR, five for each autonomous oblast, and one for each autonomous okrug.<ref name=":2" /> In 1977, it was changed again so that every SSR would have 32 deputies and every ASSR would have 11.<ref>{{Citation|author=Government of the Soviet Union|year=1977|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1977,_Unamended)|chapter=Higher Bodies of State Authority and Administration of the USSR}}</ref>

=== Presidium ===
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was elected at a combined session of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. It consisted of a [[President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|President]], Secretary, one vice president from every union republic, and 24 members.<ref name=":1" />

=== Council of People's Commissars ===
The [[Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union|Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom) was the executive branch of the USSR and was elected at a joint session of the Soviet of the Union and Soviet of Nationalities.<ref name=":1" />

=== Supreme Court ===
The [[Supreme Court of the Soviet Union|Supreme Court]] was the highest court in the Soviet Union and was elected by the Supreme Soviet once every five years.<ref name=":1" />

==Economy==

===Planning ===

===Agriculture===

===Housing and construction ===
After the October Revolution, hundreds of thousands of workers moved from slums to nationalized houses. In 1919, a decree was passed setting a minimum of at least 8.25 square meters of living space per person, 30 cubic meters of air space for every adult, and 20 cubic meters for every child. This space only included living and bed rooms, not bathrooms or entrances. Rent in the Soviet Union was kept at under 4% of workers' total incomes.<ref name=":3">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Stalin Society]]|title=Housing in the USSR|date=2017-01-13|url=https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330020740/https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-date=2022-03-30|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

In 1920, 254 residential buildings were built and 2,347 were repaired. From 1923 to 1927, 12.5 million square meters of living space were built. From 1927 to 1931, another 28.85 million were built. The average living space for each worker greatly increased from the revolution to 1938: there was a 94% increase in Moscow, 100% in Leningrad, 176% in the [[Donbass]], and 195% in the Urals.<ref name=":3" />

===Industry and manufacturing===

===Services===

===Environment===

==Infrastructure==

===Transportation===

===Energy===

=== Science and technology===

==Demographics==

===Living standards ===

===Education===
Education in the Soviet Union was free<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens|section=Article 121|city=Moscow}}</ref> and was mandatory between the ages of 8 and 15. There were also ten-year schools that went to the age of 18, but the last three years were not mandatory. The curriculum included nature study, art, music, social science, and foreign languages.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Anglo-Soviet Youth Friendship Alliance|newspaper=Revolutionary Democracy|title=Education in the U.S.S.R.|url=http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/anglosov.htm|retrieved=2022-04-17|date=1942}}</ref> School days lasted between 4.5 and 6 hours, depending on age.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Number of School Students
!
!1913
!1929
! 1933
!1942
|-
|7-year schools
|6,800,000
|11,700,000
|21,300,000
|23,000,000
|-
|10-year schools
|1,000,000
|2,700,000
|5,500,000
|17,000,000
|-
|Total
|7,800,000
|14,400,000
|33,400,000
|40,000,000
|}
Between 1932 and 1937, 20,000 schools were built in the Soviet Union. Between 1938 and 1941, 20,000 more schools were built and 500,000 new teachers were trained. Between 1913 and 1940, the number of libraries in the USSR increased by 57,400. 12% of the USSR's national budget was spent on education.

Children aged 12 and older formed committees to care for school property and help other students. Corporal punishment was illegal.<ref name=":0" />

====Preschool====
Optional preschool and kindergarten were available in the Soviet Union from birth to the age of 8. In 1932, there were 600,000 children in daycares; this number increased to three million by 1937.<ref name=":0" />

====Universities====
In 1940, there were 700 universities in the USSR with 650,000 students enrolled. There were 22 universities in [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]], 13 in [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan]], and 30 in [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbekistan]].<ref name=":0" />

===Health ===
[[File:Soviet doctor poster.png|thumb|323x323px|"Honor and Respect for the Rural Doctor! The Doctor is the Friend of the People!"]]
[[Nikolai Semashko]], the People's Commissar for Public Health from 1918 to 1930, proposed a health system based on the following ideas:

* Unified principles of organization and centralization of the health care system
* Equal accessibility of healthcare for all citizens
* Priority attention to childhood and maternity
* Unity of preventive healthcare and treatment
* Elimination of social bases of diseases
* Involvement of the society in the cause of healthcare

During the [[Russian Civil War]], there were outbreaks of cholera, typhus, and smallpox. The prevalence of typhus decreased by more than twice from 1919 to 1922 and by 80 times by 1927 and the prevalence of malaria decreased by more than three times from 1917 to 1930. Compulsory vaccination for smallpox was introduced in 1919 and it was eradicated by 1937.<ref name=":4">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Politsturm]]|title=Healthcare Under Socialism: The History of the Soviet Healthcare System|date=2021-09-07|url=https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112182526/https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-date=2021-11-12|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

By the late 1950's, the life expectancy of the Soviet Union had increased to 68.7 years, which was as high as the [[United States of America|United States]] at the time.<ref>{{Citation|author=Reiner Dinkel|year=1986|title=Paradoxical Effects of Social Behavior|title-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316183154/http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-95874-8_22|chapter=Declining Life Expectancy in a Highly Developed Nation: Paradox or Statistical Artifact?|page=311–321|city=Munich|publisher=Department of Economics, University of Munich}}</ref> Infant mortality decreased from 25% before the revolution to lower than [[Italian Republic|Italy]] or [[Republic of Austria|Austria]] by 1960. In 1955, the USSR had 334,000 doctors (including dentists) and 1,290,000 hospital beds. Production of pharmaceutical chemicals increased by five times from 1940 to 1950 and 3.1 times from 1950 to 1955.<ref name=":4" />

In 1978, the [[World Health Organization]] recognized the Soviet principles of healthcare as some of the best in the world.<ref name=":4" />

==Culture==
[[File:Youth-soviet-sports.jpg|thumb|334x334px|"USSR is a mighty sports power!" B. Reshetnikov, 1962]]

=== Sports===
The USSR put a lot of emphasis on sports, as evidenced by the material they produced (such as posters). They were also a participant in the Olympic Games and created their own competing event, the Spartakiads (named after Spartacus, the slave rebel).

====Weightlifting====
Moreover, the USSR produced many record-setting athletes, mainly in weightlifting, which was a very popular sport in the USSR and remains one to this day in existing socialist countries such as [[People's Republic of China|China]] or the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|DPRK]].

The Soviets pioneered their own system, which is today mostly saved and translated by Pavel Tsatsouline. While most weightlifters today reach their peak around 26 and retire around the age of 35, a few Soviet weightlifters produced world records well past their 30s. This is because their method focused on preserving longevity in their athletes, developed with the scientific method. Athletes were followed by scientists who analysed their data and produced a routine adapted to their level.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Craig Marker|date=2014-11-14|title=4 secrets of Soviet weightlifting as revealed by Pavel Tsatsouline|url=https://breakingmuscle.com/4-secrets-of-soviet-weightlifting-as-revealed-by-pavel/|newspaper=Breaking Muscle}}</ref>

The most famous Soviet weightlifter is arguably Vasily Alekseyev, who set 80 world records in an eight-year period. He retired at the age of 38 after failing to register a total at the Moscow Olympics, following an injury he sustained in 1978.<ref>{{News citation|title=Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev Soviet weightlifter|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vasily-Ivanovich-Alekseyev|newspaper=Britannica}}</ref>

===Film===

==References==
<references />

=== Notes ===
<references group="note" />

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)

2022-06-24T07:32:46Z

PrimersophiaXVII: commas, use them.

{{Infobox country
| name = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
| native_name = Союз Советских Социалистических Республик
| image_flag = File:The Flag of the USSR.png
| image_coat = File:Coat of arms of the Soviet Union.svg
| image_map = File:Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (orthographic projection).svg
| map_width = 220px
| capital = [[Moscow]]
| largest_city = capital
| government_type = Federal [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] [[socialist state]]
| established_event1 = October Revolution
| established_date1 = 1917 November 7th
| established_event2 = [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Establishment of the USSR]]
| established_date2 = 1922 December 30th
| established_event3 = [[World War II]] victory
| established_date3 = 1945 May 9th
| established_event4 = Dissolution
| established_date4 = 1991 December 26th
| population_estimate = 285,742,511<ref>Демоскоп Weekly. [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР] [The 1989 All-Union Population Census. National composition of the population by republics of the USSR].</ref>
| population_estimate_year = 1989
| labour_force = 152.3 million<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990">CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_(1990)/Soviet_Union Soviet Union – World Factbook (Wikisource)]''</ref>
| labour_occupation = 80% industry and other nonagricultural fields 20% agriculture<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| unemployment = 1–2%<ref name="CIA-factbook-1991">CIA World Factbook (1991). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html Soviet Union Economy]''</ref>
| leader_title1 = Notable leaderships
| leader_name1 = [[Vladimir Lenin]] (1922–1924) [[Joseph Stalin]] (1924–1953)
| currency = Soviet ruble (РУБ)
| GDP_nominal_year = 1989
| GDP_nominal = $2.66 trillion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| GDP_nominal_rank = 2nd
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $9,211<ref>CIA World Factbook (1990). ''[https://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_per_capita_1.html GDP per Capita 1990]''</ref>
| export_year = 1988
| export = $110.7 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_commodities = Petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods (primarily capital goods and arms)<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| export_partners = Eastern Europe (49%), Western Europe (14%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] (5%), [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_year = 1988
| import = $107.3 billion<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_commodities = Grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer manufactures<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
| import_partners = Eastern Europe (43%), Western Europe (18%), [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[United States of America|United States]]<ref name="CIA-factbook-1990"/>
|motto=Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!|englishmotto=Workers of the world, unite!|anthem=[[State Anthem of the Soviet Union|Государственный гимн СССР]]|life_span=1922–1991}}
The '''Soviet Union,''' officially known as the '''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics''' ('''USSR'''),<ref group="note">Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР)</ref> was a [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] federal [[socialist state]] that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.

The USSR was established in 1922 as a union of four Soviet socialist republics formed after the [[October Revolution of 1917]], the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], the [[Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Transcaucasian SFSR]], the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] and the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]]. From 1956 to 1991, the union had 15 member nations in total.

The Soviet Union developed under conditions of extreme pressure provoked by [[Capitalism|capitalist]] powers, from the [[Russian Civil War]], the Nazi invasion, and espionage from the West. Besides the difficulties that it faced, the USSR managed to provide a positive political role for the [[Working class|working people]], especially in a time when workers in the capitalist world were still struggling for basic union rights. The USSR also played an essential military role in the defeat of [[fascism]] in [[World War II]].

The Soviet Union was the subject of some of the most impressive economical achievements in modern history. The socialist system transformed a nation of illiterate and starving peasants into an industrial superpower, with one of the fastest growing economies on Earth, one of the world's best-educated and healthiest populations, and some of the most impressive industrial and technological achievements to date. It provided a very influential model for other socialist nations of the world, such as [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] and [[Socialist Republic of Vietnam|Vietnam]].

From 1988, many Soviet Socialist Republics seceded from the USSR before [[Dissolution of the USSR|its dissolution]] in 1991. Its past territory is now occupied by the states of [[Russian Federation|Russia]], [[Republic of Latvia|Latvia]], [[Republic of Lithuania|Lithuania]], [[Republic of Estonia|Estonia]], [[Republic of Belarus|Belarus]], [[Ukraine]], [[Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic|Transnistria]], [[Republic of Moldova|Moldova]], [[Georgia]], [[Republic of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Republic of Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]], [[Republic of Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]], [[Republic of Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]], [[Republic of Tajikistan|Tajikistan]], and [[Kyrgyz Republic|Kyrgyzstan]].

== History ==

=== Background ===
In early 20th century, the [[Russian Empire]] was a semi-feudal country ruled by an absolute [[monarchy]]. The country was very backward economically and culturally. The average life expectancy in Russia was about 35 years. Literacy rates were only about 20%. The [[Proletariat|workers]] and [[Peasant|peasants]] lived horrible lives, without the 8 hour working day, minimum wage laws or basic work safety regulations.

Despite the size of the country, there was a constant shortage of farm land and famines were common. Most of the land belonged to the wealthy landlords and rich peasants. Because of technological backwardness, only the softest and most fertile soil could be used, which severely limited the amount of available farm land. There were many large strikes and protests but it was not uncommon that the police would be deployed and break the strike, often by firing at the strikers.

In 1898 the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]] (RSDLP) was created, uniting the several communist study groups scattered around Russia. Among its founders were people like [[Vladimir Lenin]] and [[Julius Martov]]. It established itself as a Marxist party that had the task of overthrowing the monarchy and bring about socialism. However during the course of the struggle there was a lot of disagreement about when this goal was to be implemented and how. In 1903 emerged a ''de facto'' split in the party, and two factions were formed: the [[Mensheviks]] led by Martov and the [[Bolsheviks]] led by Lenin.

Through the leadership of the RSDLP, and against the worsening life conditions, the Russian workers attempted a [[Russian revolution of 1905|democratic revolution in 1905]]. Massive protests erupted all over the country, mutinies were widespread in the army and the people organized public meetings, called “soviets” or councils, which would get together and discuss what to do in an early form of organisation. The revolution eventually failed however. It won some democratic liberties from the Tsar, but those liberties would be constantly under attack by the monarchy afterwards. This revolution would be seen as a rehearsal for the later revolution.

In 1914 the [[First World War]] began and launched Russia into chaos. The economy was ruined by the war, there was a shortage of food and large amounts of the population were drafted to fight in the war. The war is seen by many people, especially the socialist, as an unjust imperialist conquest, where millions of poor and working class people from different countries had to die for the profits and wealth of the capitalist and monarchist governments of their countries.

The attitude towards the war ended up splitting the international socialist movement, the so-called ''Second international working men’s association''. Many parties initially opposed the war, but then chose to support their own government in it, so as to protect their country from the other imperialist powers. Lenin, [[Rosa Luxemburg]] and other revolutionaries saw this as treachery. In their opinion, if everyone only supported their own imperialist government in an imperialist war, it wouldn't do anything to stop the war. They called for “turning the imperialist war to a class war”, friendship between the workers of the various countries, and unity against the capitalist governments of all warring countries. This led to the splitting of the [[International]].

In February 1917 the Russian monarchy was overthrown. This led to the creation of the [[Russian Provisional Government]], consisting of the capitalist Cadet party, the Socialist-Revolutionary party (or SR) and the Mensheviks.

The Bolsheviks initially gave “conditional support” for the Provisional Government, meaning they supported it to the degree that it carried out the democratic reforms and other policies demanded by the population. However it soon became very evident the Provisional Government was a failure.

The Provisional government refused to carry out land reforms. This was necessary to prevent famine and reduce the land shortage, but it would have meant going against the landlords.

The Provisional government also refused to impose stricter regulations on trading and the economy. This would have been necessary to prevent economic disaster, but it would have meant going against the capitalists who greatly profited from the war and chaos.

Lastly, the Provisional government supported the war. They advocated a “war to a finish”, meaning until they won. It became evident that Russia was losing the war, however the Provisional government was still committed to fulfil the treaties and agreements with their allies in World War 1.

The Bolsheviks were quick to point out that the Provisional government acted exactly like the Tsarist government, which also sided with the landlords, capitalists and started the imperialist war. In their view, the Provisional government was continuing the Tsarist policy.

In April 1917, Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from exile and puts forward his ''April theses'', political proposals which call for the overthrow of the Provisional government.

The Bolsheviks put forward their slogans:<blockquote>Down with the provisional government!

Down with the capitalist ministers!

Factories for the workers, land to the peasants, end to the imperialist war!

Peace, Bread & Land</blockquote>In June of that year, the capital city Petrograd (today called St. Petersburg) held municipal elections. Bolsheviks achieved a massive victory, growing from essentially nothing to one of the biggest parties in Russia. The so-called “defencist bloc” still held the majority of seats however. This bloc consisted of the SR-party and Mensheviks. Defencism meant that they supported the war effort. The biggest loser of the election was the Cadet party, which achieved only 15% of the votes and lost its power as the biggest party.

On July 1, Russia launched an offensive on the front, which was known as the “Kerensky offensive” or the “July offensive.” The war was going badly and casualties were mounting for Russia, the thirst for blood from the imperialists and the Provisional government were very evident.

On July 3 and 4, there was a massive demonstration in Petrograd, of hundreds of thousands of people. Among the demonstrators were armed soldiers who came from the front to demand change and revolution. The Bolsheviks urged caution and said that the demonstration should be peaceful and organized. They opposed bringing weapons to the demonstration and said that they were not yet strong enough for a revolution. The workers and soldiers decided to bring weapons despite the advice of the Bolsheviks but the Bolsheviks still took part in the demonstrations to lend support to the workers.

The workers and soldiers carried the Bolshevik slogans of "End the war”, "Peace, bread and land". There was a government crack down against the demonstrators. Machine guns were turned towards the crowd, leaving countless dead. The Bolsheviks were now seen as a serious threat by the government. A warrant was issued for Lenin’s arrest, which forced him into hiding. Bolshevik newspaper ''[[Pravda]]'' was banned, their printing plant and party offices were destroyed. This period of repression is known as the “July Days”. The Provisional government restored the death penalty on the front, against soldiers who disobeyed orders.

The Bolsheviks lost a lot of their forces, and many of their important resources. They began publishing their newspapers under new names to avoid censorship. Despite all their difficulties the workers supported them more than ever, the Provisional government was exposed as a supporter of the capitalist elite and the imperialists. The Provisional government started forming stronger ties with the old capitalist party, the Cadets, to make up for the support they lost from the workers.

In August, there was an attempted coup against the Provisional government, called the “Kornilov Affair”. Kornilov was a general of the White Guard in the Russian army, who wanted to institute military dictatorship and strong rule of law, to stop the chaos in Russia. In other words, complete counter-revolution, end to the demonstrations, end to democracy, end to the working class movement.

The railway workers started a strike and refused to transport his troops while the workers and soldiers of Petrograd formed the armed Red Guard units and took up the defence of Petrograd against Kornilov. Kornilov’s coup ended in failure.

After the overthrow of the monarchy, the formation of soviets had begun again in all large cities, but at the time their leadership would be predominantly Menshevik.

In September the Bolsheviks gained the majority in the Petrograd Soviet and soon after in the soviets of Moscow and other large cities. The Soviets already carried out many important functions in the cities as the Russian government was incapable of doing so. The Soviets even organized the defence of Petrograd. As the economy was in ruins and the war effort was failing, more people turned towards the Soviets' leadership.

The 6th Bolshevik party congress had agreed that they should carry out an armed revolution. In October, the Petrograd Soviet created a Military Revolutionary Committee. These special bodies were formed all over the country connected with each soviet in each city. The Menshevik and SR minorities in the soviets opposed revolution, but the SR party split. The “left-SR” group sided with the Bolsheviks.

The Bolshevik soldiers organization took over the garrison. On October 24 the Military Revolutionary Committee occupied the telegraph, telephone offices and other important buildings. The cruiser Aurora, which was controlled by Bolshevik sailors, fired a shot to signal the beginning of the revolution. The workers and soldiers stormed the winter palace. The same evening there was a congress of Soviets, where delegates arrived from all over the country. This congress elected the new Russian government, elected by the soviets of workers and soldiers, the Soviet Government. The October Revolution had taken power.

This would lead to a civil war where the Capitalists tried to seize back the state. 14 capitalist governments including the [[United States of America|USA]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Great Britain]], [[French Republic|France]], [[Japan]], [[Republic of Poland|Poland]] and many others invaded Soviet Russia to destroy the Soviet government. But they failed, and the Soviet Union was created.

The October Revolution showed that a revolution by the ordinary people was possible. It showed that capitalism is ultimately incapable of solving its internal contradictions. Despite getting moderate leftists into the government, the policy was as imperialist, profit-driven and anti-popular as during the Tsarist era. The moderate leftists didn’t improve capitalism, they were used by capitalism. Only revolution stopped Russia’s involvement in the World War, carried out land reform and dealt with the crisis of unregulated capitalism, and began the process of building a new economic model which would serve the needs and interests of the people, not profits.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=TheFinnishBolshevik|date=2017-11-08|title=Brief History of the October Revolution|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2017/11/08/brief-history-of-the-october-revolution/|retrieved=2022-03-25}}</ref>

===Treaty on formation of the USSR ===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]]''</blockquote>

===World War II===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[World War II]]''</blockquote>

=== Dissolution===
<blockquote>''See main article: [[Dissolution of the USSR]]''</blockquote>

== Government ==

=== Supreme Soviet ===
The [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]] was the legislature of the USSR and was elected every four years. It consisted of two branches: the [[Soviet of the Union]], which was elected based on population, and the [[Soviet of Nationalities]], which was elected according to the republics, [[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics|ASSRs]], [[autonomous oblasts]], and [[autonomous okrugs]] of the Soviet Union. Either house could initiate legislation and it had to be passed by a majority vote of both houses to become law. Each house elected a chairman and two vice-chairmen to preside over their sessions, which occurred twice every year. The [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] could also convene special sessions.<ref name=":2" /> Before 1936, the Supreme Soviet was known as the [[Congress of Soviets]] and the Soviet of the Union was known as the [[Federal Soviet]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Second All-Union Congress of Soviets|year=1924|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1924)|chapter=}}</ref>

The Federal Soviet was elected with one deputy per 25,000 urban inhabitants or 125,000 rural inhabitants.<ref name=":1" /> After 1936, the Soviet of the Union had one deputy for every 300,000 inhabitants.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=[[Joseph Stalin]]|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=The Highest Organs of State Authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}}</ref>

From 1924 to 1936, the Soviet of Nationalities had five deputies for every union republic and one for every autonomous republic and autonomous oblast.<ref name=":1" /> In 1936, this was changed to 25 for every union republic, ten for each ASSR, five for each autonomous oblast, and one for each autonomous okrug.<ref name=":2" /> In 1977, it was changed again so that every SSR would have 32 deputies and every ASSR would have 11.<ref>{{Citation|author=Government of the Soviet Union|year=1977|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1977,_Unamended)|chapter=Higher Bodies of State Authority and Administration of the USSR}}</ref>

=== Presidium ===
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was elected at a combined session of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. It consisted of a [[President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|President]], Secretary, one vice president from every union republic, and 24 members.<ref name=":1" />

=== Council of People's Commissars ===
The [[Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union|Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom) was the executive branch of the USSR and was elected at a joint session of the Soviet of the Union and Soviet of Nationalities.<ref name=":1" />

=== Supreme Court ===
The [[Supreme Court of the Soviet Union|Supreme Court]] was the highest court in the Soviet Union and was elected by the Supreme Soviet once every five years.<ref name=":1" />

==Economy==

===Planning ===

===Agriculture===

===Housing and construction ===
After the October Revolution, hundreds of thousands of workers moved from slums to nationalized houses. In 1919, a decree was passed setting a minimum of at least 8.25 square meters of living space per person, 30 cubic meters of air space for every adult, and 20 cubic meters for every child. This space only included living and bed rooms, not bathrooms or entrances. Rent in the Soviet Union was kept at under 4% of workers' total incomes.<ref name=":3">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Stalin Society]]|title=Housing in the USSR|date=2017-01-13|url=https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330020740/https://stalinsocietygb.wordpress.com/2017/01/13/housing-in-the-ussr/|archive-date=2022-03-30|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

In 1920, 254 residential buildings were built and 2,347 were repaired. From 1923 to 1927, 12.5 million square meters of living space were built. From 1927 to 1931, another 28.85 million were built. The average living space for each worker greatly increased from the revolution to 1938: there was a 94% increase in Moscow, 100% in Leningrad, 176% in the [[Donbass]], and 195% in the Urals.<ref name=":3" />

===Industry and manufacturing===

===Services===

===Environment===

==Infrastructure==

===Transportation===

===Energy===

=== Science and technology===

==Demographics==

===Living standards ===

===Education===
Education in the Soviet Union was free<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1936|title=Constitution of the Soviet Union|title-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1936)|chapter=Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens|section=Article 121|city=Moscow}}</ref> and was mandatory between the ages of 8 and 15. There were also ten-year schools that went to the age of 18, but the last three years were not mandatory. The curriculum included nature study, art, music, social science, and foreign languages.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Anglo-Soviet Youth Friendship Alliance|newspaper=Revolutionary Democracy|title=Education in the U.S.S.R.|url=http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/anglosov.htm|retrieved=2022-04-17|date=1942}}</ref> School days lasted between 4.5 and 6 hours, depending on age.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Number of School Students
!
!1913
!1929
! 1933
!1942
|-
|7-year schools
|6,800,000
|11,700,000
|21,300,000
|23,000,000
|-
|10-year schools
|1,000,000
|2,700,000
|5,500,000
|17,000,000
|-
|Total
|7,800,000
|14,400,000
|33,400,000
|40,000,000
|}
Between 1932 and 1937, 20,000 schools were built in the Soviet Union. Between 1938 and 1941, 20,000 more schools were built and 500,000 new teachers were trained. Between 1913 and 1940, the number of libraries in the USSR increased by 57,400. 12% of the USSR's national budget was spent on education.

Children aged 12 and older formed committees to care for school property and help other students. Corporal punishment was illegal.<ref name=":0" />

====Preschool====
Optional preschool and kindergarten were available in the Soviet Union from birth to the age of 8. In 1932, there were 600,000 children in daycares; this number increased to three million by 1937.<ref name=":0" />

====Universities====
In 1940, there were 700 universities in the USSR with 650,000 students enrolled. There were 22 universities in [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]], 13 in [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan]], and 30 in [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|Uzbekistan]].<ref name=":0" />

===Health ===
[[File:Soviet doctor poster.png|thumb|323x323px|"Honor and Respect for the Rural Doctor! The Doctor is the Friend of the People!"]]
[[Nikolai Semashko]], the People's Commissar for Public Health from 1918 to 1930, proposed a health system based on the following ideas:

* Unified principles of organization and centralization of the health care system
* Equal accessibility of healthcare for all citizens
* Priority attention to childhood and maternity
* Unity of preventive healthcare and treatment
* Elimination of social bases of diseases
* Involvement of the society in the cause of healthcare

During the [[Russian Civil War]], there were outbreaks of cholera, typhus, and smallpox. The prevalence of typhus decreased by more than twice from 1919 to 1922 and by 80 times by 1927 and the prevalence of malaria decreased by more than three times from 1917 to 1930. Compulsory vaccination for smallpox was introduced in 1919 and it was eradicated by 1937.<ref name=":4">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Politsturm]]|title=Healthcare Under Socialism: The History of the Soviet Healthcare System|date=2021-09-07|url=https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112182526/https://us.politsturm.com/healthcare-under-socialism-the-history-of-the-soviet-healthcare-system/|archive-date=2021-11-12|retrieved=2022-05-20}}</ref>

By the late 1950's, the life expectancy of the Soviet Union had increased to 68.7 years, which was as high as the [[United States of America|United States]] at the time.<ref>{{Citation|author=Reiner Dinkel|year=1986|title=Paradoxical Effects of Social Behavior|title-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316183154/http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-95874-8_22|chapter=Declining Life Expectancy in a Highly Developed Nation: Paradox or Statistical Artifact?|page=311–321|city=Munich|publisher=Department of Economics, University of Munich}}</ref> Infant mortality decreased from 25% before the revolution to lower than [[Italian Republic|Italy]] or [[Republic of Austria|Austria]] by 1960. In 1955, the USSR had 334,000 doctors (including dentists) and 1,290,000 hospital beds. Production of pharmaceutical chemicals increased by five times from 1940 to 1950 and 3.1 times from 1950 to 1955.<ref name=":4" />

In 1978, the [[World Health Organization]] recognized the Soviet principles of healthcare as some of the best in the world.<ref name=":4" />

==Culture==
[[File:Youth-soviet-sports.jpg|thumb|334x334px|"USSR is a mighty sports power!" B. Reshetnikov, 1962]]

=== Sports===
The USSR put a lot of emphasis on sports, as evidenced by the material they produced (such as posters). They were also a participant in the Olympic Games and created their own competing event, the Spartakiads (named after Spartacus, the slave rebel).

====Weightlifting====
Moreover, the USSR produced many record-setting athletes, mainly in weightlifting, which was a very popular sport in the USSR and remains one to this day in existing socialist countries such as [[People's Republic of China|China]] or the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|DPRK]].

The Soviets pioneered their own system, which is today mostly saved and translated by Pavel Tsatsouline. While most weightlifters today reach their peak around 26 and retire around the age of 35, a few Soviet weightlifters produced world records well past their 30s. This is because their method focused on preserving longevity in their athletes, developed with the scientific method. Athletes were followed by scientists who analysed their data and produced a routine adapted to their level.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Craig Marker|date=2014-11-14|title=4 secrets of Soviet weightlifting as revealed by Pavel Tsatsouline|url=https://breakingmuscle.com/4-secrets-of-soviet-weightlifting-as-revealed-by-pavel/|newspaper=Breaking Muscle}}</ref>

The most famous Soviet weightlifter is arguably Vasily Alekseyev, who set 80 world records in an eight-year period. He retired at the age of 38 after failing to register a total at the Moscow Olympics, following an injury he sustained in 1978.<ref>{{News citation|title=Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev Soviet weightlifter|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vasily-Ivanovich-Alekseyev|newspaper=Britannica}}</ref>

===Film===

==References==
<references />

=== Notes ===
<references group="note" />

Federal Republic of Germany

2022-06-24T07:23:25Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

{{Infobox country
| name = Federal Republic of Germany
| native_name = Bundesrepublik Deutschland
| image_flag = File:Flag of Germany.svg
| image_coat = File:Coat of arms of Germany.svg
| image_map = Germany (ortographic projection).svg
| map_width = 220px
| capital = Berlin
| largest_city = capital
|mode_of_production=Capitalism| government_type = [[Federation|Federal]] [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie|bourgeois state]]
| established_event1 = Proclamation of the German Empire
| established_date1 = 18 January 1871
| established_event2 = Proclamation of the Weimar Republic
| established_date2 = 9 November 1918
| established_event3 = Establishment of Nazi Germany
| established_date3 = 23 March 1933
| established_event4 = Division of Germany
| established_date4 = 23 May 1949
| established_event5 = German reunification
| established_date5 = 3 October 1990
| population_estimate = 83,190,556
| population_estimate_year = 2020
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 = Frank-Walter Steinmeier
| leader_title2 = Chancellor
| leader_name2 = Olaf Scholz
}}'''Germany''', officially the '''Federal Republic of Germany''', is a country in Central Europe. It is the second-most populous country in [[Europe]] after [[Russian Federation|Russia]], and the most populous member state of the [[European Union]].
==History==

=== Foundation ===
After the defeat of Axis forces during the [[Second World War]], Germany was divided into four zones occupied by the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]], [[United States of America|USA]], [[French Republic|France]] and [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Great Britain]]. As cold war tensions started to erupt during the so-called Berlin "Blockade", territory occupied by the latter three was merged to form the Federal Republic.

The majority of officials in the West German Justice Ministry were former members of the [[National Socialist German Workers' Party|Nazi Party]]. 34 out of 170 officials had been members of the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' Nazi paramilitary. In 1957, there were more senior officials who were former Nazis than there had been during [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s rule. Between 1949 and 1980, 54% of interior ministry staffers had been Nazis and 8% had been in the Nazi Interior Ministry led by [[Heinrich Himmler]].<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post|title=Report: Majority of West German Justice Ministry officials were ex-Nazis following WWII|date=2016-10-11|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/report-majority-of-west-german-justice-ministry-officials-were-ex-nazis-following-wwii-469899|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920141306/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/report-majority-of-west-german-justice-ministry-officials-were-ex-nazis-following-wwii-469899|archive-date=2021-09-20|retrieved=2022-06-11}}</ref>

=== Russo-Ukrainian conflict ===
Due to the [[2022 Russo-Ukrainian conflict]], Chancellor [[Olaf Scholz]] announced he would more than double Germany's military budget, putting it on track to become the third largest military in the world.<ref>{{News citation|author=Rob Schmitz|newspaper=NPR|title=Germany is building what's expected to become Europe's largest military|date=2022-03-17|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/03/17/1087137501/germany-is-building-whats-expected-to-become-europe-s-largest-military?t=1647958115615|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324053152/https://www.npr.org/2022/03/17/1087137501/germany-is-building-whats-expected-to-become-europe-s-largest-military|archive-date=2022-03-24|retrieved=2022-05-08}}</ref>

==Economy==
==Politics==
Unlike the later formed [[German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)|DDR]], the constitution was passed without ratification of citizens and a thorough denazification policy wasn't implemented.

==Infrastructure==
==Demographics==
==Culture==

== References ==
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Imperialist countries]]
[[Category:Global north]]
[[Category:Outline needs additional content]]

Federal Republic of Germany

2022-06-24T07:21:54Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

{{Infobox country
| name = Federal Republic of Germany
| native_name = Bundesrepublik Deutschland
| image_flag = File:Flag of Germany.svg
| image_coat = File:Coat of arms of Germany.svg
| image_map = Germany (ortographic projection).svg
| map_width = 220px
| capital = Berlin
| largest_city = capital
|mode_of_production=Capitalism| government_type = [[Federation|Federal]] [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie|bourgeois state]]
| established_event1 = Proclamation of the German Empire
| established_date1 = 18 January 1871
| established_event2 = Proclamation of the Weimar Republic
| established_date2 = 9 November 1918
| established_event3 = Establishment of Nazi Germany
| established_date3 = 23 March 1933
| established_event4 = Division of Germany
| established_date4 = 23 May 1949
| established_event5 = German reunification
| established_date5 = 3 October 1990
| population_estimate = 83,190,556
| population_estimate_year = 2020
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 = Frank-Walter Steinmeier
| leader_title2 = Chancellor
| leader_name2 = Olaf Scholz
}}'''Germany''', officially the '''Federal Republic of Germany''', is a country in Central Europe. It is the second-most populous country in [[Europe]] after [[Russian Federation|Russia]], and the most populous member state of the [[European Union]].
==History==

=== Foundation ===
During the aftermath of the defeat of Axis forces during the [[Second World War]], Germany was divided into four zones occupied by the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]], [[United States of America|USA]], [[French Republic|France]] and [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Great Britain]]. As cold war tensions started to erupt during the so-called Berlin "Blockade", territory occupied by the latter three was merged to form the Federal Republic.

The majority of officials in the West German Justice Ministry were former members of the [[National Socialist German Workers' Party|Nazi Party]]. 34 out of 170 officials had been members of the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' Nazi paramilitary. In 1957, there were more senior officials who were former Nazis than there had been during [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s rule. Between 1949 and 1980, 54% of interior ministry staffers had been Nazis and 8% had been in the Nazi Interior Ministry led by [[Heinrich Himmler]].<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post|title=Report: Majority of West German Justice Ministry officials were ex-Nazis following WWII|date=2016-10-11|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/report-majority-of-west-german-justice-ministry-officials-were-ex-nazis-following-wwii-469899|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920141306/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/report-majority-of-west-german-justice-ministry-officials-were-ex-nazis-following-wwii-469899|archive-date=2021-09-20|retrieved=2022-06-11}}</ref>

=== Russo-Ukrainian conflict ===
Due to the [[2022 Russo-Ukrainian conflict]], Chancellor [[Olaf Scholz]] announced he would more than double Germany's military budget, putting it on track to become the third largest military in the world.<ref>{{News citation|author=Rob Schmitz|newspaper=NPR|title=Germany is building what's expected to become Europe's largest military|date=2022-03-17|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/03/17/1087137501/germany-is-building-whats-expected-to-become-europe-s-largest-military?t=1647958115615|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324053152/https://www.npr.org/2022/03/17/1087137501/germany-is-building-whats-expected-to-become-europe-s-largest-military|archive-date=2022-03-24|retrieved=2022-05-08}}</ref>

==Economy==
==Politics==
Unlike the later formed [[German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)|DDR]], the constitution was passed without ratification of citizens and a thorough denazification policy wasn't implemented.

==Infrastructure==
==Demographics==
==Culture==

== References ==
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Imperialist countries]]
[[Category:Global north]]
[[Category:Outline needs additional content]]

Topic:Wxnjaw9dz6fbhy5f

2022-06-21T16:18:31Z

PrimersophiaXVII (talk | contribs) edited a post on "Gendering persons"

Topic:Wxnjaw9dz6fbhy5f

2022-06-21T16:17:16Z

PrimersophiaXVII (talk | contribs) commented on "Gendering persons" ("I also think it would be unnecessary to apply this standard to every individual... because the majority of individuals here are historic...)

Topic:Wxnjaw9dz6fbhy5f

2022-06-21T16:17:06Z

PrimersophiaXVII (talk | contribs) edited a post on "Gendering persons"

Topic:Wxnjaw9dz6fbhy5f

2022-06-21T16:16:40Z

PrimersophiaXVII (talk | contribs) commented on "Gendering persons" (The idea to use an an info box section is much smarter than using parenthesis in the article. And secondly if redundancy was a problem, t...)

Topic:Wxnjaw9dz6fbhy5f

2022-06-21T16:08:48Z

ProleWiki talk:Editorial guidelines/Archive

2022-06-21T15:55:45Z

PrimersophiaXVII: /* Adding pronouns to the pages of individuals (when public information) */

== Proposal for (Start–End) dates in articles about past-existing states. ==
In articles about states or organizations that have existed in the past but do not currently exist, we add (START–END) dates between parenthesis in the ''title''. E.g.:
** Soviet Union (1922–1991)
** People's Republic of the Congo (1969–1992)
** Russian Empire (1721–1917)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Camarada.Forte|Forte]]'' ([[Comradeship:Camarada.Forte|talk]]) 19:31, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

== Proposal for United States demonym ==

'''PROPOSAL:''' American is a term referring to the whole continent, and it suits United States imperialist ideology. So, as an effort to combat that reasoning, we adhere to using ''Statesian'' to refer to the inhabitants of that country. — ''Comrade [[Comrade:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]]'' ([[Comradeship:FelipeForte|talk]]) 10:40, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
:Statesian also could refer to Mexicans, although I suppose they already have the term Mexican. The issue really becomes interested when you bring in the [[Federated States of Micronesia]]. There are Micronesians outside of the Federated States of Micronesia, but calling them Statesians would overlap with the USA term. As for the USA the word Yankee/Yank comes to mind, but some consider this offensive. Perhaps a true solution would be to eliminate the usage of such a demonym entirely: instead of saying "Lincoln was an American politician", instead saying "Lincoln was a politician from the USA". *''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 14:23, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
::How about "Lincoln was a United States politician," or "Lincoln was a U.S. politician" ? ''Comrade [[Comrade:Comwik|Comwik]]'' ([[Comradeship:Comwik|talk]]) 21:10, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

== Suggestion on linking ==

I was thinking if we could link a page twice if it's first mentioned in another header. We could restrict to linking only after a level 2 header or include a level 3 as well. — ''Comrade [[Comrade:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]]'' ([[Comradeship:FelipeForte|talk]]) 10:52, 17 June 2021 (UTC)
:I also feel that linking in infoboxes should be allowed, regardless of the content of the article. This may be too obvious to be stated on this page.*''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 13:32, 17 June 2021 (UTC)

== Article media ==
(pictures in articles, as well as meta templates)
* Should always follow the reading direction. In left-to-right languages, they should always be to the right of the text (pictures should be thumbnailed). In right-to-left languages, they should always be to the left of the text. --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 08:10, 19 November 2020 (-03)
* Pictures inserted in articles should always have a description added to them --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 08:10, 19 November 2020 (-03)

== Talk pages ==

== Edit reasons ==

== Country names ==
* The United States should always be called U.S.A., U.S. (with the periods), United States or United States of America. It should never be referred to as America as this can be confusing. --— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:29, 23 November 2020 (-03)
* When talking about historic countries (that don't exist any more), it's probably better to use their formal name so as to avoid confusion. France for example went through regimes in history, despite all of them calling themselves France, and the country still calling itself France today. In this case it can be confusing in some contexts to know if we're talking about, say, the French Empire, the Kingdom of France, or the French Republic (and the one of 1791 or the one of 2020). Thoughts? --— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:29, 23 November 2020 (-03)
* The U.S.S.R. should always be referred to as such (with the periods), and care should be taken when referring to individual states in the Union. The USSR was not limited to Russia, and calling it Soviet Russia is a misnomer. I suppose it can be called the Soviet Union instead of the USSR too.--— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:29, 23 November 2020 (-03)

== Roman numerals ==
* Just starting the discussion on this one, but should we use Roman numerals at all? For example regarding World War I (World War 1)? As much as I like writing, in regards to this wiki they are an unnecessary bourgeois rule. So likewise, a royal name like "Philip II of Spain" would be "Philipp the 2nd". When talking about a specific chapter in a book, Arabic numbers should be preferred as well: "Chapter 2" instead of "Chapter II" (sometimes authors use Roman numerals to number their chapters). Some languages, such as French, write down centuries with Roman numerals, e.g. 19th century is written as "XIXth century". In those languages, Arabic numerals should be preferred too. --— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:38, 23 November 2020 (-03)

== Translations ==

I noticed that there are a few articles that are extrapolated from old dictionaries, when that is the case, i propose the following:

A disclaimer on the top of the page, that goes as follows:

''This article is a translation from an original work, for more details, check the citations.''

And that details about the translation go down to the references section, e.g what i did in the [[George_Washington|George Washington]] article.

== Page title convention? ==

Wikipedia follows a convention of common names before official name. This is why they renamed "Communist Party of China" to "Chinese Communist Party". What convention do we follow with regards to this? I'm guessing prolewiki prioritizes official names over common ones because [[China]] was moved to [[People's Republic of China]]. However, [[NATO]] seems to be the odd one then because as per the official name should be [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (page doesn't exist but i'll make it as a redirect to [[NATO]] for now). IMO, the official wiki policy on this convention should be highlighted on the editorial convention page to avoid inconsistencies in the future. Good day, [[Comrade:Field Marshal|''' ☭ Field Marshal ☭ ''']] 05:17, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
:The phrase "Chinese Communist Party" isn't more common, its just wrong. All Chinese people (1.4 billion of them) use CPC. Regardless, I do prefer the official name in nearly every case. [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] should be the original page and [[NATO]] should link to it. -''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 06:38, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
::Following discord discussion, we've decided it to be best to use the shorthand version wherever possible, for the sake of saving space and avoiding long titles, as well as making our wiki approachable and familiar to readers (for example, using "Vladimir Lenin" instead of "Vladimir Ulyanov", as readers will likely be more familiar with the former. --''Comrade [[Comrade:Jucheguevara|Jucheguevara]]'' ([[Comradeship:Jucheguevara|talk]]) 21:35, 15 November 2021 (UTC)
:::I agree with shorthand as well as full name, but even if readers are not familiar with a particular name, a redirect from "Vladimir Lenin" to "Vladimir Ulyanov" already serves to familiarize the reader with a particular name. [[EcuRed]], the Cuban encyclopedia, uses full name and shorthand in title, [https://www.ecured.cu/OTAN_(Organizaci%C3%B3n_del_Tratado_del_Atl%C3%A1ntico_Norte) for instance]. So to state my opinion in this, for names of people, I agree with shorthand and known name, but for organizations and countries, I prefer the full name as well. Might as well be something we have different from Wikipedia hehe — ''Comrade [[Comrade:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]]'' ([[Comradeship:FelipeForte|talk]]) 22:23, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

== Archive ==
Promote discussions here about editorial styles
--[[User:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]] ([[User talk:FelipeForte|talk]]) 23:39, 17 November 2020 (-03)

I'm going to be adding my suggestions to the talk page and I guess we use the actual page for the things we agree on? In any case I added several suggestions with this edit, hopefully categorized in the new chapters below. Remember that whatever we decide, the important thing is to be consistent across the whole wiki. --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)

=== Article title ===
* Only the first letter should be capitalized, as well as proper nouns (city names, people's names, etc).--[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
::The title should always be the official name: [[Hellenic Republic]] instead of [[Greece]], [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] instead of [[NATO]]. For a person's name we should use the official name, but not necessarily the name on the birth certificate. We should not dead-name trans people, but we shouldn't use nicknames in the title of articles about people. *''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 11:23, 18 June 2021 (UTC)

=== Article body ===
* When writing the page title in the body the first time, it should be '''bolded''' if that name is in the introductory paragraph (before any headings).--[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
* When writing down the title of a creative work (see External works below) it should be put in ''italics''.--[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
* When directly quoting someone or something, the quote should use the quote template (see [[imperialism]] and the Engels quote) if the quote goes on several lines, or simply in "quotation marks" if the quote is shorter.--[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
:*Unless the quote is too big, blockquotes should be used instead (like used in this answer or by the use of <nowiki><blockquote></blockquote></nowiki>). Refer to, for instance, [[Library:Elementary_principles_of_philosophy/en#Why_should_we_study_Berkeley.27s_idealism.3F|this edited book chapter]], where the smaller quotes are put in blockquotes. --[[User:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]] ([[User talk:FelipeForte|talk]]) 09:27, 19 November 2020 (-03)
* Abbreviations should be written fully when they first appear in an article, and then can be abbreviated in () right after. Later in the article it's possible to use the abbreviation without reminding readers of the full term. So for example "The Organisation of American States (OAS)" or "The Organisation of American States, or OAS". Then later you can just write "OAS" when referring to this org. --— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:29, 23 November 2020 (-03)

=== External works ===
(such as movies, interviews, books, novels, etc)
* We should, if known, include the date the work was first published in parentheses. For example: ''The Wretched of the Earth'' (1961). --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
* We should also respect the naming convention as published. Again taking this book as example, it's either published under ''The Wretched of the Earth'' (not the capitalisations) or ''Wretched of the Earth'', so both would be acceptable. --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)

::''The Wretched of the Earth'' or ''The wretched of the Earth''? Considering we're editors, we're free to not follow the editorial rules of the market, so I kinda tend to prefer lowercasing it as much as possible. I consider ''The wretched of the Earth'' the better option when citing this work. --[[User:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]] ([[User talk:FelipeForte|talk]]) 09:36, 19 November 2020 (-03)

== Adding pronouns to the pages of individuals (when public information) ==

Given ProleWiki supports the LGBT community, it would make sense to add pronouns to avoid misgendering. This would be a small and unintrusive way to avoid misgendering
in an article it could look like this

'''Firstname Lastname'''(They/them)

ProleWiki talk:Editorial guidelines/Archive

2022-06-17T17:45:23Z

PrimersophiaXVII: /* Adding pronouns to the pages of individuals (when public information) */ new section

== Proposal for (Start–End) dates in articles about past-existing states. ==
In articles about states or organizations that have existed in the past but do not currently exist, we add (START–END) dates between parenthesis in the ''title''. E.g.:
** Soviet Union (1922–1991)
** People's Republic of the Congo (1969–1992)
** Russian Empire (1721–1917)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Camarada.Forte|Forte]]'' ([[Comradeship:Camarada.Forte|talk]]) 19:31, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

== Proposal for United States demonym ==

'''PROPOSAL:''' American is a term referring to the whole continent, and it suits United States imperialist ideology. So, as an effort to combat that reasoning, we adhere to using ''Statesian'' to refer to the inhabitants of that country. — ''Comrade [[Comrade:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]]'' ([[Comradeship:FelipeForte|talk]]) 10:40, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
:Statesian also could refer to Mexicans, although I suppose they already have the term Mexican. The issue really becomes interested when you bring in the [[Federated States of Micronesia]]. There are Micronesians outside of the Federated States of Micronesia, but calling them Statesians would overlap with the USA term. As for the USA the word Yankee/Yank comes to mind, but some consider this offensive. Perhaps a true solution would be to eliminate the usage of such a demonym entirely: instead of saying "Lincoln was an American politician", instead saying "Lincoln was a politician from the USA". *''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 14:23, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
::How about "Lincoln was a United States politician," or "Lincoln was a U.S. politician" ? ''Comrade [[Comrade:Comwik|Comwik]]'' ([[Comradeship:Comwik|talk]]) 21:10, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

== Suggestion on linking ==

I was thinking if we could link a page twice if it's first mentioned in another header. We could restrict to linking only after a level 2 header or include a level 3 as well. — ''Comrade [[Comrade:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]]'' ([[Comradeship:FelipeForte|talk]]) 10:52, 17 June 2021 (UTC)
:I also feel that linking in infoboxes should be allowed, regardless of the content of the article. This may be too obvious to be stated on this page.*''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 13:32, 17 June 2021 (UTC)

== Article media ==
(pictures in articles, as well as meta templates)
* Should always follow the reading direction. In left-to-right languages, they should always be to the right of the text (pictures should be thumbnailed). In right-to-left languages, they should always be to the left of the text. --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 08:10, 19 November 2020 (-03)
* Pictures inserted in articles should always have a description added to them --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 08:10, 19 November 2020 (-03)

== Talk pages ==

== Edit reasons ==

== Country names ==
* The United States should always be called U.S.A., U.S. (with the periods), United States or United States of America. It should never be referred to as America as this can be confusing. --— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:29, 23 November 2020 (-03)
* When talking about historic countries (that don't exist any more), it's probably better to use their formal name so as to avoid confusion. France for example went through regimes in history, despite all of them calling themselves France, and the country still calling itself France today. In this case it can be confusing in some contexts to know if we're talking about, say, the French Empire, the Kingdom of France, or the French Republic (and the one of 1791 or the one of 2020). Thoughts? --— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:29, 23 November 2020 (-03)
* The U.S.S.R. should always be referred to as such (with the periods), and care should be taken when referring to individual states in the Union. The USSR was not limited to Russia, and calling it Soviet Russia is a misnomer. I suppose it can be called the Soviet Union instead of the USSR too.--— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:29, 23 November 2020 (-03)

== Roman numerals ==
* Just starting the discussion on this one, but should we use Roman numerals at all? For example regarding World War I (World War 1)? As much as I like writing, in regards to this wiki they are an unnecessary bourgeois rule. So likewise, a royal name like "Philip II of Spain" would be "Philipp the 2nd". When talking about a specific chapter in a book, Arabic numbers should be preferred as well: "Chapter 2" instead of "Chapter II" (sometimes authors use Roman numerals to number their chapters). Some languages, such as French, write down centuries with Roman numerals, e.g. 19th century is written as "XIXth century". In those languages, Arabic numerals should be preferred too. --— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:38, 23 November 2020 (-03)

== Translations ==

I noticed that there are a few articles that are extrapolated from old dictionaries, when that is the case, i propose the following:

A disclaimer on the top of the page, that goes as follows:

''This article is a translation from an original work, for more details, check the citations.''

And that details about the translation go down to the references section, e.g what i did in the [[George_Washington|George Washington]] article.

== Page title convention? ==

Wikipedia follows a convention of common names before official name. This is why they renamed "Communist Party of China" to "Chinese Communist Party". What convention do we follow with regards to this? I'm guessing prolewiki prioritizes official names over common ones because [[China]] was moved to [[People's Republic of China]]. However, [[NATO]] seems to be the odd one then because as per the official name should be [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (page doesn't exist but i'll make it as a redirect to [[NATO]] for now). IMO, the official wiki policy on this convention should be highlighted on the editorial convention page to avoid inconsistencies in the future. Good day, [[Comrade:Field Marshal|''' ☭ Field Marshal ☭ ''']] 05:17, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
:The phrase "Chinese Communist Party" isn't more common, its just wrong. All Chinese people (1.4 billion of them) use CPC. Regardless, I do prefer the official name in nearly every case. [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] should be the original page and [[NATO]] should link to it. -''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 06:38, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
::Following discord discussion, we've decided it to be best to use the shorthand version wherever possible, for the sake of saving space and avoiding long titles, as well as making our wiki approachable and familiar to readers (for example, using "Vladimir Lenin" instead of "Vladimir Ulyanov", as readers will likely be more familiar with the former. --''Comrade [[Comrade:Jucheguevara|Jucheguevara]]'' ([[Comradeship:Jucheguevara|talk]]) 21:35, 15 November 2021 (UTC)
:::I agree with shorthand as well as full name, but even if readers are not familiar with a particular name, a redirect from "Vladimir Lenin" to "Vladimir Ulyanov" already serves to familiarize the reader with a particular name. [[EcuRed]], the Cuban encyclopedia, uses full name and shorthand in title, [https://www.ecured.cu/OTAN_(Organizaci%C3%B3n_del_Tratado_del_Atl%C3%A1ntico_Norte) for instance]. So to state my opinion in this, for names of people, I agree with shorthand and known name, but for organizations and countries, I prefer the full name as well. Might as well be something we have different from Wikipedia hehe — ''Comrade [[Comrade:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]]'' ([[Comradeship:FelipeForte|talk]]) 22:23, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

== Archive ==
Promote discussions here about editorial styles
--[[User:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]] ([[User talk:FelipeForte|talk]]) 23:39, 17 November 2020 (-03)

I'm going to be adding my suggestions to the talk page and I guess we use the actual page for the things we agree on? In any case I added several suggestions with this edit, hopefully categorized in the new chapters below. Remember that whatever we decide, the important thing is to be consistent across the whole wiki. --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)

=== Article title ===
* Only the first letter should be capitalized, as well as proper nouns (city names, people's names, etc).--[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
::The title should always be the official name: [[Hellenic Republic]] instead of [[Greece]], [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] instead of [[NATO]]. For a person's name we should use the official name, but not necessarily the name on the birth certificate. We should not dead-name trans people, but we shouldn't use nicknames in the title of articles about people. *''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 11:23, 18 June 2021 (UTC)

=== Article body ===
* When writing the page title in the body the first time, it should be '''bolded''' if that name is in the introductory paragraph (before any headings).--[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
* When writing down the title of a creative work (see External works below) it should be put in ''italics''.--[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
* When directly quoting someone or something, the quote should use the quote template (see [[imperialism]] and the Engels quote) if the quote goes on several lines, or simply in "quotation marks" if the quote is shorter.--[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
:*Unless the quote is too big, blockquotes should be used instead (like used in this answer or by the use of <nowiki><blockquote></blockquote></nowiki>). Refer to, for instance, [[Library:Elementary_principles_of_philosophy/en#Why_should_we_study_Berkeley.27s_idealism.3F|this edited book chapter]], where the smaller quotes are put in blockquotes. --[[User:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]] ([[User talk:FelipeForte|talk]]) 09:27, 19 November 2020 (-03)
* Abbreviations should be written fully when they first appear in an article, and then can be abbreviated in () right after. Later in the article it's possible to use the abbreviation without reminding readers of the full term. So for example "The Organisation of American States (OAS)" or "The Organisation of American States, or OAS". Then later you can just write "OAS" when referring to this org. --— ''Comrade [[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]]'' ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 16:29, 23 November 2020 (-03)

=== External works ===
(such as movies, interviews, books, novels, etc)
* We should, if known, include the date the work was first published in parentheses. For example: ''The Wretched of the Earth'' (1961). --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)
* We should also respect the naming convention as published. Again taking this book as example, it's either published under ''The Wretched of the Earth'' (not the capitalisations) or ''Wretched of the Earth'', so both would be acceptable. --[[User:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] ([[User talk:CriticalResist|talk]]) 22:51, 18 November 2020 (-03)

::''The Wretched of the Earth'' or ''The wretched of the Earth''? Considering we're editors, we're free to not follow the editorial rules of the market, so I kinda tend to prefer lowercasing it as much as possible. I consider ''The wretched of the Earth'' the better option when citing this work. --[[User:FelipeForte|FelipeForte]] ([[User talk:FelipeForte|talk]]) 09:36, 19 November 2020 (-03)

== Adding pronouns to the pages of individuals (when public information) ==

Given ProleWiki supports the LGBT community, it would make sense to add pronouns to avoid misgendering. This would be a small and unintrusive way to avoid misgendering
in an article it would look like this

'''Firstname Lastname'''(They/them)

1989 Tian'anmen Square riots

2022-06-17T17:27:12Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

[[File:Burnt tank Tiananmen.png|thumb|A military vehicle destroyed by rioters in Beijing.]]
The '''1989 Tian'anmen Square riots''' (天安门事件) were a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-backed<ref name=":3">{{News citation|newspaper=Vancouver Sun|title=CIA man misread reaction, sources say|date=1992-09-27|url=https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1BcfxpzK9Oy7oT9TCkJMEA6GaKcTOKu-FhCABj4TsidM/pub}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Tom|newspaper=Mango Press|title=The Tian'anmen Square 'Massacre': The West's Most Persuasive, Most Pervasive Lie|date=2021-06-04|url=https://www.mango-press.com/the-tiananmen-square-massacre-the-wests-most-persuasive-most-pervasive-lie/|retrieved=2022-04-21}}</ref> attempted [[Counter-revolution|counterrevolution]] against the [[People's Republic of China]] in 1989. After the riots ended, its leaders were extracted by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] as part of [[Operation Yellowbird]].<ref name=":4">{{News citation|author=Milton James|newspaper=Critical Social Work Publishing House|title=1989 Tiananmen Square "Student Massacre" was a hoax|date=2020-07-08|url=https://www.criticalsocialworkpublishinghouse.com/post/1989-tiananmen-square-student-massacre-was-a-hoax|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321183536/https://www.criticalsocialworkpublishinghouse.com/post/1989-tiananmen-square-student-massacre-was-a-hoax|archive-date=2022-03-21|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref>

== Protests in Tian'anmen Square ==
Protests began in [[Tian'anmen Square]] on 1989 April 15 after the death of [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of China|General Secretary]] [[Hu Yaobang]]. On May 20, martial law was declared but the protests were allowed to continue. Around 5:00 am on June 4, the 3,000 remaining protestors peacefully left the square.<ref name=":1">{{News citation|author=Kim Petersen|newspaper=Dissident Voice|title=Massacre? What massacre?|date=2014-06-09|url=https://dissidentvoice.org/2014/06/massacre-what-massacre/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212172016/https://dissidentvoice.org/2014/06/massacre-what-massacre/|archive-date=2022-02-12|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Jay Matthews|newspaper=Columbia Journalism Review|title=The Myth of Tiananmen|date=2010-06-04|url=https://archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_myth_of_tiananmen.php|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Malcolm Moore|newspaper=The Telegraph|title=Wikileaks: no bloodshed inside Tiananmen Square, cables claim|date=2011-06-04|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8555142/Wikileaks-no-bloodshed-inside-Tiananmen-Square-cables-claim.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310001702/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8555142/Wikileaks-no-bloodshed-inside-Tiananmen-Square-cables-claim.html|archive-date=2022-03-10|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref> No one died in the square during or after the protests.<ref>{{News citation|author=Nicholas D. Kristof|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Turmoil in China; Tiananmen Crackdown: Student's Account Questioned on Major Points|date=1989-06-13|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/13/world/turmoil-china-tiananmen-crackdown-student-s-account-questioned-major-points.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227041851/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/13/world/turmoil-china-tiananmen-crackdown-student-s-account-questioned-major-points.html|archive-date=2022-02-27|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=James Miles|newspaper=BBC|title=Tiananmen killings: Were the media right?|date=2009-06-02|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8057762.stm|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=John Simpson|newspaper=BBC|title=John Simpson: Remembering Tiananmen|date=2009-06-03|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8069781.stm}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Malcolm Moore|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|title=Wikileaks: no bloodshed inside Tiananmen Square, cables claim|date=2011-06-04|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8555142/Wikileaks-no-bloodshed-inside-Tiananmen-Square-cables-claim.html}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Richard Roth|newspaper=CBS News|title=There Was No "Tiananmen Square Massacre"|date=2009-06-04|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/there-was-no-tiananmen-square-massacre/|quote=}}</ref> This makes it inaccurate to refer to this event as a massacre.

=== Student leaders ===
[[Liu Xiaobo]], one of the student leaders of the protests, said he wanted China to be colonized by the West for at least 300 years.<ref>{{News citation|author=Barry Sautman, Yan Hairong|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Do supporters of Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo really know what he stands for?|date=2010-12-15|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/dec/15/nobel-winner-liu-xiaobo-chinese-dissident|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref> [[Chai Ling]], another student leader, admitted that she wanted the protestors to be killed by the government<ref>{{Citation|author=Chai Ling|year=1989|title=Interview at Tiananmen Square with Chai Ling|title-url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1950_chailing.htm}}</ref> and said that the Chinese people were "not worth [her] struggle."<ref name=":0" /> [[Örkesh Dölet|Wu'er Kaixi]] said that they were protesting to be able to wear [[Nike]] shoes.<ref name=":1" />

=== Western support ===
1986, [[George Soros]] donated $1 million to a pro-Western fund that went on to train many student leaders in the protests. In 1988, the [[National Endowment for Democracy]] opened offices in China.<ref name=":4" /> Western corporations, including [[AT&T]], spent millions of dollars providing long-distance calls and fax machines to the protestors.<ref name=":1" /> The CIA gave the protestors typewriters and other equipment to spread [[Capitalism|capitalist]] ideas<ref name=":3" /> and the [[Statesian]] ambassador to China at the time was a former CIA agent.<ref name=":4" />

== Riots ==
As the protests were winding down, the Chinese government sent troops the clear the square of remaining students. The troops were initially unarmed, but were given weapons on June 3 after the students took some soldiers hostage.<ref>{{News citation|author=Andy McInerney|newspaper=[[Workers World]]|title=China's Tienanmen Square|date=1996-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981206141125/http://www.workers.org/ww/tienanmen.html|archive-date=1998-12-06|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref> They were blocked from entering the square by crowds armed with petrol bombs,<ref name=":2">{{News citation|author=Gregory Clark|newspaper=International Business Times|title=Tiananmen Square Massacre is a Myth, All We're 'Remembering' are British Lies|date=2014-06-04|url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tiananmen-square-massacre-myth-all-were-remembering-are-british-lies-1451053|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110151828/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tiananmen-square-massacre-myth-all-were-remembering-are-british-lies-1451053|archive-date=2021-11-10|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref> iron clubs, and Molotov cocktails.<ref name=":1" /> The rioters destroyed over 400 vehicles and burned and lynched soldiers in the streets near the square.<ref name=":2" />

== Death toll ==
The riots in [[Beijing]] resulted in approximately 300 total deaths,<ref name=":1" /> including 36 students, 10 [[People's Liberation Army|PLA]] soldiers, and 13 [[People's Armed Police|police officers]].<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=PBS|title=The Memory of Tiananmen|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/cron/|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref> All of the deaths occurred outside of the square itself.

== In Western media ==
In Western media, the incident is usually called the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The [[bourgeois media]] claims that the [[People's Liberation Army]] massacred thousands of peaceful protestors on June 4.<ref name=":0" /> [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]], a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]] propaganda outlet, claims that over 10,000 people were killed in the square.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=BBC|title=Tiananmen Square protest death toll 'was 10,000'|date=2017-12-23|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-42465516|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512100422/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-42465516|archive-date=2022-05-12|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:CIA-backed protests]]
[[Category:Attempted Colour Revolutions]]

German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)

2022-06-17T17:21:58Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

{{Infobox country|name=German democratic republic|government_type=Federal Marxist-Leninist socialist republic (1949–1952) Unitary Marxist-Leninist socialist republic (1952–1989) Unitary parliamentary republic (1989–1990)|currency=East German mark|date_event1=9 November 1989|event1=Fall of [[Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart|Anti-Fascist Protection Wall]]|date_pre=8 May 1945|event_pre=Soviet liberation of Germany|event_start=Constitution adopted|event_end=Annexation by West Germany|date_end=3 October|date_start=7 October|leader_name4=[[Egon Krenz]]|leader_title4=1989|leader_name3=[[Erich Honecker]]|leader_title3=1971–1989|leader_name2=[[Walter Ulbricht]]|native_name=Deutsche Demokratische Republik|leader_title2=1950–1971|leader_name1=[[Wilhelm Pieck]] and [[Otto Grotewohl]]|leader_title1=1946–1950|population_census_year=1990|population_census=16,111,000|mode_of_production=Socialism|area_km2=108,333|official_languages=German|capital=East Berlin|englishmotto=Workers of the world, unite!|motto=Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch!|year_end=1990|year_start=1949|HDI=0.953 (1989)|drives_on=right|GDP_PPP_year=1989|GDP_PPP_per_capita=$42,004|GDP_PPP=$525.29 billion|cctld=.dd|calling_code=+37|legislature=[[Volkskammer]]|national_anthem="Auferstanden aus Ruinen" "Risen from Ruins"|population_density_km2=149|today=[[Germany]]|image_flag=GDR flag.png}}
The '''German Democratic Republic''' (German: ''Deutsche Demokratische Republik'', '''GDR''' or '''DDR'''), sometimes referred to as '''East Germany''', was a country that existed from 1949 to 1990. In Western media it was referred to as a [[communist state]], but it described itself as a [[Socialist state|socialist]] "workers' and peasants' state".<ref>'''Chapter 1, Article 1''' of the ''1968 Constitution of the German Democratic Republic (1974 amendments) [[http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/verfddr.html Text (in German)]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20220318151408/http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/verfddr.html Archived]]''</ref>

The GDR was formed on 7 October 1949 with the adoption of its first constitution; elections for the Constitutional Assembly were held 5 months earlier, on 15 and 16 May 1949.

The GDR was annexed by the [[Federal Republic of Germany]], also known as West Germany, on 3 October 1990.

== Economy ==
From 1951 to 1989, the GDR's GDP grew at an average rate of 4.5% per year, while West Germany's GDP only grew by 4.3%.<ref>{{Citation|author=Karl Mai|year=2009|title=GDR - FRG in an economic-statistical comparison 1950 to 1989 - On new results by Prof. Gerhard Heske|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613132353/http://www.memo.uni-bremen.de/docs/m3309.pdf|trans-title=DDR – BRD im ökonomisch-statistischen Vergleich 1950 bis 1989 - Zu neuen Ergebnissen von Prof. Gerhard Heske|trans-lang=German}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Average Wages of Workers
!Year
!Monthly wage (DDM)<ref>{{Citation|author=Stephen R. Burrant|year=1987|title=East Germany: A Country Study|title-url=https://archive.org/details/eastgermanycount00bura_0/page/154/mode/2up?view=theater&q=755|chapter=The Economy|section=The Consumer in the East German Economy|page=154|publisher=United States Federal Research Division}}</ref>
|-
|1950
|311
|-
|1960
|555
|-
|1970
|755
|-
|1985
|1,130
|}

== Education ==
In 1985, there were 13,148 preschools in the DDR attended by children from ages three to six. Attendance was not mandatory but 91% of eligible children participated. Starting at the age of six, there were ten years of mandatory education. In grades seven through ten, 22% of instruction time was spent on science, 15% on math, and 34% on history, language, and literature. English and Russian were also taught as foreign languages. After completing the compulsory ten years of education, students could go to a university or vocational school. There were 54 universities and colleges and 963 vocational schools in the country. College was cheap and many textbooks were available for free.<ref>{{Citation|author=Stephen R. Burrant|year=1987|title=East Germany: A Country Study|title-url=https://archive.org/details/eastgermanycount00bura_0/page/94/mode/2up?view=theater|chapter=The Society and Its Environment|section=The Educational System|publisher=United States Federal Research Division}}</ref>

== Women's Rights ==
80% of women in the GDR between the ages of 18 and 60 were employed. By 1985, half of the university students in the country were female, doubling from a quarter in 1960.<ref>{{Citation|author=Stephen R. Burrant|year=1987|title=East Germany: A Country Study|title-url=https://archive.org/details/eastgermanycount00bura_0/page/102/mode/2up?view=theater|chapter=The Society and Its Environment|section=Women and the Democratic Women's League of Germany|page=102|publisher=United States Federal Research Division}}</ref> By the mid-1980's, birth control pills were also available free of charge.<ref>{{Citation|author=Stephen R. Burrant|year=1987|title=East Germany: A Country Study|title-url=https://archive.org/details/eastgermanycount00bura_0/page/94/mode/2up?view=theater|chapter=The Society and Its Environment|section=Institutions and Organs of Society|page=95|publisher=United States Federal Research Division}}</ref>

==References==

<references />
[[Category:Former socialist republics]]

United States of America

2022-06-17T17:16:55Z

PrimersophiaXVII: AMERICA IS EMPERIAL CAPITALIST

{{Infobox country|name=United States of America|image_flag=Flag of the United States.svg|population_estimate_year=2020|population_estimate=331,449,281|area_km2=9,833,520|established_date1=July 4, 1776|established_event1=Declaration of Independence|official_languages=English (de facto)|image_map_size=220px|image_map=USA orthographic.svg|leader_name3=Kamala Harris|native_name=ᏌᏊᎢᏳᎾᎵᏍᏔᏅᏍᎦᏚᎩ ᎾᎿ ᎠᎺᏰᏟ ʻAmelika Huipūʻia Tannapta Nunaŋat Mílahaŋska Tȟamákȟočhe Wááshindoon Bikéyah Ałhidadiidzooígíí Gichi-mookomaan-aki|leader_title3=President of the Senate|leader_name2=Nancy Pelosi|leader_title2=Speaker of the House|leader_name1=Joe Biden|leader_title1=President|largest_city=New York City|capital=Washington, DC|government_type=Federal presidential [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] republic|currency=United States dollar|mode_of_production=Capitalism|event_pre=Beginning of [[American Revolution|revolution]]|date_pre=April 19, 1775|established_event2=Current constitution|established_date2=March 4, 1789|established_event3=Last state admitted|established_date3=August 21, 1959}}
The '''United States of America''' ('''USA'''), commonly known as the '''United States''' ('''US'''), is the most influential [[Imperialism|imperialist]] [[Capitalism|capitalist]] state in the world, accounting for 15% of global GDP (PPP),<ref>{{News citation|date=2021|title=United States' share of global gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP)|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/270267/united-states-share-of-global-gross-domestic-product-gdp/|newspaper=Statista|retrieved=2022-01-25}}</ref> and the highest military spending in the world, reaching 40% of global military spending.<ref>{{Citation|author=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|year=2021|title=Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2020|pdf=https://sipri.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/fs_2104_milex_0.pdf}}</ref> It's the third most populous country in the world, with a population of more than 330 million people.<ref>{{News citation|date=2020|title=Population, total - United States|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=US|newspaper=World Bank|retrieved=2022-01-25}}</ref>

A modern [[American imperialism|empire]], the United States sit at the center of a cabal of imperialist western regimes. It is the leading country of many international imperialist organizations, such as the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]], [[Organization of American States]], [[World Bank]], [[International Monetary Fund]], [[National Endowment for Democracy]], [[Human Rights Watch]] and many others.

The pervasiveness of [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] ideology, the frequent relationship between government officials and corporate board of directors, the tendency for war, and the reach of nationalist, patriarchal and racial chauvinist ideas makes the US a [[dictatorship of the bourgeoisie]] with traits of [[fascism]].<ref>Black Panther Party (1970) [https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/1970/dope.htm Capitalism Plus Dope Equals Genocide] </ref><ref>Fred Hampton (1969) [https://www.marxists.org/archive/hampton/1969/11/class-struggle-godamnit.htm It’s a Class Struggle, Godamnit!]</ref><ref>Minju Joson (2016) [https://web.archive.org/web/20210528023946/https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/255411/minju-joson-on-final-doom-of-u-s/ Final Doom of U.S.]</ref>

Beginning as a settler-colony of European maritime empires, it became an independent nation in 1776. It has achieved remarkable economic, scientific and military development through the process of imperialism, where it uses military power to ensure access for its private industries to exploit the nations of the world.

Many of its methods of exploitation employed outwardly are also employed inwardly towards its own population, with increasing intensity as its economy has been in steady decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

==Name==
The official name of the country is the United States of America but it is often shortened to US, America, or United States. The indigenous names for the whole of [[North America]] are ''Mishiike Minisi'', ''Anowara:kowa'', and ''Khéya Wíta''.<ref group="lower-alpha">Respectively in Anishinaabe, Kanien'kéha and Lakota. All mean "Turtle Island".</ref> "America" is often respelled as "AmeriKKKa" in reference to the pervasiveness of [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] ideology in the US. In [[Islamic Republic of Iran|Iran]], the US is referred to as ''Shaytân-e Bozorg'',<ref group="lower-alpha">Persian: شيطان بزرگ</ref> which means "the great Satan."<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Ruhollah Khomeini|date=1979-11-05|title=America the Great Satan|url=http://emam.com/posts/view/15718/Speech|newspaper=Emam.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522133828/http://emam.com/posts/view/15718/Speech/|archive-date=2016-05-22|retrieved=2021-12-29}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Pre–European colonization ===
{{Main article|History of humanity}}
Human settlement in the [[America|Americas]] began between 12,500 to 27,000 years ago through different possible routes recognized by researchers. The most common and accepted theory is that humans crossed through land between Siberia and Alaska in the Beringia region at least 30,000 years ago,<ref>{{Citation|author=David J. Meltzer|year=2009|title=First peoples in a New World: colonizing Ice Age America|page=329|quote=The port of entry for America’s ﬁrst peoples was the Bering Sea region. They could, and likely did, walk across from Siberia to Alaska when expanding continental ice sheets dropped sea levels worldwide and Beringia surfaced. Crossing its Mammoth Steppe, blanketed by parkland and grazed by mammoth, horse, and bison, was possible anytime between 27,000 and 10,000 years ago. The recent genetic evidence of a possible Beringian standstill suggests the ﬁrst peoples may have been relatively isolated in this region for much of that time.|publisher=University of California Press}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=Erika Tamm, et al|year=2007|title=Beringian Standstill and spread of Native American founders|title-url=https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0000829#pone.0000829-Pitulko1|quote=The new data suggest that the initial founders of the Americas emerged from a single source ancestral population that evolved in isolation, likely in Beringia. This scenario is consistent with the unique pattern of diversity from autosomal locus D9S1120 of a private allele in high frequency and ubiquitous in the Americas. The finding that humans were present at the Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site dated to 30,000 ybp suggests that the isolation in Beringia might have lasted up to 15,000 years. Following this isolation, the initial founders of the Americas began rapidly populating the New World from North to South America.|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0000829}}</ref> when the sea levels were at a minimum, revealing a pathway which made possible to cross between the lands, and stayed there until at least 12,500 years ago,<ref>{{Citation|author=David J. Meltzer|year=2009|title=First peoples in a New World: colonizing Ice Age America|page=329|quote=In any case, it appears from the evidence at Monte Verde that the ﬁrst Americans were here by at least 12,500 BP and possibly earlier still. Certainly by 11,500 BP, Clovis Paleoindians were widespread, possibly representing a second migratory pulse to the New World, one that may have spread across the continent in less than a thousand years.|publisher=University of California Press}}</ref> when they went deep into American land.

Genetic evidence based on mitochondrial DNA suggests that the last common ancestor between central Asian and North American indigenous peoples was estimated to have diverged between 25,000 to 20,000 years ago,<ref>{{Citation|author=Goebel, Waters & O’Rourke|year=2008|title=The Late Pleistocene dispersal of Modern Humans in the Americas|quote=Establishing when central Asian and Native American haplogroup lineages last shared a common ancestor has proven to be difficult. Current coalescent estimates based on variation in extant mtDNA lineages set the event at 25 to 20 ka or less than 20 ka, after the last glacial maximum (LGM), and estimates based on Y- chromosome variability suggest that divergence occurred after 22.5 ka, possibly as late as 20 to 15 ka.|doi=10.1126/science.1153569}}</ref> during the time humans were located at the Beringian region, and subhaplogroup analysis suggest that dispersion from Beringia may have occurred as early as 16,000 years ago.<ref>{{Citation|author=Goebel, Waters & O’Rourke|year=2008|title=The Late Pleistocene dispersal of Modern Humans in the Americas.|doi=10.1126/science.1153569|quote=New analyses of haplogroup subclades help to resolve when modern humans subsequently spread from Beringia to the rest of the Americas. Three subclades of mtDNA subhaplogroup C1 are widely distributed among North, Central, and South Americans but absent in Asian populations, which suggests that they evolved after the central Asian–Native American split, as the first Americans were dispersing from Beringia. The estimated date of coalescence for these subclades is 16.6 to 11.2 ka, which suggests that the colonization of the Americas south of the continental ice sheets may have occurred some time during the late-glacial period, thousands of years after the initial splitting of Asian and Native American lineages.|page=}}</ref>

Around 10,500 years ago, the peoples of the eastern region of North America, developed agriculture based on corn, domestication of animals, along with hunting, fishing and gathering.<ref>{{Citation|author=Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz|year=2014|title=An indigenous peoples' history of the United States|page=15-16|quote=Domestication of plants took place around the globe in seven locales during approximately the same period, around 8500 BC. Three of the seven were in the Americas, all based on corn: the Valley of Mexico and Central America (Mesoamerica); the South-Central Andes in South America; and eastern North America. [...] During this time, many of the same human societies began domesticating animals. Only in the American continents was the parallel domestication of animals eschewed in favor of game management, a kind of animal husbandry different from that developed in Africa and Asia. In these seven areas, agriculture based "civilized" societies developed in symbiosis with hunting, fishing, and gathering peoples on their peripheries, gradually enveloping many of the latter into the realms of their civilizations, except for those in regions inhospitable to agriculture.|isbn=978-0-8070-0040-3|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=D80C34C2EDEF56A1CA68F01727416207}}</ref> The development of agriculture in the region also required complex irrigation systems and developed through extensive trade between the peoples of Central and South America.<ref>{{Citation|author=Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz|year=2014|title=An indigenous peoples' history of the United States|page=16|isbn=978-0-8070-0040-3|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=D80C34C2EDEF56A1CA68F01727416207|quote=Corn, being a summer crop, can tolerate no more than twenty to thirty days without water and even less time in high temperatures. Many of the areas where corn was the staple were arid or semiarid, so its cultivation required the design and construction of complex irrigation systems-in place at least two thousand years be fore Europeans knew the Americas existed. The proliferation of agriculture and cultigens could not have occurred without centuries of cultural and commercial interchange among the peoples of North, Central, and South America, whose traders carried seeds as well as other goods and cultural practices.}}</ref> By the 15th century, the population of the whole continent of America was about 100 million people, and about 40 million lived in North America. In comparison, the [[Europe|European]] peoples at that time amounted to around 50 million.<ref>{{Citation|author=Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz|year=2014|title=An indigenous peoples' history of the United States|page=17|isbn=978-0-8070-0040-3|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=D80C34C2EDEF56A1CA68F01727416207|quote=The total population of the hemisphere was about one hundred million at the end of the fifteenth century, with about two-fifths in North America, including Mexico. Central Mexico alone supported some thirty million people. At the same time, the population of Europe as far east as the Ural Mountains was around fifty million.}}</ref>

===Native American Genocide===
With the advent of the war of 1776 against the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British empire]] and afterwards, the fledgling United States expanded westward with President Thomas Jefferson (the third in a long line of Presidents) referring to the nation as an "empire of liberty." As Nancy Isenberg elucidates in her book ''White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America'': "The Louisiana Territory, as he envisioned it, would encourage agriculture and forestall the growth of manufacturing and urban poverty—that was his formula for liberty. It was not Franklin’s “happy mediocrity” (a compression of classes across an endless stretch of unsettled land), but a nation of farmers large and small. This difference is not nominal: Franklin and Paine used Pennsylvania as their model, while Jefferson saw America’s future—and the contours of its class system—through the prism of Virginia."<ref>{{Citation|author=Nancy Isenberg|year=2016|title=White trash: the 400-year untold history of class in America|publisher=Viking|isbn=9780670785971|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=858AE1D454C3854355613E1824C318ED|page=92}}</ref>

Around 1800, as the lands further to the west were opened up to the fledgling United States, the young state saw the land as a way to appease its population and strengthen its power in the world. As Nancy Isenberg further explains: "By 1800, one-fifth of the American population had resettled on its 'frontier,' the territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi. Effective regulation of this mass migration was well beyond the limited powers of the federal government. Even so, officials understood that the country’s future depended on controlling this vast territory. Financial matters were involved too. Government sale of these lands was needed to reduce the nation’s war debts. Besides, the lands were hardly empty, and the potential for violent conflicts with Native Americans was ever present, as white migrants settled on lands they did not own. National greatness depended as much as anything upon the class of settlers that was advancing into the new territories. Would the West be a dumping ground for a refuse population? Or would the United States profit from its natural bounty and grow as a continental empire more equitably? There was much uncertainty."<ref>{{Citation|author=Nancy Isenberg|year=2016|title=White trash: the 400-year untold history of class in America|publisher=Viking|isbn=9780670785971|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=858AE1D454C3854355613E1824C318ED|page=110}}</ref>

===Austronesian Genocide===

By the end of the 19th century, the United States would find itself as a predominant imperialist power in the world, invading countries such as the [[Philippines]] in a brutal war for control. In J. Sakai's book ''Settlers'', it's recounted that: "U.S. Brig. Gen. James Bell, upon returning to the U.S. in 1901, said that his men had killed one out of every six Filipinos on the main island of Luzon (that would be some one million deaths just there). It is certain that at least 200,000 Filipinos died in the genocidal conquest. In Samar province, where the patriotic resistance to the U.S. invaders was extremely persistent, U.S. Gen. Jacob Smith ordered his troops to shoot every Filipino man, woman or child they could find 'over ten' (years of age)."<ref>Sakai 2014, p. 111</ref>

The United States would expand beyond its continental borders with the colonialist acquisition of lands such as Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, etc. With the attack on several of these territories by the [[Japanese empire]], most notably at Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt would downplay the colonialist additions to the American empire, such as the Philippines, and give more emphasis to the U.S. territory of Hawaii (which was not yet a state during this time). From Daniel Immerwahr's ''How To Hide An Empire: A History of the Greater United States'':<blockquote>"Why did Roosevelt demote the Philippines? We don't know, but it's not hard to guess. Roosevelt was trying to tell a clear story: Japan had attacked the United States. But he faced a problem. ''Were'' Japan's targets considered 'the United States'? Legally, yes, they were indisputably U.S. territory. But would the public see them that way? What if Roosevelt's audience didn't care that Japan had attacked the Philippines or Guam? Polls taken slightly before the attack show that few in the continental United States supported a military defense of those remote territories.

Consider how similar events played out more recently. On August 7, 1998, al-Qaeda launched simultaneous attacks on U.S. embassies in Nairobi, [[Kenya]], and Dar es Salaam, [[Tanzania]]. Hundreds died (mostly Africans), and thousands were wounded. But though those embassies were outposts of the United States, there was little public sense that the country ''itself'' had been harmed. It would take another set of simultaneous attacks three years later, on New York City and Washington, D.C., to provoke an all-out war."<ref>{{Citation|author=Daniel Immerwahr|year=2019|title=How to hide an empire: a history of the greater United States|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=9780374172145|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9D70A450044495E0D851721E77D5C8A1|page=6}}</ref></blockquote>While an embassy is different from a territory, as the book concedes, a similar logic was at play. And as Immerwahr says, Hawaii had more Americans and was closer to statehood. However, as Immerwahr explains, even Roosevelt felt the need to say that the "American island of Oahu" was attacked and that "very many American lives" had been lost. As Immerwahr says in explaining the nationalism implicit in Roosevelt's speech after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor: "An ''American'' island, where ''American'' lives were lost - that was the point he was trying to make. If the Philippines was being rounded down to foreign, Hawai'i was being rounded up to 'American.'"<ref>{{Citation|author=Daniel Immerwahr|year=2019|title=How to hide an empire: a history of the greater United States|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=9780374172145|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9D70A450044495E0D851721E77D5C8A1|page=7}}</ref>

===21st century===

=====Internal crises=====
The US is embroiled in crisis as its middle class (the petit bourgeoisie) is increasingly impoverished.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-state-of-americas-middle-class-in-eight-charts/ The State of America’s Middle Class in Eight Charts] PBS Frontline by Jason M. Breslow and Evan Wexler on July 9th, 2013</ref><ref>[https://americansystemnow.com/deindustrialization-is-killing-america/ Deindustrialization is Killing America]</ref> This is due to the capitalist class deciding to offshore well-paying industrial jobs to lower-income countries<ref>[https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/08/a-new-assessment-of-the-role-of-offshoring-in-the-decline-in-us-manufacturing-employment.html A New Assessment of the Role of Offshoring in the Decline in US Manufacturing Employment] on Naked Capitalism by Yves Smith on Aug 16, 2019</ref>, as well expansionary monetary policy<ref>[https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202104/1220364.shtml US’ excessive money-printing prompts de-dollarization] on [[Global Times]] by Ma Jingjing published on April 6th, 2021 </ref> which enriches the bourgeoisie through asset price inflation<ref>[https://fee.org/articles/the-cantillon-effect-because-of-inflation-we-re-financing-the-financiers/ The Cantillon Effect: Because of Inflation, We’re Financing the Financiers] on Fee.org by Jessica Schultz on Oct 28, 2018</ref>, and deepens the crisis among the poor by weakening their purchasing power.

As a result of this ongoing crisis of capitalism, populist movements have risen to challenge the rule of "the elites." Occupy Wall Street was a popular movement against the financial elites in 2011. During the 2016 presidential election, the corporate-owned media attacked both the left-wing populist Bernie Sanders, as well as the right-wing populist Donald Trump. The Democratic Party's strategy to "elevate Trump" to make the Republican ticket look unsavory ended up backfiring and resulting in Trump's victory.

With the economic hardships of the 2020's, a growing number of Americans, often of younger ages, have begun to lose faith in capitalism.<ref>{{News citation|author=Laura Wronski|newspaper=SurveyMoney|title=Axios{{!}}Momentive Poll: Capitalism and Socialism|date=2021-6-11|url=https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/axios-capitalism-update/|retrieved=2022-6-11}}</ref>While many of these discontent people have achived [[consciousness]] in how many problems (constant wars, homelessness, global warming, ect.) in society can ultimately be traced back to capitalism, and have therefore aligned themselves with [[Marxism|Marxist]] or otherwise [[socialist]] ideologies, there are many other malcontent people who have taken to the far-right. A trend that is present especially amoung the middle-class, there has been an increase in the popularity of populist and xenophobic groups, as well as an increasing [[Fascism|fascistization]] of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] (one of the two ruling parties in the American government).<ref>{{Citation|author=Marc-André Argentino, Blyth Crawford, Florence Keen, Hannah Rose|year=2021|title=Far-From-Gone:The Evolutionof Extremism in the First 100 Daysof the Biden Administration|title-url=https://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ICSR-Report-Far-From-Gone-The-Evolution-of-Extremism-in-the-First-100-Days-of-the-Biden-Administration.pdf|chapter=3. The 6 January Insurrectionists: Narratives and Motivations|section=Discontent with Presidential Election Results|page=63-72|pdf=https://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ICSR-Report-Far-From-Gone-The-Evolution-of-Extremism-in-the-First-100-Days-of-the-Biden-Administration.pdf|city=London|publisher=International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation|trans-lang=English}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Alison Durkee|newspaper=Forbes|title=More Than Half Of Republicans Believe Voter Fraud Claims And Most Still Support Trump, Poll Finds|date=2021-4-5|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/04/05/more-than-half-of-republicans-believe-voter-fraud-claims-and-most-still-support-trump-poll-finds/?sh=7edebb081b3f|retrieved=2022-6-10}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=Dr. Robert A. Pape|year=2021|title=UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN DOMESTIC TERRORISM|title-url=https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/cpost/i/docs/americas_insurrectionists_online_2021_04_06.pdf?mtime=1617807009|chapter=STUDY 1:WHO ARE THE INSURRECTIONISTS AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM|section=MANY BUSINESS OWNERS/WHITECOLLAR|page=6-9|pdf=https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/cpost/i/docs/americas_insurrectionists_online_2021_04_06.pdf?mtime=1617807009|city=The University of Chicago|publisher=Chicago Project on Security and Threats|trans-lang=English}}</ref>

=====External losses=====
The American empire has been on the decline since the 21st century and possibly earlier. This is a slow process that will take years to complete however. One major factor of this decline is the United States' incapacity to respond to the [[People's Republic of China]]'s [[Belt and Road Initiative]], as more countries are moving towards the PRC and away from the USA for trade and loans.

If a superpower is measured through objective metrics such as scientific output (number of research papers per year)<ref>https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20206/</ref>, exports & other trade metrics<ref>https://www.statista.com/statistics/264623/leading-export-countries-worldwide/<nowiki/>archive: https://archive.ph/dKloW</ref>, GDP<ref>https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?t=10&v=65 - GDP adapted to purchasing power parity (PPP)</ref>, then these metrics show the US is on the decline and has been for several years. In subjective metrics, a superpower's hegemony is measured in its soft power (putting compradors in power abroad to ensure collaboration), its cultural exports (media, entertainment, software), and generally its respect in the world. In these trends too we see the USA declining. They have been unable for some time to ensure compradors in other countries, and are becoming less respected in the eyes of the international community (see list below). The United States' cultural export is still high, but even at home people are increasingly moving away from domestic entertainment, though it remains to be seen if this will be a lasting trend.

Other losses that the American empire has had to endure in the 21st century include, in chronological order:

*The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which completely blindsided intelligence and security agencies, showed a very big weakness in the imperial apparatus: it was not as invincible as it thought.
*A smear campaign originated in the US media in january 2019 when [[Venezuela|Venezuelan]] president [[Nicolás Maduro]] was reelected. US News organisations started reporting about a supposed humanitarian crisis in the country, owing to Maduro's allegedly "disastrous" policies. Two weeks later, president of the Assembly Juan Guaido proclaimed himself president of Venezuela as he contested Maduro's results -- under the guise that he was not allowed to run for office a third time as per the constitution. Juan Guaido, who enjoyed very little support at home and was a nobody, was nonetheless instantly recognized as the legitimate president of Venezuela by the United States and other countries and organisations (Canada, European Union...). An attempted color revolution then was planned in Venezuela, but went nowhere. Guaido was then slowly phased out of the public eye in the international community, though he continues to make noise in Venezuela. Maduro remains the president of Venezuela.
*In late 2019, [[Plurinational State of Bolivia|Bolivian]] president [[Evo Morales]] was reelected at his position. The election results were immediately contested by the [[Organization of American States|Organisation of American States]], a US-led organisation for the purpose of securing imperialism on the American continent. While these allegations proved to be false, Morales went in exile for over six months while [[Jeanine Añez]], a far-right comprador politician, was placed as an interim. After delaying new elections twice, Añez finally relented and took a huge blow when [[Luis Arce]], from the same party as Morales was elected. Añez is now in prison awaiting trial on various charges including terrorism, sedition, and leading a coup against the government.
*In January 2020, the United States ordered the assassination of [[Islamic Republic of Iran|Iranian]] general [[Qasem Soleimani]] while on visit in Baghdad, [[Iraq]]. Later that month, Iran retaliated by launching an attack on a US military base in Iraq on a scale never seen before. The US however did not retaliate against this attack in any way.
*In August 2021, the United States, after 20 years of occupation in [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] to prevent the Taliban from controlling the state, did exactly the opposite and let the Taliban seize the Afghan state.

It is important to compare this list to earlier imperialist ventures of the United States who, for example, considered South America their "backyard" for most of the 20th century and successfully pulled of coups and regime changes unimpeded in the region. While the Empire also took losses in the 20th century (the invasion of Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs invasion...), it must only contextualised by looking at the general trends and how these losses are rapidly adding up.

==Government==
[[File:US Plutocracy Flag.jpg|alt=U.S. flag restyled to illustrate the plutocratic and corporatist nature of the political system|thumb|U.S. flag restyled to illustrate the plutocratic and corporatist nature of the political system; the 50 stars which represent each state have been replaced with the logos of large monopolistic corporations. ]]

The US political system is a de-facto plutocracy; a government entirely controlled by the wealthy. The richest three Statesians have more money than the poorest 160 million combined.<ref>{{News citation|author=Tom Kertscher|newspaper=PolitiFact|title='The wealthiest three families now own more wealth than the bottom half of the country.'|date=2019-07-03|url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/jul/03/bernie-sanders/bernie-sanders-target-saying-3-richest-have-much-w/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126234218/https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/jul/03/bernie-sanders/bernie-sanders-target-saying-3-richest-have-much-w/|archive-date=2022-01-26|retrieved=2022-05-01}}</ref>

Dominated by two right-wing political parties, the Democratic Party which is center-right<ref>[http://www.thebreezepaper.com/news-blog/2020/12/18/like-it-or-not-the-democratic-party-is-a-right-wing-party Like it or Not, the Democratic Party is a Right-Wing Party]</ref> and is controlled by the monopolistic managerial [[bourgeoisie]] who seeks to maintain the stability of the imperialist system by being less reactionary on inconsequential social issues, while the Republican Party is more reactionary and backwards when it comes to social issues<ref>[https://www.salon.com/2019/07/05/how-did-the-republican-party-become-so-conservative/ How did the Republican Party become so conservative?]</ref> and tends to pander to the [[petit bourgeoisie]] in their effort to deepen the exploitation of labor.

The election system further solidifies this duopoly with its "First Past the Post" system, resulting in citizens having to choose "the lesser of two evils." The two political parties stir up public debate around their small disagreements to create a facade of democracy, but bipartisan agreement reigns on questions of foreign policy (imperialism, war, attacking socialist countries) as well as domestic policies such as prioritizing funding for police repression over social programs such as free housing, higher education, healthcare, etc.

Given the presence of campaign donations and lobbying (legalized corruption), the billionaires who buy off politicians to serve their will are sometimes referred to as the "Donor class".<ref name="NYT-19980719">{{Web citation|journalist=Bob Herbert|date=1998-07-19|title=The Donor Class|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/19/opinion/in-america-the-donor-class.html|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

In his autobiographical account of taking on monopolistic corporations as president, President Theodor Roosevelt recounted:<blockquote>…we had come to the stage where for our people what was needed was a real democracy; and of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of a plutocracy.<ref>{{Web citation|title=Roosevelt, Theodore. 1913. An Autobiography: XII. The Big Stick and the Square Deal|url=http://www.bartleby.com/55/12.html}}</ref></blockquote>Despite various anti-monopoly countermeasures (anti-trust legislation, etc.) the underlying system of capitalism and the desire to accumulate more surplus value and increase profitability continues to result in monopolistic formations within the US economy. These monopolies are more powerful than the public state apparatus, and by most approximations can be considered the same object. According to fascist dictator Mussolini, the merging of corporate power and state power is the definition of fascism.<ref>"Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." --Benito Mussolini. (from Encyclopedia Italiana, Giovanni Gentile, editor)</ref>

==Politics==
The US is a ''de facto'' [[one-party state]],<ref>{{Citation|author=Mark J. Green|year=1982|title=Winning Back America|title-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oa3VExRT2s8C&q=%22Yes,+we+have+one+party+here.+But+so+does+America.+Except,+with+typical+extravagance,+they+have+two+of+them.%22&dq=%22Yes,+we+have+one+party+here.+But+so+does+America.+Except,+with+typical+extravagance,+they+have+two+of+them.%22&hl=es-419&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiI5N6FrafqAhXoHbkGHehvD1UQ6AEwAXoECAAQAg|quote='Yes, we have one party here. But so does America. Except, with typical extravagance, they have two of them!'|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=9780553226300}}</ref> with aesthetical differences between its two main parties, the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], but both parties follow common policies, especially abroad.

==Foreign Policy==
The United States has long seen itself as a very special nation, playing a uniquely noble role on the world stage. While other nations are said to be guided by vulgar self-interest, the United States is supposedly different; the primary goal of American foreign policy is, according to the State Department’s website, to “promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.” But how well does the United States live up to those so-called “democratic values”? Does it in fact promote the cause of a “free, peaceful, and prosperous world”? Let’s look at the facts.

The United States has been at war for more than 90% of its existence<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Sabir Shah|date=2020-01-09|title=The US Has Been at war 225 out of 243 years since 1776|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/595752-the-us-has-been-at-war-225-out-of-243-years-since-1776|newspaper=The News|retrieved=2022-03-11}}</ref> and has over 800 military bases in foreign countries, compared to 30 for the rest of the world combined.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=David Vine|title=Where in the World Is the U.S. Military?|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/us-military-bases-around-the-world-119321/|newspaper=Politico|retrieved=2022-03-11}}</ref>

===Foreign Aid and Human Rights===
To begin with, the US has a horrific foreign aid record. It seems that American aid is quite a good predictor of human rights abuses, and that this trend goes back decades; according to a 1981 study in the journal ''Comparative Politics,'' US aid is “clearly distributed disproportionately to countries with repressive governments… this distribution represented a pattern and not merely one or a few isolated cases.” Indeed, it is quite easy to find examples of the United States supporting vicious repressive regimes (such as [[Pinochet]]'s Chile, the Shah of Iran, and the military junta of [[El Salvador]]).

Similarly, a 1984 study in the ''Journal of Peace Research'' looked at human rights and US aid under Nixon, Ford, and Carter. The authors found that “under Presidents Nixon and Ford foreign assistance was directly related to levels of human rights violations, i.e. more aid flowed to regimes with higher levels of violation, while under President Carter no clear statistical pattern emerged.” They therefore conclude that “the Carter administration did not implement a policy of human rights which actually guided the disposition of military and economic assistance.” In other words, the US attitude towards human rights seems to vary from outright hostility (under more conservative administrations) to mere indifference (under more liberal ones).

More recent studies have painted a similarly bleak picture. A 2008 book by Rhonda Callaway and Elizabeth Matthews found that “both United States economic and military aid have detrimental effects on security rights of the citizens in recipient states.” They note that these results “provide support for those critical of the US foreign assistance program.” The most recent research has continued to back up these conclusions. A 2016 study in the ''Quarterly Journal of Political Science'' sampled 150 countries from 1972 to 2008, finding that “US aid harms political rights, fosters other forms of state repression (measured along multiple dimensions), and strengthens authoritarian governance. [...] These findings counter the publicly stated objectives of the US government to foster political liberalization abroad via bilateral economic assistance.”

All-in-all, it seems that aid from the United States has a deleterious impact on the human rights situation in recipient nations. It provides military and economic aid to repressive regimes, arming and propping up some of the most vicious dictators on the planet, all in service of its own interests.

[[Alan MacLeod]] of [[MintPress News]] has compiled a thread of times the US military has deliberately bombed hospitals.<ref>@AlanRMacLeod on Twitter: [https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1501981269701373952?s=20&t=4ljxQ0O7WUzqg7tpOHEnHw <nowiki>"A short history of the United States deliberately bombing hospitals [Thread]"</nowiki>] ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20220310190033/https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1501981269701373952 (Archived)]''</ref>

===The War on Terror===
Lest we think that the harm of US foreign policy stops at providing aid to dictators, the United States has also carried out a great deal of violence all on its own. To demonstrate the enormous death toll of US military intervention and invasion, let's take a look at the post-9/11 "War on Terror," including the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan (among others).

According to a 2019 report from Brown University's Costs of War project, "between 770,000 and 801,000 people have died" in what the report refers to as "America's post-9/11 wars." This tally does not include so-called "indirect deaths," such as those resulting from displacement and the destruction of crucial infrastructure (e.g. water and sanitation systems). In a 2019 article for the ''Hill,'' David Vine (Professor of Anthropology at American University) writes that "total deaths during the post-2001 U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen [are] likely to reach 3.1 million or more — around 200 times the number of U.S. dead."<ref>The Hill | Reckoning With the Costs of War: It's Time to Take Responsibility</ref> Others have come to similar conclusions. According to a 2018 report from the ''Intercept:''<blockquote>In addition to those killed by direct acts [of] violence, the number of indirect deaths — those resulting from disease, displacement, and the loss of critical infrastructure — is believed to be several times higher, running into the millions.<ref>The Intercept | The Assassination Complex: The Drone Papers</ref></blockquote>These death tolls are backed up by earlier research. A 2009 article from the MIT Center for International Studies, which looked ''only'' at Iraq, found that "we have, at present, between 800,000 and 1.3 million 'excess deaths' in this war as we approach its six-year anniversary." Keep in mind that this is only one of the invaded countries, and that this article was authored in 2009 (more than a decade ago). The current death tolls, when factoring in all nations (as well as the decade of subsequent warfare), are likely many times higher.

The United States government has engaged in a concerted effort to hide the civilian cost of its Middle Eastern wars. According to a 2017 report from the ''New York Times'', the actual rate of civilian causalities inflicted by coalition forces in the Middle East is "more than 31 times that acknowledged by the coalition. It is at such a distance from official claims that, in terms of civilian deaths, this may be the least transparent war in recent American history."

In point of fact, US forces often kill more people than the terrorists they are supposedly there to fight; a 2019 article in the ''New York Times'' reports that "more civilians are being killed by Afghan government and American forces than by the Taliban and other insurgents, according to a [United Nations] report on Wednesday."<ref>The New York Times | U.S. and Afghan Forces Killed More Civilians Than Taliban Did, Report Finds</ref> This is not even mentioning the US drone program, which was detailed in a 2013 report from the ''Intercept.'' To make matters worse, civilian casualties from US wars have been increasing dramatically since Donald Trump took office, according to a 2018 article from the ''Washington Post.''

While it must be noted that the United States did not personally kill all of the millions of people mentioned above, it still bears a heavy burden for these deaths, having initiated the invasions, and started the entire conflict. In the same way that we hold Hitler responsible for the deaths of WWII (since he was the one who started it), so too should we hold the United States responsible for the deaths listed above. For more information on the civilian cost of US intervention, I recommend ''The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America's Wars'', a study authored by John Tirman, director of the MIT Center for International Studies.

===Coups and Regime Change===
The United States has a long history of overthrowing governments it doesn't like, typically then replacing them with brutal dictatorships. There are many, ''many'' examples of this, ranging from Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, to Mohammad Mosaddegh in [[Iran]] (a coup for which the CIA actually admitted responsibility in 2013).

====Chile====
In 1973 the United States helped to overthrow the elected socialist government of [[Salvador Allende]] in [[Chile]], replacing it with the right-wing dictatorship of [[Augusto Pinochet]]. Peter Kornbluh, the director of the National Security Archive's Chile Documentation Project, said the following of Chile:<blockquote>“To see on a piece of paper, for example, the president of the United States ordering the C.I.A. to preemptively overthrow a democratically elected president in Chile is stunning,” Mr. Kornbluh said. “The importance of having these documents in the museum is for the new generations of Chileans to actually see them.”<ref>The New York Times (2017) [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/14/world/americas/chile-coup-cia-museum.html Documenting U.S. Role in Democracy’s Fall and Dictator’s Rise in Chile]</ref></blockquote>As if this were not enough, in a 2014 interview with the ''Atlantic,'' Jack Devine (a former CIA agent who was in Chile at the time of the coup) confirmed that the Nixon administration was directly instructing the CIA to support the coup. According to declassified documents, Nixon had previously ordered Henry Kissinger to "make the economy scream," in an effort to rally support for the right-wing forces. The United States also attempted to prevent Allende from being inaugurated after his election, and provided support for state-terrorist campaigns after the coup. Now that the US role has been established, let's look at what Pinochet did once in power.

To begin with, Pinochet killed, tortured, and "disappeared" tens of thousands of people. According to a 2011 article from the BBC, the "total of recognized victims" numbers over 40,000, including more than 3,000 who were killed or forcibly disappeared. The rest were kidnapped, tortured, exiled, or some combination of the above. Pinochet was one of the most vicious dictators in the history of Latin America, and the United States played a direct role in propping up his regime.<ref>BBC | Chile Recognizes 9,800 More Victims of Pinochet's Rule</ref>

In addition, Pinochet introduced hard-line neoliberal reforms, which did immense damage to Chile's economy. A good study on this was published in 1990 in the journal ''Critical Sociology''. The authors note that growth rates under Pinochet were remarkably unimpressive:<blockquote>The Pinochet model produced growth rates well below the Chilean average established over the 1950-72 period. The average yearly GDP rate of growth in the latter period was 3.9 percent, while the Pinochet regime averaged 1.4 percent over the 1974-83 period... overall growth throughout the 1980s has been far from miraculous: GDP per capita grew at a 1.2 percent average rate between 1980 and 1989, below the 1.7 percent average yearly rate for 1950-72.<ref>Critical Sociology | The Chilean "Economic Miracle": An Empirical Critique</ref></blockquote>In addition, the authors charge Pinochet with "creating a great deal of poverty," noting that unemployment "rose dramatically after the coup," while real wages fell. At the same time, social expenditures were reduced, and "infectious diseases readily associated with poverty, overcrowding poor hygiene, and inadequate sanitation underwent explosive growth." This assessment is echoed by a study in the ''International Development Planning Review'', which found that "the radical neoliberal policies and structural adjustment of the 1970s and 1980s during the Pinochet regime had severe negative effects on the poor and middle class."<ref>International Development Planning Review | Land of Miracles? A Critical Analysis of Poverty Reduction Strategies in Chile, 1975-2005</ref> The poverty rate itself increased dramatically; according to a report from the North American Congress on Latin America:<blockquote>The number of poor Chileans doubled during the Pinochet regime. By 1989, 44% of Chileans lived in poverty.<ref>NACLA | In Pursuit of "Growth With Equity": The Limits of Chile's Free-Market Social Reforms</ref></blockquote>In addition, it seems that Pinochet's privatizations also helped to create enormous corruption. According to a study in the ''Journal of Economic History,'' "firms were sold underpriced to politically connected buyers." This had predictable consequences:<blockquote>These newly private firms benefited financially from the Pinochet regime. Once democracy arrived, they formed connections with the new government, financed political campaigns, and were more likely to appear in the [[Panama papers|Panama Papers]]. These findings reveal how dictatorships can influence young democracies using privatization reforms.<ref>Journal of Economic History | The Privatization Origins of Political Corporations: Evidence from the Pinochet Regime</ref></blockquote>
===Sources===
*U.S. Department of State | About Page
*Comparative Politics | U. S. Foreign Policy and Human Rights Violations in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis of Foreign Aid Distributions
*Journal of Peace Research | Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Assistance from Nixon to Carter
*Routledge | Strategic US Foreign Assistance: The Battle Between Human Rights and National Security
*Quarterly Journal of Political Science | Does Foreign Aid Harm Political Rights? Evidence from U.S. Aid
*Brown University | The Cost of the Global War on Terror: $6.4 Trillion and 801,000 Lives
*The Intercept | It's Time for America to Reckon With the Staggering Death Toll of the Post-9/11 Wars
*MIT Center for International Studies | Bush's War Dead: One Million
*The New York Times | The Uncounted
*The Washington Post | Middle East Civilian Deaths Have Soared Under Trump. And the Media Mostly Shrug.
*MIT Center for International Studies | The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America's Wars
*CNN | In Declassified Document, CIA Acknowledges Role in '53 Iran Coup
*The Atlantic | The Other 9/11: A CIA Agent Remembers Chile's Coup
*National Security Archive | Chile and the United States: Declassified Documents Relating to the Military Coup, September 11, 1973
*The New Statesman | How Thatcher Gave Pol Pot a Hand

==Domestic Policy==

===Poverty===
According to a study from the Brookings Institute:<blockquote>53 million Americans between the ages of 18 to 64—accounting for 44% of all workers—qualify as “low-wage.” Their median hourly wages are $10.22, and median annual earnings are about $18,000.<ref>Brookings Institute | Low-Wage Work is More Prevalent Than You Think, and There Aren't Enough Good Jobs to Go Around</ref></blockquote>Almost ''half'' of the American workforce is officially "low-wage," and that's only if we use an ''extremely'' low standard (below minimum wage, in some states). This is especially horrifying when we remember how many deaths can be directly linked to poverty and deprivation in the United States. According to a study from Columbia University:<blockquote>Overall, 4.5% of U.S. deaths were found to be attributable to poverty... the number of deaths the researchers calculated as attributable to low education (245,000) is comparable to the number caused by heart attacks (192,898), which was the leading cause of U.S. deaths in 2000. The number of deaths attributable to racial segregation (176,000) is comparable to the number from cerebrovascular disease (167,661), the third leading cause of death in 2000, and the number attributable to low social support (162,000) compares to deaths from lung cancer (155,521).<ref>Columbia University | How Many US Deaths Are Caused by Poverty, Lack of Education, and Other Social Factors?</ref></blockquote>The United States also ranks at the very bottom of the developed world in terms of preventable deaths. According to an article in ''Reuters'':<blockquote>If the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of [comparable nations], there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the United States per year, according to researchers writing in the journal Health Affairs.<ref>Reuters | US Worst in Preventable Death Ranking of Industrialized Countries</ref></blockquote>Hundreds of thousands of people are dying every year because of poverty, deprivation, and lack of access to social services. Capitalism is a fundamentally broken system, which must be abolished.

===Healthcare===
The American healthcare system is among the most dysfunctional institutions imaginable, with the highest costs in the world, and some of the worst outcomes of any advanced country.<ref>{{News citation|author=Roosa Tikkanen, Melinda K. Abrams|newspaper=The Commonwealth Fund|title=U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2019: Higher Spending, Worse Outcomes?|date=2020-01-30|url=https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424201656/https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2019|archive-date=2022-04-24|retrieved=2022-05-01}}</ref> That being said, there are still those who deny the necessity of completely overhauling the system, and as such, it is useful to take some time and go over the essential facts of the matter. As always, all sources will be listed at the end.

====Health Outcomes====

The USA ranks near the bottom of the developed world in most essential health outcomes. A 2020 paper from the American College of Physicians (published in the ''Annals of Internal Medicine)'' reports that "despite higher spending, the United States generally has less favorable outcomes than other countries." Let's take infant mortality, for example. According to a 2016 study from the American Economic Association:<blockquote>The United States has higher infant mortality than peer countries... The US disadvantage persists after adjusting for potential differential reporting of births near the threshold of viability.</blockquote>The ACP paper confirms that America's poor infant mortality ranking persists "even after adjustment for reporting differences." According to the AEA, this subpar performance "is driven by poor birth outcomes among lower socioeconomic status individuals." As if this wasn't bad enough, maternal mortality is also shockingly high in the USA. According to an article from NPR (reporting on data from the CDC):<blockquote>More American women are dying of pregnancy-related complications than any other developed country. Only in the U.S. has the rate of women who die been rising.<ref>NPR | U.S. Has the Worst Rate of Maternal Deaths in the Developed World</ref></blockquote>To make matters worse, there is evidence that the official statistics actually leave out a great number of deaths, meaning that the actual rate is probably much higher. According to an article from ProPublica, "the new rate, while capturing just how poorly the U.S. ranks among other countries, is actually a significant underestimate of the problem."<ref>ProPublica | The New U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate Fails to Capture Many Deaths</ref> This only makes the issue even more horrifying.

In addition, healthcare-amenable mortality is generally higher in the United States than in peer countries. According to the American College of Physicians:<blockquote>The United States has a higher mortality rate for medical conditions for which there are recognized health care interventions than Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, France, and Australia.</blockquote>A 2017 study in the ''Lancet'' looked at global amendable mortality, finding that the United States ranked 35th in the world in overall performance. In a press release following the publication of the paper, Dr. Christopher Murray (the study's lead author) said the following:<blockquote>What we have found about health care access and quality is disturbing. Having a strong economy does not guarantee good health care. Having great medical technology doesn’t either. We know this because people are not getting the care that should be expected for diseases with established treatment. [...] America’s ranking is an embarrassment, especially considering the US spends more than $9,000 per person on health care annually, more than any other country. Anyone with a stake in the current health care debate, including elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels, should take a look at where the US is falling short.<ref>The Lancet | Healthcare Access and Quality Index Based on Mortality from Causes Amenable to Personal Health Care</ref></blockquote>While many people acclaim the US health system for its advanced technology, it is clear that this does no good if people cannot actually access the care they need. All-in-all, it clear that outcomes in the American healthcare system are extremely subpar, especially when one takes into account the ludicrously high cost. On that note, let's discuss cost and expenditures.

====Cost and Expenditures====

The United States spends more per-capita on healthcare than any other country on Earth. According to the aforementioned study from the American College of Physicians:<blockquote>The United States spends far more per capita on health care than other wealthy countries, and spending is increasing at an unsustainable rate. [...] The pricing of health care goods and services is substantially higher in the United States than in other developed nations. A 2003 analysis of OECD data showed that health care utilization in the United States did not exceed that of other countries, and price was the key driver of spending differences.</blockquote>Much of this excessive cost is due to the enormous inefficiency and bureaucracy of the American system. There is a massive amount of administrative spending in the US, which is due primarily to the fragmented multi-payer nature of the healthcare system. According to the ACP:<blockquote>In large part owing to its pluralistic financing system, the United States spends more on administration of health care than peer countries. One study estimated that in 2012, the United States spent $471 billion on billing and insurance-related costs—$375 billion (80%) more than in a “simplified financing system,” such as Canada's single-payer model. Another study concluded that administrative costs were 31% of total U.S. health care expenditures, nearly double those of Canada.</blockquote>These findings are validated by a study in the ''Journal of the American Medical Association'', which said the following:<blockquote>The fragmented financing system is one of the principal explanations for the high cost of medical care in the United States. A careful consolidation of financing into some form of single-payer system is probably the only feasible solution.<ref>Journal of the American Medical Association | Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries</ref></blockquote>Another study from the same journal says the following:<blockquote>The United States spent approximately twice as much as other high-income countries on medical care, yet utilization rates in the United States were largely similar to those in other nations. Prices of labor and goods, including pharmaceuticals, and administrative costs appeared to be the major drivers of the difference in overall cost between the United States and other high-income countries.</blockquote>According to a 2020 study in the ''Lancet'' (conducted at Yale Medical School), a single-payer system would save an enormous amount of money and (more importantly) lives:<blockquote>Taking into account both the costs of coverage expansion and the savings that would be achieved through the Medicare for All Act, we calculate that a single-payer, universal health-care system is likely to lead to a 13% savings in national health-care expenditure, equivalent to more than US $450 billion annually (based on the value of the US$ in 2017). [...] Furthermore, we estimate that ensuring health-care access for all Americans would save more than 68 000 lives and 1.73 million life-years every year compared with the status quo.<ref>The Lancet | Improving the Prognosis of Health Care in the USA</ref></blockquote>Claims that a single-payer system would be unaffordable are entirely baseless, and contradicted by the overwhelming mass of evidence. A 2020 meta-analysis in ''PLOS Medicine'' found "a high degree of analytic consensus for the fiscal feasibility of a single-payer approach in the US." As they put it:<blockquote>There is near-consensus in these analyses that single-payer would reduce health expenditures while providing high-quality insurance to all US residents. To achieve net savings, single-payer plans rely on simplified billing and negotiated drug price reductions, as well as global budgets to control spending growth over time. Replacing private insurers with a public system is expected to achieve lower net healthcare costs.<ref>PLOS Medicine | Projected Costs of Single-Payer Healthcare Financing in the United States: A Systematic Review of Economic Analyses</ref></blockquote>
====Access to Care and Lack of Insurance====

To make matters worse, a large chunk of the American population is uninsured, and many are forced to go without the care that they need. According to the ACP:<blockquote>The United States is the only wealthy industrialized nation without universal health coverage, a crucial component to ensuring quality health care for all without financial burden that causes delay or avoidance of necessary medical care... nearly 30 million remain uninsured, millions more are underinsured, and the number of uninsured persons is expected to grow.</blockquote>The high rate of uninsured people is extremely troubling, especially seeing as a lack of insurance is associated with increased risk of mortality. A 2009 study in the ''American Journal of Public Health'' said the following on the matter:<blockquote>Uninsurance is associated with mortality. [...] Lack of health insurance is associated with as many as 44 789 deaths per year in the United States, more than those caused by kidney disease.</blockquote>A 2017 study in the ''Annals of Internal Medicine'' validated these findings, saying:<blockquote>The evidence strengthens confidence in the Institute of Medicine's conclusion that health insurance saves lives: The odds of dying among the insured relative to the uninsured is 0.71 to 0.97.<ref>Annals of Internal Medicine | The Relationship of Health Insurance and Mortality: Is Lack of Insurance Deadly?</ref></blockquote>The high costs of US medical care cause a great deal of financial strain for patients. According to a 2019 study in the ''Journal of General Internal Medicine'' (carried out by the American Cancer Society), "medical financial hardship is common among adults in the USA, with nearly 140 million adults reporting hardship in the past year. Among those aged 18–64 years, more than half report problems with medical bills or medical debt; stress or worry; or forgoing or delaying health care due to cost." A 2019 Gallup poll found that 25% of Americans say that they or a family member have put off treatment for a "serious illness" in the past year because of cost, with a further 8% saying they or a family member has put off treatment for a "less serious illness" in the past year.<ref>Gallup Poll | More Americans Delaying Medical Treatment Due to Cost</ref>

Overall, there is strong evidence that the United States' lack of universal healthcare causes tens of thousands of deaths every year, and financial ruin for many more.

===Sources===

*Annals of Internal Medicine | Envisioning a Better U.S. Health Care System for All
*American Economic Association | Why is Infant Mortality Higher in the United States Than in Europe?
*Physicians for a National Health Program | America's Ranking on Amenable Mortality is an Embarrassment
*Journal of the American Medical Association | Is Single Payer the Answer for the US Health Care System?
*American Journal of Public Health | Health Insurance and Mortality in US Adults
*Journal of General Internal Medicine | Prevalence and Correlates of Medical Financial Hardship in the USA

==See also==

*[[United States imperialism]]

==References==
<references />

===Notes===
<references group="lower-alpha" />
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Global north]]
[[Category:Imperialist countries]]
[[Category:Fascist countries]]

Central Intelligence Agency

2022-06-17T16:59:26Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

{{Infobox company|name=Central Intelligence Agency|image=CIA logo.png|caption=Logo|founding_date=September 18, 1947}}

The '''Central Intelligence Agency''' ('''CIA''') is a reactionary terrorist organization, officially the "civilian foreign intelligence service" of the federal government of the [[United States]], officially tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT).

As one of the principal members of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States.

Unlike the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI), which is a domestic security service, the CIA has no law enforcement function and is officially mainly focused on overseas intelligence gathering. According to one of its own officers, the CIA was responsible for at least six million deaths in its first forty years of existence.<ref>{{Citation|author=John Stockwell|year=1987|title=The Secret Wars of the CIA|publisher=Information Clearing House|title-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630173556/http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4068.htm}}</ref>

[[wikipedia:Human_rights_violations_by_the_CIA|Here are some human rights violations by the CIA.]]

== History ==
The CIA was created in 1947 when president Truman signed the National Security Act into law.

The success of the British Commandos during [[World War II]] prompted U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to authorize the creation of an intelligence service modeled after the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), which led led to the creation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

In modern times, the CIA has undertaken efforts to try to rebrand itself as being "liberal" and "woke" in a disingenuous effort to appeal to the liberal sensitivities of the American upper-middle class population.<ref>{{News citation|title=The CIA and the New Dialect of Power|url=https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2021/11/the-cia-and-the-new-dialect-of-power/|newspaper=American Affairs Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215131731/https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2021/11/the-cia-and-the-new-dialect-of-power/}}</ref> [[Moderate Rebels]] has produced a [[Library:Parody of Woke CIA Recruitment Ad|parody CIA recruitment ad]] ridiculing this trend.

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Central Intelligence Agency|Leftypedia=Central Intelligence Agency|EcuRed=CIA}}
[[Category:Imperialist organizations]]
[[Category:Intelligence agencies]]

== References ==

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— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Field Marshal|Field Marshal]]'' ([[Comradeship:Field Marshal|talk]]) 04:57, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:BloodySteel|BloodySteel]]'' ([[Comradeship:BloodySteel|talk]]) 11:37, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:TeeOS|TeeOS]]'' ([[Comradeship:TeeOS|talk]]) 14:47, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Komradsuvo|Komradsuvo]]'' ([[Comradeship:Komradsuvo|talk]]) 19:31, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Iskender|Iskender]]'' ([[Comradeship:Iskender|talk]]) 19:57, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Malding|Malding]]'' ([[Comradeship:Malding|talk]]) 21:06, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:PostNatProletariat|PostNatProletariat]]'' ([[Comradeship:PostNatProletariat|talk]]) 21:21, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Femkd|Femkd]]'' (talk) 21:21, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Yellowboy|Yellowboy]]'' ([[Comradeship:Yellowboy|talk]]) 01:24, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:E.T.|E.T.]]'' ([[Comradeship:E.T.|talk]]) 01:31, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Cherrymaniac|Cherrymaniac]]'' ([[Comradeship:Cherrymaniac|talk]]) 15:53, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Theredserpent|Theredserpent]]'' ([[Comradeship:Theredserpent|talk]]) 18:25, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:420dengist|420dengist]]'' ([[Comradeship:420dengist|talk]]) 13:29, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:ComradeSpahija|Spahija]]'' ([[Comradeship:ComradeSpahija|talk]]) 14:24, 26 April 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Huey|Huey]]'' ([[Comradeship:Huey|talk]]) 22:04, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Spookfessor|Spookfessor]]'' ([[Comradeship:Spookfessor|talk]]) 14:10, 26 May 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade'' ''[[Comrade:Ferret|Ferret]]'' ([[Comrade talk:Ferret|talk]]) 09:05, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade'' ''[[Comrade:DioneBigode|DioneBigode]]'' ([[Comrade talk:DioneBigode|talk]]) 19:00, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:The Waffle Comrade|The Waffle Comrade]]'' ([[Comradeship:The Waffle Comrade|talk]]) 20:25, 11 September 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Pabeggetour|Pabeggetour]]'' ([[Comradeship:Pabeggetour|talk]]) 19:26, 13 September 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Oxygen-poisoning|Oxygen-poisoning]]'' ([[Comradeship:Oxygen-poisoning|talk]]) 19:27, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Ledlecreeper27|Ledlecreeper27]]'' ([[Comradeship:Ledlecreeper27|talk]]) 18:01, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Aspensmonster|Aspensmonster]]'' ([[Comradeship:Aspensmonster|talk]]) 22:54, 10 June 2022 (CEST)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:PrivacyIsImportantComrades|PrivacyIsImportantComrades]]'' ([[Comradeship:PrivacyIsImportantComrades|talk]]) 02:57, 13 June 2022 (CEST)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Nyoomie|Nyoomie]]'' ([[Comradeship:Nyoomie|talk]]) 20:48, 16 June 2022 (CEST)

— ''Comrade [[Comrade:Wisconcom|Wisconcom]]'' ([[Comradeship:Wisconcom|talk]]) 21:11, 16 June 2022 (CEST)
''Comrade [[Comrade:PrimersophiaXVII|PrimersophiaXVII]]'' ([[Comradeship:PrimersophiaXVII|talk]]) 18:58, 17 June 2022 (CEST)

1989 Tian'anmen Square riots

2022-06-17T16:35:09Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

[[File:Burnt tank Tiananmen.png|thumb|A military vehicle destroyed by rioters in Beijing.]]
The '''1989 Tian'anmen Square riots''' (天安门事件) were a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-backed<ref name=":3">{{News citation|newspaper=Vancouver Sun|title=CIA man misread reaction, sources say|date=1992-09-27|url=https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1BcfxpzK9Oy7oT9TCkJMEA6GaKcTOKu-FhCABj4TsidM/pub}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Tom|newspaper=Mango Press|title=The Tian'anmen Square 'Massacre': The West's Most Persuasive, Most Pervasive Lie|date=2021-06-04|url=https://www.mango-press.com/the-tiananmen-square-massacre-the-wests-most-persuasive-most-pervasive-lie/|retrieved=2022-04-21}}</ref> attempted [[Counter-revolution|counterrevolution]] against the [[People's Republic of China]] in 1989. After the riots ended, its leaders were extracted by the CIA as part of [[Operation Yellowbird]].<ref name=":4">{{News citation|author=Milton James|newspaper=Critical Social Work Publishing House|title=1989 Tiananmen Square "Student Massacre" was a hoax|date=2020-07-08|url=https://www.criticalsocialworkpublishinghouse.com/post/1989-tiananmen-square-student-massacre-was-a-hoax|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321183536/https://www.criticalsocialworkpublishinghouse.com/post/1989-tiananmen-square-student-massacre-was-a-hoax|archive-date=2022-03-21|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref>

== Protests in Tian'anmen Square ==
Protests began in [[Tian'anmen Square]] on 1989 April 15 after the death of [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of China|General Secretary]] [[Hu Yaobang]]. On May 20, martial law was declared but the protests were allowed to continue. Around 5:00 am on June 4, the 3,000 remaining protestors peacefully left the square.<ref name=":1">{{News citation|author=Kim Petersen|newspaper=Dissident Voice|title=Massacre? What massacre?|date=2014-06-09|url=https://dissidentvoice.org/2014/06/massacre-what-massacre/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212172016/https://dissidentvoice.org/2014/06/massacre-what-massacre/|archive-date=2022-02-12|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Jay Matthews|newspaper=Columbia Journalism Review|title=The Myth of Tiananmen|date=2010-06-04|url=https://archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_myth_of_tiananmen.php|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Malcolm Moore|newspaper=The Telegraph|title=Wikileaks: no bloodshed inside Tiananmen Square, cables claim|date=2011-06-04|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8555142/Wikileaks-no-bloodshed-inside-Tiananmen-Square-cables-claim.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310001702/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8555142/Wikileaks-no-bloodshed-inside-Tiananmen-Square-cables-claim.html|archive-date=2022-03-10|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref> No one died in the square during or after the protests.<ref>{{News citation|author=Nicholas D. Kristof|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Turmoil in China; Tiananmen Crackdown: Student's Account Questioned on Major Points|date=1989-06-13|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/13/world/turmoil-china-tiananmen-crackdown-student-s-account-questioned-major-points.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227041851/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/13/world/turmoil-china-tiananmen-crackdown-student-s-account-questioned-major-points.html|archive-date=2022-02-27|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=James Miles|newspaper=BBC|title=Tiananmen killings: Were the media right?|date=2009-06-02|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8057762.stm|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=John Simpson|newspaper=BBC|title=John Simpson: Remembering Tiananmen|date=2009-06-03|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8069781.stm}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Malcolm Moore|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|title=Wikileaks: no bloodshed inside Tiananmen Square, cables claim|date=2011-06-04|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8555142/Wikileaks-no-bloodshed-inside-Tiananmen-Square-cables-claim.html}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|author=Richard Roth|newspaper=CBS News|title=There Was No "Tiananmen Square Massacre"|date=2009-06-04|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/there-was-no-tiananmen-square-massacre/|quote=}}</ref> This makes it inaccurate to refer to this event as a massacre.

=== Student leaders ===
[[Liu Xiaobo]], one of the student leaders of the protests, said he wanted China to be colonized by the West for at least 300 years.<ref>{{News citation|author=Barry Sautman, Yan Hairong|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Do supporters of Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo really know what he stands for?|date=2010-12-15|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/dec/15/nobel-winner-liu-xiaobo-chinese-dissident|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref> [[Chai Ling]], another student leader, admitted that she wanted the protestors to be killed by the government<ref>{{Citation|author=Chai Ling|year=1989|title=Interview at Tiananmen Square with Chai Ling|title-url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1950_chailing.htm}}</ref> and said that the Chinese people were "not worth [her] struggle."<ref name=":0" /> [[Örkesh Dölet|Wu'er Kaixi]] said that they were protesting to be able to wear [[Nike]] shoes.<ref name=":1" />

=== Western support ===
1986, [[George Soros]] donated $1 million to a pro-Western fund that went on to train many student leaders in the protests. In 1988, the [[National Endowment for Democracy]] opened offices in China.<ref name=":4" /> Western corporations, including [[AT&T]], spent millions of dollars providing long-distance calls and fax machines to the protestors.<ref name=":1" /> The CIA gave the protestors typewriters and other equipment to spread [[Capitalism|capitalist]] ideas<ref name=":3" /> and the [[Statesian]] ambassador to China at the time was a former CIA agent.<ref name=":4" />

== Riots ==
As the protests were winding down, the Chinese government sent troops the clear the square of remaining students. The troops were initially unarmed, but were given weapons on June 3 after the students took some soldiers hostage.<ref>{{News citation|author=Andy McInerney|newspaper=[[Workers World]]|title=China's Tienanmen Square|date=1996-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981206141125/http://www.workers.org/ww/tienanmen.html|archive-date=1998-12-06|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref> They were blocked from entering the square by crowds armed with petrol bombs,<ref name=":2">{{News citation|author=Gregory Clark|newspaper=International Business Times|title=Tiananmen Square Massacre is a Myth, All We're 'Remembering' are British Lies|date=2014-06-04|url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tiananmen-square-massacre-myth-all-were-remembering-are-british-lies-1451053|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110151828/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tiananmen-square-massacre-myth-all-were-remembering-are-british-lies-1451053|archive-date=2021-11-10|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref> iron clubs, and Molotov cocktails.<ref name=":1" /> The rioters destroyed over 400 vehicles and burned and lynched soldiers in the streets near the square.<ref name=":2" />

== Death toll ==
The riots in [[Beijing]] resulted in approximately 300 total deaths,<ref name=":1" /> including 36 students, 10 [[People's Liberation Army|PLA]] soldiers, and 13 [[People's Armed Police|police officers]].<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=PBS|title=The Memory of Tiananmen|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/cron/|retrieved=2022-04-16}}</ref> All of the deaths occurred outside of the square itself.

== In Western media ==
In Western media, the incident is usually called the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The [[bourgeois media]] claims that the [[People's Liberation Army]] massacred thousands of peaceful protestors on June 4.<ref name=":0" /> [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]], a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]] propaganda outlet, claims that over 10,000 people were killed in the square.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=BBC|title=Tiananmen Square protest death toll 'was 10,000'|date=2017-12-23|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-42465516|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512100422/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-42465516|archive-date=2022-05-12|retrieved=2022-06-05}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:CIA-backed protests]]
[[Category:Attempted Colour Revolutions]]

Wikipedia

2022-05-20T12:52:16Z

PrimersophiaXVII: /* Imperialist interests */ grammatical errors and added content to the imperial interest section

'''Wikipedia''' is a multilingual online encyclopedia created and maintained by a predominantly white male population, of which about 1% are responsible for 80% of edits. It has also been linked to corporate and governmental manipulation and imperialist agendas.

Its popularity means that it's a prime target for misinformation campaigns by state actors or corporate interests. This, in part, is the reasoning behind starting [[ProleWiki]].

Wikipedia uses the same software that [[ProleWiki]] and [[EcuRed]] uses, called [[mediawikiwiki:MediaWiki|MediaWiki]].

== Concept ==

== Bias ==
[[File:Wikipedia-biased-sources.png|alt=Screenshot of wikipedia sources many of which are anti-communist|thumb|Western anti-communist sources are prevalently used on English Wikipedia. ]]

=== Administration and users ===

==== Founder Jimmy Wales ====
Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales, is a self-described [[Ayn Rand]] libertarian<ref name=":0">Sophia Norton and Max Blumenthal. </ref> who also willfully participates in imperialist operations at the request of the US government. In a 2007 US Senate Committee, Wales stated:
:I am grateful to be here today to testify about the potential for the Wikipedia model of collaboration and information sharing which may be helpful to government operations and homeland security.<ref name=":0" />

While the website is technically managed by the Wikimedia foundation, it was created by Wales himself and he remains on the board of trustees<ref>[https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/jimmy-wales/ Jimmy Wales profile]. Wikimedia Foundation.</ref> and is still seen as a "benevolent dictator, constitutional monarch, digital evangelist and spiritual leader".<ref>Noam Cohen. “[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/technology/17wikipedia.html Open-Source Troubles in Wiki World]”. ''New York Times'', 17 March 2008.</ref>

====CEO Katherine Maher====
Katherine Maher, the current CEO of the foundation, previously worked for the [[World Bank]], specifically in the African and Middle-East divisions.<ref>[https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/katherine-maher/ Katherine Maher profile]. Wikimedia Foundation.</ref> She also worked at the National Democratic Institute and is a fellow at the Truman National Security Project. In a June 2020 article from the Grayzone, authors Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal delved deeper into Maher's connections to regime-change operatives and unearthed her whole résumé which links her to more imperialist organisations and institutes.<ref name=":0" />

====User demographics====
While Wikipedia boasts that anyone can contribute, in truth only 1% of accounts are responsible for 80% of all edits.<ref>Grace Lisa Scott. [https://www.inverse.com/article/38302-wikipedia-one-percent “Wikipedia Study Reveals a Surprising Stat About Who Edits It”]. ''Inverse,'' 9 August 2017.</ref> Famously, the most prolific editor on Wikipedia (Steven Pruitt), who has edited 1/3rd of all articles, works for the US department of border control, with previous employment at the TSA and ICE.<ref>http://archive.ph/ix7kx</ref> Other accounts in this 1% figure are people such as Philipp Cross, who posts without fail every single day from 6AM to 10PM, for an average of 30 edits.<ref>Craig Murray. [https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/05/the-philip-cross-affair/ “The Philip Cross Affair”], 18 May 2018.</ref> The user also mostly makes pro-war edits,<ref name=":2">Media Lens. [https://www.mintpressnews.com/phillip-cross-the-mystery-wikipedia-editor-targeting-anti-war-sites/250824/ “Phillip Cross: The Mystery Wikipedia Editor Targeting Anti-War Sites”]. ''Mint Press News,'' 17 October 2018.</ref> which highly suggests that the account is a [[sockpuppet]] managed by a whole governmental team, likely the British.<ref name=":2" />

====Administrators====
Administrators on the site are editors with user-management powers (such as banning people, or preventing articles from being edited). In a perhaps lighter example, it was found in 2020 that Scots Wikipedia was almost solely edited and managed by a 19-year-old US citizen who did not speak a word of Scots.<ref>Libby Brooks, Alex Hern. [https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/26/shock-an-aw-us-teenager-wrote-huge-slice-of-scots-wikipedia “Shock an aw: US teenager wrote huge slice of Scots Wikipedia”]. ''The Guardian,'' 26 August 2020.</ref> He was responsible for defacing almost half of Scots Wikipedia, and it is interesting to see here how easily administrator privileges are given to random users by other administrators, suggesting a widespread problem in the hierarchy. There have been various examples in the past of administrators who used their privileges to prevent their articles from being edited (therefore presenting their biased opinion as fact), or even asking for payment to let an edit through.

Wikipedia is purposely kept difficult to edit (providing only a plain-text markup editor, resolving conflicts through talk pages that have been filling up since 2010, etc.) so that administrators, most of whom have been editing Wikipedia since it became famous in 2003, can keep problematic users out.

Administrators are the supreme decision-making authority, making them very worthwhile friends to have. They are also not accountable to anyone and can freely pick new people to join their ranks. It is not rare for users going against the agenda set out by the administrators to simply be banned on frivolous grounds. Around 1000 IP addresses are banned by Wikipedia administrators every day. There is little privacy and users may be traced and tracked by Wikipedia administrators.<ref>[http://fullmeasure.news/news/cover-story/the-dark-side-of-wikipedia “The Dark Side of Wikipedia”]. ''Full Measure,'' 21 August 2016.</ref>

====Anonymous or non-prolific users====
New users who do not take time to learn of the obscure templates, navigate through the very strict (and sometimes absurd) editorial guidelines or do not socialize with other users will often see their edits reverted in mere minutes, no matter how accurate or labour-intensive they are.

The Wikimedia foundation will still claim that their encyclopedia is "community-created". This is mainly a convenient lie for Wales to make it seem like his libertarian principles can work on a large scale. This has prompted Ben Norton to call Wikipedia a scam<ref>https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1227725961975803905</ref> (in the interest of Jimmy Wales' bourgeois, libertarian interests). In truth, much like [[libertarianism]] itself, it remains controlled by corporate elites and imperialist organisations.

===Sexism===
Women have been speaking about the sexism they faced on Wikipedia for many years, as about 90% of the user base is male (as per Wikipedia's own study).<ref>https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/LE15_Gender_overall_in_2018.png</ref>

Women are generally discouraged from participating through widespread bullying and harassment.<ref>Emma Paling. [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/10/how-wikipedia-is-hostile-to-women/411619/ “Wikipedia's hostility to women”]. ''The Atlantic,'' 21 October 2015.</ref> Notably, several women were brought on board various projects aimed at reducing "gender bias" (Wikipedia's technical term for its sexist atmosphere), and all left after facing repeated harassment. This issue has been brought to the Wikimedia foundation's attention, to which founder Jimmy Wales responded, in one case:
:“I’m afraid I don’t know enough about the specific details here to be able to make a meaningful comment.”<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_178#Said_at_GGTF_arbitration</ref>

Articles about famous women are often deleted or see their edits reverted, putting them off the spotlight. Edits by women themselves are often reverted as well, no matter how good the quality may be.

=== Racism and white supremacism===
Since most Wikipedia editors are white, it follows that Wikipedia will promote white supremacist points.

===Corruption===
Although Wikipedia purports to be a reliable and neutral source of knowledge, it has been mangled by several known cases of corruption, involving paid editors hired to whitewash their clients' reputation. Former lawyer, user '''edsussman''' has been hired by Facebook PR, news companies Axios and NBC to tweak pages related to the respective client in a favorable manner, all while adhering to the rules of the site.<ref>Ashley Feinberg. [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wikipedia-paid-editing-pr-facebook-nbc-axios_n_5c63321be4b03de942967225 “Facebook, Axios And NBC paid this guy to whitewash Wikipedia pages”]. ''The Huffpost,'' 14 March 2019.</ref>

===Imperialist interests===
Wikipedia, being a popular and trusted source of information, has often ben used by the US government to spread imperialist and anti communist propaganda while maintaining a veneer of independence and legitimacy [[File:Wikipedia imperialist censorship.png|alt=Wikipedia censorship of trustworthy news media.|thumb|These are news sources which Wikipedia considers unreliable. Highlighted in yellow are actually trustworthy sources of information which disputes the US imperialist propaganda narrative.]]

===Bias by design===
Ultimately, Wikipedia is designed to promote imperialist interests; it naturally follows that Wikipedia will also promote white supremacist, anti-Semitic, fascist and sexist viewpoints in their articles.

Not only are most edits made by accounts managed by/for corporations and government agencies, the whole website structure is made to keep this agenda in place and going strong. Yet the Wikimedia Foundation would like to make people believe that Wikipedia is edited by "anyone" and that every article is therefore trustworthy.

====Congolese genocide denial====
The article on the genocide that happened in the Congo Free State<ref name=":1">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State&oldid=986289478 Quoting the article in question:<blockquote>''"The significant number of deaths under the Free State regime has led some scholars to relate the atrocities to later genocides, though understanding of the losses under the colonial administration's rule as the result of harsh economic exploitation rather than a policy of deliberate extermination has led others to dispute the comparison; '''there is an open debate as to whether the atrocities constitute genocide'''."''</blockquote>We have also a [https://prolewiki.org/images/6/61/Wikipedia_Congolese_genocide_denial.png full page print] if Wikipedia ever decides to take the article down. This cited quote was taken from the section ''Historiography and the term "genocide"''.</ref> (the Belgian colony of the Congo), is actually called ''Atrocities in the Congo Free State'', following a dispute between white and minority users over the previous name, ''Congolese Genocide''.

User '''Brigade Piron''',<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Brigade_Piron</ref> a white Belgian nationalist editor, claims that the term genocide is contested and currently, the article contradicts itself, first making it seem like the Congolese Genocide was caused mainly by disease, later saying it was caused by "harsh economic exploitation, rather than a policy of deliberate extermination".<ref name=":1" /> Most edits of the article come from another white European, user '''Indy Beetle''', from Switzerland.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atrocities_in_the_Congo_Free_State&offset=&limit=500&action=history Contains more than 160 edits by Wikipedia user Indy Beetle.</ref>

==Ties to US government organizations==

===Funding===

==References==
<references />

==External Links==
''please use these external links to improve this page''
*EcuRed ([https://www.ecured.cu/Wikipedia Spanish], [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecured.cu%2FWikipedia English auto translated)] ([[EcuRed|about]])
*[https://thegrayzone.com/2020/06/11/meet-wikipedias-ayn-rand-loving-founder-and-wikimedia-foundations-regime-change-operative-ceo/ Grayzone: «Meet Wikipedia's Ayn Rand-loving founder and regime change operative CEO»]
*[https://thegrayzone.com/2020/06/10/wikipedia-formally-censors-the-grayzone-as-regime-change-advocates-monopolize-editing/ Grayzone: «Wikipedia formally censors The Grayzone as regime-change advocates monopolize editing»]
* https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meet-the-man-behind-a-third-of-whats-on-wikipedia/ (One person, who works at U.S. Customs and Border Protection "records and information", has edited ⅓ of English Wikipedia.)
*http://helenofdestroy.com/index.php/49-wikipedia-rotten-to-the-core «Wikipedia : Rotten to the Core » ]
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Online encyclopedias]]

ProleWiki talk:Governance/Archive

2022-05-16T17:19:56Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

== Proposals for ProleWiki ==

I'm creating this topic for proposals and suggestions related to ProleWiki, its site structure, etc.

'''PROPOSAL''': Change of slogan.

What is our encyclopedia about? A red-painted copy of [[Wikipedia]]? This slogan was used because it was a recognizable sentence, but in my opinion it's currently outdated.

I want to propose a slogan along the lines of "ProleWiki – Against cultural imperialism". Anything but an imitation of Wikipedia's slogan. We are obviously a mirror of Wikipedia, since without Wikipedia, there would be no ProleWiki, so we are recognized as an "alternative Wikipedia" at first. But by promoting a different point of view, we are actively against that Wikipedia's point of view in certain subjects. And we consider these points of view to be the ones promoted by the Western empire.

Do you agree with this change? Do you have another suggestion? Do you like the current slogan? Feel free to leave your thoughts on it.

I agree that we need a new slogan, however I Think that "against cultural imperialism" would be better as a principal rather than a slogan.
The phrase "Each one, Teach one" is common in leftist educational spaces; since prolewiki is dedicated to education, I think "ProleWiki- Each one Teach one" would be more appropriate ''Comrade [[Comrade:PrimersophiaXVII|PrimersophiaXVII]]'' ([[Comradeship:PrimersophiaXVII|talk]]) 17:19, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

2022-05-16T16:54:52Z

PrimersophiaXVII: grammatical errors and added a section abou the talks between kin jong-un and trump

{{Infobox country
| name = Democratic People's Republic of Korea
| native_name = 조선민주주의인민공화국
| image_coat = Emblem of the DPRK.svg
| image_flag = Flag of the DPRK.svg
| symbol_type = Emblem
| image_map = Democratic People's Republic of Korea (orthographic_projection).svg
| map_caption = Territories of Korea presently occupied by the United States are shown in light green.
| map_width = 220px
| capital = Pyongyang
| largest_city = capital
| government_type = [[Socialist state]] guided by the [[Juche|Juche idea]]
| established_event1 = Founding of the DPRK
| established_date1 = 9 September 1948
| established_event2 = Start of partial US occupation
| established_date2 = 8 September 1945
| population_estimate = 25,845,400 (77,048,000 including Koreans under neocolonial occupation)
| population_estimate_year = 2020
| leader_title1 = General Secretary of the Workers' Party
| leader_name1 = Kim Jong-un
| leader_title2 = President of the Presidium
| leader_name2 = Choe Ryong-hae
| leader_title3 = Prime Minister
| leader_name3 = Pak Pong-ju
| leader_title4 = First Vice Chairman of the State Affairs Commission
| leader_name4 = Choe Ryong-hae
| leader_title5 = Premier of the Cabinet
| leader_name5 = Kim Tok-hun
| leader_title6 = Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly
| leader_name6 = Pak Thae-song
}}
'''People's Korea''', officially the '''Democratic People's Republic of Korea''' ('''DPRK'''), is a country in East Asia. It's located on the Korean Peninsula, however the southern half is currently occupied by the [[Republic of Korea]]. It is led by the [[Workers' Party of Korea]] (WPK). According to its constitution, the DPRK is an "independent [[socialist state]]", guided by the ideology of [[Juche]] which is a derivative of [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxism-Leninism]] originally codified by [[Kim Il-sung|Kim Il-Sung]].<ref>Articles 1 and 3 of the [https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Peoples_Republic_of_Korea_1998.pdf?lang=en Constitution of the DPRK]</ref>

While the DPRK distanced itself from [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|USSR]]'s ideological leadership in the 1960s, some authors still consider it a [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] socialist state.<ref>{{Textcite|author=Thomas Stock|year=2019|title=North Korea’s Marxism-Leninism: fraternal criticisms and the development of North Korean ideology in the 1960s|pdf=|lg=http://libgen.gs/scimag/ads.php?doi=10.1215%2F21581665-7258081&downloadname=|doi=10.1215/21581665-7258081}}</ref>

In 1965 [[Che Guevara]] said that the DPRK "was a model to which revolutionary [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]] should aspire".<ref>https://gowans.blog/2007/03/03/understanding-north-korea/</ref><ref>{{Textcite|author=Bruce Cumings|year=2005|title=Korea’s place in the sun: a modern history|pdf=|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company; p. 404|lg=}}</ref>

==History==

=== Post-Japanese Colonization ===
Following the defeat of [[Japanese Empire|Japan]] and the end of the [[Second World War]], Japan lost control of its colonies, including what was formerly the [[Korean Empire]]. As a result of negotiations between the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States]], the [[Korea|Korean Peninsula]] was divided into occupation zones along the 38th Parallel North. Although there was an attempt at establishing the [[People's Republic of Korea]], the nascent state was outlawed by American forces.

=== Pre-Fatherland Liberation War ===
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was founded the 9th of September, 1948. The illegitimate government of the occupied portion of Korea (often referred to as South Korea, or [[Republic of Korea]]) was also established the same year, when dictator [[Syngman Rhee]] came to power due to American influence. [[Kim Il-Sung]] became the first [[Premier of the DPRK]], a position he would hold until 1972.

The Occupied Korean government was hostile to socialism and to the DPRK. Even though Western media accuses the DPRK of initiating the [[Fatherland Liberation War]] (often referred to as the Korean War), numerous acts of violence were perpetrated by the illegitimate southern government that were tantamount to war -- namely the [[Jeju Uprising|massacre on Jeju Island]] that targeted communists. The death toll was composed of civilians, many of whom were not affiliated with the [[Workers' Party of South Korea]] or communism at all. Paramilitary groups from the Republic of Korea illegally crossed the border into the DPRK on multiple occasions.

=== Fatherland Liberation War ===
During the Fatherland Liberation War, DPRK forces almost repelled the illegal occupation army; however, additional forces were sent by the [[United Nations]] and [[the United States]] to fight DPRK troops. Western forces pushed DPRK forces all the way to the border of the newly formed [[China|People's Republic of China]], which had itself repelled reactionary [[Kuomintang]] forces from the [[Mainland China|mainland]]. PRC forces intervened to protect Korean sovereignty, repelling Western troops once more as part of the War to Resist the U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea campaign. The majority of the fighting during the rest of the [[Fatherland Liberation War]] took place near the 38th Parallel North, with only minor border changes occurring after a ceasefire was signed. The DPRK technically remains at war with its [[Republic of Korea|illegitimate southern neighbour]] as no truce has been signed between the two.

=== Post-Fatherland Liberation War ===
Talks between General secretary [[Kim Jong-un]] and Former U.S. [[President of the United states|President]] [[Donald Trump]] began on June of 2019 to discuss disarmament and potential reunification with the [[Republic of Korea]].

==Economy ==
The DPRK has maintained one of the most centralized economies in the world since the 1940s. For several decades, it followed the Soviet pattern of five-year plans with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency.

The economy is heavily nationalized. Food and housing are extensively subsidized by the state, education and healthcare are free, and the payment of taxes was officially abolished in 1974.<ref>[https://anti-imperialism.org/2013/11/18/towards-a-concrete-analysis-of-the-dprk/ Towards a concrete analysis of the DPRK] 18/11/2013 by Zak Brown on anti-imperialism.org</ref>

Foreign trade surpassed pre-crisis levels in 2005 and continues to expand. The DPRK has a number of special economic zones (SEZs) and Special Administrative Regions where foreign companies can operate with tax and tariff incentives while DPRK establishments gain access to improved technology.<ref>{{News citation|title=Special Economic Zones in the DPRK|url=https://www.ncnk.org/resources/briefing-papers/all-briefing-papers/special-economic-zones-dprk}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|title=North Korea’s Special Economic Zones: Plans vs. Progress|url=https://www.38north.org/reports/2015/11/nk-sez-plans-vs-progress/}}</ref>

The United States has targeted the DPRK with severe sanctions due to its nuclear weapons program.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[TeleSur]]|title=US Reps Pass "Harshest Sanctions Ever" Against North Korea|date=2017-10-25|url=https://wp.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Reps-Pass-Harshest-Sanctions-Ever-Against-North-Korea-20171025-0006.html|retrieved=2022-04-24}}</ref> However, 49 countries, including [[Republic of Cuba|Cuba]], [[Islamic Republic of Iran|Iran]], and [[Syrian Arab Republic|Syria]] have violated these sanctions and traded with the DPRK anyways.<ref>{{News citation|author=Rishi Iyengar|newspaper=[[CNN]]|title=Report: 49 countries have been busting sanctions on North Korea|date=2017-12-06|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/12/06/news/north-korea-sanctions-countries-violation/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508065837/https://money.cnn.com/2017/12/06/news/north-korea-sanctions-countries-violation/index.html|archive-date=2021-05-08|retrieved=2022-04-24}}</ref>

The DPRK follows policy of ''[[Byungjin]]'', meaning it simultaneously develops its nuclear weapons program and the economy.<ref>{{News citation|author=Ankit Panda|newspaper=[[The Diplomat]]|title=Is North Korea’s ‘Byungjin Line’ on the US-China Strategic Agenda?|url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/06/is-north-koreas-byungjin-line-on-the-us-china-strategic-agenda/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321104122/https://thediplomat.com/2015/06/is-north-koreas-byungjin-line-on-the-us-china-strategic-agenda/|archive-date=2022-03-21|retrieved=2022-04-24}}</ref>

== Foreign relations ==
The DPRK's revolutionary government has supported other liberation struggles around the world, including in Africa.<ref>[https://libya360.wordpress.com/2017/04/17/president-kim-il-sungs-immortal-contributions-to-african-liberation/ President Kim Il Sung’s Immortal Contributions to African Liberation] APRIL 17, 2017 by Internationalist 360º on libya360.wordpress.com </ref> During the 1980's, the DPRK sent free weapons to Cuba.<ref>{{News citation|author=David Iocanangelo|newspaper=Latin Times|title=Fidel Castro Says North Korea Sent Cuba Free Weapons During Cold War|date=2013-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118135109/https://www.latintimes.com/fidel-castro-says-north-korea-sent-cuba-free-weapons-during-cold-war-130279|archive-date=2020-01-18}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Library:DPRK Study Guide|DPRK Study guide]]

== Further readings ==

* http://www.korean-books.com.kp/en/

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Democratic People's Republic of Korea]]

Republic of Korea

2022-05-16T15:19:06Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

{{External article cleanup|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox country|name=Republic of Korea|population_estimate_year=2019|population_estimate=51,709,098|area_km2=100,363|established_date1=1948 August 15th|established_event1=First Republic|official_languages=Korean|leader_name3=Park Byeong-seug|native_name=대한민국|leader_title3=Speaker of the National Assembly|leader_name2=Kim Boo-kyum|leader_title2=Prime Minister|leader_name1=Moon Jae-in|leader_title1=President|capital=Seoul|government_type=Plutocracy|currency=Korean Republic won|mode_of_production=Capitalism|name=South Korea}}
The '''Republic of Korea''' ('''ROK'''), commonly called '''South Korea''', is a [[United States of America|U.S.]] puppet state on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. The northern part of the peninsula is governed by the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)]], commonly called North Korea.

Since the ROK is a bourgeois republic (a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, in Marxist language) is is riddled with corruption and political scandals. All four living former South Korean presidents have been sentenced to prison for various crimes ranging from abuse of authority to bribery and embezzlement.<ref name="aei">{{Cite news|url=https://www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy/asia/south-koreas-troubling-history-of-jailing-ex-presidents/|title=South Korea's troubling history of jailing ex-presidents|work=AEI|date=9 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com)|date=|title=Former South Korean president sentenced to prison {{!}} DW {{!}} 30 November 2020|url=https://www.dw.com/en/former-south-korean-president-sentenced-to-prison/a-55779280|access-date=10 February 2021|website=DW.COM|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/08/22/2013082201400.html|title=Ex-President Roh Tae-woo to Pay Remainder of Massive Fine|date=22 August 2013|work=The Chosunilbo|language=en|access-date=27 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=South Korea : President's impeachment on a background of political scandal|url=http://perspective.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/servlet/BMAnalyse?codeAnalyse=2320|agency=Université de Sherbrooke|website=Perspective Monde|language=fr|date=7 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="bbcsource">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45756561|title=South Korea ex-leader jailed for 15 years|work=BBC News|date=5 October 2018}}</ref>

== History ==

=== US Occupation ===
After [[Kim Il-sung]] liberated Korea from the [[Japan|Japanese Empire]], Korea was divided across the 38th parallel by two American officers who had never been to Korea.<ref>{{Citation|author=Don Oberdorfer, Robert Carlin|year=2014|title=The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History|chapter=|section=|page=5|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=9780465031238|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> The South was occupied by the United States and a [[Fascism|fascist]] dictatorship led by Harvard graduate [[Syngman Rhee]] was installed.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=|date=|title=Syngman Rhee|url=https://www.doopedia.co.kr/doopedia/master/master.do?_method=view&MAS_IDX=101013000746262|newspaper=Doopedia|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref>

=== First Republic ===
Syngman Rhee ruled for the entire existence of the first republic. In 1948, he crushed an uprising on Jeju Island, killing as many as 60,000 people.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=|date=2000-06-18|title=Ghosts of Cheju|url=|newspaper=Newsweek|archive-url=https://www.newsweek.com/ghosts-cheju-160665|archive-date=|retrieved=2021-21-30}}</ref> In 1950, when the DPRK attempted to reunify the country, Rhee's forces retreated and killed at least another 60,000 supposed communist sympathizers.<ref>{{Citation|author=Kim Dong-Choon|year=2004|title=Forgotten war, forgotten massacres--the Korean War (1950-1953) as licensed mass killings|chapter=|section=|page=|quote=|pdf=https://www.academia.edu/6417696|city=|publisher=Journal of Genocide Research|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> In 1960, Rhee was forced to resign due to mass protests across the nation after the body of a student killed by police was found floating in the harbor.<ref>{{Citation|author=|year=|title=Cause of the 4.19 Revolution|chapter=|section=|page=|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=https://archive.ph/20120707225356/http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=726618|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref>

=== Military Rule ===
After Rhee's resignation, bourgeois democracy was briefly restored under president Yun Bo-seon.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=|date=|title=The Democratic Interlude|url=http://countrystudies.us/south-korea/12.htm|newspaper=Library of Congress|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> On May 16, 1961, there was a military coup led by [[Park Chung-hee]] (the father of future president [[Park Geun-hye]]), who ruled until his assassination in 1979.

== Rising anti-capitalism ==
In recent years, the term '''"'''Hell Joseon" or "Hell Korea" (Korean: 헬조선) has become popular to describe the social anxiety and discontent surrounding high unemployment and poor working conditions.<ref>[http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/739886.html Lashing out at “Hell Joseon”, young’uns drive ruling party’s election beatdown]</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/young-south-koreans-call-their-country-hell-and-look-for-ways-out/2016/01/30/34737c06-b967-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_story.html Young South Koreans call their country ‘hell’ and look for ways out] by the [[Washington Post]]</ref>

South Korean media has also increasingly included narratives of class antagonism which have been poplar successes for Western audiences, with films such as ''Snowpiercer'' (2013)<ref>[https://newmultitude.org/snowpiercer-class-consciousness/ THE TRAIN IS CAPITALISM- SNOWPIERCER AND CLASS CONSCIOUNESS]</ref> and ''Parasite'' (2019)<ref>[https://medium.com/incluvie/parasite-and-capitalism-what-the-film-says-about-the-pursuit-of-wealth-993fa7ce7ee1 Parasite and Capitalism: What the Film Says About the Pursuit of Wealth]</ref> and the popular TV show ''Squid Game'' (2021)<ref>[https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/squid-game-the-rise-of-anti-capitalist-entertainment/ar-AAPaOHG Squid Game & The Rise Of Anti-Capitalist Entertainment]</ref><ref>[https://www.gen-zine.com/post/thesquidgame “The Squid Game”: Anti-Capitalism and Netflix]</ref><ref>[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/elaminabdelmahmoud/squid-game-netflix-review-lupin-international “Squid Game” Works Because Capitalism Is A Global Scourge]</ref>

The bourgeoisie media (in South Korea and in the US) carefully ensures that all criticism of capitalism stops just short of providing concrete solutions, lest people become interested in [[socialism]] and its [[Successes of socialism|various successes around the world]].

Labor militancy is also on the rise as 500k South Korean workers walk off in a one-day [[general strike]], protesting against rampant [[exploitation]] by the [[Gig worker|gig economy]], high costs of housing, and the highest annual working hours in the OECD.<ref>[https://therealnews.com/half-a-million-south-korean-workers-walk-off-jobs-in-general-strike HALF A MILLION SOUTH KOREAN WORKERS WALK OFF JOBS IN GENERAL STRIKE] on [https://therealnews.com/half-a-million-south-korean-workers-walk-off-jobs-in-general-strike The Real News Network]</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:Countries]]
<references />

Bernie Sanders

2022-05-16T15:05:09Z

PrimersophiaXVII: layout changes to aid reading

'''Bernard Sanders''' is a [[United States of America|US-American]] politician who has held office in the US senate since 2007. He is a self-described "democratic socialist" but within a global context he can be better described as a social democrat, particularly in favor of the Nordic Model of welfare capitalism.

== Early life ==
While a student at University of Chicago, he was a protest organizer for the [[Congress of Racial Equality]] and the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] during the [[civil rights movement]].

== Political Career ==
He is the longest-serving [[Independent politician|independent]] in U.S. congressional history, although he has a close relationship with the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], having caucused with House and Senate Democrats for most of his congressional career.

due to right wing and anti-communist the U.S. political landscape has been in recent decades, his candidacy was attacked by capitalist media sources and the right-wing Democratic Party whose nomination he sought for presidency.<ref>[https://fair.org/home/corporate-media-are-the-real-sanders-attack-machine/ Corporate Media Are the Real ‘Sanders Attack Machine’] by F.A.I.R. on Jan 30, 2020</ref>

== Policy ==

=== Domestic Policy ===
An advocate of [[Social democracy|social democratic]] and progressive policies, he is known for his opposition to economic inequality and [[neoliberalism]]. On domestic policy, he supports [[Labour movement|labor rights]], [[Universal healthcare|universal]] and [[single-payer healthcare]], paid [[parental leave]], tuition-free [[tertiary education]], and an ambitious [[Green New Deal]] to create jobs addressing [[climate change]].

=== Foreign Policy ===
He supports reducing [[United States military spending|military spending]], pursuing more [[diplomacy]] and [[international cooperation]], and putting greater emphasis on [[labor rights]] and environmental concerns when negotiating international trade agreements. Despite this, Sanders is not a hardline [[Anti-imperialism|anti-imperialist]]. He supported the US/[[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] bombing of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|socialist Yugoslavia]]. Anti-imperialist Marxist speaker Michael Parenti briefly speculated that Sanders' avoidance of foreign policy issues is more of a self-preservation tactic; "...when you get into an arguments with the [national security state] you to be careful about your plane crashing, or your car skidding off the road, or a lone assassin..."<ref>[https://youtu.be/OLNQEHbusSA?t=331 Michael Parenti on Bernie Sanders] on YouTube by anti-imperialism uploaded on July 5th, 2017</ref>

=== Economic Policy ===
Sanders supports [[workplace democracy]], and has praised elements of the [[Nordic model]]. Some commentators, such as [[Noam Chomsky]], have described his politics as aligned with the [[New Deal]] policies of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[left-wing populism]].

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Politicians in the United States]]

Library discussion:Khrushchev lied

2022-05-16T14:53:21Z

PrimersophiaXVII: Created page with "Is it appropriate to use first person pronouns in an article?"

Is it appropriate to use first person pronouns in an article?

Library:Khrushchev lied

2022-05-16T14:44:29Z

PrimersophiaXVII:

== Introduction. The Khrushchev school of falsification: "The 20th century's most influential speech" ==
The fiftieth anniversary of Nikita S. Khrushchev's "Secret Speech", delivered on February 25, 1956, elicited predictable comment. An article in the London (UK) Telegraph called it "the 20th century's most influential speech." In an article the same day in the New York Times \X-'illiam Taub man, whose biography of Khrushchev won the Pulitzer Prize for Biogra phy in 2004, called it a "great deed" that "deserves to be celebrated" on its anniversary.

Some time ago I reread Khrushchev's "Secret Speech" for the first time in many years. I used the HT?vfi. version of the edition of the speech published in a special issue of The New Leader in 1962.2 During my read ing I remarked that the noted Menshevik scholar Boris Nikolaevsky, in his annotations to Khrushchev's t� expressed his opinion that certain of Khrushchev's statements were false. For example, early in his speech Khrushchev says the following:<blockquote>Lately, especially after the unmasking of the Bcria gang, the Central Commiuee looked into a series of matters fabricated by this gang. This revealed a very ugly picture of brutal willfulness connected with the incorrect behavior of Stalin.</blockquote>Boris Nikolaevsky's note 8 to this passage reads:<blockquote>This statement by Khrushchev is not quite true: Investigation of Stalin's terrorist acts in the last period of his life was initiated by Beria. ... Khrushchev, who now depicts himself as having well-nigh initiated the probe of Stalin's torture chambers, actually tried to block it in the first months after Stalin's death.</blockquote>I remembered that Arch Getty wrote something very similar in his magisterial work Origins of the Great Purges<blockquote>Other inconsistencies in Khrushchev's account include an apparent confusion of Ezhov for Beria. Although Ezhov's name is mentioned occasionally, Beria is charged with as many misdeeds and repressions; howe\'er, the latter was merely a regional secretary until 1938. Further, many reports note that the police terror began to subside when Beria took over from Ezhov in 1938. Could Khrushchev have conveniently substituted Beria for Ezhov in his account? What else might he have blurred? At any rate, Beria's recent execution by Khrushchev and the leadership made him a convenient • scapegoat. Khrushchev's opportunistic use of Beria certainly casts suspicion on the exactitude of his other assertions. (p. 268 n.28; emphasis'added Gf)</blockquote>So I suspected that today, in the light of the many documents from for merly secret Soviet archives now available, serious research might dis cover that even more of Khrushchev's "revelations" about Stalin were false.

In fact, I made a far different discovery. Not one specific statement of "revelation" that Khrushchev made about either Stalin or Beria turned out to be ttue. Among those that can be checked for verifica tion, every single one turns out to be false. Khrushchev, it turns out, did not just "lie" about Stalin and Beria - he did virtually nothing else except lie. The entire "Secret Speech" is made up of fabrications. 1bis is the "great deed" Taubman praised Khrushchev fori (A separate, though much shorter, article might be written to expose the falsehoods in Taub man's own New York Times Op-Ed article celebrating Khrushchev's meretricious speech).

For me, as a scholar, this was a troubling and even unwelcome discovery. If, as I had anticipated, I had found that, say, 25°/o or so of Khrushchev's "revelations" were falsifications, my research would surely excite some skepticism as well as surprise. But in the main I could anticipate acceptance, and praise: "Good job of research by Furr", and so on.

But I feared -and my fears have been hom out by my experience with the Russian-language original of this book, published in December 2007 -that if I claimed every one of Khrushchev's "revelations" was false, no one would believe me. It would not make any difference how thoroughly or carefully I cited evidence in support of my arguments. To disprove the whole of Khrushchev's speech is, at the same time, to challenge the whole historical paradigm of Soviet history of the Stalin period, a para digm to which this speech is foundational.

lbe most influential speech of the 201h century - if not of all time - a complete fraud? The notion was too monstrous. \Vho would want to come to grips with the revision of Soviet, Comintem, and even world history that the logic of such a conclusion would demand? It would be infinitely easier for everyone to believe that I had "cooked the books," shaded the truth - that I was falsifying things, just as I was accusing Khrushchev of doing. Then my work could be safely ignored, and the problem would "go away." Especially since I am known to have sympa thy towards the worldwide communist movement of which Stalin was the recognized leader. \Vhen a researcher comes to conclusions that sus piciously appear to support his own preconceived ideas, it is only prudent to suspect him of some lack of objectivity, if not worse.

So I would have been much happier if my research had concluded that 25°/o of Khrushchev's "revelations" about Stalin and Beria were false. However, since virtually all of those "revelations" that can be checked are, in fact, falsehoods, the onus of evidence lies even more heavily on me as a scholar than would ordinarii)' be the case. Accordingly, I have organized my report on this research in a somewhat unusual way.

The entire book is divided into two separate but interrelated sections.

In the first sections, consisting of Chapters 1 through 9, I examine each of the statements, or assertions, that Khrushchev made in his report and that constitute the essence of his so-calel d "revelations." (fo jwnp ahead a bit, I note that I have identified sixty-one such assertions).

Each of these ccrevelations" is preceded by a quotation from the "Secret Speech" which is then examined in the light of the documentary evi dence. Most of this evidence is presented as quotations from primary sources. Only in a few cases do I quote from secondary sources. I have set myself the task of presenting the best evidence that I can find, drawn in the main from former Soviet archives in order to demonstrate the false character of Khrushchev's Speech at the 20lh Party Congress. Since, if interspersed with the text, long documentary citations would make for difficult reading, I have only briefly referred to the evidence in the text

and reserved the fuller quotations from the primary (and occasionally secondary) sources themselves in the sections on each chapter in the Ap pendix..

The second section of the book, Chapters 10 through 12, is devoted to questions of a methodological nature and to a discussion of some of the conclusions which flow from this study. I have given special attention to a typology of the falsehoods, or methods of deception that Khrushchev

employed. A study of the "rehabilitation" materials of some of the Party leaders named in the Speech is included here.

I handle the references to primary sources in two ways. In addition to the traditional academic documentation through footnote and bibliography Ihave tried wherever possible to guide the reader to those primary docu ments available either in part or in full on the Internet. All of these URL references were valid at the time the English language edition of this

book was completed.

In a few cases, I have placed important primary documents on the Inter net myself, normally in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format. In a few cases this has made it possible for me to refer to page numbers, something that is either clumsy or impossible if using hypertext markup language (HTML).

In conclusion I would like to thank my colleagues in the United States and in Russia who have read this work in its earlier drafts and given me the benefit of their criticism. Naturally, they bear no responsibility for any eror rs and shortcomings that remain in the book despite their best e f forts.

My especial gratitude goes to my wonderful colleague in Moscow, Vladi mir L'vovich Bobrov. Scholar, researcher, editor, and translator, master of both his native Russian and English, I. would never have undertaken this work, much less completed it, without his inspiration, guidance, and assistance of all kinds.

I will be grateful for any comments and criticisms of dus work by read ers.

== The cult and Lenin's "testament" ==

=== The cult ===
Khrushchev:<blockquote>Comrades! In the report of the Central Committee of the party at the 20th Congress, in a number of speeches by delegates to the Congress, as also formerly during the plenary CC/CPSU [Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union] sessions, quite a lot has been said about the cult of the individual and about its harmful consequences. After Stalin's death the Central Conunittee of the party began ro implemem a policy of explaining concisely and consistently that it is impermissible and fereign to the spirit of Marxism-Leninism to elevate one person, to transform him into a superman possessing supernatural characteristics, akin to those of a god. Such a man supposedly knows everything, sees everything, thinks for everyone, can do anything, is infallible in his behavior. Such a belief about a man, and specifically about Stalin, was cultivated among us for many years. 1be objective of the present report is not a thorough evaluation of Stalin's life and activity. Concerning Stalin's merits, an entirely sufficient number of books, pamphlets and studies had already been written in his lifetime. The role of Stalin in the preparation and execution of the Socialist Revolution, in the Civil War, and in the fight for the construction of socialism in our country, is universally known. Everyone knows this well. At present, we are concerned with a question which has immense importance for the party now and for the future - with how the cult of the person of Stalin has been gradually growing, the cult which became at a certain specific stage the source of a whole series of exceedingly serious and grave perversions of party principles, of party democracy, of revolutionary legality.</blockquote>TIUs Speech is often referred to as one of "revelations" by Khrushchev of crimes and misdeeds done by Stalin. The issue of the "cult of personality<nowiki>'', or "cult of the individual", around the figUre of Stalin was the main subject of the Speech. Khrushchev did not "reveal" the existence of a "cult of personality" itself. Its existence was, of course, well known. It had been discussed at Presidium meetings since immediately after Stalin'</nowiki>s death.

Yet Khrushchev does not '''specifically''' state at the outset that Stalin promoted the "cult<nowiki>''</nowiki>. This was clearly deliberate on Khrushchev's part. Throughout his speech Khrushchev implies - or, rather, takes it for granted- what he ought to have proven, but could not: that Stalin himself fostered this cult in order to gain dictatorial power. In fact, throughout his entire Speech, Khrushchev was unable to cite a single ''truthful'' example of how Stalin encouraged this "cult" - presumably, because he could not find even one such example.

Khrushchev's whole speech was built on this falsehood. All the rest of his "revelations" were fitted within the explanatory paradigm of the '�It" around himself which, according to Khrushchev, Stalin created and cultivated.

This study will show that virtually all of Khrushchev's "revelations" concerning Stalin are false. But it's worth mentioning at the outset that Khrushchev's explanatory framework itself - the notion of the "cult" constructed by Stalin and as a result of which the rest of his so-called "crimes" could be committed with impunity - this is itself a falsehood. Not only did Stalin not commit the crimes and misdeeds Krushchev imputes to him. Stalin also did not construct the "cult" around himself. In fact, the evidence proves the opposite: that Stalin opposed the disgusting "cult" around himself.

Some have argued that Stalin's opposition to the cult around himself must have been hypocrisy. After all, Stalin was so powerful that if he had really wanted to put a stop to the cult, he could have done so. But this argument assumes what it should prove. To assume that he was that powerful is also to assume that Stalin was in fact what the "cult" absurdly made him out to be: an autocrat with supreme power over everything and everyone in the USSR.

==== Stalin's Opposition to the Cult ====
Stalin protested praise and flattery directed at himself over and over again over many years. He agreed with Lenin<nowiki>'s assessment of the "cult of the individual'', and said basically the same things about it as Lenin had. Khrushchev quoted Lenin, but without acknowledging that Stalin said the same things. A long list of quotations from Stalin is given here in evidence of Stalin's opposition to the "cult'' around him. Many more could be added to it, for almost every memoir by persons who had personal contact with Stalin gives further anecdotes that demonstrate Stalin'</nowiki>s opposition to, and even disgust with, the adulation of his person.

For example, the recently-published posthumous memoir ''Stalin.'' ''Kak Ya Evo Znal'' ("Stalin As I Knew Him," 2003) by [[Akakii Mgeladze]], a former First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party later punished and marginalized by Khrushchev, the author often comments on Stalin's dislike of the "cult" around him. Mgeladze, who died in 1980, recounts how Stalin wished to suppress any special celebration of his 70th birthday in 1949 and acceded to it with reluctance only because of the arguments made by other Party leaders that the event would serve to unite the communist movement by bringing together its leaders from around the world.

Stalin was more successful in preventing others in the Politburo from renaming Moscow "Stalinodar" (= "gift of Stalin") in 1937. But his attempt to refuse the award of Hero of the Soviet Union was thwarted when the award, which he never accepted, was pinned to a pillow which was placed in his coffin at his death.

==== Malenkov's Attempt to Call a CC Plenum Concerning the "Cult" April 953 ====
Immediately after Stalin's death, Malenkov proposed calling a Central Committee Plenum to deal with the harmful effects of the cult. Malenkov was honest enough to blame himself and his colleagues and reminded them all that Stalin had frequently warned them against the "cult<nowiki>''</nowiki> to no avail. This attempt failed in the Presidium; the special Plenum was never called. If it had been, Khrushchev's "Secret Speech" could not have taken place.

Whether Khrushchev supported Malenkov's proposal or not - the evidence is unclear on this point - he was certainly involved in the discussion. Khrushchev knew all about 'Malenkov's attempt to deal with the "cult" openly and early on. But he said nothing about i� thereby effectively denying that it had occurred.

==== July 1953 Plenum - Beria Attacked for Allegedly Opposing "Cult" ====
At the July 1953 Plenum, called to attack an absent (and possibly already dead) Beria, a number of the figures blamed Beria for attacking the cult. Khrushchev's leading role at this Plenum and in the cabal of leaders against Beria shows that he was complicit in attacking Beria and so in supporting the "cult" as a weapon with which to discredit Beria.

==== Who Fostered the "Cult"? ====
A study of the origins of the "cult" is beyond the scope of this article. But there is good evidence that oppositionists either began the "cult" around Stalin or participated eagerly in it as a cover for their oppositional activities. In an unguarded moment during one of his ''ochnye slavki'' (face-to-face confrontations with accusers) Bukharin was forced to admit that he urged former Oppositionists working for ''Izvestiya'' to refer to Stalin with excessive praise, and used the term "cult" himself. Another Oppositionist, Karl Radek, is often said to have written the first full-blown example of the "cult", the strange futuristic ''Zodchii Sotsialisticheskovo Obshchestva'' ("The Architect of Socialist Society"), for the January 1, 1934 issue of ''lzvestiya'', subsequendy published as a separate pamphlet.

==== Khrushchev and Mikoian ====
Khrushchev and Mikoian, the main figures from the Stalin Politburo who instigated and avidly promoted the "de-Stalinization" movement, were among those who, in the 1930s, had fostered the "cult" most avidly. If this were all, we might hypothetically assume that Khrushchev and Mikoian had truly respected Stalin to the point of being in awe of him. This was certainly the case with many others. Mgeladze's memoir shows one example of a leading Party official who retained his admiration for Stalin long after it was fashionable to discard it. But Khrushchev and Mikoian had participated in the Presidium discussions of March 1953 during which Malenkov's attempt to call a Central Committee Plenum to discuss the "cult"' had been frustrated. They had been leaders in the June 1953 Plenum during which Beria had been sharply criticized for opposing the "cult" of Stalin. These matters, together with the fact that Khrushchev's "revelations•• are, in reality, fabrications means there must be something else at work here.

=== Lenin's "testament" ===

== Collegiality "trampled" ==

=== "Collegiality" in work ===

=== Stalin "morally and physically annihilated" leaders who opposed him ===

=== Mass repressions generally ===

=== <nowiki>''</nowiki>Enemy of the people" ===

=== Zinoviev and Kamenev ===

=== Trotskyites ===

=== Stalin neglected party ===

== Stalin's "arbitrariness" towards the party ==

=== Reference to "a party commission under the control of the Central Committee Presidium"; fabrication of materials during repressions ===

=== December 1, 1934 "directive" signed by Enukidze ===

=== Khrushchev pmplies Stalin's involvement in Kirov's murder ===

=== Stalin's and Zhdanov's telegram to the Politburo of September 25 1936 ===

=== Stalin's report at the February-March 1937 CC Plenun ===

=== "Many members questioned mass repression", especially Pavel Postyshev ===

== The "cases" against party members and related questions ==

=== Eikhe ===

=== Ezhov ===

=== Rudzutak ===

=== Rozenblium ===

=== Kabakov ===

=== S.V. Kossior ===

=== V. Ia. Chubar' ===

=== P.P. Postyshev ===

=== A.V. Kosarev ===

=== The lists ===

=== Resolutions of the January 1938 CC Plenum ===

=== <nowiki>''Beria'</nowiki>s gang" ===

=== "Torture telegram" ===

=== Rodos tortured Chubar' and Kosior on Beria's orders ===

== Stalin and the war ==

=== Stalin didn't heed warnings about war ===

=== Vorontsov's Letter ===

=== German soldier ===

=== Commanders killed ===

=== Stalin<nowiki>'s ''</nowiki>demoralization" after the beginning of the war ===

=== Stalin a bad commander ===

=== Khar'kov 1942 ===

=== Stalin planned military operations on a globe ===

=== Stalin downgraded Zhukov ===

== Of plots and affairs ==

=== Deportations of nationalities ===

=== The Leningrad affair ===

=== The Mingrelian affair ===

=== Yugoslavia ===

=== The doctors' plot ===

== Beria, his "machinations" and "crimes" ==

=== Beria ===

=== Kaminsky accuses Beria of working with the Mussavat ===

=== Kartvelishvili ===

=== Kedrov ===

=== Ordzhonikidze's brother ===

== Ideology and culture ==

=== Stalin, short biography ===

=== The 'short course' ===

=== Stalin signed order for monument to himself on July 2, 1951 ===

=== The palace of soviets ===

=== The Lenin Prize ===

== Stalin's last years in power ==

=== Stalin suggested huge tax increase on Kolkhozes ===

=== Stalin insulted Postyshev ===

=== "Disorganization" of Politburo work ===

=== Stalin suspected Voroshilov an <nowiki>''</nowiki>English agent" ===

=== Andreev ===

=== Molotov ===

=== Mikoian ===

=== Expansion of the Presidium ===

== A typology of prevarication ==

=== A typology of Khrushchev's prevarication ===

=== Exposing lie is not the same as establishing the truth ===

=== Historical vs. judicial evidence ===

=== Torture and the historical problems related to it ===

=== A typology of Khrushchevian prevarication ===

=== The "revelations" ===

=== The typology ===

== The results of Khrushchev's "revelations"; falsified ==

=== Rehabilitations ===

=== Falsified rehabilitations ===

=== Conclusion ===

== The enduring legacy of Khrushchev's ==

=== Deception ===

=== Why did Khrushchev attack Stalin? ===

=== The Khrushchev conspiracy? ===

=== Aleksandr S. Shcherbakov ===

=== Implications: The influence on Soviet society ===

=== Political Implications ===

=== Trotsky ===

=== Unresolved weaknesses in the Soviet system of socialism ===

== Sources ==

* [https://ia902707.us.archive.org/5/items/pdfy-nmIGAXUrq0OJ87zK/Khrushchev%20Lied.pdf PDF version] with copyable text (optical character recognition)