Soviet Empire was a term used to critically describe the actions and nature of the Soviet Union. It gained popularity after US President Ronald Reagan famously denounced the USSR as an "Evil Empire" in a 1982 speech to the House of Commons.

Table of contents
1 Motivation of the term
2 Countries dominated by the Soviet Union
3 Marxist countries that avoided the domination of the Soviet Union
4 Countries attempted to introduce Marxist-type socialism
5 Countries that still have Marxist-type socialist republics
6 Related topics

Motivation of the term

Though it was not ruled by an Emperor and never formally considered itself to be an Empire, the Soviet Union had typical imperialistic tendencies common to historic empires:
  • Territorial expansion through invasion or subversion (e.g.: Poland, Baltic States, Finland, Afghanistan).
  • Strong central "Imperial" government controlling the governments of all subsidiary and satellite territories.
  • The union is held together by strong coersion, including military force (see histories of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland).

For these reasons and others, the Soviet Union is sometimes considered by historians to be one of the main empires of history, equal to such notables as a the British Empire or the Ottoman Empire.

Countries dominated by the Soviet Union

At the height of its existence, the "Soviet Empire" consisted of the following nations:

Marxist countries that avoided the domination of the Soviet Union

Countries attempted to introduce Marxist-type socialism

In the political terminology of the Soviet Union, they were "countries moving along the socialist way of development", as opposed to the "countries of developed socialism", listed above.

Countries that still have Marxist-type socialist republics

All other countries listed above are either no longer exist or no longer have socialism.

Related topics

Communism