for questions regarding the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union
Questions tagged [soviet-union]
42 questions
13
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Is there a Soviet doomsday device called "Perimeter" or "Dead Hand"?
I stumbled upon an article on wired.com which told details about an automatic nuclear retaliation system build by the soviets in the mid-eighties. This system is supposed to ensure destruction of the US even if the Russian chain of command is wiped…
sum1stolemyname
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Did 80% of Soviet males born in 1923 die in WWII?
I found this fact on OMG Facts:
80% of Soviet males born in 1923 died in WWII.
Not surprisingly, Russia was the country with the highest WW2 causalities, with over 21 million.
I can't find any source for the figure beyond fact-list websites. Is…
TheCaptan
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Is this graph of life expectancy pre and post Chernobyl accurate?
Is the following graph of male life expectancy of ex-Soviet states spanning Chernobyl accurate?
The source of the graph is a blog post (チェルノブイリ事故後の平均寿命), which according to google translate means "Life expectancy after the Chernobyl…
Andrew Grimm
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Was the crew dropping the "Tsar Bomba" nuclear bomb given only a 50% chance to survive?
Background
The Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created. On 30 October 1961 the Soviet Union experimentally detonated the bomb after dropping it from a plane above Nova Zembla. A second plane was nearby to gather data on the…
William H. Fields
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11
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During the disintegration of the Soviet Union, was there a surge of child allergies in Tajikistan because people hoarded soap?
The Hesitant U.S. Rescue of the Soviet Economy Wilson Quarterly (Fall 2016):
By November 1990, Professor Graham Allison of Harvard University had become alarmed at the deterioration of the Soviet economy. Partial reforms had allowed cooperatives to…
Fizz
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Were many of the people McCarthy accused paid Soviet spies?
According to an answer on this question on the WorldBuilding StackExchange
There were plenty of communists in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. It's popular today to laugh at the paranoia of Joe McCarthy et al. But in fact when the Soviet…
Fluidized Pigeon Reactor
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10
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2 answers
Was Greenpeace ever sponsored by KGB?
I've heard the claim as urban legend many times. Allegedly in 1970s KGB has sponsored various Western "anti-war" movements, especially the ones that could hinder Western nuclear tests. Fact is Greenpeace was one of such a movements, created in…
vartec
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Did Dr. Nikolay Chudinov revive Permian bacteria found in a potassium salt crystal in Perm, 1972?
I have heard of 3.5 million year old bacteria being revived, but 250 mya is much longer, and I can find no modern mention of this astonishing claim anywhere.
However, it was mentioned in multiple contemporary newspapers, such as The Bridgeport…
qazwsx
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Did 40% of the NKVD (Soviet police) leadership have Jewish nationality?
Timothy D. Snyder wrote a history book, Bloodlands about the mass killings of Central/Eastern Europeans between 1933-1945.
Jewish Currents, a magazine of the Jewish Left, cite him in making claims about the NKVD - the Soviet agency responsible for…
user52544
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Did Stalin personally tell Churchill that "the great bulk" of "10 millions" people were "wiped out" during collectivization?
The War Memoirs of Winston Churchill: Face to Face with Stalin Life Magazine 30 October 1950 at pages 104 and 106:
[about 1am August 18, 1942]
"I thought you would have found it bad," said I [Churchill], "because you were not dealing with a few…
DavePhD
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Was a speech by Stalin released on vinyl where the entire B-side consisted of applause?
Stalin once gave a lengthy speech that was later released on vinyl. The entire B-side consisted of recorded applause.
I've seen this claimed in one syndicated article, but I can't seem to find other sources confirming this.
Did the USSR or maybe…
Fizz
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Was there ever a speech by USSR officials before 1950 where it was asked of Soviet women to uphold traditional female roles?
In 1949 Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir writes:
There is no way to directly oblige a woman to give birth: all that can
be done is to enclose her in situations where motherhood is her only
option: laws or customs impose marriage on her,…
Worse_Username
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Stalin's absent-minded signature resulted in Hotel Moskva having two designs?
Is this explanation true/false/unverifiable?
Four Seasons Hotel Moscow (Wikipedia):
The original hotel was notable for its use of two different designs for the wings off the central structure. The most popular (possibly apocryphal) explanation is…
user17967
7
votes
2 answers
Were the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany de facto allies in September 1939?
"A German and a Soviet officer shaking hands at the end of the Invasion of Poland." (source)
On the 17th of September 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, following a German invasion from the west which started 2 weeks prior.
It's…
vartec
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7
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Did the USSR have better tanks than Germany in WW2?
Prompted by this question and a comment by matt_black. The T-34 is often cited as the best tank of WW2. However some articles paint a very different picture.
Quote:
According to the head of the Armored Directorate of the Red Army N.Fedorenko, the…
Stefan
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