The Soviet Union existed from 1922 to 1991. After Lenin’s death in 1924, dictatorial powers were assumed by his successor Joseph Stalin. The ruthless and calculating dictator suppressed his political opponents, introduced his own crude version of Marxism-Leninism.

-The nation underwent a period of rapid industrialization which was accompanied by the brutal collectivization of peasants into factory-like communes called kolkhozy and sovkhozy between 1928 and 1940.