Soviet Union

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), is a transplanetary country that spans much of Eurasia and the Moon. The country is a successor state to the Russian Empire, a federal union of more than a dozen national republics, the most populous of which is the Russian SFSR. In practice, however, the government both its government and its economy are highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, it is the flagship communist state of planet Earth.

Structure

There are three major power hierarchies in the USSR: the government represented by the Council of Ministers, the legislature represented by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only legal party and the final policymaker in the country. No formal separation of powers existed between these three hierarchies.

Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers is the formal name of the Soviet government as a whole. The government is headed by a chairman, the Premier of the Soviet Union (technically the Chairman of the Council of Ministers). The Premier is the head of government, most famously held by Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin.

Supreme Soviet

The legislature of the USSR is the Supreme Soviet, the highest body of state authority. Based on the principle of "unified power", a principle that came about from many communist states, the Supreme Soviet is the only true "branch" of the Soviet government. It was established according to a new constitution enacted in 1936, as a replacement to the Congress of Soviets. The Supreme Soviet held all the overarching duties of gov't, including the economy, security and defense.

Communist Party

From their constitution, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), is "the leading and guiding force of Soviet society and the nucleus of its political system. The CPSU controls the gov't with a two-thirds majority in the Supreme Soviet. They also nominate the Premier, who serves as the head of government. After Khrushchev's deposition, the head of the CPSU could no longer be the Premier.

Judicial System

The judiciary is not independent of the other branches of government. The judicial branch is represented by the Supreme Court, which supervises the lower courts, and the Constitutional Oversight Committee, which reviews the consitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union uses the inquisitorial system of Roman law, where the judge, procurator, and defense attorney collaborate to "establish the truth".

Human Rights

Human rights in the USSR are severely limited. Freedom of speech is suppressed and dissent is punished. Independent political activities are not tolerated, such as participation in free labor unions, private corporations, independent churches, or opposition political parties. Freedom of movement, especially outside of Soviet territory, is limited.

Culture

During its first decade, cultural freedom flourished as artists experiemented to find a distinctive Soviet art style. Lenin wanted art to be accessible to the Russian people, but, at the same time, hundreds of intellectuals, writers, and artists were exiled or executed, and their work banned (usually for presenting "unpopular" ideas).
During Stalin's rule, Soviet culture was characterized by the rise and domination of the government-imposed style of socialist realism, an idealized representation of life under socialism that became pervasive during this era. All other trends were severely repressed. Like before, many writers were imprisoned and killed.
Nikita Khrushchev's rule saw a period of de-Stalinization policies that diminished censorship. At that point, a true distinctive Soviet culture developed, characterized by conformism in the public with an intense focus on personal life. Experimentation in art was once again possible, leading to a more sophisticated art world that was occasionally subtly critical. The push for socialist realism was likewise dialed back.

Space Age Culture

During the early Space Race (and especially post-lunar victory), cultural enthusiasm blossomed. Space Age propaganda became a powerful tool of the Soviet system, as citizens could live vicariously through these images and experience the thrill of boundless discovery. The lunar victory became a potent symbol of the nation's prosperity, especially coming about after the past years of Soviet struggle and the Americans' failure. Cosmic iconography could be found everywhere in Soviet society, including sculptures, mosaics, architecture, and textiles. The Soviet victory in space became was a testament to the success of communism. While still strong, this sentiment saw a gradual decrease following the United States' constant victories across the rest of the Solar System.
With the Great Solar Migration, Soviet culture saw a return to these pro-space ideals, and again after the invention of the wormdrive.

History

The alternate history of the Soviet Union real history, until July 20th, 1969. On that day, the Soviet Union learned with the rest of the world that the United States' Apollo 11 mission, the one slated to reach the moon, disappeared minutes before landing. The following is necessary context before this divergence.

1960s

Nikita Khrushchev, the Premier before Kosygin, had been ousted from his office in 1964, placing Sergei Korolev (the USSR's leading rocket scientist and architect of the Space Race, comparable to Wernher von Braun) in sole charge of the crewed space program. Sergei Korolev had won every other Space Race victory for the Soviets, and he was slated to put man on the moon in 1967. However, in 1966, Korolev died in a hospital from colon cancer complications, which were, ironically, traced back to his time in Soviet prison camps in his early 30s. A scientific power vacuum came about, ultimately ending with Vasily Mishin's replacing as Chief Designer. Mishin's career was fraught with constant failure, due in part to the fact that the space program was running out of money. Mishin oversaw the first in-flight fatality of any space program as they struggled and failed to reach the moon in 1967. Yuri Gagrin, a man celebrated far and wide in the USSR for being the first man in space, was killed in a test flight the following year. Mishin developed a drinking problem as rocket failures and explosions continued as the U.S. shaped up to become the first country to put man on the moon, until Apollo 11.
The news of the United States' failure put a new glimmer of hope into the minds of Soviet officials, including Premier Alexei Kosygin. The United States just watched as a 355 million dollar mission vanished in the blink of an eye. The culmination of their hard work towards finally winning the Space Race, finally proving that the stars belonged to the Americans, was gone in an instant. Mishin was fired the following morning and exiled to Siberia as Russian officials started to believe in the Space Race and grew a hatred towards Mishin for ruining it for so long. Valentin Glushko, a rival to Mishin and a competitor in the former power vacuum, was chosen to take his place. With a new life and new funding in the space program, the Soviets got to work.
Glushko (along with his team of engineers) made some much needed changes to the N-1 rocket (the equivalent to the American Saturn V, originally designed by Sergei Korolev). They strengthened the fraile fuel and oxidizer plumbing systems, perfected its control system's reliability, and improved its structural integrity. All of this hard work was done under complete secrecy so that the United States would remain focused on locating and rescuing their astronauts instead of expediting Apollo 12. Foreign officials did not even know who Valentin Glushko was. Ultimately, the Soviets' incredible expedition of their lunar landing program culminated on September 11th, 1969, when the USSR became the first nation to put man on the moon. The United States came in a devastating second place on November 19th.

1970s

For the Soviet Union, this decade is characterized by the Soviet Union's efforts towards expanding their influence on the Moon. Construction of Zvezda began in the mid-1970s, which, at the time, was only a plan for a crewed moonbase. The main habitation module was delivered in 1974, with automatic spacecraft mainly including rovers following the next year. Habitation modules were buried in regolith (moon dust) to protect against ionizing radiation from the Sun. Sergei Korolev originally ordered the base's construction before his death, but only project lead Vladimmir Barmin was able to fulfill that order posthumously. A crew of 9 cosmonauts moved into the base in 1979, which would eventually increase to the maximum capacity of twelve over the next decade.

1980s

The 1980s, being a decade of incredible success in space from the United States, was an era of relative stagnation from the USSR. America, who had gone through the 70s with dejected lunar missions and top-secret martian ones, became the first nation to successfully put man on Mars in the latter half of 1982, proving to many that they were the true space superpower, over the Soviets. The Soviets did not land on the Red Planet this decade, but they did start construction on a new space station Mir, larger and more ambitious than their Salyut space stations, which would eventually begin its orbit around Earth in 1981, with a crew of seven people. Mir served as a very useful checkpoint for the increasingly regular lunar missions that came out of the Soviet Union.

1990s—2000s

In the 1990s, the United States proved themselves with their successful manned mission to Venus. Global opinion now seemed to turn to the U.S. as the de facto superpower in space, rather than the Soviet Union. Instead of following the United States to much more remote locations, the Soviet Union directed all of their efforts towards expanding their influence on the Moon, claiming that the United States was in a "one-nation race". These general trends continued into the early 2000s, as Zvezda grew from originally holding 9 people to holding more than 1500.

2010s

The 2010s was the decade of the Great Solar Migration, an era that began with the Soviet Union's founding of the city of Zvezda, expanding the previous base into a full-fledged city open to civilian residence. This decision also prompted the formation of the United Nation Federation, as the nations of the world wished to establish a unitary government if cities were to exist in space. The Supreme Soviet passionately disagreed with this move, citing the fact that their people's labor had landed on the Moon and built Zvezda from the ground up. They argued that the UN had no jurisdiction to create a government just so foreign nations (the U.S.) would have a say in its governance. Negotiations never reached any fruitition, and the Soviet Union made the decision to pull out of the U.N. before it reformed, taking with it its Eastern Bloc and China (a powerful ally at the time). By the end of the 2010s, Zvezda housed about 2000 scientific and maintenance personnel and about 35,000 civilians, for a total population of 37,549 people.

2020s—2060s

With their newfound success and funding derived from the success of the first extraterrestrial city, the Soviet Union finally began expanding throughout the inner planets. Solar farms on Mercury were the first project, with the country landing on the planet with ease in 2021 and finalizing the project in 2023. They landed on Mars in 2022, establishing a base that would later become a city known as Krasnyygrad ("red city", a play on the planet's nickname). In 2024, a team of cosmonauts reached Venus and planted the seeds for a city suspended by balloons of helium known as Sputnikgrad. Throughout the next four decades, the Soviet Union simply continued to expand their influence across the Solar System like the rest of the world. They were very steadily the second-most influential interplanetary government. In 2068, Zvezda became so influential and successful that the Premier made the choice to move the nation's capital to the lunar city (also escaping the worsening effects of climate change).

2070s-2100

With the invention of the wormdrive in 2070, the Soviet Union followed the UNF to the stars. Despite the USSR's efforts and success, most notable exoplanets were first discovered and utilized first by the UNF. The UNF has also discovered all examples of alien intelligent life thus far, meaning members of those species are not inclined to immerse themselves in Soviet culture nor put themselves under Soviet jurisdiction. Since the first discovery of alien intelligent life, the Vrex, the USSR still has no infrastructure to adopt members of those species as full citizens, whereas the UNF has allowed intelligent life to become naturalized since 2085.

Founding Date

December 30, 1922

Capital

Zvezda

Alternative Names

Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (CCCP)

Demonym

Soviet

Government System

Dictatorship

Power Structure

Federation

Economic System

Command/Planned economy

Currency

Soviet ruble (₽)

Location

Moon

Related Species

• Human