The Soviet Union and Russia are two terms that get confused and mixed up but differ in many ways. The Soviet Union is a union, while Russia is a county.
Soviet was made up of 15 republics during the 1900s. While Russia, on the other hand, is a country in Asia.
The Soviet Union is officially named “Union of Soviet Socialist Republic”. This was a single-party state and the first state to declare itself socialist.
This was the first union of states which began walking towards a communist society. It was the era of post-revolution.
On the other hand, Russia is a state also known as the Russian Federation. It is the largest country in the world, with around 17,125,191 square kilometres taking around eight parts of habitation.
It was also the central part of the Soviet Union, but it was not itself called the Soviet Union.
Key Takeaways
- The Soviet Union was a socialist state from 1922 to 1991, while Russia was a sovereign nation that emerged after the Soviet Union’s dissolution.
- The Soviet Union was a federal entity comprised of various republics, while Russia was a single nation with a centralized government.
- Russia has transitioned to a market-oriented economy, while the Soviet Union operated under a centrally planned economic system.
Soviet Union vs Russia
The difference between the Soviet Union and Russia is that one is a union with many other countries, while Russia is a country. The Soviet Union can be taken as a whole community of which Russia and 14 different countries were also a part. After the fall of the Soviet Union only, the formation of the Russian Federation took place.
The Soviet Union was a union formed in 1922 and later was destroyed in 1991. In these 69 years, it was one of the two most powerful unions in the world, along with the united states of America.
Many national republics together formed this federal union of a multinational republic. It was highly centralized in its economy and government.
Russia, on the other hand, is a country that was also a part of the Soviet Union. It was the main centre of this union. After the revolution in Russia, it became part of the Soviet Union.
The main difference is that Russia is a county while the soviet union is a political union of states.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Soviet Union | Russia |
|---|---|---|
| Birth | The formation of the soviet union was in 1922 after the revolution | The formation of the soviet union was in 1922, after the revolution |
| Dissolution | The appearance of Russia was in 1991 | The Soviet union has different kinds of culture as it is a cooperative union of foreign states. |
| Boundary | After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation started, which is still one of the largest countries in the world | 20,241 km of the edge is the countdown of Russia which is the second-largest in the world after China |
| Political Party | the Soviet Union was a one-party state | Russia is a multi-party country |
| Identity | The fall of the Soviet Union took place in 1991, after which Russia became an independent country | There are fifteen states with around 20,000 km of border or more |
What is the Soviet Union?
The Soviet Union was a one-party state with Moscow as its capital. It was formed in 1922 after the revolution and was destroyed in 1991. There were 15 countries in the Soviet Union, one of the two powerful unions.
Russia was a part of this state which became independent after 1991.
Other countries along with Russia in the Soviet Union were Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc.
All 15 states together formed the Soviet Union, in which Russia was the most powerful, and on 25th December 1991, it became independent.
After the October revolution of 1917, the Soviet Union started to spread and ultimately settled in 1922. The first constitutionally guaranteed socialist state was established as the power shifted to the Bolsheviks.
This also leads to the unification of Russia and other states.
On December 28, 1922, the declaration of the formation of this union of the state was declared after a large conference of plenipotentiary delegations.
In 1991 the fall of this union started, and countries became independent republics.
What is Russia?
Russia is the largest country in the world, extending almost up to northern Asia and the third part of eastern Europe.
Russia has around 11 time zones, which describes how big it is by size. It is a country with different landforms, from deep forests to deserts.
Russia denotes the territory of the country. Unlike the Soviet Union, it is not a community of republic countries. It comprises 85 federal subjects, among which 22 are republics.
It touches Asia and Europe, making it part of both continents. It is not a political system but rather a semi-presidential republic.
It is a multi-party state which considers the president as the head of state while the prime minister is the head of the government. In the Soviet Union, Russia was the largest republic of 15 states.
It doesn’t have any union or group of republic states. Instead, it was a part of that group in the past during the time of the Soviet Union.
The culture of Russia is different from that of things that happened in the Soviet Union as it is an other state, and it consists of only one type of tradition.
Unlike the Soviet Union, it doesn’t have mixed culture and traditions. Instead, it has a remarkably different culture and traditions.
Main Differences Between the Soviet Union and Russia
- The Soviet Union is a former federation of communist republics made up of 15 republics, while Russia is the largest country in the world from North Asia to Eastern Europe.
- The Soviet Union is a political system comprising 15 republic states, while Russia is a country.
- Soviet was a larger organization with 15 countries, while Russia was a part of that system.
- The Soviet Union was not particularly distinct in the case of culture, tradition or identity, while Russia is a country that has its own identity, culture and traditions.
- The Soviet Union is a single-party state, while Russia is a country with a multi-party system.
- The official name of the Soviet Union is the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic, while Russia’s official name is the Russian Federation.
- https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09555340810858298/full/html
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/107049659500400105
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1259019/
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
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