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149-600: In October 1944, Soviet and Romanian forces gained control of the territory, and by March 1945 Northern Transylvania returned to Romanian administration. After the war, this was confirmed by the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947. The region has a varied history. It was once the nucleus of the Kingdom of Dacia (82 BC–106 AD). In 106 AD, the Roman Empire conquered the territory , systematically exploiting its resources. After

298-561: A Hungarian ethnic enclave within present-day Romania. The population of the historical Székely Land (according to the 2002 census) is 409,000, 312,043 of them Hungarians, accounting for 76.65% of the total. The Hungarians represent 59% of the populations of Harghita, Covasna and Mureș counties. The percentage of Hungarians is higher in Harghita and Covasna (84.8% and 73.58% respectively), and lower in Mureș County, (38.82%). According to

447-666: A one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , it was a flagship communist state . Its capital and largest city was Moscow . The Soviet Union's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917. The new government, led by Vladimir Lenin , established the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the world's first constitutionally socialist state . The revolution

596-706: A Székely flag during his visit to the Székely Land. The photo was posted by the mayor of Sfântu Gheorghe on Facebook. The reactions of the politicians in Bucharest were turbulent. In a response Klemm affirmed that the only two flags that are important to him, as a diplomat, are the U.S. and the Romanian ones. Article 1 of the Romanian Constitution defines the country as a "sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible national state." It has often been argued that, as

745-580: A closer relationship with France and Britain. In 1939, half a year after the Munich Agreement , the USSR attempted to form an anti-Nazi alliance with France and Britain. Adolf Hitler proposed a better deal, which would give the USSR control over much of Eastern Europe through the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . In September, Germany invaded Poland, and the USSR also invaded later that month, resulting in

894-540: A consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact ) to submit to a Soviet ultimatum and accept the annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina . Subsequently, Hungary attempted to regain Transylvania, which it had lost in the immediate aftermath of World War I. Germany and Italy pressured both Hungary and Romania to resolve the situation in a bilateral agreement. The two delegations met in Turnu Severin on 16 August, but

1043-613: A death camp in Feldioara . This paramilitary group was described as " a band of terrorist-chauvinistic criminals " by the Soviets. The USSR let the Romanian authorities back to the area in March 1945, and the Paris Peace Treaties officially returned Northern Transylvania to Romania. Following the Northern Transylvania's return to Romania after World War II , a Magyar Autonomous Region

1192-538: A few scattered incidents with Romanian soldiers retreating to southern Transylvania. The Hungarian army was greeted enthusiastically by the majority of the Hungarian population, which was documented in detail in the 1940 films, with the parade of military units, as well as Horthy riding on a gray horse, marching through the main cities of Northern Transylvania. After some ethnic Hungarian groups considered unreliable or insecure were sacked/expelled from Southern Transylvania ,

1341-653: A fleet of strategic bombers and during war situation was to eradicate enemy infrastructure and nuclear capacity. The air force also had a number of fighters and tactical bombers to support the army in the war. Strategic missile forces had more than 1,400 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), deployed between 28 bases and 300 command centers. Sz%C3%A9kely Land The Székely Land or Szeklerland ( Hungarian : Székelyföld , pronounced [ˈseːkɛjføld] , Székely runes : 𐲥𐳋𐳓𐳉𐳗𐳌𐳞𐳖𐳇; Romanian : Ținutul Secuiesc and sometimes Secuimea ; German : Szeklerland ; Latin : Terra Siculorum )

1490-515: A greater union which he initially named as the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia (Russian: Союз Советских Республик Европы и Азии , romanized : Soyuz Sovyetskikh Respublik Evropy i Azii ). Joseph Stalin initially resisted Lenin's proposal but ultimately accepted it, and with Lenin's agreement he changed the name to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), although all republics began as socialist soviet and did not change to

1639-769: A higher level of self-governance for the Székely Land within Romania. On 4 June 2005, the Civic Forum of the Romanians of Covasna, Harghita and Mureș was founded in Miercurea Ciuc. It is an organization aimed at organizing the ethnic Romanian population in the counties that compose Székely Land. On 2 February 2009, Romanian President Traian Băsescu met the Hungarian President László Sólyom in Budapest and discussed

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1788-592: A new profitable market. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin ordered Marxist-Leninist parties across the world to strongly oppose non-Marxist political parties, labour unions or other organizations on the left, which they labelled social fascists . In the usage of the Soviet Union, and of the Comintern and its affiliated parties in this period, the epithet fascist was used to describe capitalist society in general and virtually any anti-Soviet or anti-Stalinist activity or opinion. Stalin reversed himself in 1934 with

1937-458: A remedy for the Trianon injustice, hoping that at the end of the war, Adolf Hitler would return the whole of Transylvania to Miklós Horthy , however Romania was an allied country at that time. Along with the military, numerous ethnic Hungarians participated in the massacres against the Romanian population. They devastated, desecrated, and demolished the foundations of Romanian churches, especially in

2086-464: A result of this provision, any ethnic-based territorial autonomy, including that of the Székely Land, would be unconstitutional. The Supreme Council of National Defence of Romania declared that an autonomy of the so-called Székely Land would be unconstitutional. In 2002 the estimated ethnic composition of the Székely Land (Mureș, Covasna and Harghita counties) consisted of Hungarians (66%), Romanians (29%), Germans (1%) and Roma (4%). The area forms

2235-576: A slightly bigger territory. It includes the whole territories of Mureș, Harghita, and Covasna counties. Transylvania was populated by Thracian peoples in the First Iron Age . The area received a large influx of Scythians from the East in the first half of the first millennium BC. The Celts appeared in Transylvania in the La Tène period (c. 4th century BC). Dacian culture presence in southeastern Transylvania

2384-615: A status that is retained by the Russian Federation . Covering a sixth of Earth's land surface, its size was comparable to that of North America . Two other successor states, Kazakhstan and Ukraine , rank among the top 10 countries by land area, and the largest country entirely in Europe, respectively. The European portion accounted for a quarter of the country's area and was the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in Asia extended to

2533-750: A train bound for the Auschwitz concentration camp . Three transports left Marosvásáhely for Auschwitz: on 27 May, 30 May and 8 June 1944; altogether, they carried 7,549 Jews. On 12 September 1944, the Second Vienna Award was voided by the Allied Commission through the Armistice Agreement with Romania, and the Romanian-Soviet forces seized the area in Autumn 1944; however, the Romanian administration

2682-469: A union of equals, in practice the Soviet Union was dominated by Russians . The domination was so absolute that for most of its existence, the country was commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as 'Russia'. While the Russian SFSR was technically only one republic within the larger union, it was by far the largest (both in terms of population and area), most powerful, and most highly developed. The Russian SFSR

2831-512: Is a historic and ethnographic area in present-day Romania , inhabited mainly by Székelys , a subgroup of Hungarians . Its cultural centre is the city of Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely), the largest settlement in the region. Székelys (or Szeklers) live in the valleys and hills of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains , corresponding mostly to the present-day Harghita , Covasna , and parts of Mureș counties in Romania. Originally,

2980-613: Is a list of the most known high schools of each city: Those in italic have the Romanian language as their medium of instruction. The Székely ice hockey team Sport Club of Csíkszereda, with mainly home trained, local players (Székelys), plays simultaneously in the Erste League (Hungarian League) and in the Romanian Ice Hockey Championship. Starting with the 2010/2011 season, the Sport Club ice hockey team participated at

3129-556: Is derived from the Russian word sovet (Russian: совет ), meaning 'council', 'assembly', 'advice', ultimately deriving from the proto-Slavic verbal stem of * vět-iti ('to inform'), related to Slavic věst ('news'), English wise . The word sovietnik means 'councillor'. Some organizations in Russian history were called council (Russian: совет ). In the Russian Empire ,

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3278-570: Is his background, his education , his profession . These are the questions that will determine the fate of the accused. That is the meaning and essence of the Red Terror ." During his rule, Stalin always made the final policy decisions. Otherwise, Soviet foreign policy was set by the commission on the Foreign Policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , or by

3427-508: Is marked by discoveries such as the flagship hoard Sâncrăieni (Harghita county) or Dacian fortresses in Covasna county ( Cetatea Zânelor ) or Jigodin (Harghita county). Dacian Kingdom led by Decebal the Romanian ancestors, was taken after two wars, in 106 AD by the Roman Empire under the emperor Trajan, who began organizing the new Roman province of Dacia. Southeastern Transylvania was included in

3576-841: The Axis and joined the Allies . Thus, the Romanian Army fought Nazi Germany and its allies in Romania – regaining Northern Transylvania – and further on, in German occupied Hungary and in Slovakia and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , for instance, in the Budapest Offensive , the Siege of Budapest , and the Prague Offensive . The Second Vienna Award was voided by the Allied Commission through

3725-602: The Axis powers , suffering an estimated 27 million casualties , which accounted for most Allied losses. In the aftermath of the war , the Soviet Union consolidated the territory occupied by the Red Army , forming satellite states , and undertook rapid economic development which cemented its status as a superpower . Geopolitical tensions with the US led to the Cold War . The American-led Western Bloc coalesced into NATO in 1949, prompting

3874-510: The Council of People's Commissars ), headed by the Chairman (Premier) and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society. State and party structures of the constituent republics largely emulated the structure of the central institutions, although the Russian SFSR, unlike the other constituent republics, for most of its history had no republican branch of

4023-802: The Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia , supported one month later by the vote of the Deputies of the Transylvanian Saxons during the Mediaș Assembly . By spring 1919, during the Hungarian–Romanian War , Transylvania came under administrative control of Romania. Eventually in June 1920 the Treaty of Trianon assigned Transylvania to the Kingdom of Romania . In June 1940, Romania was forced (as

4172-576: The Gulag was expanded. During the late 1930s, Stalin's government conducted the Great Purge to remove opponents, resulting in mass death, imprisonment, and deportation. In 1939, the USSR and Nazi Germany signed a nonaggression pact , but in 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest land invasion in history, opening the Eastern Front of World War II . The Soviets played a decisive role in defeating

4321-688: The Habsburg monarchy (later Austrian Empire ), and governed by imperial governors. In 1848 during the Hungarian revolution and freedom war it was declared the reunion of Hungary proper and Transylvania. The Austrian emperor incited the Romanians and Serbians living in Hungary and Transylvania against the Hungarians, promising them some kind of autonomy. In 1867, as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise , Transylvania become again an integral part of

4470-781: The Huns from the east pressured most of the German tribes to leave. In the Battle of Nedao the East Germanic Gepids defeated the Huns and founded Gepidia in the territory of present-day Transylvania. This marked the end of the Hunnic Empire . The territory of the Székely Land was part of the Avar Khaganate . During this period, Avar and Slavic groups migrated into Transylvania . From around 900 to 1526

4619-654: The Jews living in Hungary, most of the Jews in Northern Transylvania (about 150,000) were sent to concentration camps during World War II, a move that was facilitated by local military and civilians. Following several decrees of the Hungarian government and high-level consultations at a meeting on 26 April with László Endre in Szatmárnémeti (now Satu Mare ), the deportation of the Jews was decided. On 3 May, authorities in Dés (now Dej ) launched

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4768-729: The Land Forces , the Air Force , the Navy , Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) and the Internal Troops . The OGPU later became independent and in 1934 joined the NKVD secret police, and so its internal troops were under the joint leadership of the defense and internal commissariats. After World War II, Strategic Missile Forces (1959), Air Defense Forces (1948) and National Civil Defense Forces (1970) were formed, which ranked first, third, and sixth in

4917-454: The Moscow State Institute of International Relations . The Marxist-Leninist leadership of the Soviet Union intensely debated foreign policy issues and changed directions several times. Even after Stalin assumed dictatorial control in the late 1920s, there were debates, and he frequently changed positions. During the country's early period, it was assumed that Communist revolutions would break out soon in every major industrial country, and it

5066-535: The Pacific Ocean to the east and Afghanistan to the south, and, except some areas in Central Asia , was much less populous. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) east to west across 11 time zones , and over 7,200 kilometres (4,500 mi) north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra , taiga , steppes , desert and mountains . The USSR, like Russia , had the world's longest border , measuring over 60,000 kilometres (37,000 mi), or 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 circumferences of Earth. Two-thirds of it

5215-497: The Popular Front program that called on all Marxist parties to join with all anti-Fascist political, labour, and organizational forces that were opposed to fascism , especially of the Nazi variety. The rapid growth of power in Nazi Germany encouraged both Paris and Moscow to form a military alliance, and the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed in May 1935. A firm believer in collective security, Stalin's foreign minister Maxim Litvinov worked very hard to form

5364-411: The Soviet republics , and the control of the Communist Party weakened. The failed coup attempt in August 1991 against Gorbachev by hardline communists hastened the end of the Soviet Union , which formally dissolved on December 26, 1991, ending nearly seven decades of Soviet rule. With an area of 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi), the Soviet Union was the world's largest country,

5513-500: The State Council , which functioned from 1810 to 1917, was referred to as a Council of Ministers. The Soviets as workers' councils first appeared during the 1905 Russian Revolution . Although they were quickly suppressed by the Imperial army, after the February Revolution of 1917 , workers' and soldiers' Soviets emerged throughout the country and shared power with the Russian Provisional Government . The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin , demanded that all power be transferred to

5662-489: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), saying that it was "overly juridical" and potentially infringed on national sovereignty. The Soviet Union later signed legally-binding human rights documents, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973 (and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ), but they were neither widely known or accessible to people living under Communist rule, nor were they taken seriously by

5811-496: The largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world . As an Allied nation, it was a founding member of the United Nations as well as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . Before its dissolution, the USSR was one of the world's two superpowers through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, global diplomatic and ideological influence (particularly in the Global South ), military and economic strengths, and scientific accomplishments. The word soviet

5960-485: The right to food , the right to work , and the right to education . The Soviet conception of human rights was very different from international law . According to Soviet legal theory , "it is the government who is the beneficiary of human rights which are to be asserted against the individual". The Soviet state was considered as the source of human rights. Therefore, the Soviet legal system considered law an arm of politics and it also considered courts agencies of

6109-481: The 1920s, it refused to rubber stamp proposals from the party and Council of Ministers. In 1990, Gorbachev introduced and assumed the position of the President of the Soviet Union , concentrated power in his executive office, independent of the party, and subordinated the government, now renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR , to himself. Tensions grew between the Union-wide authorities under Gorbachev, reformists led in Russia by Boris Yeltsin and controlling

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6258-424: The 1950s, the Soviet Union expanded its efforts in space exploration and took a lead in the Space Race with the first artificial satellite , the first human spaceflight , the first space station , and the first probe to land on another planet . In 1985, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev , sought to reform the country through his policies of glasnost and perestroika . In 1989, various countries of

6407-432: The 1990s, people in the West were also interested in the radioactive hazards of nuclear facilities, decommissioned nuclear submarines , and the processing of nuclear waste or spent nuclear fuel . It was also known in the early 1990s that the USSR had transported radioactive material to the Barents Sea and Kara Sea , which was later confirmed by the Russian parliament. The crash of the K-141 Kursk submarine in 2000 in

6556-408: The 2011 official census, 570,033 Hungarians (53.22%) live in the counties of Covasna, Harghita and Mureș (out of a total population of 1,071,890 inhabitants). In Mureș county the Romanians have a slight majority (52.6%), while in the counties of Covasna and Harghita, the Hungarians make up the majority (79.6% and 85.9%). The 2011 census compared to the data of the previous census (2002) also shows that

6705-521: The Armistice Agreement with Romania (12 September 1944) whose Article 19 stipulated the following: " The Allied Governments regard the decision of the Vienna award regarding Transylvania as null and void and are agreed that Transylvania (or the greater part thereof) should be returned to Romania, subject to confirmation at the peace settlement, and the Soviet Government agrees that Soviet forces shall take part for this purpose in joint military operations with Romania against Germany and Hungary." The territory

6854-435: The Axis and the struggle for the liberation of Northern Transylvania began, there were over 500,000 people from the ceded territory based on the Second Vienna Award in Romania. During this period, Romanian schools and churches also suffered. On the territory of the ceded part of Transylvania, there were (on 30 August 1940) 1,666 Romanian-language elementary schools and 67 high school, vocational and higher education units. At

7003-427: The CPSU, being ruled directly by the union-wide party until 1990. Local authorities were organized likewise into party committees , local Soviets and executive committees . While the state system was nominally federal, the party was unitary. The state security police (the KGB and its predecessor agencies ) played an important role in Soviet politics. It was instrumental in the Red Terror and Great Purge , but

7152-411: The Communist authorities. Under Joseph Stalin , the death penalty was extended to adolescents as young as 12 years old in 1935. Sergei Kovalev recalled "the famous article 125 of the Constitution which enumerated all basic civil and political rights" in the Soviet Union. But when he and other prisoners attempted to use this as a legal basis for their abuse complaints, their prosecutor's argument

7301-407: The Hungarian authorities (including cases of ethnic Hungarians not recognized as Hungarians). A statistical covering the period from 1 September 1940 to 1 December 1943 indicates a total of 218,919 expelled persons. This included numerous refugees who left their localities of residence out of fear of the new Hungarian administration. On 23 August 1944, when King Michael's Coup turned Romania against

7450-449: The Hungarian census counted the population as 53.5% Hungarians and 39.1% Romanians. The dissimilar ratios were caused by a combination of complex factors such as migration, the assimilation of Jews, and bilingual speakers. According to Hungarian registrations, 100,000 Hungarian refugees had arrived in Hungary from South Transylvania by January 1941. By then, there were a total of 109,532 Romanian refugees from Northern Transylvania. A fall in

7599-454: The Hungarian officials also regularly expelled some Romanian groups from Northern Transylvania. Many Hungarians and Romanians either fled or chose to opt between the two countries. There was a mass exodus; over 100,000 people on both sides of the ethnic and political borders relocated. This continued until 1944. Following the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany on 19 March 1944, Northern Transylvania came under German military occupation. Like

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7748-429: The Kingdom of Hungary, within Austria-Hungary . In 1876, a general administrative reform abolished all the autonomous areas in the Kingdom of Hungary and created a unified system of counties. As a result, the autonomy of the Székely Land came to an end as well. Four counties were created in its place: Udvarhely , Háromszék , Csík , and Maros-Torda . (Only half of the territory of Maros-Torda originally belonged to

7897-481: The Politburo after the deaths of Lenin and Stalin, as well as after Khrushchev's dismissal, itself due to a decision by both the Politburo and the Central Committee. All leaders of the Communist Party before Gorbachev died in office, except Georgy Malenkov and Khrushchev, both dismissed from the party leadership amid internal struggle within the party. Between 1988 and 1990, facing considerable opposition, Mikhail Gorbachev enacted reforms shifting power away from

8046-402: The Roman legions withdrew in 271 AD, it was overrun by a succession of various tribes, bringing it under the control of the Carpi , Visigoths , Huns , Gepids , Avars , and Slavs . During the 9th century, Transylvania came under the rule of the First Bulgarian Empire . The Magyars conquered much of Central Europe at the end of the 9th century and for almost six hundred years, Transylvania

8195-440: The Romanian administration from Northern Transylvania in November 1944 and did not allow them to return until 10 March 1945. On 20 January 1945, Hungary accepted the obligation to evacuate all Hungarian troops and officials from the territory, to retreat to its pre-war borders, and to repeal all legislative and administrative regulations in connection with the incorporation of the territory. The 1947 Paris Peace Treaty reaffirmed

8344-478: The Romanian ethnic ratio in the Székely Land has been decreasing (due to emigration). Târgu Mureș is the home for the largest community of Hungarians in Romania (60,669 in 2011), but the town itself has a Romanian majority (69,702 out of 134,290 inhabitants). Important centers of the Székely Land are Târgu-Mureș ( Marosvásárhely ), Miercurea Ciuc ( Csíkszereda ), Sfântu Gheorghe ( Sepsiszentgyörgy ), and Odorheiu Secuiesc ( Székelyudvarhely ). The following

8493-420: The Russian name of the Soviet Union as СС has been taboo, the reason being that СС as a Russian Cyrillic abbreviation is associated with the infamous Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany , as SS is in English. In English-language media, the state was referred to as the Soviet Union or the USSR. The Russian SFSR dominated the Soviet Union to such an extent that, for most of the Soviet Union's existence, it

8642-450: The Soviet Union and turned into SSRs, which was not recognized by most of the international community and was considered an illegal occupation . After the Soviet invasion of Finland , the Karelo-Finnish SSR was formed on annexed territory as a Union Republic in March 1940 and then incorporated into Russia as the Karelian ASSR in 1956. Between July 1956 and September 1991, there were 15 union republics (see map below). While nominally

8791-477: The Soviet Union . Boris Yeltsin , the leader of the RSFSR, oversaw its reconstitution into the Russian Federation , which became the Soviet Union's successor state; all other republics emerged as fully independent post-Soviet states . During its existence, the Soviet Union produced many significant social and technological achievements and innovations . It had the world's second-largest economy and largest standing military. An NPT-designated state , it wielded

8940-448: The Soviet Union to form its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact , in 1955. Neither side engaged in direct military confrontation, and instead fought on an ideological basis and through proxy wars . In 1953, following Stalin's death , the Soviet Union undertook a campaign of de-Stalinization under Nikita Khrushchev , which saw reversals and rejections of Stalinist policies. This campaign caused tensions with Communist China . During

9089-417: The Soviet Union's priorities changed. Despite previous conflict with the United Kingdom , Vyacheslav Molotov dropped his post war border demands. The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc , which began following World War II in 1945. The term cold war is used because there

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9238-480: The Soviet Union's superpower status, the economy struggled due to its centralized nature, technological backwardness, and inefficiencies. The vast military expenditures and burdens of maintaining the Eastern Bloc, further strained the Soviet economy. In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev 's policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) aimed to revitalize the Soviet system but instead accelerated its unraveling. Nationalist movements gained momentum across

9387-424: The Soviet authorities admitted. The Soviet Union was the world's second largest producer of harmful emissions. In 1988, total emissions in the Soviet Union were about 79% of those in the United States. But since the Soviet GNP was only 54% of that of the United States, this means that the Soviet Union generated 1.5 times more pollution than the United States per unit of GNP. The Soviet Chernobyl disaster in 1986

9536-406: The Soviets, and gained support from the workers and soldiers. After the October Revolution , in which the Bolsheviks seized power from the Provisional Government in the name of the Soviets, Lenin proclaimed the formation of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic (RSFSR). During the Georgian Affair of 1922, Lenin called for the Russian SFSR and other national Soviet republics to form

9685-415: The Supreme Soviet were members of the CPSU. Of the party heads themselves, Stalin (1941–1953) and Khrushchev (1958–1964) were Premiers. Upon the forced retirement of Khrushchev, the party leader was prohibited from this kind of double membership, but the later General Secretaries for at least some part of their tenure occupied the mostly ceremonial position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet ,

9834-443: The Székely Land became a part of Romania in 1920, in accordance with the Treaty of Trianon . In August 1940, as a consequence of the Second Vienna Award , northern territories of Transylvania , including the Székely Land, were returned to Hungary . Northern Transylvania came under the control of Soviet and Romanian forces in 1944, and were confirmed as part of Romania by the Paris Peace Treaties signed after World War II. Under

9983-490: The Székely Land was held on 28 April 1944; it covered the counties of Csík, Háromszék, Maros-Torda and Udvarhely. The area's Jews were ghettoized in Szászrégen ( Reghin ), Sepsiszentgyörgy ( Sfântu Gheorghe ) and Marosvásárhely. Roundups began on 3 May 1944 and were completed within a week. The Hungarian authorities actively participated in the crimes of the Nazis. The Jews ghettoized at Sepsiszentgyörgy were later sent to Szászrégen, whence on 4 June 1944, 3,149 were boarded on

10132-494: The Székely Land. Those Székely Hungarians who possessed degrees were subjected to resettlement. In March 1990, the city of Târgu Mureș witnessed violent clashes between ethnic Romanian and Hungarian groups. After the fall of communism , many hoped that the former Magyar Autonomous Region , abolished by Nicolae Ceauşescu 's regime, would soon be restored. This did not happen; however, there are Székely autonomy initiatives and further efforts from Székely organisations to reach

10281-443: The Székely Land.) The isolated Aranyosszék became a district of Torda-Aranyos county. In December 1918, in the wake of the First World War , Romanian delegates from throughout Transylvania voted to join the Kingdom of Romania . There was an attempt in Udvarhely to found a "Székely republic" on 9 January 1919; however, its creation was unsuccessful. In 1920, by the Treaty of Trianon , Transylvania along with further territories

10430-430: The USSR. Moscow eventually stopped threatening other states, and instead worked to open peaceful relationships in terms of trade, and diplomatic recognition. The United Kingdom dismissed the warnings of Winston Churchill and a few others about a continuing Marxist-Leninist threat, and opened trade relations and de facto diplomatic recognition in 1922. There was hope for a settlement of the pre-war Tsarist debts, but it

10579-409: The Warsaw Pact overthrew their Soviet-backed regimes , and nationalist and separatist movements erupted across the Soviet Union. In 1991, amid efforts to preserve the country as a renewed federation , an attempted coup against Gorbachev by hardline communists prompted the largest republics—Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus—to secede. On December 26, Gorbachev officially recognized the dissolution of

10728-498: The accident, but this led to a relatively low number of deaths (WHO data, 2005). Another major radioactive accident was the Kyshtym disaster . The Kola Peninsula was one of the places with major problems. Around the industrial cities of Monchegorsk and Norilsk , where nickel , for example, is mined, all forests have been destroyed by contamination, while the northern and other parts of Russia have been affected by emissions. During

10877-542: The action of ghettoization of Jews in the Bungăr forest, where 3,700 Jews from Dej and 4,100 Jews from other localities in the area were imprisoned. During the operation of the Dej ghetto , Jews were mistreated, tortured, and starved. The deportation of the Jews to the Nazi death camps was done with freight wagons, in three stages: the first transport on 28 May (when 3,150 Jews were deported),

11026-592: The administrative divisions of Romania—are dissimilar. The exact territory of the present-day Székely Land is not disputed. According to Minahan its territory is approximately 16,943 square kilometres (6,542 sq mi), though the autonomy proposal of the Szekler National Council consists of about 13,000 km . This size is close to the extent of the historical Székely Land, though it does not contain Aranyos Seat . The UDMR 's autonomy project covers

11175-681: The area was under the direct control of the Hungarian state . The Székelys presumably settled in Transylvania in the 12th century from present day Bihar and Bihor counties . Ancient Hungarian legends suggest a connection between the Székelys and Attila's Huns . The origin of the Székely people is still debated. The Székely seats were the traditional self-governing territorial units of the Transylvanian Székelys during medieval times . (Saxons were also organised in seats.) The Seats were not part of

11324-477: The area were drafted into forced labor battalions . For example, 1,200 Jewish males of Marosvásárhely ( Târgu Mureș ) were conscripted between 1941 and 1944; over half died in Ukraine, Poland and Hungary. However, despite discrimination and many casualties, most of the community lived in relative safety until the March 1944 occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany. A conference devoted to the concentration of Jews in

11473-541: The beginning of the 1941/1942 school year, the number of primary schools decreased by 792 units, and in 1940/1941 there was only one high school with Romanian as the language of instruction – the one in Năsăud – and only "seven" Romanian sections within high schools with another language of instruction. The Hungarians of Transylvania welcomed the decisions of the Second Vienna Award , because they considered it

11622-530: The borders between Romania and Hungary, as originally defined in the Treaty of Trianon , 27 years earlier, thus confirming the return of Northern Transylvania to Romania. Northern Transylvania is a diverse region, both in terms of landscape and population. It contains both largely rural areas (such as Bistrița-Năsăud County ) as well as major cities, such as Cluj-Napoca , Oradea , Târgu Mureș , Baia Mare , and Satu Mare . Centers of Hungarian culture, such as Miercurea Ciuc and Sfântu Gheorghe , are also part of

11771-484: The championships under the name HSC Csíkszereda and that year it won its first Erste League title as well. The team's main achievements so far: The Romanian Championship (fifteen times winner): 1949, 1952, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. The Romanian Cup (ten times winner): 1950, 1952, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014. Pannonian League (one-time winner): 2004. Erste League (one-time winner): 2011. The majority of

11920-492: The country was limited. The state restricted rights of citizens to private property . According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , human rights are the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." including the right to life and liberty , freedom of expression , and equality before the law ; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture ,

12069-683: The creation of new state commissions and committees. It gained additional powers relating to the approval of the Five-Year Plans and the government budget . The Supreme Soviet elected a Presidium (successor of the Central Executive Committee ) to wield its power between plenary sessions, ordinarily held twice a year, and appointed the Supreme Court , the Procurator General and the Council of Ministers (known before 1946 as

12218-606: The day, there would have been many more who would have come to our aid (the Romanians), and certainly the number of those killed would be much smaller. There were cases in which Hungarian locals fell victim trying to help the Romanians. Among them was the maid Sarolta Juhász from Mureșenii de Câmpie , who was killed along with the entire family of the town's priest Bujor. Hungary held Northern Transylvania from September 1940 to October 1944. In 1940, ethnic disturbances between Hungarians and Romanians continued after some incidents following

12367-571: The degree of power consolidation, it was either the Politburo as a collective body or the General Secretary, who always was one of the Politburo members, that effectively led the party and the country (except for the period of the highly personalized authority of Stalin, exercised directly through his position in the Council of Ministers rather than the Politburo after 1941). They were not controlled by

12516-542: The duty of the Russian Bolsheviks to protect what they had in Russia, and avoid military confrontations that might destroy their bridgehead. Russia was now a pariah state, along with Germany. The two came to terms in 1922 with the Treaty of Rapallo that settled long-standing grievances. At the same time, the two countries secretly set up training programs for the illegal German army and air force operations at hidden camps in

12665-476: The entrance of the Hungarian Army , culminating in massacres at Treznea and Ip in the first two weeks approximately 1000 Romanians perished. On 5 September 1940, five days after the Second Vienna Award , the first Hungarian military unit crossed the border at Sighetul Marmației . Two Hungarian armies entered the territory of annexed Transylvania: the first army (with a force of 208,000 soldiers) operated in

12814-742: The founding republics who signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR in December 1922. In 1924, during the national delimitation in Central Asia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were formed from parts of Russia's Turkestan ASSR and two Soviet dependencies, the Khorezm and Bukharan PSPs . In 1929, Tajikistan was split off from the Uzbekistan SSR. With the constitution of 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR

12963-410: The general party membership, as the key principle of the party organization was democratic centralism , demanding strict subordination to higher bodies, and elections went uncontested, endorsing the candidates proposed from above. The Communist Party maintained its dominance over the state mainly through its control over the system of appointments . All senior government officials and most deputies of

13112-515: The globe. The post-Stalin leadership, particularly under Nikita Khrushchev , initiated a de-Stalinization process, leading to a period of liberalization and relative openness known as the Khrushchev Thaw . However, the subsequent era under Leonid Brezhnev , referred to as the Era of Stagnation , was marked by economic decline, political corruption, and a rigid gerontocracy . Despite efforts to maintain

13261-588: The government. Extensive extrajudicial powers were given to the Soviet secret police agencies . In practice, the Soviet government significantly curbed the rule of law , civil liberties , protection of law and guarantees of property , which were considered as examples of "bourgeois morality" by Soviet law theorists such as Andrey Vyshinsky . The USSR and other countries in the Soviet Bloc had abstained from affirming

13410-459: The highest bodies of the party and making the Supreme Soviet less dependent on them. The Congress of People's Deputies was established, the majority of whose members were directly elected in competitive elections held in March 1989, the first in Soviet history. The Congress now elected the Supreme Soviet, which became a full-time parliament, and much stronger than before. For the first time since

13559-497: The historical Székely areas. Hungarian authorities subsequently restored the pre-Trianon structure with slight modifications. Ion Gigurtu 's antisemitic laws, the Romanian version of Nuremberg Laws , were replaced by Hungarian ones. The Jews of the Székely Land were subjected to particularly harsh treatment. These individuals had their citizenship status reviewed, many of them being detained. In Csíkszereda ( Miercurea Ciuc ), dozens of families were rounded up and expelled. The men in

13708-463: The implementation of socialist policies and the New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed for market-oriented reforms. The rise of Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s ushered in an era of intense centralization and totalitarianism. Stalin's rule was characterized by the forced collectivization of agriculture , rapid industrialization , and the Great Purge , which eliminated perceived enemies of

13857-613: The issues of minority rights and regional autonomy. Băsescu stated "The Hungarian minority will never be given territorial autonomy." In 2014, the UDMR and the Hungarian Civic Party had a joint autonomy proposal for the Székely Land, but the Szekler National Council also possessed its own suggestion. In 2016, Hans G. Klemm , the United States Ambassador to Romania , together with other local officials, were pictured with

14006-468: The lands inhabited by Székelys . In addition, they robbed and set fire to the homes of Romanians, or tortured and killed Romanians. However, in a few cases, there were also Hungarian locals who were involved in rescuing Romanian families. Among them is the case of Iosif Gáll, who saved several Romanians from death during the Treznea Massacre . A testimony in this regard is that of Gavril Butcovan, one of

14155-488: The latter including Gyergyószék ; Covasna County covers more or less the territory of the former Háromszék ; and what was once Maros-Torda is mostly part of present-day Mureș County . The former Aranyosszék is today divided between Cluj and Alba counties. Nicolae Ceaușescu came to power in 1965. For the next couple of decades, due to the Romanianization efforts, a large number of ethnic Romanians settled in

14304-427: The military service the Székely provided until the beginning of the 18th century . The medieval Székely Land was an alliance of the seven autonomous Székely seats of Udvarhely , Csík , Maros , Sepsi , Kézdi , Orbai and Aranyos . The number of seats later decreased to five, when Sepsi , Kézdi and Orbai seats were united into one territorial unit called Háromszék (literally Three seats ) . The main seat

14453-527: The most common Russian initialization is Союз ССР (transliteration: Soyuz SSR ) which essentially translates to Union of SSRs in English. In addition, the Russian short form name Советский Союз (transliteration: Sovyetsky Soyuz , which literally means Soviet Union ) is also commonly used, but only in its unabbreviated form. Since the start of the Great Patriotic War at the latest, abbreviating

14602-439: The name Magyar Autonomous Region , with Târgu Mureș as capital, parts of the Székely Land enjoyed a certain level of autonomy between 8 September 1952 and 16 February 1968. There are territorial autonomy initiatives with the aim to obtain self-governance for this region within Romania. Szekely Land is located in the middle of modern-day Romania, in eastern Transylvania. Its historical extent and present-day boundaries—set by

14751-483: The name Székely Land denoted the territories of a number of autonomous Székely seats within Transylvania . The self-governing Székely seats had their own administrative system, and existed as legal entities from medieval times until the 1870s. The privileges of the Székely and Saxon seats were abolished and seats were replaced with counties in 1876 . Along with Transylvania and eastern parts of Hungary proper ,

14900-421: The negotiations failed due to a demand for a 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi) territory from the Hungarian side and only an offer of population exchange from the Romanian side. To impede a Hungarian-Romanian war in their "hinterland", the Axis powers pressured both governments to accept their arbitration: the Second Vienna Award , signed on 30 August 1940. Historian Keith Hitchins summarizes

15049-481: The new border imposed by the Second Vienna Award , especially of those considered dangerous or presumably hostile to the new regime. Beginning in 1940, the expulsions were practiced until 1944, when, in September and October, the Hungarian authorities were expelled by the Soviet and Romanian military units. Until 1 January 1941, there were a total of 109,532 Romanian refugees, of which 11,957 were Transylvanians expelled by

15198-472: The newly elected Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR , and communist hardliners. On 19–21 August 1991, a group of hardliners staged a coup attempt . The coup failed, and the State Council of the Soviet Union became the highest organ of state power 'in the period of transition'. Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary, only remaining President for the final months of the existence of the USSR. The judiciary

15347-400: The nominal head of state . The institutions at lower levels were overseen and at times supplanted by primary party organizations . However, in practice the degree of control the party was able to exercise over the state bureaucracy, particularly after the death of Stalin, was far from total, with the bureaucracy pursuing different interests that were at times in conflict with the party, nor

15496-552: The northeastern part of Transylvania, while the second army (with a staff of 102,000 soldiers) operated in the Oradea - Cluj area. On the first day, the main occupied cities were Carei , Satu Mare , Sighetul Marmației, and Ocna Șugatag . Nine stages of progress were established, each over a distance of 40-80 kilometers. The last localities taken over, on 13 September 1940, were Sfântu Gheorghe and Târgu Secuiesc . The advance of Hungarian units took place in peaceful conditions, with only

15645-468: The occupation of Northern Transylvania in the autumn of 1940, the Romanian population was targeted for reprisal actions by Hungarian nationalists. Military abuses, illegal arrests, torture, lynchings, summary executions, and the aggressive arrogance of the representatives of the new administrative structures occurred. In a statistical report of the State Secretariat for Nationalities, from Bucharest, on

15794-603: The official Soviet system of importance (ground forces were second, Air Force fourth, and Navy fifth). The army had the greatest political influence. In 1989, there served two million soldiers divided between 150 motorized and 52 armored divisions. Until the early 1960s, the Soviet navy was a rather small military branch, but after the Caribbean crisis , under the leadership of Sergei Gorshkov , it expanded significantly. It became known for battlecruisers and submarines. In 1989, there served 500 000 men. The Soviet Air Force focused on

15943-589: The only legal party and the final policymaker in the country. At the top of the Communist Party was the Central Committee , elected at Party Congresses and Conferences. In turn, the Central Committee voted for a Politburo (called the Presidium between 1952 and 1966), Secretariat and the general secretary (First Secretary from 1953 to 1966), the de facto highest office in the Soviet Union. Depending on

16092-677: The other order until 1936 . In addition, in the regional languages of several republics, the word council or conciliar in the respective language was only quite late changed to an adaptation of the Russian soviet and never in others, e.g. Ukrainian SSR . СССР (in the Latin alphabet: SSSR ) is the abbreviation of the Russian-language cognate of USSR, as written in Cyrillic letters . The Soviets used this abbreviation so frequently that audiences worldwide became familiar with its meaning. After this,

16241-560: The partition of Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II . Up until his death in 1953, Joseph Stalin controlled all foreign relations of the Soviet Union during the interwar period . Despite the increasing build-up of Germany 's war machine and the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , the Soviet Union did not cooperate with any other nation, choosing to follow its own path. However, after Operation Barbarossa ,

16390-529: The party's highest body the Politburo . Operations were handled by the separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs . It was known as the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (or Narkomindel), until 1946. The most influential spokesmen were Georgy Chicherin (1872–1936), Maxim Litvinov (1876–1951), Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), Andrey Vyshinsky (1883–1954) and Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989). Intellectuals were based in

16539-438: The presence of minorities in political life being repressed. The election of Hungarians was consistently nullified. The place-names were subjected to Romanianization. The minority languages were excised from official life and the local authorities were mostly led by appointed ethnic Romanians. In 1940, as a result of the Second Vienna Award , Northern Transylvania became part of Hungary again; this territory included most of

16688-473: The provinces of Dacia Porolissensis, Dacia Apulensis and Meuse and fortified with numerous camps such as those at Inlăceni ( Praetoria Augusta) and Sânpaul (Harghita county) Breţcu (Angustia) and Oltenia (Covasna county) or Brâncoveneşti and Călugăreni (Mureș county). After the fall of Roman Dacia , the present-day territory of the Székely Land became part of the Thervingi kingdom " Gutthiuda " . The migration of

16837-507: The region. An important tourist destination is Maramureș County , an area known for its beautiful rural scenery, local small woodwork, including wooden churches, its craftwork industry, and its original rural architecture. Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ), commonly known as the Soviet Union , was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. During its existence, it

16986-485: The second on 6 June (when 3,360 Jews were deported), and the third on 8 June (when the last 1,364 Jews were deported). Most of those deported were exterminated in the Auschwitz–Birkenau camp, with just over 800 deportees surviving. The Kolozsvár Ghetto (in what is now Cluj-Napoca ) was initiated on 3 May, and was put under the command of László Urbán, the local police chief. The ghetto, comprising about 18,000 Jews,

17135-526: The situation created by the award: The Hungarian population was in the unusual situation of being an overwhelming majority in an area of southeastern Transylvania, deep within Romania and far from the Hungarian border (the area, known as Székely Land , is today mainly in Harghita , Covasna , and Mureș counties), and not simply only in certain areas next to the Hungarian border (as in the case of Czechoslovakia and Bačka or Baranya ). The solution decided upon

17284-688: The situation in Northern Transylvania from 30 August 1940 to 1 November 1941, 919 murders, 1,126 maimings, 4,126 beatings, 15,893 arrests, 124 desecrations, 78 and 447 collective and individual devastations are mentioned. A few days after the installation, the occupation authorities started deporting the Romanians to the camps. According to a report by the camp commander in the town of Püspökladány , it turns out that 1,315 Romanians were interned in that camp alone in September 1940, well above its maximum capacity. Consequently, that same month, other camps were established at Someșeni and Florești , near Cluj . There were also mass expulsions of ethnic Romanians across

17433-689: The state. The Soviet Union played a crucial role in the Allied victory in World War II , but at a tremendous human cost, with millions of Soviet citizens perishing in the conflict. The Soviet Union emerged as one of the world's two superpowers, leading the Eastern Bloc in opposition to the Western Bloc during the Cold War . This period saw the USSR engage in an arms race, the Space Race , and proxy wars around

17582-469: The struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare , propaganda campaigns, espionage , far-reaching embargoes , rivalry at sports events and technological competitions such as the Space Race . Constitutionally, the USSR was a federation of constituent Union Republics, which were either unitary states, such as Ukraine or Byelorussia (SSRs), or federations, such as Russia or Transcaucasia (SFSRs), all four being

17731-574: The survivors of the drama in Ip commune, Sălaj: I have to tell you the truth to the end. Not all my countrymen made a deal with the Horthyist criminals. There were also Hungarians who came to defend Romanian families, putting their lives in danger through this gesture. Thus, at least three Romanian families were saved from the murderous hands of the Horthyists. Certainly, if the criminal action had taken place during

17880-567: The total population suggests that a further 40,000 to 50,000 Romanians moved from North Transylvania to South Transylvania, including refugees who were omitted from the official registration for various reasons. Additionally, Hungarian gains by assimilation were balanced by losses for other groups of native speakers, such as Jews. In the counties of Máramaros and Szatmár , dozens of settlements had many people who had declared themselves as Romanian but now identified themselves as Hungarian, although they had not spoken any Hungarian even in 1910. After

18029-456: The traditional Hungarian county system, and their inhabitants enjoyed a higher level of freedom (especially until the 18th century) than those living in the counties . From the 12th and 13th centuries, the Székely Land enjoyed a considerable but varying amount of autonomy, first as a part of the Kingdom of Hungary , then inside the Principality of Transylvania . The autonomy was largely due to

18178-492: The truth". Human rights in the Soviet Union were severely limited. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state from 1927 until 1953 and a one-party state until 1990. Freedom of speech was suppressed and dissent was punished. Independent political activities were not tolerated, whether these involved participation in free labour unions , private corporations , independent churches or opposition political parties . The freedom of movement within and especially outside

18327-514: The west further raised concerns. In the past, there were accidents involving submarines K-19 , K-8 , a K-129 , K-27 , K-219 and K-278 Komsomolets . There were three power hierarchies in the Soviet Union: the legislature represented by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union , the government represented by the Council of Ministers , and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),

18476-459: The world's largest lakes; the Caspian Sea (shared with Iran ), and Lake Baikal , the world's largest (by volume) and deepest freshwater lake that is also an internal body of water in Russia. Neighbouring countries were aware of the high levels of pollution in the Soviet Union but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was discovered that its environmental problems were greater than what

18625-519: Was Udvarhely seat, which was also called the Principal seat ( Latin : Capitalis Sedes ) At Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc) were held many national assemblies of the Székelys A known exception is the 1554 assembly, which took place at Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș) Due to the Ottoman conquest Transylvania became a semi-independent polity. From the end of the 17th century, Transylvania became part of

18774-607: Was a coastline . The country bordered Afghanistan , the People's Republic of China , Czechoslovakia , Finland , Hungary , Iran , Mongolia , North Korea , Norway , Poland , Romania , and Turkey from 1945 to 1991. The Bering Strait separated the USSR from the United States . The country's highest mountain was Communism Peak (now Ismoil Somoni Peak ) in Tajikistan , at 7,495 metres (24,590 ft). The USSR also included most of

18923-631: Was a voivodeship in the Kingdom of Hungary . After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 and the Hungarian defeat by the Ottomans , Transylvania became a semi-independent principality under the rule of the local Hungarian nobility , but owing suzerainty to the Ottoman Empire . It then became a province of the Habsburg monarchy as the Lands of the Hungarian Crown , and after 1848, and again from 1867 to 1918 it

19072-524: Was also the industrial center of the Soviet Union. Historian Matthew White wrote that it was an open secret that the country's federal structure was 'window dressing' for Russian dominance. For that reason, the people of the USSR were usually called 'Russians', not 'Soviets', since 'everyone knew who really ran the show'. Under the Military Law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of

19221-480: Was brought under strict party control after Stalin's death. Under Yuri Andropov , the KGB engaged in the suppression of political dissent and maintained an extensive network of informers, reasserting itself as a political actor to some extent independent of the party-state structure, culminating in the anti-corruption campaign targeting high-ranking party officials in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The constitution , which

19370-528: Was carried out within the terms of the Soviet Civil Code. Some Soviet legal scholars even said that "criminal repression" may be applied in the absence of guilt. Martin Latsis , chief of Soviet Ukraine 's secret police explained: "Do not look in the file of incriminating evidence to see whether or not the accused rose up against the Soviets with arms or words. Ask him instead to which class he belongs, what

19519-525: Was colloquially, but incorrectly, referred to as Russia . The history of the Soviet Union began with the ideals of the Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War , the Soviet Union quickly became a one-party state under the Communist Party . Its early years under Lenin were marked by

19668-429: Was created in 1952 under the Soviets' pressure, which encompassed most of the land inhabited by the Székelys. In 1960, the region was renamed to Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region. It was abolished in 1968, when Romania, following an administrative reform , returned to its traditional local administrative system based on counties . Roughly speaking, present-day Harghita County encompasses the former Udvarhely and Csík ,

19817-404: Was dissolved, resulting in its constituent republics of Armenia , Georgia and Azerbaijan being elevated to Union Republics, while Kazakhstan and Kirghizia were split off from the Russian SFSR, resulting in the same status. In August 1940, Moldavia was formed from parts of Ukraine and Soviet-occupied Bessarabia , and Ukrainian SSR. Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania were also annexed by

19966-449: Was expelled from these territories in October due to the activities of the Romanian paramilitary groups created in the area to avenge the atrocities committed by the Hungarians against the Romanians during the Hungarian rule in Northern Transylvania. For instance, the so-called Iuliu Maniu Guards terrorized the Székely villages, butchered the local Hungarians by axe and hatchet and operated

20115-523: Was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary within the Austro-Hungarian Empire . The dual monarchy dissolved after World War I . The ethnic Romanians , who formed the majority population of Transylvania , elected representatives who proclaimed the Union with Romania on 1 December 1918. The Proclamation of Union at Alba Iulia was adopted by the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania during

20264-772: Was liquidated in six transports to Auschwitz, with the first deportation occurring on 25 May, and the last one on 9 June. Other ghettoes that were set up in Northern Transylvania during this period were the Oradea ghetto (the largest one, with 35,000 Jews), the Baia Mare ghetto , the Bistrița ghetto , the Cehei ghetto , the Reghin ghetto , the Satu Mare ghetto , and the Sfântu Gheorghe ghetto . After King Michael's Coup of 23 August 1944, Romania left

20413-424: Was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers , but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars . The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment,

20562-468: Was not accepted by all within the Russian Republic , resulting in the Russian Civil War . The RSFSR and its subordinate republics were merged into the Soviet Union in 1922. Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin came to power, inaugurating rapid industrialization and forced collectivization that led to significant economic growth but contributed to a famine between 1930 and 1933 that killed millions. The Soviet forced labour camp system of

20711-450: Was not independent of the other branches of government. The Supreme Court supervised the lower courts ( People's Court ) and applied the law as established by the constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviewed the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union used the inquisitorial system of Roman law , where the judge, procurator , and defence attorney collaborate to "establish

20860-410: Was occupied by the Allied forces by late October 1944. On 25 October, at the Battle of Carei , units of the Romanian 4th Army under the command of General Gheorghe Avramescu defeated the last remaining Hungarian and German troops in the area and took control of the last piece of the territory ceded in 1940 to Hungary. However, due to the activities of Romanian paramilitary forces, the Soviets expelled

21009-406: Was officially ceded to the Kingdom of Romania . The Romanian language officially replaced Hungarian in the Székely Land, but Székely county boundaries were preserved, and Székely districts were able to elect their own officials at local level and to preserve Hungarian-language education. After 1930, the Romanian authorities began to Romanianize the Hungarian population of the Székely Land, with

21158-433: Was promulgated in 1924 , 1936 and 1977 , did not limit state power. No formal separation of powers existed between the Party, Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers that represented executive and legislative branches of the government. The system was governed less by statute than by informal conventions, and no settled mechanism of leadership succession existed. Bitter and at times deadly power struggles took place in

21307-477: Was repeatedly postponed. Formal recognition came when the new Labour Party came to power in 1924. All the other countries followed suit in opening trade relations. Henry Ford opened large-scale business relations with the Soviets in the late 1920s, hoping that it would lead to long-term peace. Finally, in 1933, the United States officially recognized the USSR, a decision backed by the public opinion and especially by US business interests that expected an opening of

21456-482: Was that "the Constitution was written not for you, but for American Negroes, so that they know how happy the lives of Soviet citizens are". Crime was determined not as the infraction of law, instead, it was determined as any action which could threaten the Soviet state and society. For example, a desire to make a profit could be interpreted as a counter-revolutionary activity punishable by death. The liquidation and deportation of millions of peasants in 1928–31

21605-413: Was the largest country by area , extending across eleven time zones and sharing borders with twelve countries , and the third-most populous country . An overall successor to the Russian Empire , it was nominally organized as a federal union of national republics , the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR . In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized . As

21754-506: Was the Russian responsibility to assist them. The Comintern was the weapon of choice. A few revolutions did break out, but they were quickly suppressed (the longest lasting one was in Hungary)—the Hungarian Soviet Republic —lasted only from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919. The Russian Bolsheviks were in no position to give any help. By 1921, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin realized that capitalism had stabilized itself in Europe and there would not be any widespread revolutions anytime soon. It became

21903-404: Was the first major accident at a civilian nuclear power plant . Unparalleled in the world, it resulted in a large number of radioactive isotopes being released into the atmosphere. Radioactive doses were scattered relatively far. Although long-term effects of the accident were unknown, 4,000 new cases of thyroid cancer which resulted from the accident's contamination were reported at the time of

22052-431: Was the party itself monolithic from top to bottom, although factions were officially banned . The Supreme Soviet (successor of the Congress of Soviets ) was nominally the highest state body for most of the Soviet history, at first acting as a rubber stamp institution, approving and implementing all decisions made by the party. However, its powers and functions were extended in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including

22201-418: Was to gouge a claw-shaped corridor through northwestern Romania, including a large Romanian-populated area, in order to incorporate this Hungarian-majority area within Hungary. Population of Northern Transylvania, as per 1930 Romanian census : According to Romanian estimates of the region before the arbitration in 1940, there were 1,304,903 Romanians (50.2%) and 978,074 (37.1%) Hungarians . One year later,

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