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Curated category

Former socialist republics

  • East GermanyOn the 7th of October 1949, the German Democratic Republic officially came into existence within the Soviet occupation zone.
  • North VietnamOn the 2nd of September 1945, Hồ Chí Minh stood before a crowd in Ba Dinh Square and declared independence. He proclaimed the creation of the Democratic…
  • Socialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaOn the 29th of November 1943, the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia met in Partisan-liberated Jajce to declare Democratic…
  • Socialist Republic of RomaniaOn the 6th of March 1945, a new pro-Soviet government took power in Bucharest after mass demonstrations by communist sympathizers and intense political…
  • Republic of MahabadIn late August 1941, Allied forces invaded Iran and the Soviet Union took control of the northern region. The absence of a central government in Tehran…
  • Hungarian People's RepublicThe Red Army entered Hungary in 1945 and seized control of the country's political affairs shortly after World War II ended.
  • Azerbaijan People's GovernmentBritish and Soviet troops jointly occupied Iran in August 1941 to supply war material. Soviet forces entered Iranian territory from the Armenian SSR and the…
  • Ba'athist IraqAt 03:00 on the morning of the 17th of July 1968, tanks halted in front of the Presidential Palace in Baghdad. Telephone lines were cut across the city as…
  • Kazakh Soviet Socialist RepublicThe Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic emerged on the 5th of December 1936, transforming from the earlier Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
  • Czechoslovak Socialist RepublicOn the 25th of February 1948, President Edvard Beneš capitulated to Soviet pressure and appointed a Communist-dominated government.
  • Polish People's RepublicIn February 1945, the Red Army occupied the entire country of Poland. Joseph Stalin presented his Western allies with a fait accompli at the Yalta Conference.
  • Ukrainian Soviet Socialist RepublicThe Bolsheviks convened a separate congress and declared the first Soviet Republic of Ukraine on the 24th of December 1917.
  • Republics of the Soviet UnionArticle 76 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution defined a Union Republic as "a sovereign Soviet socialist state which has united with the other Soviet republics…
  • Russian Soviet Federative Socialist RepublicOn the 7th of November 1917, the Russian Soviet Republic emerged as a sovereign state following the October Revolution. This event marked the creation of the…
  • Byelorussian Soviet Socialist RepublicMinsk fell to Bolshevik forces on the 10th of December 1918. This event marked a turning point after years of shifting control during World War I and the…
  • Mongolian People's RepublicIn July 1921, cavalry under Damdin Sükhbaatar captured the capital of Mongolia with Soviet troop support. This event marked the Mongolian People's Revolution…
  • People's Republic of BulgariaOn the 9th of September, communist guerrillas launched a coup d'état which de facto ended the rule of the Bulgarian monarchy.
  • People's Socialist Republic of AlbaniaOn the 29th of November 1944, partisan forces entered the capital city of Tirana to liberate Albania from Axis occupation.
  • Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet RepublicThe Russian Empire dissolved in 1918, leaving the Caucasus provinces to form their own Transcaucasian Federation. This new state lasted only two months…
  • Soviet UnionIn November 1917, Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks to seize power from the Provisional Government in Petrograd. Workers and soldiers had formed councils…
  • MyanmarArchaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in the region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago. The first evidence of Homo sapiens is…