The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик), commonly referred to as the Soviet Union or USSR, was a global superpower that existed from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It consisted of a conglomerate of soviet republics - it is implied through the Arma Universe that, prior to independence, Chernarus was an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Russian SFSR[1], and that Livonia was an SSR in its own right from 1940 until achieving independence in the Singing Revolution of 1991[2], paralleling the real-life Baltic States.
Early History[ | ]
Chernarus, as possibly the smallest republic in the entire USSR, was speculated to have joined the Soviet Union in December of 1922, when the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR was signed in Moscow by Soviet Ukraine, Russia, Byelorussia, and the Transcaucasian SFSR. However, it is also possible that Chernarus was was merged into the Russian SFSR just prior to the creation of the Soviet Union, and was then created as a new soviet republic sometime in the 1920's into the 1930's. It is unknown as to what kind of state Chernarus was in during the early Russian Civil War, whether it was short lived independent state, a puppet state of the Soviet Russia (RSFSR), or an allied state of the Russian White Movement.
There is also very little information regarding the historical events of Chernarus as a soviet republic, however, some context can be drawn from some of the memorials and monuments scattered around the countryside. It is clear that Chernarus took part in the Second World War. In Soviet Historiography, the term "Great Patriotic War" was the official name used by the Soviet Union to refer to its war with Nazi Germany between 1941-1945. This date can be seen on various war monuments in Chernarus. It can also be speculated that a significant amount of the Chernarussian population was killed during the German invasion, and that a fair amount of ethnic Chernarussian's serving in the Red Army died in the war, an estimated number of 10 million Red Army soldiers lost their lives during the war. The death count of the entire soviet population is believed to be around 28 million, which had a serious impact on the way of life for the soviet people. World War Two monuments are scattered all around South Zagoria, such as T-34 tank statues, memorials with the names of those who died in the war and a statue of a soldier bearing a PPSh-41 submachine gun.
Chernarussian partisans also took part in the war against Germany, which is a clear indicator that Chernarus was under German occupation for an unknown amount of time. There is a unique statue located in Severograd and Chernogorsk, which displays a Soviet Partisan holding a Mosin 9130 in his hands. The memorial is accompanied by two stone plaques with the engraved names of those who lost their lives, and a five-pointed star eternal flame.
Cold War[ | ]
During the Cold War the USSR came close to using nuclear weapons in a retaliatory strike against the United States. The rogue Soviet general Aleksei Vasilii Guba sent Soviet troops in the Malden islands (North Sea) in Bohemia Interactive's first game (Operation Flashpoint), set in 1985. This was after he went rogue due to being denied power to attempt such a ridiculous attack and the Soviet Union's politburo allowance of more democratic reforms to take place than the traditional communist way like Guba liked. This almost started the third world war, and many Soviet troops and American troops died in this conflict but was resolved not to long after, Guba's statue can be seen in 3 different places in South Zagoria which is known as the Commissar Statue, the reason why his statue is in Chernarus after all those years from the collapse of the Soviet Union is unknown.
Collapse[ | ]
After the last leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev was declared the leader of the USSR in 1985, his democratic reforms allowed such freedoms never before seen in the USSR, other republics were doing well until the Soviet economy was almost destroyed from mass spending of weapons, such being nuclear weapons. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the recent and final war the Soviet Union was involved in, the Soviet-Afghan war and many other reasons started to create the downfall and people wanted more freedoms. Communism by this time had died in Europe and Central Asia, and Chernarus gained independence like all the other republics did in 1991. Chernarus was created as a democratic republic, it started off rough and suffered a civil war in Autumn of 2009, which had mainly had been driven by the Communist group known as the Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star that wanted to restore the former soviet lifestyle to the entire country.
Affects To Chernarus In The Modern Perspective[ | ]
The Soviet Union in return did modernized the country due to its size, geographical location, and natural resources. Cities like Elektrozavodsk were created by the Soviet Union to regulate manufacturing and electricity throughout the province of South Zagoria in the Chernarussian ASSR. Chernogorsk was a small fishing town before the Soviet Union turned it into a giant fishing port as the means of regulation of sea food through out the USSR, the Green Sea is the major mass of water that surrounds Chernarus. Soviet apartments housed massive amounts of people in order to gain growth of cities like Chernogorsk, the most notable of the Soviet Union affecting the modern day of life was the apartment commuter towns outside Chernogorsk is Dubovo, Novoselki, and Vysotovo. Smaller but more large in size commuter towns can be seen in the city of Novodmitrovsk.
The Chernarussian Civil war of 2009 mainly caused by a communist movement know as the Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star was inspired by the USSR, by mostly former soviet citizens who felt that they wanted to live in a communist state once again like in their early years, support was rampant in South Zagoria and it left a scar on the nation before the outbreak had taken it's coarse.
Gallery[ | ]
- ↑ Overview of Chernarus on the Arma 2 official website
- ↑ Contact DLC loading screen: "Livonia was part of the Soviet Union from 1940. It gained its independence in 1991, during the Singing Revolution."