Unveiling the Inner Workings of the Soviet Union 🇷🇺
Discover how the USSR truly operated behind the propaganda — exploring its contradictions, government structure, and daily life under communist rule.

Look Back History
227.2K views • May 15, 2023

About this video
How did the Soviet Union actually function? The USSR was a country of contradictions. It was a state purportedly founded to serve the interests of the working proletariat but that was always ruled either by a small elite (the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) or by one man alone, as it was under the dictator Joseph Stalin. In theory, the Soviet people had votes and a voice, but in practice, a group of about 20, the Politburo, made all major government policies and were accountable only to the party.
Subscribe for more history:
https://www.youtube.com/c/LookBackHistory?sub_confirmation=1
More Videos:
How Did the Russian Empire Actually Work?: https://youtu.be/cX05zNqzAmE
Why Did the Kaiser HAVE to Abdicate in 1918?: https://youtu.be/r5HqIhyXzvg
What Caused Division in Cyprus?: https://youtu.be/MWclccE5okY
How Did the Allies Divide Germany?: https://youtu.be/OVsDc7fUiHQ
What Caused the Iranian Revolution?: https://youtu.be/nd4jqfrubeY
Sources Consulted:
“1936 Constitution of the USSR, TOC.” Accessed May 3, 2023. http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/1936toc.html.
Derbyshire, Ian. Politics in the Soviet Union: From Brezhnev to Gorbachev. Cambridge: W&R Chambers LTD, 1987.
Marx, Karl & Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Translated by Samuel Moore (1885). Introduction and notes by A J P Taylor. London: Penguin Group, 1985.
Miller, Stuart T. Mastering Modern European History. London: Macmillan Education LTD, 1990.
O’Neil, Patrick H et al. Cases in Comparative Politics: Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.
Pipes, Richard. The Three Whys of the Russian Revolution. London: Pimlico, 1998.
Subscribe for more history:
https://www.youtube.com/c/LookBackHistory?sub_confirmation=1
More Videos:
How Did the Russian Empire Actually Work?: https://youtu.be/cX05zNqzAmE
Why Did the Kaiser HAVE to Abdicate in 1918?: https://youtu.be/r5HqIhyXzvg
What Caused Division in Cyprus?: https://youtu.be/MWclccE5okY
How Did the Allies Divide Germany?: https://youtu.be/OVsDc7fUiHQ
What Caused the Iranian Revolution?: https://youtu.be/nd4jqfrubeY
Sources Consulted:
“1936 Constitution of the USSR, TOC.” Accessed May 3, 2023. http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/1936toc.html.
Derbyshire, Ian. Politics in the Soviet Union: From Brezhnev to Gorbachev. Cambridge: W&R Chambers LTD, 1987.
Marx, Karl & Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Translated by Samuel Moore (1885). Introduction and notes by A J P Taylor. London: Penguin Group, 1985.
Miller, Stuart T. Mastering Modern European History. London: Macmillan Education LTD, 1990.
O’Neil, Patrick H et al. Cases in Comparative Politics: Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.
Pipes, Richard. The Three Whys of the Russian Revolution. London: Pimlico, 1998.
Tags and Topics
Browse our collection to discover more content in these categories.
Video Information
Views
227.2K
Likes
5.6K
Duration
9:15
Published
May 15, 2023
User Reviews
4.7
(45) Related Trending Topics
LIVE TRENDSRelated trending topics. Click any trend to explore more videos.
Trending Now