The military history of the Soviet Union began in the early days following the 1917 October Revolution and the creation of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, which joined with other former provinces of the Russian Empire to become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. In the 1940s, the Soviet Union took part in World War II, assisting in the defeat of Nazi Germany and militarily occupied many former Axis nations in eastern Europe, which formed its satellite states in the Soviet bloc. Following the end of World War II, the Soviet Union became one of two superpowers, rivaling the United States. The Cold War between the two nations led to Soviet military buildups, the arms race, and the Space Race. By the early 1980s, the Soviet armed forces were the world's largest by every measure—in number of weapons, in manpower, and in size of their military-industrial base. In the end, the Soviet Union fell in 1991 due to economic and political factors rather than due to military defeat.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_the_Soviet_Union
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1306: Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland at the Scone Palace in Perth. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_I_of_Scotland)
1634: The English colony of Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore and a group of Catholic settlers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland)
1655: Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan, the largest natural satellite of the planet Saturn. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_%28moon%29)
1957: West Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, France and Belgium signed the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Community)
1995: Ward Cunningham established the first wiki site, the Portland Pattern Repository. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
"If those who lead you say, 'See, the Kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty." -- Yeshua (Jesus Christ) (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ)