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
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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)
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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)