The Soviet Union

The Soviet Union or USSR(see the Soviets), is a transcontinental country spanning much of Eurasia and was founded on 30 December 1922 by the Congress of Soviets. A leading communist state, it is nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics (stretching from Eastern Europe, such as the Baltic states, to the border of China, including Kazakhstan). Since 1929, following the death of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Lenin, in 1924 and due to internal power struggles, the USSR has been led by the ‘Little Father of the Peoples’, Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, better known by his revolutionary name: Joseph Stalin (the ‘Iron Man’).

A statesman who was both respected and feared, he sought to rally Europe under the red banner. But standing in his way were the democracies of Europe, which were not inclined to listen to his expansionist ambitions. So Stalin decided to unleash a new conflict in Europe – following the Great War of 1914–1918. He sent the forces of the Red Army to conquer what he believed was rightfully his and thus to ‘liberate’ the peoples of Europe. Following the start of the invasion, the European forces decided to join forces against a common enemy, supported by other external powers such as the United States; they were known as the Allied Forces.

After the First World War and under Stalin’s leadership, Russian armaments programmes and military doctrines shifted towards heavy, slow… but resilient, backed by a vast army of Red Army Conscripts. This led to the emergence of imposing Heavy Tanks, far more powerful than their Allied counterparts… Or worse still, the colossal Mammoth Tank. The Soviets’ preferred area of research during the conflict was flamethrowers, which led to the emergence of flamethrower soldiers and flamethrower turrets, used to defend Soviet bases. But what really cemented the reputation of Soviet engineers during the conflict was the realisation of research carried out by the Engineer after whom these weapons are named: the Serbian Nikola Tesla. From the terrifying Tesla Tank, the bane of every Allied Soldier, to its cousin, the Tesla Tower, whose electric current is far from kind to any intruder...