Editing History of Russia (section)

===Creation of the Soviet Union===
[[File:19191107-lenin second anniversary october revolution moscow.jpg|thumb|left|[[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]] and [[Lev Kamenev|Kamenev]] celebrating the second anniversary of the October Revolution]]
[[File:Lenin and stalin crop.jpg|thumb|Lenin and Stalin at [[Gorki Leninskiye|Gorki]] (1922)]]

The [[Soviet Union]], established in December 1922 by the leaders of the Russian Communist Party,<ref>"[http://library.thinkquest.org/27629/themes/society/rsussr.html Tsar Killed, USSR Formed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019221033/http://library.thinkquest.org/27629/themes/society/rsussr.html |date=19 October 2012 }}," in ''20th Century Russia''. Retrieved 21 July 2007.</ref> was roughly coterminous with Russia before the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]. At that time, the new nation included four constituent republics: the [[Russian SFSR]], the [[Ukrainian SSR]], the [[Belarusian SSR]], and the [[Transcaucasian SFSR]].<ref>Soviet Union Information Bureau, [http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/1928/sufds/ch01.htm Area and Population] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903221828/https://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/1928/sufds/ch01.htm |date=3 September 2017 }}. Retrieved 21 July 2007.</ref>

The constitution, adopted in 1924, established a federal system of government based on a pyramid of soviets in each constituent republic which culminated in the All-Union Congress of Soviets. However, while it appeared that the congress exercised sovereign power, this body was actually governed by the Communist Party, which in turn was controlled by the [[Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee|Politburo]] from Moscow.