Russia Becomes a World Power

• The government takeover by Russian political radicals ignited a spark of actual and potential "workers' revolutions" across the globe, with socialist political parties and candidates beginning to seriously threaten the powerful elites in democratic and imperial societies. This success immediately made Russia a relevant, powerful country again, after its defeat in WWI. As it ended a serf system that tied peasants to land, the new government sought to revive the stagnant industrial development and bring Russia into competition with the major industrial powers of continental Europe.
  
  

Defeat of Nazi Germany

• This rapid modernization included a modern standing army, which could command vast amounts of manpower that other European powers could not. Because the Soviet state enforced the precepts of conscription and universal suffrage, men and women (no other Eurasian nation forcibly conscripted women into combat roles) were brought to bear against Nazi forces marching on Soviet territory in the Eastern front, the bloodiest front in World War II. This tremendous effort caused a dramatic weakening of Hitler's Germany and contributed greatly to its defeat.
  
  

Baltic Independence

• Three of the current modern Baltic states -- Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia -- were formed due to the civil turmoil in Russia and the daily stresses of war-torn Germany, being attacked on all sides by the Allied forces. The Brest-Livosk Treaty, signed in 1918 to officially end WWI, was used by the combined diplomatic efforts of the Baltic states to scare the Allied powers into taking the imperial ambitions of the major powers seriously and guarantee the independence of these newly formed nations.
  
  

Spread of Communist Ideals

• Cultural re-education under the Soviets stressed that national boundaries are unimportant, but class boundaries are of paramount importance. Included in the widespread recognition of the dignity of class peers was an emphasis on formal education in the sciences, medicine and language, which had a net gain on disseminating the ideology to various countries across the world. Secondary education or military service were compulsory for Soviet citizens of a particular age.