National Anthem of the Soviet Union

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

National Anthem of the Soviet Union

Top
Государственный гимн СССР
English: The National Anthem of the Soviet Union
Gosudarstvenny Gimn SSSR
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union

anthem of
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Russian SFSR
Soviet Union Soviet Union

Lyrics Sergey Mikhalkov, 1943 and 1977
Music Alexander Alexandrov, 1938 (?)
Adopted 1 January 1944
1 September 1977 (new version)
Relinquished 26 December 1991
(as anthem of the Soviet Union)
23 November 1990
(as anthem of the Russian SFSR)
Music sample

The National Anthem of the Soviet Union, the State Anthem of the USSR (Russian: Государственный гимн СССР, Gosudarstvenny Gimn SSSR) was introduced during World War II on March 15, 1944, replacing The Internationale as the official national anthem of the Soviet Union as well as the national anthem of the Russian SFSR. The lyrics were written by Sergey Mikhalkov (1913–2009) in collaboration with Gabriel El-Registan (1899–1945) and the music was composed by Alexander Alexandrov (1883–1946). It was believed that Soviet soldiers would respond more to an anthem that was dedicated only to the Soviet Union rather than to a worldwide movement. The song was originally written as the Anthem of the Bolshevik Party with lyrics in the Alexandrine meter by Vasily Lebedev-Kumach in 1939.

Contents

History

The Anthem of the Soviet Union was played for the first time on the Soviet radio at midnight of the 1 January 1944.[1] The 1944 lyrics had three different refrains following three different stanzas; in each refrain, the second line was consequently modified with references to friendship, then happiness and finally to glory. Later on, in 1977, these refrains were replaced by a uniform refrain following all stanzas. Joseph Stalin was originally mentioned in the lyrics; however, after his death in 1953 and the process of De-Stalinization, the lyrics referring to Stalin were considered unacceptable. Because of this, from that time until 1977, the anthem was played without lyrics. Revised lyrics without the references to Stalin and World War II were approved in 1977.

Use in the Russian Federation

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation adopted a new national anthem called Patriotic Song without any lyrics, although there were suggestions for adopting them. As a result, a few different versions were produced.[2] In 2000, the music of the Soviet national anthem was restored with Sergey Mikhalkov writing the new lyrics. See National Anthem of Russia.

State Union of Russia and Belarus

Also, the same music was used for a proposal of the anthem of the State Union of Russia and Belarus entitled Derzhavny Soyuz Narodov (Union of Sovereign Nations). Although never officially adopted, the lyrics of that piece were not tied to any specific nationality, and could be adopted for a broader union. However, there appears to be no plans to utilize that piece in any official role. The anthem also had official versions in the languages of every Soviet republic and in several other Soviet languages.


Lyrics

See also

References

External links



Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights: