After the USSR suffered such tremendous losses in World War 2 how did it become a world power after the war?

Answer 1

Complex Question! Despite the huge losses of life and material the USSR suffered during the war, the Soviet Union occupied a huge swath of Eastern Europe, and had a very large and effective military under its command. The very strong central Communist administration, although tyranical under Stalin, ensured that political/economic collapse would not result. World powers arise because of many factors such as their economic strength, ideology and military power. Although the Soviet Union was weaker than the West in an economic sense (excluding warmaking potential), it was very strong ideologically and was very strong in a military sense. The Soviet Union remade Eastern Europe, moving millions of people and shifting borders, into its own defensive and economic bloc, ensuring her status as a world power of the first order after the war. No one can underestimate the resourcefullness and unflagging will of the Russian/Soviet bloc peoples as well, who suffered and rebuilt the Soviet Bloch and suffered great scarcity after the war. They did the best they could to rebuild their homes and lives without the kind of aid provided by the Marshall Plan.