This work treats the history of Russia from 1917 to 1991 as a single period and analyzes the mix of political, economic, and social ingredients that made up the Soviet formula. Under a succession of leaders, various methods were used to conserve and strengthen this compound, At times the emphasis was upon shaking up the ingredients, at other upon stabilization. All this occurred against a background of dictatorship, civil war, forcible industrialization, terror, world war, and the postwar arms race. Communist ideas and practices never fully pervaded the society of the USSR, yet an impact was made which since 1991 Russia has had difficulty in eradicating.