State Anthem of the Soviet Union
The "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" was the national anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original lyrics were written by Sergei Mikhalkov in collaboration with Gabriel El-Registan, and its music composed by Alexander Alexandrov. Following a two decade interval in which the anthem was performed without lyrics a second set of lyrics, also written by Mikhalkov, were adopted in 1977.
Although Russia adopted a new anthem in 1990 and the Soviet Union was dissolved in December 1991, the Soviet-era melody was restored with new lyrics in 2000, and has been used since in the second version of the Russian anthem.
History
Origins
The anthem's music was originally composed by Alexander Alexandrov in 1938 for the Hymn of the Bolshevik Party. The opening bars of this song were sampled from one of Alexandrov's previous pieces, "Life Has Become Better", which was based on a quote by former Soviet Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin at the First All-Union Meeting of the Stakhanovites on November 17, 1935. The song alludes to Stalin's cult of personality.Other than "Life Has Become Better", the music of the anthem has several possible outside influences. Alexandrov himself has described it as the combination of a march with Russian traditional music, particularly that of bylina epic songs. The anthem shares several chord progressions with Vasily Kalinnikov's overture Bylina, Epic Poem. There also exist similarities between Alexandrov's anthem and Robert Schumann's Frühlingsfahrt.
When the Communist International was dissolved in 1943 in order for the Soviet Union to maintain its alliance with the other Allies of World War II, a new composition was needed to replace "The Internationale" as the national anthem. A contest was held in mid to late 1943 for a new anthem, and more than 200 entries were submitted. Alexandrov's music was personally chosen by Stalin, who both praised and criticized it. The anthem's lyrics then had to be written. Stalin thought the song should be short, and that it should invoke the Red Army's impending victory over the forces of Germany on the Eastern Front. The poets Sergey Mikhalkov and Gabriel El-Registan were chosen by Stalin's staffers, called to Moscow, and given the task of writing lyrics which referenced not only the Great Patriotic War, but also "a Country of Soviets". The first draft was completed overnight.
The anthem was first published on 7 November 1943. It was played for the first time on Soviet radio at midnight on 1 January 1944, and officially adopted on 15 March the same year. The new lyrics had three refrains following three different stanzas. In each refrain, the second line was modified to refer to friendship, then happiness, then glory. Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union's war against Germany were originally invoked in the second and third verses, respectively. Reportedly, Stalin was opposed to including his name in the lyrics but relented after some Politburo members insisted.
Post-Stalin era
With the process of de-Stalinization after Stalin's death, the lyrics referring to him were considered unacceptable, and from 1956 to 1977 the anthem was performed without lyrics. A notable exception took place at the 1976 Canada Cup ice hockey tournament, where singer Roger Doucet insisted on performing the anthem with lyrics after consultations with Russian studies scholars from Université de Montréal and Soviet team officials. In 1977, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution, revised lyrics, written in 1970 by original author Sergey Mikhalkov, were adopted. The varying refrains were replaced by a uniform refrain after all stanzas, and the line praising Stalin was dropped, as were the lines referring to the Great Patriotic War. Another notable change was the replacement of a line referring to the Soviet national flag with one citing the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the form of "Partiya Lenina". These lyrics were also present in the original party anthem at the same place in the melody, but followed by the lyrics "Partiya Stalina".Post-1991 use
Use in the Russian Federation
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation adopted a new wordless anthem, the "Patriotic Song", although there were suggestions for adopting lyrics. As a result, a few different versions were produced. In late 2000, the current national anthem of Russia was introduced, which uses the music of the Soviet national anthem with new lyrics by Sergei Mikhalkov.State Union of Russia and Belarus
The same music was used for a proposed anthem for the State Union of Russia and Belarus, entitled Derzhavny Soyuz Narodov. Its lyrics were not tied to any specific nationality, and there were official versions in the languages of every Soviet republic and several other Soviet languages; thus it could have been adopted by a broader union. However, it was never officially adopted, and there appear to be no plans to utilize it in any official role.Decommunization
In some post-Soviet states which adopted decommunization laws banning Communist symbolism, performing the Soviet anthem is illegal. For example, since 2015, offenders in Ukraine face up to five years in prison. Similar laws were adopted in Latvia and Lithuania.Other
The anthem has also been used sometimes for humour and memes related to communism on the Internet.The variation on the anthem, with comical lyrics, was used during the opening of the second series of the BBC comedy sketch show Harry and Paul, starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. The opening montage being a parody of Cold War era Soviet propaganda films, with Enfield and Whitehouse portraying aging Soviet Presidents.
Official translations
The anthem has been officially translated into several languages:| Language | For | Date | Author |
| Latvian | Latvian SSR | 1944 | and Andris Vējāns |
| Estonian | Estonian SSR | 1944 | Vladimir Beekman |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian SSR | 1944 | Antanas Venclova |
| Tatar | Tatar ASSR | unknown | Akhmet Abdullovich Iskhakov and Nuri Gazizovich Arslanov |
| Bashkir | Bashkir ASSR | unknown | A. Igebaev, G. Ramazanov, and S. Әlibaev |
| Yakut | Yakut ASSR | 1944 | Nikolai Egorovich Mordinov and Sergey Stepanovich Vasilyev |