If so, what did the word Russia mean back then?
Were there other competing terms for the new country that would replace the majority of the Soviet territory?
It meant the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, one of the 15 constituent republics which made up the Soviet Union.
However, in everyday speech, Russia and the Russians were frequently (but incorrectly) used as shorthand for the entire Soviet Union.
None that I ever heard.
The “R” in “USSR” means “Republics,” of which Russia was one. So, throughout the Soviet era, Russia was roughly like England is still today: the dominant political entity in a group of partly autonomous regions which are together considered a single sovereign state.
And, just as with “England/United Kingdom,” many people used Russia and Soviet Union interchangeably, though this was not accurate.
Russia has a much longer history that the Soviet Union:
Also, “go back to Russia” was the typical conservative rebuttal when debating politics.
To expand on what’s been said above, most Americans did not really become aware of the distinction between “Russia” and “The Soviet Union” until other (i.e. not Russia) Soviet Republics such as Lithuania and Georgia began to assert their independence in the events leading up to the official breakup of the Soviet Union.
Or when being offered gazpacho.
Either I’m being whooshed, or you meant to say borscht.
Admittedly “go back to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” didn’t have the same zing.
I don’t know… the Beatles made a song out of it.
Adjust the wording and it has a good workable meter… very singable.
ETA: Ninja’d. Oh, well, I provided a wiki link. That’s gotta count for something.
Functionally, it’s somewhat akin to saying “Britain” as shorthand in place of “the British Empire.”
The existence of the various constituent “republics” within the Soviet Union is beside the point. Prior to WWI, the Russian state included most of the same territory (indeed, more) as the Soviet Union, but no one considered it unusual to refer to the whole entity, including Ukraine, the Baltic states, and the 'stans as “Russia.” The only essential difference in the Soviet era was simply that the overall entity officially changed its name from Russia to the USSR.
Everybody used Russia instead of USSR in ordinary discussions - except, of course, for a certain class of nitpickers and pedants who still infest the internet.
Here’s a list of other examples.
Where did you get that notion?
In hindsight, “did not really pay attention to” would have been a better fit than “did not really become aware of,” but the UPS guy showed up during the edit window.
The whoosh from a flying pig.
It wasn’t completely inaccurate. The USSR was essentially the old Grand Russian Empire under a new name, give or take Finland or so. Russia and Russians dominated the USSR the same way they dominated the Czarist empire.