# Was Russia a word during the Soviet era? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-russia-a-word-during-the-soviet-era/704249 "2014-11-10T17:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-russia-a-word-during-the-soviet-era/704249/41 "2014-11-13T14:19:38Z")
I was only 14 when the USSR broke up, but living in the UK I remember “Russia” as being a standard shorthand for “the USSR”. I’m sure that in careful usage, people would say “the Soviet Union”, but I would say that the average person didn’t really think too much about the distinction between the Soviet republics, and considered the whole lot to be “Russia”. For example, the infamous official who awarded England a controversial goal in the 1966 World Cup (soccer) final was universally referred to as the “Russian linesman”. He was actually from [Azerbaijan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofiq_Bahramov). ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-russia-a-word-during-the-soviet-era/704249/42 "2014-11-13T20:11:23Z")
One wonders – far-out “alternative” stuff – if somehow the Revolutions had never happened, and Tsarist Russia’s empire had endured in some form, up to the present day: would the leaders of that country have sorted out some way of referring to it, which would mollify the feelings of the country’s non-ethnically-Russian parts? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-russia-a-word-during-the-soviet-era/704249/43 "2014-11-13T22:55:56Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > It was my understanding that the Soviets intentionally stationed their troops away from where their ethnic/religious groups lived so that in case of insurrection or an invasion of a nearby country the Soviet forces would be less likely to sympathize with the local populace. An example being that during the invasion of Afghanistan no troops from the 'stans were used, rather Russian and Ukrainian troops were used, and the Muslim troops were kept well away. I remember reading this back in the 80’s, so don’t ask for a cite. Well, long before the Soviet Union existed, many monarchs have found it handy to keep foreign troops on hand. If there was a dangerous, bloody war going on overseas, French citizens didn’t want their OWN sons being sent off to fight in it, but didn’t mind if Napoleon III sent off the Foreign Legion (i.e. non-French mercenaries) to do the dirty work. Similarly, if there was a riot in Moscow, the tsar could send a company of Tatar or Cossack soldiers to put it down, without worrying that the soldiers might sympathize with their brethren. The King of England kept elite Scottish troops around for the same reasons- either to do the jobs Englishmen didn’t want THEIR kids doing, or to crack down on uprisings among ENglish subjects. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-russia-a-word-during-the-soviet-era/704249/44 "2014-11-14T11:50:55Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The US did before the 1980s? So please enlighten me. Name one. Kissinger is about it. Roy Cohn? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-russia-a-word-during-the-soviet-era/704249/45 "2014-11-14T14:11:46Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The US did before the 1980s? So please enlighten me. Name one. Kissinger is about it. Patricia Roberts Harris Robert C. Weaver William Thaddeus Coleman Francis Salvador Florence Prag Kahn Oscar Straus Lewis Charles Levin Louis Brandeis Washington Bartlett [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-russia-a-word-during-the-soviet-era/704249.md?page=2)