Soviet Union

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, Советский Союз) was the first, largest, and most powerful communist state in history. Between the end of World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the USSR was the model for most communist governments around the world, and (directly or indirectly) controlled the lives of more than 400 million people in 8 countries across Europe and Asia. Between 1990 and 1991, after political reform and a failed coup d'etat attempt, the Soviet Union collapsed into fifteen countries. Most former Soviet republics and satellite states continue to share common cultural ties, including common use of the Russian language, thanks to more than seven decades of political union.

Cars
Until the 1917 October Revolution, very few Russians could afford cars; the few cars that did exist were imported into Russia from other countries. After the Revolution, as part of the Five-Year Plans, the Kremlin felt a need for creating an indigenous automobile industry in the Soviet Union. The oldest Soviet automaker, however, was created in an unconventional way - GAZ was originally developed with the assistance of the Ford Motor Company because the Soviet Union lacked experience in creating a national automobile industry. Slowly, but surely, other automobile companies were created by the Kremlin, mostly to cater to certain aspects of the industry. Since the economy was centrally planned, there was virtually no competition, except by cars from other countries in the COMECON.

The following brands were used on cars in the Soviet Union:

Russia

 * Lada
 * GAZ
 * Moskvitch
 * UAZ
 * IZh
 * ZIL

Ukraine

 * ZAZ
 * LuAZ

Motorcycles
Motorbikes made in the USSR mostly fall into two categories: military and civilian. Most of these bikes changed little over fifty years.

Russia

 * Ural
 * IZh
 * Vostok
 * Tula
 * Voskhod
 * Vyatka

Other republics

 * Dnepr (Ukraine)
 * Minsk (Belarus)