Soviet Empire was a term used to critically describe the actions and nature of the Soviet Union. It gained popularity after US President Ronald Reagan famously denounced the USSR as an "Evil Empire" in a 1982 speech to the House of Commons.

Though it was not ruled by an Emperor and never formally considered itself to be an Empire, the Soviet Union had typical imperialistic tendencies common to historic empires:

• Territorial expansion through invasion or subversion (e.g.: Poland, Baltic States, Finland, Afghanistan).
• Strong central "Imperial" government controlling the governments of all subsidiary and satellite territories.
• The union is held together by strong coersion, including military force (see histories of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland).

For these reasons and others, the Soviet Union is sometimes considered by historians to be one of the main empires of history, equal to such notables as a the British Empire or the Ottoman Empire.

At the height of its existence, the "Soviet Empire" consisted of the following nations:

• Within the Soviet Union
  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Estonia
  • Georgia
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Moldova
  • Russian Federation (which in its turn consisted of several autonomous respiblics)
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Ukraine
  • Uzbekistan
• The so-called "Socialist Camp"
  • Bulgaria
  • Cuba
  • Czechoslovakia
  • East Germany
  • Hungary
  • Mongolia
  • North Korea
  • Poland
  • Romania

The following countries of the "Socialist Camp" successfully resisted the influence of the "Soviet Empire":

• Albania
• China
• Yugoslavia