2. Defeated the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. The fighting on the Eastern Front was the largest and deadliest theater of World War II, and the Soviet Union's victory was a turning point in the war.
3. Helped to liberate Eastern Europe from Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union played a key role in liberating Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria from German occupation.
4. Established a communist regime in Eastern Europe. After the war, the Soviet Union installed communist governments in the countries it had liberated, which led to the Cold War.
5. Developed the atomic bomb. The Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb in 1949, which ended the United States' monopoly on nuclear weapons.
6. Became a superpower. As a result of its victory in World War II and its possession of nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union became a superpower alongside the United States.