How did the Soviet Union form after the Russian Revolution?

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks seized power. This led to a civil war between the Bolshevik Red Army and various anti-Bolshevik forces, known as the Whites. The Bolsheviks ultimately triumphed, consolidating their control over much of the former Russian Empire. On December 30, 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) was officially proclaimed, initially comprising Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation. This marked the formal establishment of the Soviet Union as a new political entity.12345