ABSTRACT
A number of gloomy periods mark the USSR history in the 20th century, and their impact is quite noticeable on the age-sex structure of the population. The tragic past still has an effect on the demographic situation today. The effects of three demographic catastrophes are evident in the age pyramid based on the 1989 All-Union census data. • World War I and the civil war following the revolution caused
considerable human losses among men born in the late 19th century and a significant fall in the size of cohorts born in 1914-1924.
