It was played for the first time on Soviet radio at midnight on 1 January 1944, and officially adopted on 15 March the same year. The anthem was first published on 7 November 1943.
The poets Sergey Mikhalkov and Gabriyel’ Arkadyevich Ureklyan were chosen by Stalin's staffers, called to Moscow, and given the task of writing lyrics that referenced not only the Great Patriotic War, but also "a Country of Soviets". Stalin thought the song should be short, and that it should invoke the Red Army's impending victory over the forces of Germany on the Eastern Front. The anthem's lyrics then had to be written. Alexandrov's music was personally chosen by Stalin, who both praised and criticized it. A contest was held in mid to late 1943 for a new anthem, and more than 200 entries were submitted. When the Communist International (Comintern) was dissolved in 1943 for the Soviet Union to maintain its alliance with the other Allies of World War II, a new composition was needed to replace " The Internationale" as the national anthem. There also exist similarities between Alexandrov's anthem and Robert Schumann's Frühlingsfahrt. The anthem shares several chord progressions with Vasily Kalinnikov's overture Bylina, Epic Poem (which, as its name indicates, is also inspired by the bylina tradition). Alexandrov himself has described it as the combination of a march with Russian traditional music, particularly that of bylina epic songs. Other than "Life Has Become Better", the music of the anthem has several possible outside influences. The song alludes to Stalin's cult of personality. Its opening bars were borrowed from one of Alexandrov's previous pieces, " Life has become better", which was based on a quote by former Soviet Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin at the First All-Union Meeting of the Stakhanovites on 17 November 1935. The anthem's music was originally composed by Alexander Alexandrov in 1938 for the Hymn of the Bolshevik Party.
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