Chapter 22: The Rise and Fall of World Communism, 1917 - Present

NB: The idea of communism as BAD as opposed to democracy as GOOD--dominated the political, social, and
economic life of the 20th century--and still does today to some extent. Ironically but in reality, both concepts reflect
the goals of the 16th century Revolutions and the "Idea of Progress" of the 18th century.

I. Paths to Communism (L - com=together and -munis=bound, = for all equally, common)

1. It was Karl Marx (1818-1883) who gave the word and concept its economic and revolutionary meaning in his
Communist Manifesto (1818), and Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) who named his socialist party the Russian Communist
Party (1918), with the Soviet Communist International (Comintern) representing communism throughout the world.

2. In March 1917 Russia revolted against the Tsar, and on 7 November 1917 (Oct. 25th Old Style) a second
revolution was led by Lenin and his Bolsheviks (= majority). A civil war followed, 1918-1921, but in the end
Lenin became the Communist Party leader and Soviet President, followed by Stalin, 1924-53;
Khrushchev, 53-64; Brezhnev, 1964-1982, Mikhail Gorbachev, 1985 to the end of the USSR in 1991.

             Leonid_Brežněv.jpg
       Leon Trotsky            Nikita Khrushchev        Leonid Brezhnev    President Vladimir Putin

     3. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded in 1921 by Mao Zedong and others, but to
escape Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang government, the party made a 6,000 mile Long March to the
mountains of northern China (Yanan) from where they fought against the Japanese in WW II.
In the Civil War 1945-1949 the CCP defeated Chiang who retreated to Taiwan, claiming to be the
legitimate government of China. On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong declared the communist People's
Republic of China.

4. Both countries were reformist at first but became conservative and totalitarian within ten years.

a. Worker rights, women's rights --(Zhenotdel, 1919-1930 in Russia & the 1950 Marriage Law in China)--
agricultural reform--(expropriation, redistribution, and collectivization)--and industrialization became part of 5 and
10 year state planning. Private property was abolished. See the chart "China under Mao, 1949-1976" for an
outline of China's economic achievements. (Strayer, 1049)

b. Fear of foreign invasion and unrealistic domestic goals led to infighting, party purges (1930's in Russia, and
the Cultural Revolution 1960's in China), and the build up of secret police, internment camps (Gulag) military forces,
and nuclear weapons.

II. East versus West: A Global Divide and a Cold War (Strayer, 1054)

     1. After 1949 the world divided into two camps -- the USA and its allies, and the USSR & China and their allies.
Europe was divided for 40 years after WW II.

            West Germany( BRD) and East Germany (DDR)
            North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact
            Common Market, 1957 and Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), 1949

     2. Asia was also divided into two camps beginning with the Korean War, 1950-1953 and the Viet Nam War,
1945-1975. Afghanistan fell to communism in 1978, was invaded by the USSR, USA , and in 2012 signed a security
pact with the US valid through 2024. Middle Eastern countries became pawns of the USSR (Syria) and the USA
(Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, and Egypt). China worked through the Non-Aligned Movement (1955- current)
to undermine the West and to encourage non-alignment if not communism throughout the world. Link

                 map of southeast asia, south east asia map
Middle East

US President Barack Obama (L) and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai shake hands before signing the strategic pact in the Afghan capital Kabul on May 1, 2012.

III. The Collapse of Communism-- 1976 and 1989

1. The first signs of change came with the visit of President Nixon to China in 1972 to establish diplomatic
relations with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and to drop them with Taiwan, which no longer represented the
country of China in the UN (One China Policy). Soon after, Viet Nam became independent in 1975 after defeating
the USA. China joined the UN in 1971 and various other international bodies thereafter --World Trade Organization
(WTO) in 2001.

Mao Zedong & President Nixon, 1972 President Nixon & Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai

2. Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) introduced "socialism with Chinese characteristics" and a "socialist market
economy" while party chairman 1978-1992. His theme for government was "Open Up"--"kai fang 开放" (similar
to Mikhail Gorbachev's "Glasnost"). Deng said "It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it
catches mice." Link The CCP's new leader Xi Jinping, 2012, promises to introduce similar reforms to China, as
well as
fighting graft and corruption--China's new problems.

Deng Xiaoping, 邓小平 Xi Jinping (1953 -.)

3. Changes in Europe began in 1975 with the Helsinki Agreement officially ending WW II and promising
human rights cooperation throughout Europe. This led to human rights groups springing up in Russia and
elsewhere in Eastern Europe.

4. In 1980 Solidarity, a non-communist workers movement in Poland challenged the government and won .
In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the USSR and pledged perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (opening)--similar to "kai fang".

5. In May 1989 reformers in Hungary forced the government to open the country's border with non-communist
Austria. East Germans visiting Hungary defected through Austria to West Germany in droves.

6. Finally the East Berlin government opened the wall (by mistake) to its citizens, 9 November 1989.
The Wall came down, communism collapsed-December 25, 1991 in the USSR, and Europe was reunited.
Germany became one nation again on October 3, 1990.

         Mikhail Gorbachev, 1931- .                     East German soldier jumps the wall in 1961

                                            The Berlin Wall being torn down, 1990

IV. Conclusion: Did World Communism Accomplish Anything?

1. YES: communism did bring the ideas of the 16th century revolutions and 18th century "Idea of progress"
to the non-Western world and former colonies. Working class people in communist countries were able to go to
college, live with respect, women's lives changed slowly for the better, health services improved, and modern
infrastructures were built. Generally speaking, people who lived in the 1960's and 1970's were better off than
their parents and grandparents. Thus communism, though seriously flawed, did keep alive the "idea of progress"
and the IDEAL that economic, cultural, and political class disparity was WRONG!

     2. NO: millions of people died in civil and in foreign wars to create the new Communist states , education was
ideological, people lacked political freedom, industrialization lacked safeguards for workers as well as for the
environment, agricultural development was uneven, unfair, and unsuccessful. The infrastructure of housing, roads,
schools, etc. were poorly constructed and are decaying and dangerous now in the 21st century.

     3. The money wasted in the Cold War by building nuclear weapons could have been used to make a healthier
and happier world. It is calculated that the total (USA & USSR) spending on nuclear weapons 1948-1991 was
$18.5 trillion. The US debt today is $16.3 trillion, and despite the fact that we still have large stockpiles of nuclear
weapons,the US in 2008 made the decision to spend $52.4 billion to build new, "combat ready" weapons. Link
Russia and other countries (maybe Iran, certainly North Korea) are doing the same.

     4. It seems that human beings have still have trouble with the concepts of moderation, toleration, or peace.
The irony of the 16th Century Revolutions and the "Idea of Progress" is that the bad that has been caused is
probably equal to -- if not more --than the good that has been achieved.   Whenever there are victors and losers,
we all lose. How can we get along with one another?