Matt McDonald Professor Presnell English 1102 29 March 2014 The Story of Communism in the USSR When most

Americans think of the word Communism, it generally has a negative connotation. This word makes many think of countries like China, North Korea, and Cuba who operate a Communist form of government and are sort of looked at as the black sheep of todays industrialized countries. From watching war documentaries I knew that Russia was formerly a Communist country known as the USSR, however I didnt know anything about the history of the USSR or why its government fell. Russia is a world power with a lot of political and economic influence and it is also a huge landmass with a large population. The idea that a country of this size could have a system of government that could completely fail fascinated me. I became curious as to how exactly Communism differs from democracy and what the specific reasons were for its failure in the USSR. Democracy vs. Communism A basic Google search gave me all the information I needed about these two political systems from two articles both on the Encyclopedia Britannica website. Richard Dagger, a professor of political science at Arizona State University and author wrote an article I found here entitled Communism. The article detailed the history of Communism, which Dagger says was formally founded by Karl Marx in the 19th century but was mentioned as early as the 4th century by the philosopher, Plato, and also described in the Bible. Marx argued that the bourgeoisie or owners of factories build wealth while exploiting the proletariat working class who become

increasingly poorer. To avoid this problem a basic ideology of Communism is to replace private property and profit-based economies with collective public ownership and communal control of the means of production and natural resources of the society said Dagger. This is a form of socialism where individuals cooperate with one another to survive instead of living or working in isolation. Society owns and controls property for the benefit of all its members. This form of government generally follows an authoritarian style dictatorship where one ruler and political party stays in power and political dissent is looked down upon and often harshly punished. This article made the Communist form of government seem very unfair in my opinion, because the citizens have no say in who represents them and they arent allowed to form or openly express their own political opinions. The United States as well as most of the industrialized nations in the world operate some form of democracy as their political system. This government is very different from communism and often times they have conflicting views. This can be seen through the many wars that the United States has been involved in to stop the spread of Communism from one country to another including the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Cold War which have always interested me. Dr. Robert Dahl, a professor of political science at Yale University and author wrote an Encyclopedia Britannica article on Democracy that helped get me on par with exactly what the beliefs of Democracy are and a brief history on where it came from. Democracy first appeared in some Greek city-states such as Athens in the 5th Century and the word democracy in Greek meant rule by the people said Dahl. It was briefly used here and a few other places and then largely forgotten about. For many years a lot of countries especially European countries were ruled by kings and queens through monarchies and oligarchies. There are dozens of examples throughout history of those in power becoming selfish and using their political position for their

own gains. This is especially true involving monarchies and oligarchies because full political and decision making power rests in the hands of one or just a few. When this corruption started coming to light is when a lot of countries started to adopt forms of democracy. Democracy was chosen because with rule by the people that ensures all the people have input in their government not just a chosen few. Dahl stated that there are four basic points of democracy. There is a system for choosing and replacing members of the government through free and fair elections, and people are also allowed to choose their own political beliefs and support the candidates of their choice said Dahl. This is much different from Communism because you dont get any choice when there is one political party and dissent is not allowed. Democracy also requires that the population takes an active role in politics as citizens and protects the basic human rights of all its citizens. Laws and procedures are applied equally to all citizens of the country. Dahl stated that many countries that operate democracies also use a free market economic system where businesses are privately owned with minimum government regulation, and the competition between businesses determines the price of goods. From this brief search I found many differences between Communism and Democracy. The main difference that I discovered was that in Communism all natural resources and means of production are owned publicly by society and benefits all members. Free market economies that go along with Democracy are much different in that everyone is on their own and free to own their own private businesses and build up wealth if they have the means to do so. Another huge difference is the way that elections are conducted in both types of government. With a Democracy you are free to vote for whoever you endorse and whatever political party they represent. However with Communism you must support those already in power because there is no other choice and often harsh consequences for not doing so.

Communisms Birth in the USSR Now that I had clarified what both of those government systems consisted of and how they juxtaposed it was time to answer the question of how exactly Communism got adopted in the USSR. At a time period when most of the world was operating Democratic governments there had to be factors that caused the USSR to move in the opposite direction toward Communism. George F. Kennan an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist, and Cold War historian helped me trace the beginning of Communism in the USSR in an article titled Communism in Russian History. Russia was a Czarist nation where the lower classes had long suffered in poverty struggling for basic necessities while the Czars Family lived in luxury explains Kennan. Kennan also says that World War I and famines taking place here at the time along with factory closures led to protests and mass defections by the military in February of 1917. Obviously if a ruler doesnt have the backing of his military then they dont have much political strength. Eventually he was forced to give up the throne. Kennan says that two revolutionaries, Vladimir Lenin and his aide Leon Trotsky, used this opportunity to win over the population who was growing weary of WWI to their Bolshevik party by not supporting further Russian involvement in WWI. Once the Bolsheviks had power they looked to put Marxs Communist tenets of belief into practice starting with the redistribution of land and suppression of detractors in a period known as the Red Terror (Fall). Kennan said that once the Bolsheviks firmly had control, Russia along with fourteen bordering States became the USSR (or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). I think that Vladimir Lenin was a very sly and intelligent man who used this period of political and military instability in Russia to seize control of the government. It seems that the Russians were too caught up in the corruption of their ruler and the World War to see Lenins plan unfolding before them. Eventually Vladimir Lenin passed away in 1924. In the book The Fall of Communism in the Soviet Union, author Dr. William Watson

who is also a professor at Immaculata University in Pennsylvania, elaborates on leaders who came after Lenin. Watson said, Lenins first successor was Joseph Stalin who took back many of Lenins tasks like repossessing redistributed land, forcing collectivization of agriculture, and building factories at an alarming rate. He also told how food shortages from the collectivization of agriculture, which was expected to feed all the countrys factory workers and military, caused millions of starvation deaths. His slave labor camps for political enemies caused many more deaths and the next two successors, Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev, allowed the trend to continue according to Watson. I find it very intriguing as well as frightening that a government would force their own citizens into slave labor camps and in some cases execute them simply for disagreeing with the political situation. After growing up in the United States it is difficult to imagine not having the freedom to form your own political opinions or own your own farm. At the rate that citizens in the USSR were dying, being executed, and placed into labor camps I knew that something would eventually happen to stop the terror that was occurring in this country. Dissolution of Lenin and Stalins Vision for Prosperous Communism Now that I knew the origins of Communism in the USSR I was ready to tackle the events that lead to its downfall. After a little more digging I found multiple sources that explained reasons why the USSR was not able to subsist. On a page I found in the U.S. Department of States Archives titled Dissolution of the USSR and establishment of Independent republics, 1991, Lenins 4th successor is described. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev known as a reformer took over as leader of the USSR and implemented 2 reforms of perestroika (or economic restructuring) and glasnost (or political openness) according to the Department of State. An article titled Fall of the Soviet Union that I found on the website of the Cold War Museum

located in Vint Hill, Virginia elaborated on these reforms and gave several other reasons Communism failed. The article says that with Gorbachevs glasnost policy of political openness he failed to realize that this would release emotions that had been pent up for decades and hed be criticized for not improving their failing economy. Further the Soviets underestimated the degree to which non-Russian ethnic groups (comprising over 50% of the USSRs population) would resist Russian assimilation, and the failure of the communist ideology to take root in the peoples minds the article states. The last reason the Cold War Museum gives for Communisms downfall was the Cold War, a non-combat period of heightened tensions, military arms races, and nuclear stockpiling between the United States and the Soviet Union that severely stagnated their economy. At this point I could see exactly why the Soviet Union was setting itself up for problems. With a population that had been suppressed and poorly managed for years and that now had freedom to speak, trouble had to be coming soon. In Watsons Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union he described a surge of nationalism from all 15 republics that made up the USSR with the new glasnost policy and the declining economy. The Department of State report says in 1990 Boris Yeltsin was elected President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the biggest republic in the USSR. Yeltsin made his post a democratically elected spot and won the election after making a personal decision to leave the Communist Party, suggested detachment and economic autonomy from the USSR, and in the summer of 1990 all 15 republics followed Russias lead in declaring themselves sovereign states according to the archived report. The Cold War Museum marks the date of Gorbachevs resignation on December, 25, 1991 and by New Years the USSR no longer existed and had 15 newly formed countries taking the place of its republics. Now I had finally traced the history of Communism through its initial adoption to its demise. The main causes of Communisms collapse was the

financial irresponsibility of the USSRs government along with the ethnic pride and voices of the people in the republics. I think these republics all finally reached a breaking point. They had been suppressed and disregarded as valued citizens for years and when they saw the USSRs government struggling they took advantage of the vulnerability. Once all 15 republics decided to rebel at the same time, the government had no choice but to stand aside and watch the Union fall apart. In Conclusion After all the research Ive done and information Ive found on Communism and its adoption as well as failure in the USSR, I can honestly say I am glad to be from a Democratic country like the United States. I also think the research proves that Democracy is a superior form of government gauging from all the shortcomings of Communism. It turns out that the negative connotation that Communism is given is well backed by the harsh reality of those who lived and died through the famines and with their political suppression during the USSRs existence. In my personal opinion I think the world should still keep a close eye on Russia today. Ive kept up with the news recently and their latest action of taking the Crimean region in Ukraine, which is a former state of the USSR, proves they cant be trusted. There is talk that they may attempt to take even more land in Ukraine with their troops built up on the border of the two countries, which is not how most Democratic countries conduct themselves. My European history teacher in high school always said those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and given the latest developments in Russia that quote could be true.

Works Cited Dagger, Richard. "Communism (ideology)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Dahl, Robert A. "Democracy." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "Dissolution of the USSR and the Establishment of Independent Republics, 1991."Dissolution of the USSR and the Establishment of Independent Republics, 1991. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "Fall of the Soviet Union." Cold War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. Kennan, George F. "Communism in Russian History." Foreign Affairs. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. Watson, William E. The Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1998. Internet resource.