Changes Of Transitioning From A Communist Or Authoritarian Government

Throughout its long history, Russia has been trapped in a continuous cycle of authoritarian regimes; only interrupted briefly with periods of tumultuous democratic transitions that were plagued by poor bureaucracy and weak institutions. Therefore, time and time again, Russia has turned towards authoritarianism. In the late 1900’s to early 2000’s, Russia again saw the fall of democracy coincide with the rise of a competitive authoritarian regime. This rise of competitive authoritarianism in Russia in the late 1900’s to early 2000’s was largely the result of the resource curse which granted Putin’s Administration false economic performance legitimacy. This in turn reinvigorated past strongman ideals, while at the same time solidified negative

Russia in the late 19th and early 20th century was riddled with social and economic hardships throughout the countryside and inner cities. The Russian peasant was faced with widespread poverty and poor living conditions throughout their entire life. The economic situation and the living conditions drove the peasants and working class to rebel and begin the Russian revolution that would change the face of the country and impact the world forever.

The economic situation of Russia from 1855-1917 undoubtedly had some influence on both the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. Furthermore, in 1891 Russia faced a famine leaving 40,0000 dead, followed by an economic slump in 1905. The First World War (1914-1918) had a drastic effect on Russian economy and society, with vast amounts of money spent on munitions. Some would argue that the economy was the main cause for both revolutions in 1905 and 1917. Nevertheless, according to the definition of a revolution; to ‘overthrow a government or social order, in favour of a new system’, it could not have been the economy alone, but other events such as war and society that contributed to the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917.

For many decades, Russia was isolated from other part of the world politically and geographically. During the First World War, Russia’s industrialization was progressing fairly, as they implemented an education reform program to promote literacy among people. The program would have been successful if it was continued without obstacles. They also implemented a program named Stolypin in order to modernize the agriculture, which was bringing successful changes to the country; however, the Stolypin program was not completed because of problems such as War, the absent of a proper parliament institutions ,the corruption and excess of power among the secret police. Ethnicity in Russia groups was also among the problems as the Russian empire was becoming anarchical and it was getting difficult to maintain it due to pressure form the population who felt that their basic need were not being responded while the monarchy was having an extravagant lifestyle (Kennan,1). By 1917, most Russian were now convinced about the fact that Czar Nicholas II was not good enough to help revive the economy in Russia. Also, Corruption in the government was still untouched and the king had already dissolved the Duma because they did not agree to his will. The economy was still backward, without jobs, frustrated people were tired of the conditions that they lived

Collectivisation had a big impact on Russia for both positive and negative reasons; it was a failure in the aspect that it caused ‘chaos in agriculture’ and due to the problems caused, millions died due to famine and poverty in the short term. ‘Grain harvests dropped dramatically’ during the early 1930s and took until the late 1930s for yield to rise again. However, in the long run, a food surplus was secured and so could be used to feed and pay for the industrial workforce needed for the 5-year plan. It was also incredibly significant in history as it showed how much control Stalin had over Soviet Russia and the fear that the peasants lived in; for example if they were caught stealing even just a few pieces of grain they could be executed or imprisoned for up to 10 years. The lasting impression that is received from the wide tolerance of this policy was how small and insignificant the few rebellions were that were organised. This further demonstrates the power and influence held over the peasants during this period of time.

China and Russia are both countries with strong state traditions who have favored communist systems over the western idea of democracy. But, in the 1990’s, China and Russia began to stray from their communist systems in their own ways. Russia began the shift with rapid political liberalization under Gorbachev followed by the fall of the Soviet Union. China, on the other hand, embarked on a managed transition with step by step introduction of capitalism while the CCP remained the sole political power. China’s transition was hugely successful, experiencing astounding GDP growth and the largest increase in human welfare in history. Russia’s reforms on the other hand was a failure as the soviet lost half its territory and population. Following the fall of the Soviet Union was an economic recession with an increase in crime and death rates. China experienced a huge increase in human welfare while Russia saw a huge downturn. After comparing China’s and Russia’s different path towards modernization, China has seen stronger and stabled growth as opposed to Russia’s shortcomings.

In 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution, there were two revolutions that took place to ensure good change in Russia. The first of the revolutions was the March revolution, the purpose of it was to overtake the imperial government and the second named the November revolution; which placed the Bolsheviks in power. The Russian Revolution took place during a difficult time in Russia. These distresses began before World War I and lasted up until the 1930's. Russia's population was built up of mostly poor, starving, unfortunate peasants at this point; caused by the prevalent and growing civil unrest, as well as dramatic food shortages which led to a huge rebellion against the present government. “World War I provided the catalyst for revolution in Russia .” Although at first it raised national pride

One of the main causes of these revolutions was the grinding poverty. In Russia, the peasants were still serfs meaning that they were still in the feudal system with class privileges (Wilde 2nd). French also had disputes between classes following the “Ancien Regime” a political system developed during the 15th century (Schwartz 4th). Without privileges the peasants in Russia and French were both suffering from poverty. After the World War I, Russia’s economy was in danger; there was food shortages, food prices

To understand why unlike the Soviet Union’s political system, China’s is not near collapse, one must first understand why and how the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) collapsed, resulting in the collapse of the Soviet Union itself. After the October Revolution, the CPSU adopted Leninism as the main party ideology, and moved swiftly to adopt socialist changes. However, as Lenin’s health declined, his main supporters, Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky, began fighting amongst themselves. Stalin won, forcing Trotsky into exile, and after Lenin’s death, began implementing a series of policies known as Stalinism to solidify his totalitarian rule. Partly influenced by fascism, Stalin promoted the cult of personality

At first these plans along with an extremely ingenious propaganda campaign stirred great optimism and productivity within the Chinese people, but as years went by the initial flare and excitement went out and few of these promises, reforms and goals had been reached. In some cases the promises were lies. The real actions of the Communist party showed quite a different picture than the lie of democracy that it was feeding the people. The new government never was a democratic one. As a matter of fact it was a dictatorship controlled by the China’s Communist Party (CCP). Throughout the years the communist government consistently and cruelly suppressed any attempts for the country’s democratization.

“The Party: The Secret World Of China’s Communist Rulers,” by Richard McGregor is a book which provides detailed insight into the Communist Party of China, revealing many of the secret underpinnings of how the party is run, and explores the question of how they have continued to stay in power for so long. While other strong socialist powers, such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Germany, fell at the end of the 20th century, the CPC was able to stay in control and ultimately come out of that period even stronger. In McGregor’s own words “the party picked itself up off the ground, reconstituted its armor and reinforced its flank. Somehow, it has outlasted, outsmarted, outperformed, or simply outlawed its critics, flummoxing the pundits who have predicted its demise at numerous junctures.” Instead of letting its own ideologies weaken its power, the CPC has continually adapted and transformed its policies and goals in order to maintain their stronghold over the nation. Through his impressive list of Chinese scholars and political contacts, McGregor is able to lay out the fundamental workings inside the Chinese government and the impressive actions they’ve taken to remain such a powerful organization.

Despite the evidence that shows that the leadership during WWI was the main cause of the Revolution, some historians argue that the peasants freedom from serfdom was the primary cause of the Russian Revolution.Moreover, they claim that even though serfs were freed from serfdom but they were not given a sufficient amount of rights or opportunity to improve the circumstances that they were faced with during serfdom thus leading in their revolt against the government.Although not all opportunities were given to the ex-serfs immediately they were given a substantial amount of leeway and opportunity”. “the introduction of representative institutions and the conferral of civil rights on the entire population in 1905),.... Vertical social mobility

China has been a communist country since the communist revolution took place in 1949, since then China has been ruled by the dictator Mao Tse-Tung. However the Chinese dictator died in September 1976, he was hailed abroad as one of the worlds’ great leaders. Certainly one of the more impressive aspects of the Chinese communist government, has been the willingness of the people to protest against it (3, pg. 4).

For three centuries before the revolution, life in Russia was not peaceful. It was cold, hard, and bitter instead. “The end of serfdom was a major event in Russia; yet it just wasn 't enough.”, in 1861. Serfdom, under feudalism, is the the status of peasants in which they are bound to a lord, or master, works on their land, and can be sold like property. Despite serfs being given ‘freedom’, Russia was mostly ruled by the czar and nobles. The average person was, and stayed, poor. Therefore, World War I was not the main cause of the Russian revolution. This outdated feudal class structure, inability to modernize, lack of peace, and czars’ inept leaderships lead to the Russian Revolution.

The two Russian Revolutions of 1917 were similar in that they brought about major changes to the Russian Empire during the intercontinental wartime period. However, they had radically different natures and results. Both the February revolution and the later Bolshevik Revolution were ignited by the sparks of unrest created through the unsuccessful 1905 revolution, socio-economic decline, Russian failures during the First World War and dissatisfaction with the current governing system. Nevertheless, the revolutions had major differences which contributed to their overall success, with the result that the Bolshevik Revolution of October and November 1917 had a greater lasting impact on Russian society. In this essay, the two 1917 revolutions will