The Role Of Communism In The Soviet Union

The December of 1991 marked the end of the Soviet Union—and with it, an entire era. Like the February Revolution of 1917 that ended tsardom, the events leading up to August 1991 took place in rapid succession, with both spontaneity and, to some degree, retrospective inevitability. To understand the demise of Soviet Union is to understand the communist party-state system itself. Although the particular happenings of the Gorbachev years undoubtedly accelerated its ruin, there existed fundamental flaws within the Soviet system that would be had been proven ultimately fatal. The USSR became a past chapter of history because it was impossible to significantly reform the administrative

communism entered a period of crisis in the late 20th century. By the 1980's it

During World War II, the United States and the Soviets put their political differences aside in their need to defeat their common foe, Germany. However, even during the war against Germany, and later Japan, the political and post-war tensions between the United States and the Soviets were ever underlying and continued to grow. As both sides of the Axis allies continued to gain ground, during their victories in Europe, the questions and positioning for future world domination of political ideals continued to mount up. Shortly after Germany surrendered, the issues began to come to light at the Potsdam Conference that was attended by the current British, American, and Soviet leaders. After the use of the atomic bombs and Japan’s surrender,

Communism played a major role shaping the 20th century, both for the East and the United States. Its impact can be seen in the US from 1919 to the 1990s and even today. The spread of Communist ideals in the East meant the beginning of the socialist state and mass industrialization. Its effect on the US was much different. The United States people, heavily diversified of all races, religions, and financial statuses, became extremely jingoistic as a result of competition with the USSR. This nationalism became unhealthy as citizens began determining what was “un-American.” The Communist Party USA was not successful in their primary objective of spreading communism to the US. What they did achieve however was hugely important. They showed that citizens of the United States could be scared out of their own freedom. That fear would lead them to give up “liberty and justice for all”. Still a highly misunderstood idea, it is important for citizens of the United States to understand what communism is and what impact the CPUSA and other communist organizations had on the country.

McCarthyism: McCarthyism is the name associated with the reckless and unsupported accusations against individuals were “deemed” Communists during the beginnings of the Cold War. It gets its name from Senator Joseph R. McCarthy from Wisconsin, who, in February 1950, claimed that Communists had infiltrated the American government. He shocked the State Department when he announced he possessed a list of over two-hundred communists who worked in the department, but the number later dropped to fifty-seven individuals. The only evidence to support his claims of enemy invasion were the name of the fifty-seven individuals who he believed “… [appeared] to be either card carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party” (Voices of Freedom

Europe was rabid after the WW II, and its devastation led to serious political consequences. Russians were taking advantages of the deplorable conditions of Europe. Communist party’s propaganda was based on the idea that capitalism generates wars and devastation of the nations, and by joining communist party, European nations would rebuild their economy. The number of members of communist party rose dramatically after the WW2. In Belgium, Italy and France, communist party gained support. The main argument used to attract members was that all of the harsh circumstances of the Europe, food and coal shortages, devastation and misery were done by capitalist system, but communism comes to save those nation from starvation and misery.

Communist rule was confined to the Soviet Union until the end of World War II.

The Cold War was a time of great tension between the Capitalist and Communist "worlds." The United States presents these tensions in the Truman Doctrine as the Communists trying to convert any country in need after the second World War to their type of government, which would then create a domino effect of other countries falling under Communism, therefore they need to help many countries get back on their feet as well have their governments Democratic and free. Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union during this time, explained in his "cult of personality" how Stalin made mistakes before he was in power and therefore pursues to ease

Every society has a cuisine that it claims, that usually represents some aspect of its values, history, and culture. The Soviet Union is no different. The dietary choices, or lack there of, that became prominent following the revolution were not only representative of the citizenry, but of the government as well if not more so. Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917 the average Russian’s diet was dictated by what could be grown and what his economic class afforded him. For most, these factors produced subsistence level existence. Another important element of peasant diets was the cycles of fast and feast dictated by the Orthodox Church. However, these cycles of fasting and feasting did not end with the Russian Revolution. Although, not for

The Cold War was a non-violent military arms and technological race that happened in the latter half of the 20th century. Two main factions arose; Communism and Capitalism. Prior to the turn of the 21st Century Communism and Capitalism could never see eye- to-eye. Each offered a different form of utopia. Communism primarily concerned with having a classless society, while Capitalism offered class transcendence otherwise referred to as class mobility. The pursuit of happiness as it is written in the constitution. This seems to fall in line with previous philosophical works such as Aristotle. The telos, or end goal for all humans is eudaimonia happiness. Yet, one must read through the lines to understand what the pursuit of eudaimonia is in

To this day people who were ruled by communist government still feel the pain and results from it. Communism can be seen as a theory and a system of both political and social organization that has had a great impact on the world through most of the twentieth century. Let us begin by defining what communism is, where it all began, who were some of the key people that played a major role in communism, and when it fell apart.

The world we live in is both fascinating and complex, shaped entirely by the events of the past. Understanding the past and its connection with the present day is crucial for human and global development - this is why a course in modern history seems so interesting to me as it offers invaluable context for contemporary politics whilst assessing history that still has such an influence over us today. For example, how the fall of modern empires has left independent states to struggle alone or how the effects of 20th Century Soviet Communism are still felt across Eastern Europe today. Inquiring into history like this is something I really enjoy and would relish the opportunity to do so at university.

Everyone would like to live in a perfect society, and in Germany, Karl Marx set out to do just that by creating the government system known as Communism. Though, this system has failed in many countries all over the world because of many significant flaws in the very foundation of the system. Some of the most feared probabilities in society that Communism was created to eliminate still prevailed and were at the heart of the system’s downfall. If the system was infallible, why were so many of its principles created out of the fear of rebellion? The living conditions of the people were unbearable and would lead to nothing but rebellion. The whole system was full of corruption and had no moral standards. Communism has failed in many countries

entirely new state, and indeed to a new era in the history of mankind, we must

The command system, which is also described as Marxism, socialism, or communism, is both a political and economic philosophy. In a communist economy, the government owns most of the firms, subsequently controlling production and allocation of resources. One of the most well-known and well-documented cases of a communist government took place in the Soviet Union, beginning in 1917 and eventually falling in 1992. Idealistically, communism eliminates social classism and provides equal work for all in a particular society. The government appoints a central planning board to “determine production goals for each enterprise and to specify the amount of resources to be allocated to each enterprise so that it can reach its production goals.”