To What Extent Did Communism And The Containment Policy? Essay

Communism has resulted in a poor quality of life, poor economy, and oppression of its people. In order to retain power, communist countries have needed to remove civil dissent and would result in imprisonment or murder of its citizens (Williams). In fact, more than sixty five million people were murdered by the USSR, nearly thirty five million were murdered by Communist China, and a number of Southeast Asian and Eastern European countries account for ninety seven million murders (Williams). The U.S which was founded on capitalism and free markets, protection of private property, and protection of individual rights has developed policies to oppose the spread of worldwide communism (Hughes). Consequently, the U.S has engaged directly in military

Communism is an economic ideology and movement whom’s purpose is to structure a society with indivisible ownership, absence of social classes, and equality. The United States communist party was founded in the year 1919 and quickly recruited over 50,000 members within a few months. It’s high member count was in result of people believing that communism would solve problems linked to capitalism such as poverty. In the wake of the russian revolution the Red scare slowly developed leading many americans to fear communist inspired radicalism. The Cold War then produced a second Red Scare that began with the truman doctrine. The truman doctrine began the containment policy in which the US attempted to stop the spread of communism and russian influence

There is a common sense that a mighty country is built up with the freedom and liberty. It is expected to grant the citizens a right to raise their concerns and engage into the decision-making for the nation. To a great extent, this ideology shapes the identity of the United States and its political position towards the rise of communism, especially when “communism” has been referred as the idea of “tyranny” with the dictatorship after World War II. The horrified cognition of communism gets the Americans into panic, while the local government worries that the communist power would take over the United States. In response to the

Although the USSR and the United States were both part of the Allied Powers during WWII, it became immediately obvious when the war ended that these two nations would be enemies moving forward. These two superpowers had worked together to defeat the Nazi Regime, but had conflicting ideas of a superior government. Joseph Stalin, the tyrannical and bloodthirsty dictator who led the Soviet Union, wanted to spread Communist rule through Eastern Europe, China, and Korea, which the United States opposed. The world split between democratic countries backed by America and Communist countries supported by the Soviet Union, and birthed a conflict called the “Cold War,” because, as opposed to a “hot” war, there were no direct military confrontations

Foreign policy is defined as a how governments or nations conduct relations with other countries. In dealing with the foreign policy, the United States seeks to assure its security and defense. The United States, emerged as one of the most powerful economic powers from the World War II, the Truman Doctrine began its policy of the Soviet Union and communist containment. American foreign policy has also favored the self-determination of nations for independence. The atomic diplomacy, in conjunction with Truman’s administration attempted to block criticism of the official Hiroshima narrative helped to established Truman’s anti-communist agenda.

If the United States had stopped the spread of Communism, history might have been changed in that China, Cuba, and North Korea might not be the Communist states they are today.

Question 1: During cold war times, the US’ had a theory of containment. Containment made to stop the spread of communism, because it was thought that if the US could not stop communist countries than it could work on stopping communism from spreading. In 1954, Vietnam was able to become independent from France. The country was divided along the 17th parallel, and North Vietnam and South Vietnam were created. Ho Chi Minh led North Vietnam and it had a communistic government, which was supported by China and the USSR. On the other hand, South Vietnam was a ‘democratic’ (anti-communism) government, which was led by Ngo Dinh Diem and supported by the US. During Diem’s regime, the government started to interrogate Buddhist priests. Diem was also known for treating the peasant class harshly, because he came from the property owning class. His government was also very corrupt, because he only appointed his family members to government roles00000. Diem’s totalitarian government led to the rise of a communist group called the Vietcong. The Vietcong were a group that arose during Diem’s regime, they wanted to change South Vietnam into a communist country. Many non-communist citizens of the south also supported the Vietcong in hopes of ridding themselves of their corrupt government. The Vietcong was given supplies from North Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh trail. They used guerrilla warfare to create fear in the hearts of their enemies. Using this strategy, they were able to kill the

Communism in Eastern Europe was an ideology that took hold of the region for more than forty years. Each state fell into the Soviet sphere of influence after the end of World War II, and from then on until 1989, communism was the absolute norm for all of Eastern Europe. Though communism was the only form of government found in the region, each state was unique in how it carried out its policies as some were more lenient than others. As time progressed through the Communist Era, there were changes seen within the Soviet Union and these changes were reflected in its satellite states. Hungary is one such example of where communism took complete control of the country, and like the rest of Eastern Europe, went through different phases. Within

Communism, by definition, is the anti-capitalism, “a way of organizing a society in which the government owns the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) and there is no privately owned property” (Merriam Webster). Communism is the belief that everyone in a society receives the same benefits from labor. The key ideas behind communism is that society should not have class stratification (proletariat, bourgeois, and upper class), and that the poor should be freed from poverty and endless labor. The “father” of communism is Karl Marx (1818-1883), who authored the Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels. The purpose of the Communist Manifesto was to separate communism from socialism, and was meant to arouse the proletariat class into action, “Let the ruling classes tremble at the Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite!,”(1.4). Marx wanted to encourage the working class to rise up against oppression and take control. Countries which participate in communism are China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam (About). “Communist leaders like

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

After a deadly World War II, the United States was anxious that the spread of communism would grow to threaten the freedoms and democracy of the American people. Throughout this war, the United States made it a mission to spread the American-style of development and freedom as well as force communism into submission. Though their intentions were good, they failed miserably. Unwilling to allow any other foreign government to differentiate from what they saw fit, the U.S. ousted freely elected officials and intentionally sparked internal conflict around the globe, both of which led to the loss of freedom to foreign citizens, halted the development they wished to spread, and mostly failed at stopping the spread of communism.

In the fallout of World War II, decolonization around the world was taking place after colonial rulers had been wasted of any feasible measure to retain them. At the same time, the communist superpower of the USSR began a campaign to set up a buffer zone of satellite states, against their former allies and the emerging North American Treaty Organization (NATO). A feeling of mutual antagonism between the two created a global stalemate, and the only measurable way to demonstrate their power was in small conflicts: such as in Afghanistan for the Communists and Vietnam for the Americans. For the United States, their duel with the Communists led to a strategy to hold Communist sympathies in controllable, isolated areas. The American strategy

The collapse of both the Soviet Union and socialism was a ceremony, yet to others, it was a failure. To the everyday people who wanted rights to express, to live their life independent, and to vote, this was a great accomplishment. To the individuals who were with the power, who did not oppose to such policies, they remained oppressed by so a fall, especially communist bureaucrats. This large fall was the origin of the ending of the Cold War. That was an ending to multiple catastrophic incidents that got a point during, before, and later the Cold War. There are many cases to why the Soviet Union and socialism in East Europe fell. The three top reasons were, the first being the Soviet's economic decline from military spending, another being Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost methods, and the three being some neighboring nations of the Soviet Union were quickly facing socialism and taking fighting against their regime. All these matters slowly and eventually led to the crumbling of the Soviet Union and socialism in Eastern Europe.

Countries that put communism into practice constantly change the principles, nobody has the same version of communism; these changes do not allow “true” communism to be realized. The lack of success when communism is implemented can be attributed to the constant adaptations made and these adaptations are made for three reasons. To begin with theory of an idea does not always correlate with the actual experiment. Theories rely on set factors that need to be in play, however sometimes in reality these factors can not be met due to limitations or other possibilities. In particular within “The Communist Manifesto” Karl Marx asserts the importance of the leaders having absolute power and this premise simplifies things in theory, but throughout history it has had drastic consequences on societies. These theories are then modified to align with the

By definition, communism is “an international political movement and a political and economic system that has its origins in the philosophy of Karl Marx” (“Communism”). This system allows for the government to own and control all the land, capital, and means of production, with which the distribution was in accordance to need and limits how much each individual holds in comparison to others (Kennedy and Cohen 692). In theory, communism is a noble concept developed by two visionary philosophers who envisaged a utopian society– a new world where everyone within it is equally set in perfect conditions; there would be no poverty and no one who stands at the top to look down on people who weren’t economically favored by fate. Be that as it may, the perception of the word “communism” in today’s American society has become shrouded with fear and ignorance. It has developed into a common case: people are not recognizant of the important aspects of this ideology and are unable to distinguish between Marxism in theory and the subsequent European reality. Several events and figures of paramount importance have led to this culmination such as Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, key Soviet communist leaders; the Russo-American Cold War, from 1947 to 1991; and the Army-McCarthy hearings, known as the witch hunt for Communists.