...Communism, just the mention if the word brings fear to the heart. Thoughts of dictatorship, control, persecution, and socialism fill the mind. Communism ruled the eastern half of Europe for about seventy years. Westerners wondered what really was taking place in the region. The Iron Curtain separated the eastern half of the continent from the rest of the world. A war for power and control was taking place. Socialism was drilled into the inhabitants of the dictator controlled countries. But, in 1991 it was said to have fallen. The Soviet Union did fall, but communism has not completely faded away. It has a lasting impact on the people that lived through it. The first communist international organization was founded in about 1836 by a group of German workers. Communism, a branch of socialism, envisages a society where there is equality for all people. The equality is achieved by distributing equal wealth to all the members of the society; thus making everyone at par with the other. The father of communism Karl Marx and Friedrich Angels, changed the political sphere of the world. Some regarded communism as a Utopian idealism that can never be attained in a society while its proponents believed that it was the answer to all their miseries and sufferings. The communist supporters believed in declaring an open war on their opposition, and this is clear from the most popular last lines of the manifesto: "The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that...
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...Collapse of Communism and the Demise of the Soviet Union Purnea Gillani Author Note This report was prepared for International Relations Practice, BS (Hons) Major in Political Science and Minor in Management, taught by Professor Sajaad Naseer ABSTRACT The collapse of the soviet empire is often heralded in the West as a triumph of capitalism and democracy, as though this event was a direct result of the policies of the Reagan and Thatcher governments. This analysis has little relation to measurable facts, circumstances and internal political dynamics that were the real historical causes of the deterioration of the Soviet empire. The key to understanding the reasons for the demise of the Soviet Union and communism in Eastern Europe is to be found not in the speeches or policies of Western politicians, but in internal Soviet history. Through our report we have attempted to discern the various complex factors that came together and led to the unraveling of the Soviet Union and the end of communism in Europe. This report contains an analysis of how social, political and economic factors culminated in the sudden and unprecedented collapse of the Soviet Union at the perceived height of its power. ACKNOWLEDGMENT We would like to thank … Contents ABSTRACT 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 3 INTRODUCTION 5 LITERATURE REVIEW 8 ROLE OF PUBLIC OPINION IN COMMUNISMS COLLAPSE...
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...How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the period 1945-50 was the result of Stalin’s foreign policy? Development of the Cold War, in the five years between 1945 and 1950, could be argued as taking place for a number of reasons and due to various individuals. It could be easy to simply site Stalin as the main reason responsible for it’s outbreak and growth, clear through his approach on communist expansion, use of Red Army and inability to uphold agreements. However for a war of any kind to develop there is always more than one party involved and the USA and it’s president Truman could also be said to have contributed to the developing of Cold War, arguably being equally aggressive as Stalin – taking an Iron fist on dealings with Russia through policies such as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, as well as his direction over the US involvement in the Korean War. However issues such as Britain and Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech, as well as the birth of McCarthyism in America, can also be seen as hindering relations between the two superpowers of the Cold War and therefore playing a role in it’s development. Whether Stalin was to blame for the Cold War can also be judged and evaluated through the use of sources, offering a number of interpretations, from extreme Orthodox and Revisionist views to the more diplomatic reasonings of the post revisionist stance. It is correct to say that development of the Cold War, between...
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...Communism spread to North Korea mainly because of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. According to O'Brien in “Asia”, the spread of Communism in Eastern Asia began with the victory of Mao Zedong in China. Mao Zedong was one of the leaders of the revolution in China and after throwing over the previous government, he became the leader of Communist China. Later, the Bolsheviks in Russia began their movement and earned their place in the government after the gruesome Russian Revolution. They later changed the name to the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR). Quoted from Ali in “Communism”, “The Russian Communist movement became the model for other communist parties around the war”. The many communist parties, using the USSR as their model, began to make the US worry of a domino effect of Communism resulting in the ideas reaching the West. Genovese explains the cause of the impact of the Soviet Union in...
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...its existence, the Cold War appeared to be something that was constantly present and unchanging. However, revolutions in Europe and Asia after 1953 continued to shape the Cold War until revolution inevitably destroyed in 1989. In 1954, after failing to contain communism in Korea, America involved itself in the Vietnam Conflict. At this time, France had just lost control of its colonial holdings in Vietnam. After the French were defeated by a communist contingent lead by Vo Nguyen Giap at Dien Bien Phu, the French decided that they could no longer retain their Indochinese colonies. In the summer of 1954, France and Vietnam signed the Geneva Peace Accords. It was agreed that Vietnam would be temporarily divided along the 17th parallel such that the north would be communist and the south would not be. As a result of this, the United States decided to intervene in the South Vietnamese affairs in an attempt to contain communism as they had in Korea. It was at this time that the American National Security Council (NSC) published its 68th paper (NSC-68) in which they introduced the policy of rollback. NSC-68 guaranteed the liberation of nations under communist dictatorship for the purpose of gradually eliminating communism until it was no longer a national issue to be concerned over....
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...Glasnost': The Decimation of the USSR April 16, 2002 I) Since the beginning of mankind the world has been under various ruling powers with only one goal in mind. A) This led to the rise of monarchies with their kings and queens, the socialists with their presidents, and the communists with their tsarist rulers. B) In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev brought upon the world the idea of Glasnost', which led to the changing of the largest ruling power in the world to a new power benefiting everyone. II) The Former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics before Glasnost'. C) Different styles of Soviet government from the early 1900s up to 1985. 1) Leninism to Stalinism to Khrushchev to Brezhnev. D) Coups and the Great Purge III) What lead to Glasnost' and what it is. E) In 1986, Gorbachev dismayed at the slow process of reform being conducted in the country proposed to the citizens of the USSR and the entire world a two new ideas to help bring reform to the country in a much more radical direction. F) Gorbachev called for a glasnost’ (openness or candor) in the media and culture. IV) Changes within Russia and Foreign changes. G) Banned works and speaking out are no longer dangerous crimes against the state. 2) Criticizing the government led to the formation of a large number of independent nationalistic movements in the USSR. 3) Scholars and scientists are allowed to share their findings with others...
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...the spread of communism, the U.S defeat was to produce nothing of the kind: apart from the fact that Cambodia and Laos became embroiled, the effects were essentially confined to Vietnam”. This quote embodies the reason for the involvement in the war and also the end result. Communism was the number one factor for entering the war in Vietnam and containment was the policy. In the end, Vietnam fell to communism and the United States failed at their goal. Communism was the main reason for the initial involvement in the war that escalated into a full scale conflict; leading the United States to learn some valuable lessons. The era in which the war took place was one plagued with the fear of communism. The foreign policy known as containment was used to as a justification to intervene in numerous foreign conflicts. This policy is centered around the idea of containing communism to its borders and not...
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....How far do you agree with the view that the development of the Cold War in the period 1945-50 was the result of Stalin’s foreign policy? Development of the Cold War, in the five years between 1945 and 1950, could be argued as taking place for a number of reasons and due to various individuals. It could be easy to simply site Stalin as the main reason responsible for it’s outbreak and growth, clear through his approach on communist expansion, use of Red Army and inability to uphold agreements. However for a war of any kind to develop there is always more than one party involved and the USA and it’s president Truman could also be said to have contributed to the developing of Cold War, arguably being equally aggressive as Stalin – taking an Iron fist on dealings with Russia through policies such as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, as well as his direction over the US involvement in the Korean War. However issues such as Britain and Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech, as well as the birth of McCarthyism in America, can also be seen as hindering relations between the two superpowers of the Cold War and therefore playing a role in it’s development. Whether Stalin was to blame for the Cold War can also be judged and evaluated through the use of sources, offering a number of interpretations, from extreme Orthodox and Revisionist views to the more diplomatic reasonings of the post revisionist stance. It is correct to say that development of the Cold War, between 1945 and 50...
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...The Rise of Socialism and Communism: Marxism “The classes and the races, too weak to master the new conditions of life, must give way. They must, perish in the revolutionary holocaust” (Karl Marx). Marxism was created in the mid-1800s by two German philosophers named Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Since the beginning of the 21st century Marxism has been making a comeback due to Marxism-Leninism in Asia and Eastern Europe, different morals of the upcoming generation, and due to the fact that it is one of the key components of the Communist style government that is being introduced around the world. Marxism-Leninism was created together in 1929, which was 5 years after Lenin’s death, by Joseph Stalin. Many communist parties today imagine it...
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...1947-1991 was waged around the policy of containment, the democratic idea to limit communism to the areas already under Soviet control. President Truman of the United States passed the Truman Doctrine whose foundation was in containment. America’s fear of communism was so great they implemented their policy across the globe. Throughout the Cold War, the United States never had physical confrontation with the Soviets, but America fought to end the spread of communism in China, Germany, Cuba, Guatemala, Korea, and Vietnam. The communist ideals of Karl Marx inspired revolutionaries in Russia, such as Vladimir Lenin, and his socialist reforms began to spread across Eastern Europe and Asia in the 1920s. Chinese...
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...Development of the Cold War, in the five years between 1945 and 1950, could be argued as taking place for a number of reasons and due to various individuals. It could be easy to simply site Stalin as the main reason responsible for it’s outbreak and growth, clear through his approach on communist expansion, use of Red Army and inability to uphold agreements. However for a war of any kind to develop there is always more than one party involved and the USA and it’s president Truman could also be said to have contributed to the developing of Cold War, arguably being equally aggressive as Stalin – taking an Iron fist on dealings with Russia through policies such as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, as well as his direction over the US involvement in the Korean War. However issues such as Britain and Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech, as well as the birth of McCarthyism in America, can also be seen as hindering relations between the two superpowers of the Cold War and therefore playing a role in it’s development. Whether Stalin was to blame for the Cold War can also be judged and evaluated through the use of sources, offering a number of interpretations, from extreme Orthodox and Revisionist views to the more diplomatic reasonings of the post revisionist stance. It is correct to say that development of the Cold War, between 1945 and 50, was definitely impacted and heightened through provocative, and at times, aggressive actions on foreign policy, taken by Stalin. An example...
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...the USA’s policy of containment? The policy of containment was not a success, As after the war, The USA aimed to quarantine communism to the only place it existed, Russia. However soon despite this, communism spread and communist dictatorship controlled most of Eastern Europe, soon after this the most populated state on earth, China, fell to a communist regime, as well as the creation of communist states in Vietnam and Korea. This consistent creation of communist states and the failure of the USA to prevent this, shows how ultimately, despite apparent success in some of Europe and Asia, the Policy of Containment failed in its primary function, to contain and prevent the spread of communism and therefore it was not a success. However it is arguable that in some ways the USA’s Policy of Containment was a great success in preventing the spread of communism early on during the Cold War. One piece of evidence that supports the argument that the USA had early success with their policy of containment is The Greek Civil War. The USA’s decision to intervene due to the “strategic significance of Greece in the Balkans and the Mediterranean” arguably was successful. With this clear threat of communist expansion into Western Europe, Truman called for congress to uphold the Truman Doctrine and provide funding to aid the battle against the spread of communism that clearly threatened the USA’s interests in Europe. This resulted in $400 million dollars of funding being provided to support...
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...Socialist Party – Mensheviks; • The Social Democratic Party - Bolsheviks. However, despotism remained in the Soviet regime and the Tsar controlled the parliament. Slide 4: 1917 - February Revolution • Kadett, with the population massive support, created a revolution. Again, Tsar ordered his army to shoot but, this time, they refused to do it. • Tsar’s army joined the revolution and the revolution won power against him. • It was implemented an interim government headed by Kadett. • Kadett intended to implement Liberalism. Slide 5: Monarchic Absolutist Regime -» Interim Government Slide 6: 1917 – October Revolution • Lenin returns from exile with the purpose to end with Liberalism and to impose Communism. • Lenin joins Trotsky and both lead a group of Bolsheviks that assault the parliament. • Through force, the Bolshevik Party dissolved the parliament (violence will accompany the Soviet Revolution until its end). • Bolsheviks, dissatisfied with the liberal regime of Kerensky, make a revolution killing the Tsar and the imperial family. Slide 7: Interim Government -» Proletarian Dictatorship (Lenin) Slide 8: Climate of oppression • According to the ideals of Marxist-Leninist theory, it is necessary to remove the population’s...
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...declining relationship, President Truman seized the opportunity to revive America’s foreign policy. During the joint session of Congress President Truman requested Congress provide $400,000,000 worth of aid to both the Greek and Turkish Governments and support the dispatch of American civilian and military personnel and equipment to the region. During his speech he gave two solid reasons for his request; first argument dealt with the Communists gaining victory over the Greeks in their Civil War. President Truman believed if the Communists Party won that victory would endanger turkey’s political stability. (Randolph) As a result of the Truman Doctrine a plan call the Marshall Plan was implemented with intended goal of containing communism, which ended up helping Europe’s economy get revived. The plan...
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...The Cold War Overview * Arms Race * Communism * Glossary and Terms * Space RaceMajor Events * Berlin Airlift * Suez Crisis * Red Scare * Berlin Wall * Bay of Pigs * Cuban Missile Crisis * Collapse of the Soviet UnionWars * Korean War * Vietnam War * Chinese Civil War * Yom Kippur War * Soviet Afghanistan War | People of the Cold War Western Leaders * Harry Truman (US) * Dwight Eisenhower (US) * John F. Kennedy (US) * Lyndon B. Johnson (US) * Richard Nixon (US) * Ronald Reagan (US) * Margaret Thatcher (UK)Communist Leaders * Joseph Stalin (USSR) * Leonid Brezhnev (USSR) * Mikhail Gorbachev (USSR) * Mao Zedong (China) * Fidel Castro (Cuba) | http://www.ducksters.com/history/cold_war/summary.php The Cold War Communism Communism is a type of government and philosophy. Its goal is to form a society where everything is shared equally. All people are treated equally and there is little private ownership. In a communist government, the government owns and controls most everything including property, means of production, education, transportation, and agriculture. History of Communism Karl Marx is considered the Father of Communism. Marx was a German philosopher and economist who wrote about his ideas in a book called the Communist Manifesto in 1848. His communist theories have also become known as Marxism. Marx described ten important aspects of a communist government: * No private property * A single central bank...
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