Communism East Europe
Communism East EuropeTITLE: Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?
SUBJECT: European Studies B EDUCATION: First year university GRADE: first
honour AUTHOR'S COMMENTS: I liked it. Interested to hear other people's
comments. TUTOR'S COMMENTS: Well done!! Extremely informative. Well
researched. Good Layout. Stress Gorbachev's role more.
Communism is like Prohibition - it�s a good idea but it won�t work
(Will Rogers, 1927) (1)
This essay will give a brief introduction to communism. It will then
discuss the various factors which combined to bring about the collapse of
Communism in Eastern Europe. It will examine each of these factors and
evaluate the effect of each. Finally it will attempt to assertain whether
Rogers� opinion (see above quotation) on Communism is true, that is,
whether communism was truly doomed to fail from the start, or whether its
collapse was a result of external influences.
Communism is based on the ideas and teachings of Karl Marx as modified by
Lenin. At its most basic, the ideal of communism is a system in which
everyone is seen as equal and wealth is distributed equally among the
people. There is no private ownership. The state owns and controls all
enterprises and property. The state is run by one leading elite. The
Soviet model of communism was based on these ideals. All opposition
parties were banned although parties who were sympathetic to communism
and who shared the communist ideals were allowed. All power was
concentrated into the hands of the Communist party. Free press and civil
liberties were suppressed. Censorship and propaganda were widely used.
There was state ownership of the economy. No private enterprise was
allowed. There was a collectivisation of agriculture. The Communist Party
invaded and controlled every aspect of political, social, cultural and
economic life. It was a totalitarian state with complete Communist control
over all facets of life. In the early years, and up until Gorbachev�s �new
regime�, the use of force and terror as a means of maintaining control was
widespread.
The first factor which contributed to the failure and eventual collapse of
communism was the fact that the Communist party�s domination was
illegitimate from the beginning. Lenin came to power after a bloody Civil
War between those who supported Lenin and those who opposed the Soviet
regime. To Lenin, defeat was unthinkable and he was prepared to make any
and every sacrifice to win the war and save the revolution. The forcible
requisitioning of food and supplies was approved by Lenin. This could
only be achieved by enforcing strict and absolute discipline at every
level of society. Terror was to become the chief instrument of power and
Lenin was to assume the role of dictator. This was a phenomenon which was
to become a symbol of communist regimes throughout their lifetime.
This trend was followed when Stalin came to power as leader of the
Communist party and the Russian government in 1929. (2) He had achieved
this through plotting and trickery and by shifting alliances. This had
begun in 1924 when Stalin systematically began to remove all opposition
to his claim to power. His main rival was Trotsky and he used a number of
underhand measures to discredit him. For example Stalin lied to Trotsky
about the date...
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