False Hopes: Communism and Fascism

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture on Communism and Fascism.

Communism

A political ideology that seeks to create a classless society through the abolition of private ownership of means of production.

Fascism

A far-right authoritarian ultranationalist political ideology characterized by dictatorial power and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

War Communism

Lenin's economic policy during the Russian Civil War that involved nationalization of all industry and the requisition of agricultural products from peasants.

New Economic Policy (NEP)

A policy introduced by Lenin in 1921 that allowed some private enterprise and market elements to stimulate the economy after War Communism.

Stalinism

The political system under Joseph Stalin characterized by totalitarianism, rapid industrialization, and the collectivization of agriculture.

Collectivization

A policy aimed at consolidating individual landholdings and labor into collective farms, which resulted in widespread famine and millions of deaths.

Great Purge

A campaign led by Stalin in the late 1930s to eliminate dissent within the Communist Party, resulting in the execution and imprisonment of thousands.

Ideological Fight

Disputes centered on ideological principles, particularly related to economic organization, as opposed to traditional power struggles.

Bolsheviks

A faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, which later became the Communist Party, known for seizing power during the Russian Revolution.

Totalitarianism

A political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and seeks to regulate every aspect of public and private life.

Mainstream Economy

The dominant economic system in a society which includes market economies and liberal democratic principles.

Liberation

The act of setting someone free from oppression, confinement, or foreign control, often associated with revolutionary conditions.

Causes of the Russian Revolution

Long-term social and economic inequality, the autocratic rule of Tsar Nicholas II, and the strains of World War I, leading to widespread discontent and unrest.

Marxism-Leninism

The political ideology combining Karl Marx's theories of class struggle and a moneyless, classless society with Vladimir Lenin's theories on the leading role of a vanguard party and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat (in Marxist-Leninist thought)

A transitional state proposed by Marx and implemented by Lenin, where the working class (proletariat) holds political power and suppresses resistance from the bourgeoisie, leading towards a communist society.

Russian Civil War (1918-1922)

A multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution, primarily fought between the Red Army (Bolsheviks) and the White Army (anti-Bolshevik forces), which led to the implementation of War Communism.

Economic consequences of War Communism

Severe economic collapse, widespread famine, hyperinflation, industrial stagnation, and peasant uprisings due to forced requisitioning and state control over all aspects of the economy.

Primary goals of the New Economic Policy (NEP)

To revive the Soviet economy by temporarily reintroducing market mechanisms, attracting foreign capital, and pacifying the peasantry after the devastating effects of War Communism.

Kulaks

A term used to describe relatively prosperous peasants in the Russian Empire and early Soviet Union, who were often targeted as class enemies during collectivization and subjected to repression and expropriation.

Command Economy

An economic system where the means of production are publicly owned and central government planners make all major decisions about the production and allocation of goods and services, characteristic of Stalin's Soviet Union.

Cult of Personality

The use of mass media, propaganda, or other methods to create an idealized, heroic, and worshipful image of a leader, often seen in totalitarian regimes like Stalin's Soviet Union.

Show Trials

Public trials in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant, staged primarily for propaganda purposes, a key feature of Stalin's Great Purge.

Fundamental ideological difference between Communism and Fascism

Communism seeks to abolish class distinctions and private property to achieve an international classless society, while Fascism emphasizes extreme nationalism, glorification of the state, and often rigid social hierarchies, while typically retaining private property under strong state control.

Great Leap Forward (1958-1962)

An economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong, aiming to rapidly transform China from an agrarian economy into a communist society through industrialization and collectivization.

Main goals of the Great Leap Forward

To industrialize China rapidly, making it a leading industrial power capable of surpassing capitalist nations like Britain and the United States, and to fully implement collective agriculture.

Key policies of the Great Leap Forward

1. Agricultural Collectivization: Peasants were forced into large collective farms (people's communes).

2. Backyard Furnaces: Encouragement of small-scale, local steel production to rapidly increase industrial output.

3. Unrealistic Quotas: Setting excessively high production targets for both agriculture and industry.

4. Labor-intensive Projects: Massive irrigation and infrastructure projects using largely unskilled manual labor.

Consequences of the Great Leap Forward

Massive famine (Great Chinese Famine), economic collapse due to disastrous policies, inefficiency, widespread deaths, and severe environmental damage.