Communism Notes

• Planned/controlled economy - govt. has COMPLETE control over economy.

  • Originated by Karl Marx along w Friedrich Engels

  • Written in response to the horrors of indus rev. - long hours, low pay, unsafe conditions, child labour.

• Complete rejection of capitalism and mod libs economics (profit motives)

  • Communist Manifesto + Das Kapital - basis of communism.

    1. History can be explained as a struggle between rich and poor.

    2. Society can be divided into 2 groups - bourgeoisie (rich) and proletariat (workers/poor)

    3. Bourgeoisie will continue to exploit the proletariat, who are replaceable my automation. Response is by a violent revolt - seize the means of production.

    4. All would be govt. owned, nationalized. Lack of change + bloodshed makes it diff from socialism.

    5. Industries would be based on common good, not profit motive.

       1. “From each according to abilities, to each according to his needs”

• Guaranteed a job for life - no worry of automation. Basic needs are met - house, car, family provision, heat, water, electricity.

  • Not extravagant, comfortable.

• Equality of outcome vs. equality of opportunity (capitalism)

• Economic equality - no rich, poor, all are the same. No titles, everyone would be citizen or comrade.

Russia

• Last European country to industrialize, backwards/third world.

  • Majority of Russians were peasants/serfs - illiterate, uneducated. Subsistence farmers.

  • Had a monarchy - Tsar

• January 1905 - Factory workers and families peacefully marched to Russian Palace. Peaceful protest seeking better pay and conditions.

  • Tsar responded by sending in the army which opened fire. Bloody Sunday - forever broke the bond between ppl and Tsar.

• WWI - Tsar forced Russia into war, even w/o industries to support a modern army. Shortages of weps and food.

  • Foot shortages for citizens, inflation, and protests were led to end their participation in war.

  • First Russian Revolution 1917 - Tsar and monarchy system was overthrown and replaced by provisional govt (who wanted IN WW1)

Lenin

• Follower of Marx; wanted to establish communism. Kicked out for trying to kill Tsar

• Snuck back in after First Rus. Rev aided by Germany.

  • Agreed to get Russia to back out the war.

• “Peace, land, and bread”

  • Peace: get Russia out of WWII

  • Land: take land from the rich

  • Bread: put an end to food shortages/out of control inflation

• Followers of Lenin - bolsheviks. Plotted a 2nd Rus. Rev. in Nov. 1917

• Communist revolution - provisional govt was overthrown and Lenin became leader.

• First order: Pull out of WWI; Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

  • Little control of Russia due to civil war 1918-1922.

Russia post. WWI

• Civil war - different groups.

1. Red Army/Reds - Led by companion of Lenin - Leon Trotsky, establush communism.

2. White Army/Whites - reestablish Tsar, put them back in power. Supported by allies.

3. Non-russian nationalities - independence from Russia.

• 1922 - Reds had full control of Russia; enforced War Communism, policy of Lenin - factories and farms actively supported Red Army.

• Russia was transformed into USSR/Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)

  • The flag of the USSR is red, the sickle represents farmers, the hamer represents factory workers and the star represents communism.

• New Economic Policy (NEP) - recognized the brutality of War Communism. Allowed some aspects of communism; private property, profit motive.

  • Lenin was critisized for stepping away from Marx.

  • Response: “One step to take two steps forward/one step forward, two steps back.” Would return to communism fully when economy recovered.

• 1924 - Lenin dies, leaving a race for leadership of USSR.

1. Trotsky - close w Lenin, leader of Red Army. Travelled around USSR arguing for world wide revolution for communism.

2. Stalin - Georgian, industrial background. Changed his name to Stalin - Man of Steel.

   1. Originally wanted to be a priest, but inspired by Marx and became a Bolshevik. Became General Secretary (useless lmao.)

   2. Placed his friends in high positions in party. Decieved Trotsky by giving wrong date and time of Lenin’s funeral. Seen as highly disrespectful by Trostky, led to Stalin becoming leader of USSR, NOT OF RUSSIAN CITIZENS 1928.

   3. Trotsky fled for fear of his life.

• Stalin mainly feared the West planning to invade the USSR to stop communism. USSR needed to modernize quickly

  • “We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries…”

• Motivated his economic policies, but also viewed lives of Russians as expendable.

  • “The death of one man is tragic, but the death of thousands is a statistic.”

Great Purge’

• Forced Collectivization - grow surplus of grain to sell to the west, and use the funds to buy modern machines.

  • USSR only had small farms - Stalin combined small farms to larger ones.

  • Massive starvation - greatly affected Ukranians in the Holodomor. Many countries saw this as a genocide, attempt to erase all Ukranians.

Opposition

1. Kulaks - best farmers in Russia, profited from Tsar’s rule due to owning their farms.

   1. Stalin took farmers away but expected production. Protests were in the form of burning stock, leading to initial failure of forced collectivization.

   2. Labelled as enemies fo the state - anyone hiding food was sent forced labour camps (gulags) - high death toll due to exhaustion, disease, violence, lack of water, high temperature.

Still led to forced collectivization having a boost in production.

1st Five Year Plan

• USSR came up with set goals for industries to meet. Would be done every five years.

  • Focus on heavy industries & production - coal, steel, electricity, oil.

  • Expense of consumer products; long lines for basic goods like milk, bread, and meat with constant shortages.

• Transformed USSR from a backwards economy to being one of the two superpowers globally post WWII.

• Continuation of Stalin’s policies continued after his death w/o brutality. Govt agency - Gosplan

  • Gosplan determined all economic decisions - salaries/wages of everything. Bureaucracy.

USSR Conditions

1. Farms

• Three types of farms - collective, state, & private

  • Collective - farmers work land together, state owned land. Farmers still own crop, livestock, and machines (theoretically collective can profit via large stock selling)

    • One buyer of crops - state/communist party.

    • To each according to his needs - 97% of land // 70% of food.

  • *State - treated like factories. Farmers had hourly wage regardless of production - farmers saw no pride in work due to hourly pay.

    • 97% of land // 70% of food.

  • Private - all farmers could set aside a small plot of land to grow what they wanted and sell. Used law of supply and demand.

    • Most efficient use of land - 3% of land // 30% of food.

    • self interest motivated - work hard, reward of cash.

• 1980s - old communist usually became leaders of USSR (Andropov, Chermenko)

  • Gorbachev - young, and believed communism had to make life better of citizens.

Reform

1. Perestroika - allowed some elements of capitalism to exist - private property, private business, profit motive.

2. Glasnost - political freedoms, citizens could critcize govt/communist party.

Led to collpase of USSR in 1991 - not communist now.