Communism Notes

Here's a comparison of Communism and Fascism, outlining their key differences:

Feature	Communism	Fascism
Method of Gaining Power	Violent revolution	Abuse of the electoral system and terror
Method of Rule	Single-party Dictatorship	Single-party Dictatorship
Source of Beliefs	Writings of Marx, Lenin, Mao	Writings of Mussolini, Rocco, Sorel
Goals	Triumph of the working classes, world revolution, the overthrow of capitalism	National greatness, constant expansion
Economy	State controlled, no private property, favors proletariat, emphasis on equality	State regulation of private enterprise, favors capitalists, natural inequalities
Appeal	Working class, peasants, intelligentsia	Lower middle class, some upper class and clergy
Scope	A worldwide movement, opposed to nationalism	A series of national movements, stresses nationalism
Belief in Reason	Humans are basically rational	Humans are basically irrational

Communism is both an economic theory and a political system with the following characteristics:

Government actions for the benefit of all
Theoretically democratic
Equal rights – Bill of Rights (many freedoms and rights guaranteed but not enforced)
Periodic elections (high turnout, but often only 1 candidate – one party state)
Control of media and education
Need to educate (indoctrinate) the youth

Based on established theories of Marx – communist system creates a society that encourages creativity and self-awareness (because you are not worried about mundane things).
Democracy is based on the idea that all people are equal, not freedom.
Rapid industrialization proved the superiority of the system
Avoidance of Great Depression
Ability to defeat the Nazis

Part of Europe but not industrializing at same pace
Awareness of Enlightenment ideals
Dissatisfaction with limited reforms made by Tzar (economic reforms outpaced the political reforms)
- Civil rights, universal suffrage, and elected Duma were introduced in 1905 but suppressed.
Losing the battles of World War One

Two revolutions – one to overthrow the Tzar, the next to establish Bolshevik rule.
Bolsheviks gained support of peasants and soldiers through Lenin – “peace, land, bread.”
5-year civil war
War Communism: swift transfer to communist system (to support civil war efforts).
NEP – Lenin sees the dramatic transformation is not working, returns to minor forms of capitalism (e.g., farmers selling extra produce).

Vision: Rejected the NEP (need to devote to the communist ideology)
Point to the strength of communism during the Great Depression
Indoctrination/propaganda:
- Used to promote the cult of personality (Stalin as a strong man, yet father-figure).
- Also used to denounce opponents.
Direction of Popular Discontent:
- Collectivize farms to support rapid industrialization.
- Kulak revolts, reduced output, Ukrainian famine
- During the Cold War – blamed the US for problems.

Only one party – CPSU
Voters handed ballot with approved candidates name on it
If you wanted to vote for someone else, you had to scratch out the name and write another: with everyone watching you.
6% of the population were members of CPSU (starting at a young age).
Perks: bigger apartment, better food, special medical services, nice vacation, better education for children (approximately 1% also had rights to overseas travel, foreign currency, and personal servants).
Force:
- Elimination of opposition (early removal of opposition will allow the socialist society to become truly communist).
- Great Purge
- KGB, gulags

Avoided the Great Depression
Greater equality - didn’t have the race riots or protests like the US Civil Rights Movement. Their women gained equality long before women were treated equally here in Canada.
Literacy and health care were superior to many liberal nations.
The rejection of liberalism made sense when Stalin was ruling the country.

The collapse of the communist political system will be studied during the Cold War.