Communism East Europe Essay Research Paper Communism

Communism East Europe Essay, Research Paper

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 of Lenin?s funeral, thus ensuring that Trotsky could not

attend and thereby blackening his name in the public eye. This Stalin

versus Trotsky conflict led to Trotsky being eventually exiled from Russia

and, ten years later in 1940, being assassinated by one of Stalin?s agents.

(3)

Under Stalin any opposition was swiftly and brutally crushed. In no Eastern

European country did the revolution have the support of more than a

minority of people, yet this minority retained absolute control. The

communist take-over and subsequent regime was achieved by undemocratic

methods, that is, rigged elections, terror, totalitarian state, harassment

and threats. In 1932 a two-hundred page document by a fellow member of the

Politburo condemning the Stalinist regime and calling for change was

published. (4) In response to this Stalin wreaked a terrible revenge. In

1936 Stalin began what became known as the ?purges? whose function it was

to try members of the communist party who had acted treasonously. (5) The

result of these was that five thousand party members were arrested and

stripped of their membership. The sixteen defendants in the three

Showtrials of 1936, 1937 and 1938 were found guilty and executed. In 1939

those who had conducted the purges were also executed. By 1939 the only

member of Lenin?s original Politburo who remained, was Stalin himself. (6)

In relation to foreign policy, Stalin exerted his influence to ensure that

all Eastern European countries (except Yugoslavia) had Soviet-imposed

puppet regimes. Stalin?s domination was now total. After the war Stalin

succeeded in establishing a communist buffer zone between Russia and

Western Europe. Any resistance he met in establishing communist states was

quickly suppressed by intimidation and terror. For example Stalin

engineered a communist coup in May 1948 in Czechoslovakia in which a

government minister Masaryk was killed and the president was forced to

resign. (7) This served a warning to other countries against resisting the

communist regime.

Therefore it can clearly be seen that from the establishment of the state

that communism never had popular public support. It cannot be denied that

there was a significant minority who supported communism, but these were a

minority. Can an ideal and a leadership really be built on such a shallow

and flimsy basis? This essay would argue that the answer to this question

is no. For a leadership to lead, it must have strong support and

confidence. It must be seen to work for the good of the people and not

merely a vociferous minority. This, therefore, can be argued to be one of

the contributing factors in the downfall of communism.

A second related factor, which had a hand in bringing about the end of

communism in Eastern Europe was the fact that communism never really had

the support of the people. There was constant societal opposition to

communist rule in Eastern Europe. Although this was mainly in the form of a

passive rumbling dissent, there were occasional violent and active shows of

opposition to communist rule. The states of Eastern Europe in the post-war

period had been forced to adhere to the Moscow line. After 1956 however,

with Khrushchev?s new approach to Socialism and his denunciation of Stalin,

there were increasing calls for independence among the communist bloc

countries who had never been truly supportive of the communist regime.

In East Germany in 1953 there were a series of strikes and protests. (8)

The Russians, under Stalin, used their armed forces to put down the revolt

and to protect East Germany?s communist government. This shows the

importance of Soviet military force in maintaining communism?s tenuous grip

on power. It also shows how weak communist rule in East Germany really was.

It was this event that sealed East Germany?s fate as the USSR realised that

in a united Germany, the Communists would lose control. Events eventually

culminated with the building of the Berlin Wall which was the ultimate

expression of Soviet and communist force and coercion in maintaining the

communist regime.

Under Khrushchev, who had succeeded Stalin after his death in 1953, Poland

was the first to revolt against the communist regime. Polish workers rioted

and went on strike in 1956 and the Polish communist party also revolted by

refusing to accept the Russian general Rokossovsky as the Polish Minister

for Defence. (9) The situation was diffused by a compromise which was made

on both sides, with Poland agreeing to remain in the communist Eastern bloc

if the nationalist communist leader Gomulka, who had been imprisoned by

Stalin, was reinstated. The fact that Khrushchev was willing to compromise

illustrates again the precarious position of communist rule.

The Hungarian revolution of 1956 was borne out of the relative success of

the Poles in achieving concessions for the Moscow leadership. (10) The

Hungarians decided to overthrow the Stalinist regime in their country. The

situation quickly deteriorated and on the 23rd of October the Hungarian

troops, who had been dispatched to end the riots, joined the civilians in

revolution. Soviet troops were called in and the Hungarian communist party

lost the little support which they had. Again Khrushchev tried to diffuse

the situation by offering a compromise, that is, the reinstatement of the

moderate communist leader Nagy. When it became clear, however, that Nagy

had every intention of pulling out of the Soviet communist bloc, Khrushchev

resorted to force and violence to maintain the communist grip on Hungary.

He ordered the return of Soviet tanks and troops to Budapest on November

4th 1956. (11) Thousands were killed in a bloody street battle until the

Soviets had re-established their control. Nagy was arrested and was

executed two years later. A Soviet imposed communist regime under Janos

Kadar was set up. (12) The tenuous communist grip on control is again

illustrated here. Khrushchev was willing to barter, and eventually use

force, to maintain Soviet control. Without this force and coercion,

however, Hungary would have established its own brand of communist rule.

Khrushchev could not risk the domino effect that this action would have had

on the Eastern bloc. This societal opposition can, therefore, be taken to

be another contributing factor in the downfall of communist rule in the

Eastern bloc. If those in the alliance cannot cooperate and work together,

the alliance and the ideal cannot hope to survive.

Another important factor which this essay will discuss is that of the

influence of the West on the Eastern bloc. The Eastern bloc was already

aware of Western capitalist success as they were allies during the war.

Many of the Eastern countries, for example Hungary under Nagy or

Czechoslovakia under Dubcek, were in favour of a communist system with some

elements of capitalism, that is, a mixed economy or market socialism and

more elements of democracy. There had been a breakdown in relations between

the East and West due to tensions after WWII. After the war Russia wanted

to create a sphere of influence in the East over which the West would have

no say or control. This was not acceptable to the West who wanted to see

democracy installed in the East and who wanted to have a continued input

into the doings of the East. This conflict eventually led to the Cold War.

Until Khrushchev became leader of the Soviet bloc, there had been no

significant contact between the two blocs. Those inside of the Soviet bloc

were completely cut off from the Western ideals. When Khrushchev came to

power, however, there as renewed hope in the West that there might be a

?thaw? in relations between the two blocs. Relations between the two blocs

did improve with Khrushchev attending a number of conferences and meetings.

For example a twelve-day visit to the US in 1959, a UN General Assembly,

also in 1959 and a later UN General Assembly meeting in 1960 in the US.

(13) Although then relations began to break down again due to the building

of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and the

Eastern bloc became cut off once more, western ideas had already managed to

penetrate the East. (14) The information that the capitalist West was

thriving while the Communist Eastern bloc was stagnating and

underdeveloped, made communism and Soviet control even more unpopular.

In 1963 there again was an easing of tensions between the two blocs when

Russia and the US signed a test ban treaty which allowed the West?s

influence to again creep into the East. (15) In 1964 Khrushchev was ousted

from power and Brezhnev with Kosygin took over from him. (16) In 1966 the

US and USSR agreed to a direct air service between Moscow and New York. In

1967 they, along with 60 other countries, signed the first international

treaty providing for the peaceful exploration of outer space. (17) In the

1970?s a period of D?tente began. In 1970 West Germany and Poland signed a

treaty rejecting the use of force. West Germany and Russia ratified a

similar treaty in 1972. (18) In 1972 Nixon and Brezhnev signed the SALT I

treaty which was to limit the production of US and Russian nuclear

weapons. In 1973 East and West Germany joined the UN. (19) Throughout

this period the West had more and more access to the Eastern bloc and the

people of the communist countries were influenced by these ideas. This was

a further blow to communist rule and another factor in the downfall of

communism.

The next contributing factor to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe

was that of its economic failure. During the years of war communism from

1918-1921, Soviet labourers worked for pittance wages. At the same time the

Bolshevik confiscated virtually all harvests. This brought the country to

the brink of economic collapse. The net result of war communism under Lenin

was that from 1914 the countryside was neglected and destroyed and in 1920

there was a severe drought. (20) In 1921 the New Economic Policy (NEP) was

introduced. This was in effect a limited capitalism. Peasants were allowed

to keep their surpluses after taxes were paid. Bonuses, extra rations and

better housing were offered as incentives. Still there was widespread

opposition to the communist policy with the beginnings of a ?peasant war?

against Stalin?s? proposed collectivisation policy in 1928. (21) Although

agricultural production increased, the standard of living was lowered and

hardship was widespread. Forcible collectivisation was pursued until 1935.

This again shows the people?s general opposition to communist policies.

Collectivisation failed to meet agricultural requirements during WWII. The

human cost of the policy was staggering. If the people are suffering under

a particular regime they will not support it, how then can this regime hope

to survive?

When Khrushchev came to power, he too failed to salvage the economy.

Although some of the policies which he introduced in the 1950?s had an

initial success, they soon collapsed with disastrous effects. Figures for

meat in 1958 were artificially high but collapsed soon after. In 1962 there

were sharp increases in the prices of butter and meat. (22) Food riots were

forcibly quelled by the shooting of seventy unarmed demonstrators in 1962.

(23) Industry was not faring any better and by 1963 production levels had

declined sharply in every branch of industry. As Khrushchev himself said of

communism in 1958:-

?If, after forty years of communism, a person cannot have a glass of milk

and a pair of shoes, he will not believe that communism is a good

thing? (24)

Under Brezhnev the economic state of the USSR continued to decline. Support

for communism was falling and due to improved relations with the West, the

people could see how disadvantaged they were. Under Andropov who succeeded

Brezhnev in 1982 the situation did not improve. Change began only when

Gorbachev came to power in 1985. (25) The major problems in the economy

which Gorbachev had to deal with were, the wasteful use of resources, the

lack of innovation, a poor division of labour, too many costly products

being produced, ineffective use of resources and low productivity. There

was a resistance to technological innovation due to a lack of incentives.

Wages were low and the mechanisms involved in introducing a new idea or

practice were time-consuming and complicated. There was a general

inflexibility in the enterprise network which also stifled innovation.

There was also a lack of investment in new ideas and industry. Gorbachev?s

solution to these problems was a ?Perestroika? of the economy.

The challenge of Perestroika was to move to more intensive methods of

production and more effective use of inputs. His economic polices began

with the promise of a revival of some of the practices of NEP. His aim was

to cause output to double by the year 2000 and for production and

productivity to rise substantially. It was not until 1987, however, that

these ideas were put into a concrete plan. (26) A vigorous anti-alcohol

campaign was initiated. Vineyards were destroyed and beer production was

cut-back. By 1988, however, they had to admit that this policy was a

complete failure and it was abandoned in 1990. (27) By 1985 the USSR had a

budget deficit of R37 billion. (28) Due to miscalculations in relation to

the extent of the budget deficit, Gorbachev authorised spending in social

and investment sectors while maintaining the spending in the military

sector. This was a gross mistake which resulted in the budget deficit in

1989 having increased to R100 billion or 11% of the Gross National Product

(GNP) and was predicted to rise to R120 billion. Therefore, under

Gorbachev, the budget deficit rose from 3% in 1985 to 14% in 1989. (29)

Inflation increased to over 5%. (30) Prices failed to reflect the high cost

of production and many companies were working at a loss. This economic

failure of communism meant that support for the system fell and that it was

becoming increasingly more difficult for the communist party to convince

the people that this indeed was the way forward, and a better solution than

capitalism.

Gorbachev therefore aimed to tie salaries into achieved results and to

remove subsidies on some goods and services. He did not act immediately,

however, with his price reform package as he hoped to first achieve a

balance between supply and demand. This merely worsened matters and wages

continued to rise faster than output and productivity. The main failure of

Perestroika is that it didn?t remove the old price system. Instead, it

allowed the old price system, which was based on scarcity, to continue, and

this merely exacerbated shortages. Ironically, it was the mass

organisations of people, who had emerged to defend living standards, who

actually hampered the struggle against inflation and the budget deficit.

This situation was partly created by the fact that the governing party had

no popular support and hadn?t been popularly elected. The economic

situation continued to decline. There was a zero growth rate. Shops were

calculated to be lacking 243 out 276 basic consumer items and there was a

chronic shortage of 1000 items out of 1200 which would be on a model

shopping list. There was a static farm output and high levels of inflation.

(31) Therefore it can be seen that communism was an economic disaster.

Khrushchev?s remark again can be used to illustrate the effect which this

had on the support for communism. (see ref 24).

As previously mentioned, communism never had majority support or a

legitimate political basis. Force and coercion were regularly used to

ensure that the communist party remained in power. Therefore one can

maintain that the fact that communism was a political failure was also a

contributing factor to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. If a

party has not got the support of a majority, then it has a weak political

basis. The fact that undemocratic means were used to ensure that the

communists came to, and then maintained, power shows that communism was a

political failure. Throughout the history of communism in Russia, never

once did the party gain a majority support or truly succeed in suppressing