Fall Of Communism In Russia Essay Research

Fall Of Communism In Russia Essay, Research Paper

Throughout history, the Soviet Union was the European country, in which occurred the most political, social and economical changes, that forever shaped the face of Russian society. The most evident and important change occurred in 1917, when Russia underwent one of the most important revolution in our times that resulted in a whole new ideology which was Communism. This new regime quickly spread to other countries like Poland, Checkoslovaquia and China. But it wasn’t as strong and as popular as it seemed because in less that a century this new political system, which underwent numerous changes with new concepts as Perestroika and Glasnost, quickly developed problems, which eventually led to its fall. To fully understand the fall of Communism, one must understand its roots and the circumstances under which it fell. In the beginning, Communism seemed for the people of Russia as a “utopian ideal” political system, with numerous benefits as the elimination of classes, of guaranteed employment and “the creation of a comprehensive social security and welfare system for all citizens that would end the misery of workers once and for all”. Lenin, the leader of the Communism movement, thought, that to create the ideal Communism regime, one must suppress all protest, and govern in a certain dictatorship. “Through coercive tactics”, this new government seized power and in 1917, Lenin came to power. Under his rule, the Soviet Union underwent radical changes in it’s economic policies, adopting a mixed economy, which meant that most of the means of production was controlled and seized by the government. After Lenin death, in 1924, a new leader came to power of the Communist Party, this time much more “strict” and cruel, and soon became the most powerful man in the Soviet Union. This man was named Joseph Stalin that soon started a campaign to eliminate all opponents, called “the Great Purges”, that systematically executed anyone who was opposed to his ideology. During this period, millions of Russians were arrested or executed. Also Stalin, changed once again the economic policies by this time taking control over everything, which became the government’s property. Its during this period that Wold War II broke out, and soon drained the Soviet Union of its already weak state. But after the War, “national unity was strengthened as well as the Soviet Military machine”, and it soon became a super power, with only the U.S as more powerful than it. After World War II, the Soviet Union was in serious difficulties, with, first of all, the huge number of deaths (17 million) and the huge amount of homeless (20million), but also with the very serious economic consequences, with huge amounts of assets spent on the war, and the huge amount of destruction. All this meant that the Soviet Union had to organize a program of reconstruction that would require great effort of the population, that were increasingly frustrated about their current way of life. As a result the Soviet leaders were faced with a difficult situation, on one hand, if they returned to their “prewar methods”, they would aggravate the already severe strain on the Russian people and would again be in a conflict with the rest of the World, while on the other hand, if they would change their strict policies, they would contradict the principles of “Marxism-Leninism” that might weaken the Communism regime. So Stalin’s single minded character decided to stick to the old ways, and to give himself total control of the USSR and to all the countries that “had fallen under his domination at war’s end”. As a result, the population of the Soviet Union, became more and more frustrated about the way they were treated and became more and more suspicious about Stalin’s role in the “Great Purges” of the 1930’s. After the death of Stalin in 1953, Nikita Krushchev became first Secretary of the Communist Party. Stalin’s death marked the end of a supreme power for the head of the party, and Krushchev condemned Stalin with his goal of attaining Pure Communism. Krushchev, unlike his predecessor, give the people of Russia a bigger freedom of speech and eased the judiciary system to permit the people to defend themselves better. He also concerned himself, with attempting to increase the supply of food, making goods such as home appliances, making automobiles somewhat available, and providing more housing. Although Krushchev started a process of slight reforms, he was dismissed due in part because of a massive shortage of grain and dairy products, and the fact that he had started to seize more power and “his efforts to become administrators.” He was also blamed for the Russian “defeat” during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and not accomplishing anything toward the reunification of Germany under East German Rule. After the “ousting” of Krushchev, Leonid Brezhnev became the Soviet Communist Party Secretary General in October 1964. Under his administration, the majority of the decentralization of power was destroyed bringing a “centralized form of control back into effect”. Also Brezhnev restored some of Stalin’s disciplinary policies, and named him a war hero. During his leadership, Brezhnev ” led the Soviet Union toward a form of socialism that stressed stability and relative egalitarianism.” He began to do some economic reforms, and worked to increase the supply of food and increase productivity in industries. During his leadershi