Preview

Communism in the Soviet Union and Why It Failed

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1573 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Communism in the Soviet Union and Why It Failed
Communism in the Soviet Union and Why it Failed

Communism is defined as "a system of political and economic organization in which property is owned by the community and all citizens share in the enjoyment of the common wealth, more or less according to their need." In 1917 the rise of power in the Marxist-inspired Bolsheviks in Russia along with the consolidation of power by Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, the word communism came to mean a totalitarian system controlled by a single political party. This came to justify that the means of production is controlled and the wealth is distributed with the goal of producing a classless or possibly a stateless society. The ideological meaning of communism arose in 1848 with the publication of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They believed that communism is inevitable and is an outcome of the historical process. They believed that the "struggle between an exploiting class, the capatalists at present age, and an exploited class, the workers, would enter a crucial stage in the period of capitalism where industrialization occurs and that the effects of industrialization is to heighten and intensify the internal contradictions in capitalism." To put it bluntly they believed that the ownership of industry would be in fewer and fewer hands where the workers would plunge into a state of ever-increasing misery. These impoverished workers grow in numbers and organize themselves into a political party which would lead a revolution in which they dispose of the capitalists. The proletariat would establish a society governed by a " dictatorship of the proletariat" based on communal ownership of the wealth. According to Marx this phase of human society is referred to as socialism. Communism is the final transcendence of this revolution in which there is a break up and elimination of the state and no class division. That is the primary reason that it was called the Union of
Soviet Socialist

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Despite the poor working conditions and the inequality that industrialization under capitalism creates (“The Industrial Revolution and Economic Growth”, 529) it is still a necessary step for Russia because it lays the groundwork for a successful socialist and eventually communist system of government that will allow all members of Russia to flourish. “[The Communist] openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions;”(Carl Marks and Friedrich Engel, The Communist Manifesto) Therefore it is important to note that capitalism is an impractical form of government that should not be implemented for any long term scenario it is merely a stepping stone that is unfortunate but essential to the development of a successful government. Then why must Russia endure capitalism? Why not skip straight to communism? It is for this reason, A does not equal C meaning that each step in the process is essential to getting the end result.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How and why did events in overseas empires from the 1890s on challenge Western faith in imperialism? How were colonial dominations increasingly challenged?…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marx vs. Weber

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to Marx’s labor theory of value, the value of a product is not it the raw materials, but in the labor of the worker who produced it. Consequently, in Marx’s eyes, the worker deserves most of the profit from the sale of that product. Yet, in a capitalist society, the owner or employer receive most of the economic rewards.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Library of Congress lists Duck and Cover as one of the most significant films of all time. Produced by Archer Films, the 9-minute movie was designed to teach children what to do in case of a nuclear attack.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    a. Thesis. Kennan argues that the Soviet Union views itself as leading a perpetual war against capitalism. Anti-capitalist ideology is the method to retain power. However, the Soviet Union is vulnerable, but it will require a long term, and persistent strategy of firm containment. The success of this strategy will greatly rely on America’s greatness.…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The revolution destroys wicked people and harmful and useless institutions. A revolution is defined as “a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system”. There are many factors and conditions present that push people to revolt. The most common condition and factor in many revolutions is that people from all social classes become dissatisfied.…

    • 2089 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The word revolution stems from the Latin “revolver”, meaning to “roll back”, which refers to a cyclical change. The modern definition of the term was established by the French Revolution of 1789. It therefore signifies a dramatic evolution of the power in place, that power being destroyed and renewed, on social, political, economic and cultural scales (Heywood, 2000). The Marxist theory of this concept affirms that revolutions are “the inevitable consequence of the structure of society” (Cohan, 1975). Society undergoes constant changes due to modernization, which therefore generates revolutions.…

    • 1818 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Three examples of Soviet composers and musicians who made a lasting impact in the world of music included Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Mstislav \"Slava\" Rostropovich. These artists helped introduce the music of high culture to the Soviet masses and sometimes became internationally recognized. Musicians were called on to compose music that could be understood by the masses and uplift the Soviet people. Decent was often quashed and artists were expected to produce works that glorified the Communist Revolution and the new lives of the new Soviet masses, often while criticizing the capitalistic West. Censorship was strenuous, but the Soviet…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Communism Vs Cold War

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages

    After the devastation of World War II, the entire world anticipated and feared another outbreak of war as tensions increased between two powerful nations, one being the United States, and the other being the Soviet Union. The two countries entered a state of hostility, known as the Cold War, where a quiet battle was fought using fear, propaganda, and threats. For about 45 years, nations across the globe waited as the two major countries continued their rivalry through provocation and rising tensions. The United States, a democratic government, is run by its people and is a direct contrast to the communist government run by the Soviet Union. Communism, unlike democracy, is a policy where the government owns and controls all property and natural…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It was 1900, 1920, 1940, 1960 when the signs still said, Whites only, not 100 or even 1,000 years ago when the confederate flag was hoisted. Most of the foreign people who are allowed to vote come from places where disabled are just disabled. No benefits. Most foreign people come from systems of “cast”, you were born poor, you die poor. That, is not the American Dream. Many of them were running from places, and are just glad to see that someone is doing worse than they are. Wake up! Communism was not just in places like Russia, Germany and Eastern Europe; it was here in the United States of America. Many escaped and sit in mansions spending up the money their ancestors exploited. That is why there were all those movies causing you to look for…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Marx believed that the poor were working their fingers to the bone to create value for society, while the rich simply siphoned off a portion of that value, which had been created by the poor. The rich do this without putting any effort into creating this value or their own value. In order for society’s productivity to be maximized, rich people’s syphoning off of a share of production must be done away with. Instead, the means of production (factories, stores, natural resources, etc.)—which rich people owned and used in order to siphon off poor people’s productivity—ought to be owned by the people themselves as a collective group. This prevents the rich from using their ownership position to syphon off a portion of society’s productione. Now, the people would continue to do all the producing, but the results of production would benefit only the people. In other words, each member of society must do what he or she can to produce the good and services society…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Yes I believe The Soviet Union was an experimentation which crashed soon after its beginning. One of the leaders, Stalin, was crazy man. After his wife died in, he became truly demonic person. Lenin was willing to kill large numbers of people, but Stalin seemed to enjoy it. The Soviet Union was not communism; it was Stalin's regime of terror. This is the main problem of the communist model. because there is only one power structure is easy to grab total control. To get an idea of how it all went wrong, Orwell's well thought Animal Farm idea, showed how weak communism is to dictators. Sadly it’s true, because they aren’t ready yet to truly work together as one…

    • 120 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The dissolution of the communist party was undeniably one of the significant developments in the political world since World War II. The dissolution of the communist party was undeniably one of the significant developments in the political world since World War II. One of the main reasons for failure is that governments can almost never be entirely communist because governments did not have control of communism and because leaders were corrupt. Everyone who has tried to have a communist government has ended with a totalitarian govennment.…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Communism In Ww2

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page

    Russian spies meddling in the Presidential election, the leader of North Korea threatening the use of nuclear weaponry, and turbulence in the Middle East, though far apart and distinct, are inexplicably linked through the decades-long Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as many other countries which were indirectly involved. In this war, The United States strived to fight off the phantom doctrine creeping across Europe, Asia, and South America—communism. Despite the diversity of nations affected by communist revolutions, the United States poured colossal effort, time, and funding into preventing the spread of communism, using strategies involving economical influence, military force, and diplomacy. The United States…

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    What were the political consequences of the attempts to deal with the threat of communism in Australia in the 1950’s.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics