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The Rise and Fall of Communism Post WWII: Russia and Other Nations

Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin began to build a buffer zone that would hopefully create positive alliances with other communist countries to protect the Soviet Union from another World War. Suffering such great losses in both WWI and WWII, Stalin used alliances with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and East Germany to build strong communist governments. These alliances were important to Stalin to assure that the Soviet Union would not suffer again the great losses from WWI and WWII. All of these countries were pronounced communist by 1948, creating a new era of government control. According to Archie Brown in his book, The Rise and Fall of Communism, he writes, “During most of the twentieth century communism was the world’s dominant international political movement.” He also wrote that, “People reacted to it in different ways− as a source of hope for radiant future or as the greatest threat on the face of the Earth” (Brown, 10). Many began to either worship their government and leaders or fear that their government was constantly hiding information. This led to many citizens in communist countries feeling there was mistrust between the people of the nation and their government. In the 20th century, many controlling leaders exerted their power through a communist government and their successors suffered the consequences when attempting to transform into a more capitalist government enduring many challenges. To understand why communism rose and how it can be understood that for many countries it fell apart, it is important to view the difference between the two sides of the Iron Curtain, the liberal government and the communist government. The largest difference between communist nations and liberal nations was the power of the government in a communist nation was much more prominent in the every day lives of the citizens. It is important to view how involved the government was in not just big businesses and corporations but also placing strict laws and regulations on individuals. In the United States and other liberal states, the government placed these laws and regulations on big businesses to help improve the economy and boost the capital of the state. An example of how a communist country took control of individuals’ lives can be viewed through the division of West and East Berlin. After WWII, the city was split and families were separated over night. The wall that split the city was lined with guards and whoever attempted to escape East Berlin was shot on sight, this was known as the “Death Strip.” President Ronald Reagan even spoke to the public urging the German leader to tear down the way. The wall was meant to control its citizens and kept them from jobs, families, and freedom. It was planned that, “This, they believed, would make it impossible for the people who lived there to get food or any other supplies and would eventually drive Britain, France and the U.S. out of the city for good” (Berlin Airlift). Although this plan did not work for authorities. The U.S. and other allies decided to supply the city with goods from dropping them from airplanes. This is where the name “Berlin Airlift” resonated and created great tension between the countries. Eventually the people of Berlin overthrow the wall and were able to break through it, sending a clear message to their government. Ownership and power were another key difference in liberal nations verse communist nations. In liberal nations, individuals and corporations were able to own property and had control of what they did own. This was the way that citizens were able to take part in the economy of the country. In a communist nation, the government owned virtually everything. This did not allow for citizens to take part in the economy or in any part of policy making. The leader or leaders had full control of the economy of the state. This made it hard for people living in a communist nation to rise above poverty, considering everyone was virtually equal. Poland was one of the first nations to begin moving away from communism to a more capitalist economy. Poland was the only communist country in Eastern Europe where the Catholic Church remained prominent. This allowed for some private space within the country. The Solidarity Movement from 1979 to 1989 pushed for more western ideas and change within the government. The ultimate movement was the dire economic conditions within Poland. With the reelection in 1989 allowed for a free election and communism began to crumble. The Czech Republic followed Poland and the Soviet Union began to also show signs of a degrading communism economy. Stalin died in 1953 leaving his successor, Krushchev, to leading the Soviet Union. He began relaxing communist policies and pushed to increase their economy to rise and become more similar to the economy of the U.S. and Britain. Many uprising began to take place and strong liberal activist used forms of violence to show their emotions. For example, in Hungary in 1965, a group of liberal activist destroyed Stalin’s statue, which forced for Soviet intervention using massive tanks and force. A major step that the Soviet Union took towards a more capitalist economy was when they parted ways with China. China remained a communist country, which forced the Soviet Union to step back from communication. Western Europe was not communist, although it eventually influenced other countries to join their idea of privatization. A free market began to become appealing to many eastern countries. Germany began to expand their free market throughout Europe. This created the European Union which now has 19 members. The EU was created because of the economical competition. Many countries found it beneficial to begin expanding a free market. The EU also brought life to the Euro and has shown great strength in the world economy and market. Overall, it was not a smooth transition into capitalism from previous communist countries. There were many downfalls and errors made along the transition. In the case of the Soviet Union, the transition began in 1982 when the major leaders of the communist party began to die. Leonid Brezhnv, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko all died leaving room for knew leaders, such as Mikel Gorbachev’s. Their passes marked the end of communist leaders. Gorbachev wanted to focuses from within the state and work on the Soviet’s economy and reform the communist system. His idea of reform was called perestroika and this program failed to make change within the economy. Eventually in 1989 the Congress of People’s Deputies voted to end communism. Gorbachev eventually resigned and Yeltsin was brought to office. He worked to privatize the Russian economy. There was great collusion between state and enterprise. Short-term borrowing backfired on Russia when oil prices collapsed in 1998. Russia’s transformation into communism was quite difficult. There was also great violence that fed into the transition from communism to capitalism. This came from uprisings that were brought on from fear and mistrust of the government. According to Rutland, “After 40 years of communism people were so suspicious of political leaders, and of political life in general, that they refused to follow any movement, including the newly founded liberal and democratic parties” Rutland, pg. 149). Many citizens in these previous communist countries had been mistreated for so long they feared more restrictions. They sought to find independence through revolts and the use of violence. Altogether, communism fell towards the end of the 20th century. Economies have grown through privatization and a free market. Though it was an unsmooth road, the further from WWII that the world got, the more they felt confortable to opening to a more capitalist economy and government.

Works Citied

Brown, Archie. The rise and fall of communism. Random House Digital, Inc., 2009.

Berlin Airlift. Deconstructing History: Berlin Wall. History. Video. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-airlift

Cold War History. Cold War. History. Video. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history

Rutland, Peter. The Revolutions of 1989 Reconsidered. Current History, 98:627 (1999: Apr.) p. 147.

Mares, Vaclav E. Current History (pre- 1986); Jun 1954; 26, 000154; ProQuest Politics Collection. Pg. 347