Communism

11 October 2004 (Lecture #19)

• Marxism (Karl Marx) – German philosopher from the Age of Metternich (1800s revolutionary conservative)
• Helped write Communist Manifesto – wrote German ideology revealed a materialist interpretation of history
• Bourgeois (‘Bore-jua-zee’; haves) vs. Proletariat (have-nots) – “religion is the opiate of the masses”

o Conflict of classes can be ended by eliminating private property

o The word communism comes from ‘communal property’

• Wants international revolution because then nations would not oppress each other either
• sFirst Intl. (1864-76) – confed. of social and labor practices collapse over internal strife between Marxists and anarchists
• Second Intl. (1894-14) – also fails (leaders decided for countries to fight in WWI)
• Communism – state-owned property, no private prop., goods and factories owned by the gov., classless aim, totalitarian gov.
• Socialism – very ambiguous and widely used – a government of collective ownership and administration of goods

o Not necessarily totalitarian or bad (Canada, for example, has a socialist medical system)

• American Opposition

o Challenges economic order

o Requires totalitarian government

o Abolishing private property violates Enlightenment ideals

• Russian Revolution

o Russia xenophobic due to multiple invasions

o Imperial ambitions overstressed Russia

o Assassinations brought liberal reforms

o Defeated during the Russo-Japanese War – end liberalization (they turn back the clock)

• Lenin: advocated communism throughout Europe

o Believed the Great War was due to capitalism

o Lenin and communists take over the Russian government, killing 200,000 opponents

o White Russians – supported the tsar or Menshiviks (like Capitalists)

§ Successfully held off the Red Army; backed by foreign power until the end of WWI

o Lenin open to slow change and allows a liberal economy which is very popular

o Stalin becomes Secretary of the party; Lenin feels like he can control him

§ Lenin thought Stalin was evil and ignorant

o Lenin dies and Stalin takes power by convincing people with false evidence that he was Lenin’s friend

o Stalin tries to modernize too rapidly – moves farmers into factories, etc.

§ 20M starve and the economy is dies

§ Makes the government absolute totalitarian – it exiles 4M, executes 1M, and eliminates 20% of officers