East European
Communism and
Its Collapse,
Part II
Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)
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1917: Russian Communists (Bolsheviks) took power in
Russia
They proclaimed the start of a world revolution against
capitalism
From being behind the West, Russia seemed to jump ahead
of it – to the next, post-capitalist stage of world history
Western Marxism, a product of developed capitalism, was
transplanted into a country which had just entered the
capitalist stage
Russia’s challenge: to prove that modernization was
possible without capitalism
Russia’s new role was a sign of the profound crisis of
Western civilization
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Other attempted socialist revolutions in Europe in
the wake of World War I:
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Germany
Hungary
Estonia
Bulgaria
Finland
Italy
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To modernize Russia fast, the Communists resorted to
dictatorial methods
The Soviet state undertook forced modernization of economy
and society
The goals of keeping power and defending the state against
foreign enemies became paramount
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In the 1930s, Russia restored its imperial and autocratic
traditions under Stalin’s dictatorship – and called it “victory of
socialism”
The goal of social development was subjugated to the goal of
security
The resulting model was deeply flawed, fit only for situations
of extreme emergency (war)
Stalin as a
young
revolutionary
(1902)
GULAG wards, 1930s
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In the 1920s and 1930s, the rising forces in Eastern Europe
are socialism and nationalism
Failure of old elites
The peasantry moves to take over land
Rise of working–class movements
Nationalist mobilization
The Great Depression
Collapse of liberal democracies
The march of European dictators
 1922: Italy, Spain
 1923: Turkey
 1926: Poland, Lithuania, Portugal
 1929: Yugoslavia
 1933: Germany
 1934: Latvia, Bulgaria
 1936: Hungary, Greece
 1939: Spain again
 1940: Romania
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The ultimate test of the Russian state has usually been war
The Romanov Empire failed that test in WWI – and fell
By the time of the next test – WWII, the Russian state was
transformed into a more formidable machine
The “socialist” organization of the country was aimed at
making the state more militarily capable
A similar logic unfolded in Italy and Germany under
different forms of “socialism”
They talked of “socialism”, but they meant winning world
wars
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Read Preface to Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands: Europe
between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books, 2010
E-edition available from York Library:
http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/lib/oculyork/
docDetail.action
September 1, 1939: Nazi Germany invades Poland
1940: Hitler
in occupied
Paris
Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, June 1940
Nazi
propaganda
poster: SS
forces kill the
Red beast of
communism
German poster
depicting
Soviets: “The
lower race”
The “master race” celebrating rapid conquest of Russia
Victims of German occupation
Hitler’s Empire,
1942
Moscow, October 1941
Women digging anti-tank moats near Moscow
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Eastern Europe as the key arena of the struggle for the
future of Europe
The crisis of the European civilization generated 2
alternative ideologies: one of the Left, the other from the
Right
Both communism and fascism arose from the European
periphery
Communism was a Eurasian rebellion against the West
Fascism presented itself as a force to save Western
civilization from “Eastern barbarism”
Western democracies were maneuvering between the
two –
first supporting fascism, then communism
German POWs in Russia
Buchenwald, 1945: Survivors of Hitler’s “Final Solution”
The Red Army takes Berlin, May 1945
Western losses in World War II (incl. civilians)
 France – 0.65 mln. dead, 0.3 mln. wounded
 Britain – 0.4 and 0.3 mln.
 Italy – 0.5 and 0.35 mln.
 USA – 0.4 and 0.65 mln.
 Canada – 0.04 and 0.05 mln.
 Australia – 0.06 and 0.015 mln.
 Total – 2.4 mln. dead and 1.5 mln. wounded
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HUMAN TOLL: 3.9
mln.
Eastern and Central European losses in World War II (incl.
civilians)
 Russia – 27 mln. killed, 15 mln. wounded
 Germany – 7 and 7 mln.
 Poland – 6 and 1 mln.
 Yugoslavia – 1 and 0.6 mln.
 Romania – 1 and 0.9 mln.
 Hungary – 0.5 and 0.5 mln.
 Total: 43 mln. killed and 25 mln. wounded
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HUMAN TOLL: 68
mln.
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Shattered states and societies
Discredited elites
Economies destroyed
Legacies of ethnic warfare
Masses in turmoil
Intensive political struggles in each country
In Western Europe, too:
 Capitalism seriously undermined
 Socialism popular
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In 1945, with the defeat of fascism, communism replaced it
in Eastern Europe
Occupation by Soviet troops was a key factor – but the case
of Yugoslavia showed that communist regimes could be
established by internal forces
Attractiveness of socialism: rapid modernization on an
egalitarian basis
Eastern European communism became a specific avenue of
development (both social and national)
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The Right is either eliminated or severely weakened
The situation favours the Left
East European Left in 1945:
3 types of left-wing forces:
 Agrarian socialists
 Social Democrats
 Communists
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Throughout East Europe, left-wing parties were banned
since 1920s or 1930s
Only in Czechoslovakia the Left, including CP, was fully
legal until the German occupation - and was dominant in
politics
Now the Left is free to act and take advantage of the
postwar crisis
Its issues are popular:
 Punishment of collaborators
 Building democracies
 Socialist reforms
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East European Communists welcomed Soviet aid, but did
they want to be Soviet puppets?
Some did, others not
Those who did not, tried to find other options
And the West was more or less willing to treat them as
legitimate forces in the region
But Stalin would not tolerate the slightest dissent from the
Kremlin line
He was the Red Emperor
And dissenters were severely punished
Degree of Soviet control was determined by Soviet strategic
considerations
Any leeway was possible only if Soviet interests demanded it
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The logic of Soviet imperialism
Geopolitics and security above all
In 1945-47, Stalin considered it pragmatic to allow a degree
of freedom to East European countries
“People’s Democracies”
In 1948-49, he decided to go for full control and isolation
from the West
East European Communists were to serve as the tools for
the Soviet takeover
The issue of national independence
It required a massive purge of East European Communist
Parties
Installation of Soviet-type totalitarian regimes
The Soviet
Bloc, 1949
1949: Celebrating Stalin’s 70th birthday, Molotov
delivering report
After Stalin’s death in 1953, Eastern Europe began to move
away from Stalinism as an unviable system
--Extreme degree of state control over society – hard to
maintain, permanent emergency rule
--Economic inefficiency of bureaucratic rule
--War was no longer on the horizon; capitalism was
stabilizing with the help of social reforms and US aid
--The challenges of peace and prosperity
--Communist elites needed more normal, stable regimes in
which they would be secure from challenges both from
above and from below
Reforms were inevitable
Reforms were in the interests of both of the rulers and the
ruled
BUT: Stalinist features at the foundation of communist
power
--Bureaucracy reigns as the New Class; no interest in
sharing power
--One-party systems
--Control of information
--Mechanisms of repression (security services, the
military)
From the death of Stalin to the collapse of communism
In each communist country: attempts to develop viable
political-economic systems which would:
--secure the dominance of communist elites,
and at the same time
--make socialism attractive – or at least acceptable - to the
masses
Return to the past was impossible
Options for the future:
--National Stalinism (Albania, Romania, China)
--Reform socialism
--Capitalism
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National Stalinism would simply prolong the agony.
Reform socialism required a strong commitment to
democracy from the ruling elites.
They needed to take big risks with democratization
But the fear of losing power prevented them from taking
such risks
Or, when some of them would venture risky democratic
strategies, Soviet hardliners would intervene (Hungary,
1956, Moscow, 1964, Czechoslovakia, 1968, Poland, 1981,
Moscow, 1991)
Ultimately (in 1989-91), the elites opted for national
capitalism
The key role of nationalism
 The nationalist-communist fusion in its various forms
 Sources of nationalist agendas in communist countries:
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Nation-building processes were spurred on by state socialism
National communist elites sought to reduce or overthrow
imperial control
Part of the reform process, an element of democratization
Hungary, October 1956: Overthrowing Stalinism
Hungarian revolutionaries in Budapest
Prague, 1968: Soviets invade
Czechoslovakia to suppress
democratic reforms
1980: Solidarity movement in Poland challenges the Communist regime
The era of East European Communism started in 1917 with
the Russian revolution
Its demise began also in Russia: in 1985 with Gorbachev’s
reforms
Even though Gorbachev did not aim at abandoning socialism
Mikhail Gorbachev,
the last leader of the
Soviet Union
The logic of Gorbachev’s perestroika
Recognition that the Soviet system was in deep crisis
Need for fundamental reforms
Market socialism
Democratization
Negotiating an end of the Cold War with the West
Disarmament
Encouragement of similar reforms in Eastern Europe
Gorbachev in Berlin, October 1989
November 1989: the fall of the Berlin Wall, symbol of Cold War division of Europe
Prague, Nov. 1989
Bucharest, Dec. 1989
Moscow, August 1991: hard-liners attempt a coup to stop democratic reforms
The coup is defeated
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The Communist regimes maintained peace and stability in
Eastern Europe for half a century
They carried out intensive modernization policies
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Eastern European societies became industrialized, educated,
more egalitarian
Resistance to Soviet control fostered nationalist
movements
Struggle for democracy and human rights went on
As societies developed, their ability to challenge the states
grew
As the Soviet model stagnated and the West regained its
strength, capitalism began to look more and more attractive
By late 1980s, East European communist reforms evolved
into plans for Westernization
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Under Gorbachev, Russia recognized that it could no
longer offer an alternative to the West
The choice:
To reform state socialism into democratic market socialism
Or:
To abandon socialism altogether and adopt the Western
capitalist model
Gorbachev: attempted the first option
Post-communist regimes in Eastern Europe opted for
capitalism
Yeltsin’s Russia: did the same