COMMUNIST AND
POST-COMMUNIST
COUNTRIES
Karl Marx
• “Father of Communism”
• German Socialist
• The Communist
Manifesto (1848)
Principles of Socialism
• Private enterprise=unacceptable inequality
• Capitalist elite exploit masses
• People as a whole should control economic
enterprises.
• Equality of outcome (no hunger or poverty)
Principles of Marxism
• Society passes through stages
– Pre-modern to industrial
• Class conflict
– Bourgeoisie (Capitalist elite)
– Proletariat (working masses)
• Elite create a SUPERSTRUCTURE
– Institutions to control the masses
• GOVERNMENT
• RELIGION
Principles of Marxism
• Revolution occurs in an
industrialized society
– Proletariat masses rise up
• Post-Revolution
–
–
–
–
No superstructure
No exploitation of worker
No private ownership
“From each according to his abilities,
to each according to his needs.”
• Society w/no
superstructure=“Communism”
Russian Revolution, 1917
• BOLSHEVIKS overthrew Russian government.
– “Larger Faction” of Social Democratic Party
– Actually: the minority
– Eventually call themselves “COMMUNISTS”
• V.I. Lenin: Marxist leader of Bolsheviks
• Solidified control in 1921.
• Renamed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Leninism v. Marxism
• Russia was pre-industrial
• A VANGUARD of the
REVOLUTION (small group
of revolutionary leaders)
was necessary to provoke
revolution.
• DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM
– Rule by a few key
leaders.
• Primacy of the
Communist Party of the
Soviet Union (CPSU)
• New Economic Policy (NEP)
– Allowed some private
property and businesses
Marxism-Leninism
• Marx’s revolutionary
anti-capitalism; Lenin’s
reliance of communist
party-state.
• 1924: Lenin dies
• Named no successor
• 1927: Joseph Stalin
took control.
Stalin’s Two-Part Plan
COLLECTIVIZATION
• Ended private ownership
(NEP)
• Collective Farms
– Huge, state-run farms
INDUSTRIALIZATION
• Forced society to
industrialize.
• Surplus peasants farmers
forced to cities.
• Five Year Plan
– Double production of all
major industries.
• Gosplan
– Central State Planning
Commission created goals
for entire economy.
Stalinism
• Collectivization and
industrialization by
central planning,
executed with force and
brutality.
PURGES
• Millions of citizens and
party member killed.
• Obsessed with
disloyalty within party.
• Millions more sent to
labor camps (gulag)
Command v. Market Economy
COMMAND ECONOMY
Resource use Determined by
and production Central Planning
MARKET ECONOMY
Ownership of
Industry
State owns
most economic
resources
Determined by
supply
and demand.
Private
ownership of
resources.
Property Rights
Employment
Little to none
Fully Protected
Statecontrolled
Individualcontrolled
The Party State
• CPSU ran the state.
• Oversaw all people
and institutions.
• CPSU only route to
success.
• 10% of adults were
members
• Power centered with
POLITBURO &
SECRETARIAT
– Democratic Centralism
– GENERAL SECRETARY
was head of both
Recruitment of Party Elites
• Nomenklatura
– Lists of “qualified” CPSU members who could fill
important party positions.
– Secretariat controlled appointments
– Elite ruling class
Communism and the Cold War
• Nikita Khrushchev
(1953-64)
– Loosened censorship
– Denounced Purges
– Decreased Cold War
tensions
• Leonid Brezhnev
(1964-1982)
– Stagnating economy
– Massive military
spending
Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991)
New Programs
• GLASNOST:
– political “openness”
– Political dissent
• PERESTROIKA:
– Economic
“restructuring”
– Introduce elements of
market economy
– Private enterprise and
private ownership
(farms)
Flaws in the Soviet System
Lack of incentive for workers
• “They pretend to pay us; we pretend to work.”
• “The system is not working because we are
not working.”
Flaws of Soviet System
Lack of innovation
• Nomenklatura
– Inbred spoils system
– Encourages status quo
• RAMPANT BUREAUCRATIC INEFFICIENCY
– Poorly planned/run economy
Flaws of the Soviet System
Excessive Defense Spending
• 40% of the Budget
• 15-20% of GDP
• 4 times greater than U.S.
Glasnost: Soviet Republics
USSR
• 15 republics
• 92 different
ethnic groups
• 112 different
languages
• Various
republics (regions)
pushed for
independence.
• Baltic States: 1989
– Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia
1991 Coup Attempt
• Communist hard-liners oppose Gorbachev’s
reforms.
• 3-day coup
• Gorbachev
detained at
dacha.
1991 Coup Attempt
• Boris Yeltsin
– President of Russian Republic
– USSR’s largest “state.”
•
•
•
•
Rallied public
Opposed Coup
Gorbachev resigns
USSR disbands
– Dec 1991
Commonwealth of Independent States
(1991-current)
Yeltsin and “Shock Therapy”
• Rapid shift to a market economy
• Government privatizes “commanding heights”
Yeltsin and capitalist “oligarchs”
vs.
red directors
• Power in hands of an elite few
– Corruption
Impact of Shock Therapy
• Massive Inflation
– 1986: 20 rubles=$1
– 1997: 5,500 rubles=$1
2011: 30 rubles=$1
• GDP: 1989=500 billion
1999=195 billion
• Unemployment: no govt. secured jobs.
– 1998: 12%
•
•
•
•
16% of population lived on $1-$2 a day.
Huge gap between rich and poor
Public faith in a market economy dwindled.
1997: Government defaulted on debt.
Vladimir Putin
• Former KGB spy
• Prime Minister under
Yeltsin (1999)
• Acting president after
Yeltsin resigned
• Won presidential
election (2000 & 2004)
Putin & Economy
• Stabilized economy
after Yeltsin’s 1990s.
GDP
• 1999=195 billion
• 2009= 1.2 trillion
• Increase of foreign
direct investment (FDI)
in Russia
• Major exporter of oil.
• Modernization