1. Global Communism

2. The Communist World in 1970
About 1/3 of the world’s population lived in communist countries Ideology rooted in 19th century European socialism Based on the teachings of Karl Marx

3. The Most significant Communist Nations
The Soviet Union
China
Eastern Europe
Poland, East Germany
Czechoslovakia
Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria
North Korea
North Vietnam
Cuba

4. A Common Ideology Shared by communism governments and movements
Minimize claims of national loyalty
Advocate an international revolutionary movement
Of the “industrial proletariat”
Russian Revolution inspired others revolutions
Soviet Union aided and advised revolutionaries
Communist International – the Comintern
Soviet Union tried to control the policies and actions

5. Communist alliances During the Cold War (1940s-1990s)
Military and political alliances
The Warsaw Pact – military alliance
USSR
Eastern European Nations
Council on Mutual Economic Assistance
USSR and China
Treaty of Friendship, 1950

6. The Communist World - Divided
The West viewed communism as unified
Committed to destroying the West
Communist world was NOT fully united
Eastern Europeans resented Soviet control
Hungary (1956)
Czechoslovakia (1968)
Soviet Union vs. China
Close to war, late 1960s

7. The Mystique of the French Revolution
Drew comparisons to the French Revolution
Like the French, the Russian & Chinese revolutions
ousted an old ruling classes
involved rural peasants led by an urban elite
sought to modernize their societies

8. Communist Revolutions were distinct
They were led by highly organized parties They were guided by a Marxist ideology They were committed to an industrial future They pursued BOTH economic AND political equality They sought the abolition of private property.

9. Working Class Revolutions
Communist revolutions acted on behalf of
Exploited urban workers
Impoverished rural peasants
(soldier, farmer, worker)
Middle classes suffered under communists
They benefitted from French Revolution
Communists spoke of gender equality
French and American Revolutions did not

10. The Russian Revolution, 1917
During World War I
Going very badly for Russians
Workers were exploited and suffering
Outraged by incompetence of the elite
St. Petersburg; 100,000 soldiers wives demonstrate
Demand bread and peace.
February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated
Provisional Government established

11. abdication of Tsar caused upheaval
Ordinary soldiers deserted in large numbers
Trade unions seized control of factories.
Workers & soldiers form grassroots organizations
Called “soviets”
Peasants seized landlords’ estates
burn manor houses,
redistributed the land
Non-Russian nationalists demand changes

12. The Provisional Government Fails
Social revolution reveals weakness of Provisional Government.
Led by middle-class politicians
Led by some moderate socialists
Divided and ineffectual
Did not help Russia’s revolutionary masses
Refused to take Russia out of the war

13. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
Commonly known as Lenin
Led a small socialist party called
Bolsheviks
Their message becoming more popular
end to the war
land for the peasants
workers’ control of factories
self-determination for non-Russians
October seized power in a coup
Bolsheviks withdrew from World War I

14. Civil War, November 1917 – October 1922
The Bolshevik coup triggered a Civil War
The Bolsheviks “Red Army”
The “White Army”
Tsarist officials, landlords
disaffected socialists, regional nationalist forces
Red Army battled foreign troops
United States, Britain, France, and Japan
Both the Red and White armies committed atrocities
The Bolsheviks won

15. authoritarian tendencies
One party rule
Intolerance of opposition
Suppression of nationalist movements
Harsh treatment of peasants
State control the economy
Communists renames country
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
USSR or Soviet Union

16. Communism imposed on Eastern Europe
Next major extension of communism
Imposed on Eastern Europe
Between 1945 & 1948
Poland, Czechoslovakia
Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary
Eastern portion of Germany
Soviet Union’s Primary Objective
Security
Establish “buffer” states

17. Communists in Eastern Europe
Local communist parties had some domestic support
In Eastern Europe
Many communists had ties anti-Nazi movements
The resistance
Yugoslavia: A popular communist movement
“Partisans”
Led resistance against Nazi occupation
Yugoslavia liberated itself from Axis domination
Leader openly defied Soviet control of Yugoslavia
Josip Broz, known as Tito

18. The Chinese Revolution
Chinese Revolution lasted several decades
The Chinese Communist party (CCP)
Founded in 1921
Over the next 28 years, it grew enormously
Mao Zedong

19. The Kuomintang 1928, Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) takes power
Chiang Kai-shek – a military officer
The Nationalist party had a narrow base of support
urban elites, rural landlords, and Western powers
Nationalist tended to benefit people in the cities
Rural areas remained impoverished
Most Chinese people lived in rural areas

20. Adapting communism to china
CCP seeks support from peasant villages
Tactic at odds with classical Marxism
A revolution of the industrial proletariat
European Marxism was adapted
to fit the situation in mostly peasant China.
Mao and his Party won respect and support
among China’s peasants.

21. World war II Japanese forced Kuomintang to retreat to the interior
Becomes more dependent on conservative landlords
The CCP and communist-led People’s Liberation Army
grew greatly in size.
wins over the hearts & minds of peasants
People’s Liberation Army – a massive fighting forced
fought epic struggle against the Japanese

22. Chinese Civil War, 1945-1950 After the World War II
Communists vs Kuomintang
In 1949 the communists won
Mao Zedong proclaims birth of People’s Republic
1 October 1949
Tian men Square
Many of the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan

23. Constructing socialist societies
Communist parties create socialist societies
Soviet Union, 1920s and 1930s
Joseph Stalin
China, 1950s and 1960s
Mao Zedong
Modernization and industrialization
A socialist modernity
attacked inequalities of class and gender
prevented emergence of new inequalities
Promoting selflessness and collectivism

24. One-Party Rule
Full implementation of these policies required one-party rule
Top-ranking party members enjoyed various privileges
The party penetrated every level of society
Other parties forbidden
The state controlled almost the entire economy
Political authorities monitored information
Political opposition rarely tolerated

25. Transforming the economy
Communists transformed agriculture and industry
Process controlled by the ruling communist party
Agriculture
land redistribution and collectivization
Industry
state ownership of property
centralized planning
priority given to heavy industry
mobilization of the nation’s resources

26. Nations Transformed Both Russia and China experienced
Rapid urbanization
Exploitation of the countryside
The growth of a privileged elite
bureaucratic and technological