1. Hallmarks of Communist Regimes

2. First Communist regime came to power as a result of the October 1917 revolution and the civil war that followed (Soviet Union or USSR)  After WWII the Soviet Union imposed regimes that were all but carbon copies of its own  Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and the eastern part of Germany (satellites of the USSR)  Other Communist states arose from the aftermath of WWII (North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, China)  Cuba became a communist state after the Cuban Revolution (1959), led by Fidel Castro, overthrew Fulgencio Batista  Cuba became a Soviet ally and adopted their style of communism in 1961

3.  Communist Party completely controlled political life  In a few countries, other parties were allowed to exist, however they were only pawns of the Communists.  Party dominated the government, the media, the economy, the educational system, and most social and leisure activities  Parties were run according to democratic socialism-- rule by a tiny group of party officials at the top of the hierarchy

4.  Until the late 1950s, the Soviet Union controlled the entire Communist world  New Communist regimes not only adopted Marxism- Leninism but submitted to Moscow’s leadership in determining how their parties would be run  But by the 1950s, the Communist world began to splinter  China and the Soviet Union became bitter enemies

5.  Until late 1980s, Communist countries relied on a command economy, in which government owns almost all industrial enterprises and retail sales outlets  Economies were managed by a party dominated state planning committee  Devised detailed blueprints for what was to be produced, exported and sold (typically in a five year period)  Early on, central planning helped to produce rapid results, but in the long, run the benefits went away

6. SOCIALISM  Four Characteristics  Capitalism and the private ownership of the means of production are flawed  Demand substantial equality of outcome  Free from hunger, disease and poverty  Democracy as practiced in liberal, capitalist society is too limited  Providing for public ownership and control of a substantially more egalitarian society will improve human relations

7.  Belief that significant political and economic progress can only occur through revolution, based on key principles  Societies pass through stages, evolving from primitive groups of hunters and gatherers to an industrial society  Societies shift from stage to stage in a wrenching process that Marx called the dialectic  Progress occurs when the distribution of economic power is changed

8.  Conflict between classes is inevitable; Marx believed that the ruling class had to exploit the rest of the population who did not control the means of production  Eventually, the rest of the population will not accept being exploited and will rise up; so those in charge create a superstructure of other institutions  The state  Religion

9.  Marx believed that despite these institutions, workers (the proletariat) would still resent their exploitation  The spread of mass education and political freedoms that came with a liberal democracy would allow them to recognize their exploitation  Marx believed that a revolution would occur through a wave of strikes and demonstrations that would lead to an overthrow of the bourgeoisie (capitalist class)

10.  The revolution would be followed by a transitional period, the “dictatorship of the proletariat”  The means of production would be taken over and run collectively and the resources would be redistributed equally  Afterward, the society would move into communism; at this point, there would be no need for government because people would work freely and efficiently because they were freed of “ownership”

11.  Marx believed that socialist revolutions would first occur in industrialized countries  However, they came to power in countries in which industrialization and capitalism had not developed very far  To adapt, Marxists had to adopt a very different strategy  “democratic centralism”–highly disciplined, hierarchical organization of professional revolutionaries  Resulted in too much power in too few hands