Rise of

Communism

What does this image

represent?

Economic Theories
Capitalism
individuals and
corporations
compete for profit
in the economic
market

Marxism
Communism is
based off theories
of Karl Marx
(Marxism).
Marx believed the
workers would
grow tired of
abuses in the
factories and
eventually revolt.

Capitalis
m

Capitalism

Progress results when individuals

follow their own self-interest
Businesses follow their own selfinterest when they compete with
one another for the consumers
money
Each producer tries to produce
goods and services that are
better and less expensive than
those of competitors
Consumers compete to purchase
the best goods at low prices
Market economy aims to
produces the most products at
the lowest prices

Marxism/
Communis
m

Review

Marxism

No private ownership of land

Means of production (all land,
businesses, mines and
factories) are owned by the
people collectively
All goods and services shared
equally
No social classes and no
government would be needed
This type of system would be
established by the workers
who would revolt against
continuing social inequality.

Origins of Marxism
Socialism was the response to the unfair
treatment of workers during the rise of
industrialization in the late 1700s.
It included ideas of free public education
(ending child labor), welfare, unemployment
pay, low income housing, and social security.

This means raising taxes

on the wealthy to help
support the poor, and
requires a strong central
government.

How does this critique

socialism?

The Economic Theories

Communism, a branch
of socialism, was the
response to the boom
and bust cycles of
developing
industrialized nations
in the mid-1800s.
Marxism/Communis
m a nations people
control the sources of
wealth in order to
create equality

Leninist Marxism
Lenin believed it
was up to the
vanguard to lead
the communist
revolution against
the capitalists.
He gained power in
Russia in 1917
after the Czar
abdicated.

Lenins Promise
When Lenin took
power after Czar
Nicholas II
abdicated, he
promised Land,
Bread & Peace.
He traded away
land (and its
people) for peace
with Germany in
the Treaty of BrestLitovsk.

Spread of Communism
In the early
twentieth century,
communism was
adopted by many
countries as a
response to abuses
by the elite of
society (China,
North Korea,
Vietnam, Eastern
Europe)

 Communism failed
due to the
evolution of
dictatorships and
corruption by the
leadership.
Also, it did not
fulfill the promise
of providing
equality and
prosperity.

Lenins Promise
Next Lenin started to
work on providing
bread
Under a Policy of WAR
COMMUNISM, The
state took control of:
all large industry
The banks
And ex-appropriated
grain from the peasants
(this meant the forcible
taking of grain).

War Communism
Lenin thought it
would solve the
food crisis in the
cities.
After the Civil War
Lenin realized that
War Communism
was failing agricultural output
was falling
dramatically and
small businesses
were failing.

New Economic Policy

(N.E.P.)
This new policy let
the peasants work
the land and sell any
surpluses at the
markets.
It allowed for
small businesses to
operate, but large
enterprises and the
banks were all
nationalized.

 The policy was

achieving its aims of
kick-starting the
Russian economy.
Many communists
saw it as a retreat
from socialism.
This policy was really
a modified form of
Capitalism.
In 1918, a radical
revolutionary shot
Lenin.
He would never fully
recover.

Reactions to the New

Economic Policy

Fall of Communism: 1989

Constant internal
challenges to
communist regimes
and the success of
capitalist economies
made communism
impractical.
After 50 years of
communism in Russia,
the economy failed
and the USSR broke
apart