Matt McDonald Professor Presnell English 1101 23 March 2014

Communism Inquiry Inquiry Question: Why did communism fall in the Soviet Union? Primary Purpose: To Explore. What I would like to get out of this inquiry is a better understanding of how communism works as a form of government and what its major ideas and doctrines are. I would like to compare the lives of the average citizen in a communist country with that of the average citizen from a democracy to see how their quality of life juxtaposes. Communism existed for a pretty long period in the Soviet Union, but today it no longer operates with that type of government. I want to get a better understanding about what events were going on during this period in Russia that led to the adoption of Communism, and the shortcomings that led to its demise. I would also like to find out what makes the few existing communist countries in the world able to continue as opposed to some of their predecessors like the Soviet Union that failed years ago. Prior Beliefs and Assumptions: The only thing that I know about Communism is that China, North Korea, and Cuba are still active Communist countries. I also know that Russia was once a communist country that was formerly called the Soviet Union or USSR. When it comes to the policies and beliefs of the government system I really have no clue at all about how it works. The portrayal that Communism is given in the media and movies is that of oppression with those in power usually ruling with an iron fist. Basically every news story I hear about communist countries is negative. North Korea is constantly threatening their enemies with their nuclear capabilities and Cuba is very close to our national border but we do not have an allied relationship with them. I have always been fascinated with both of the World Wars as well as other armed conflicts like Vietnam, the Korean War, and the Cold War. It occurred to me that many wars that have been fought throughout the world have been fought over the implementation of Communism and to put democracies in place. This caught my interest and I began to wonder what parts of Communism were different from the democracy that I am used to. The general impression that I get when I think of the word Communism based off of my limited exposure to it is hostility and unfriendliness to outsiders. From the little bit I know about Communism I do not think that I would have visited the USSR during that time period had I been alive. It seems like a scary place where you never know what the government may be capable of doing. Working Knowledge:

Matt McDonald Professor Presnell English 1101 23 March 2014

When I searched The fall of the USSR on google, I had 15,600,000 hits. This seems to be a pretty broad topic but it is workable when trying to answer the question of why it fell. A government doesnt just fail overnight so there must be concrete evidence on the reasons for its demise. Otherwise the country would still probably operate with this political ideology. When I searched Communism and Soviet Union on Encyclopedia Brittanica I found the basis for Communist ideology. It is a form of socialism founded by Prussian, Karl Marx. Its economic and political policies aim at giving control of private property and profit-based economy to the public. Natural resources and means of production are also owned by the public and not by private individuals. A goal that is aimed for by most communist countries is to create society without classes where goods are distributed by need or ability. This political philosophy found its roots in the Soviet Union (Russia) and China also adopted it not long afterwards. During a large part of the 20th century as much as one third of the world lived under Communist regimes. Early signs of Communism could be found in religion and also the teachings of the philosopher Plato before it was actually implemented as a form of government. The first Christians who are described in the Bible in the Book of Acts practiced simple communism as a way of renouncing wordly possessions and as a form of solidarity. The Industrial Revolution of the 1800s is what really got Communism going in the Soviet Union. Productivity from new forms of production increased profits at the expense of the poor working class. Communism was thought to be the answer to stop all the class struggles and to even out the prosperity. It was put into place with single ruling parties that did not tolerate dissent and set the wages of workers, prices of goods, and production goals. Over the years many revisions have been attempted to correct Communisms flaws, like Bolshevism and Stalinism which were both variations tried in the Soviet Union. Russia finally abandoned communism in December of 1991. From the little bit I searched on it the reasons were not straightforward and apparent but hopefully after more research I will be able to identify the major reasons. China is the worlds only superpower that still operates under Communism in a form known as Maoism after their founder Mao Zedong. Many alterations to classic Communism took place in Russia through leaders like Joseph Stalin who founded Stalinism and Vladimir Lenin who was the founder of Leninism. A major feature of Maoism in China and Stalinism in Russia was the concept of a cult of personality. The idea behind this concept was that the working class had false consciousness and needed an intelligent leader like Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong to guide them. The leaders were expected to be revered almost as if they were gods. In todays world little is left of the classic Communist ideology. In an article I found on howstuffworks.com titled How Communism Works the author Alia Hoyt names only five countries that still operate under some form of Communism. These countries are China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and Laos. However even these are evolving. Cuba and Vietnam are

Matt McDonald Professor Presnell English 1101 23 March 2014

becoming more market-oriented and looking for foreign investment while still maintaining a single party system. North Korea is really the only country who sticks to the more aggressive Soviet style communism and remains isolated. From what Ive learned of Communism so far, it is very different from the Democracy and Capitalism that we are used to in the United States. I think its interesting that only 5 out of 195 countries still use this system of government and it seems to be centered around Asia close to its Russian birthplace. Hopefully I can discover why Communism can still work in some of these places but didnt last in Russia.