Ch 21 (pp. 1035-1068) + Ch 21 documents (pp. 1069-1085 – choose one)

Modern Communism found its political and philosophical roots in 19th century European socialism, inspired by the teachings of Karl Marxx. The Soviet Union was the 1st country to experience an uncompromising revolution. In Marxx's theory, Communism- final stage of historical development when social equality and collective living would be most fully developed, largely without private property. Socialism was an immediate stage along the way to that final goal.

Socialism- a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole

Communism- a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Countries that experienced communism in the wake of WW2- China, Cuba, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Soviet Union. Below is a short video (2:34m) from youtube explaining communism, it's political views and the countries that have been affected and are communist. 

Communist revolutionaries got rid of old class rulings and dispossessed landed aristocracies. All three revolutions (France, Russia, Chinese) found their vision of the good society in a mordernizing future. 

Russia:
Took place in 1917. Immense pressures of WW1 represented the catalyst for that revolution as the accumulated tensions of Russian society exploded. Peasants seized landlord estates, trade unions seized control of their factories, serfs emerged to speak for ordinary people and Non-russian nationalist demanded independence. Spelled the end of the Romanov dynasty. Lenin believed Russia was ready for a socialist revolution. Civil war erupted and the Bolsheviks harshly regimented the economy. Renamed the country the Soviet Union and it stayed that way for the next 25years. 

China:
Communism triumphed in China in 1949, 30 years after Russia. Mao Zedong emerged as the ruler of China in 1949. They sought the country's peasant villagers for support. European Marxism was once again adopted. They recruited women by drawing on their liberation and they established a marriage law that outlawed arranged marriages, made divorce easier and gave women the right to vote. It was japans invasion that gave the CCP Chinas Communist party a decisive opening. The CCP reduced taxes, rents, interest payments for peasants and taught literacy to adults. The group gained a reputation for honesty. They won by pursuing the struggle to fight off the Japanese. 

Once in power, communist parties set the tone for the construction of socialist societies. For Russia, this was Stalin and for China, it was Zedong. Modernization and industrialization of their backwards society was the idea behind their socialist societies. Communist counties in fact pioneered forms of women liberation that were only adopted LATER in the West. For Russia, that meant that Marriage became a union among free consenting adults, women were given leave for pregnancy, women did not have to take their husbands names and they were actively mobilized as workers in the country drive to industrialization. However. women appeared rarely at the top of with countries leadership.

The Great leap forward 1958-60: Mao's first response to the distortions of Chinese socialism.  It promoted small scale industrialization in the rural areas rather than focusing on the large enterprises in the city. It promoted wide scale practical technology education for all rather than relying on small and elite trained professionals. IN the 60s, he launched the Proletarian Cultural Revolution to combat the capitalist tendencies that he believed had penetrated even the highest ranks of the Communist Party itself. Cons of the communist parties, they set out within each territory to rid the country of capitalist influenced people. This meant killing them and sentencing them to hard labor. Millions of people suffered and this is what most people think of when they think of communism. Nobody ever thinks about the pros.

American and British desired for open and democratic societies with ties to capitalist world economy.  To Americans, a communist victory meant further communist expansion into Asia and beyond. Cold war era never happened. Castro nationalization of American assets  provoked great USA hostility. Russia removed themselves and theirs nukes on American promise not to invade CUBA and allow them to stay communist. The cuban missile crisis gave way to the race for nuclear weapons. WW2 and the cold war gave way for the USA to step to the stage as the World's global superpower. The USA was the only major industrial country to avoid physical devastation on its own spoils. China eventually criticized Russia for backing down during the Cuban Missile crisis. The Russians thought Mao was insane to consider the possibilities of a nuclear war. During the 60s, Russia backed out of helping the Chinese create their nuclear weapon. They were at the brink of war on each other. 

Communism came to an end towards the last 20 years of the 20th century. Death of China's leader with it came the abandonment of Maoist communism ideas by the CCP. The Soviet collapsed. Their powerful economy broke down. Communism had disappeared entirely as the ruling authority. 

Visual Course 21.3

So I chose to write about the first picture on the left. It shows a Chinese woman representing Communism's core values by having freedom. She is shown to be free to work and free from a marriage since she is of age to be married (no ring on finger). In China during the communist regime, they advocated for women's liberation. They established marriage laws that banned arranged marriages, made divorce easier and gave women the freedom to vote. These things also happened in Russia. Isn't is funny that the communist countries were the first to shed light on Women's liberation rather than the West? The 2nd picture is an American one which was to encourage women to enlist in the American workforce. They both women as being strong and capable. There was wartime labor shortages in America and they needed women's help. The Chinese woman is lightly smiling which shows her content and satisfaction with what she is doing. It is a very moving poster.