A lot of research has been done on the political ideology of
communism, primarily because during the Cold War, it directly challenged the
working of capitalism.
The theory of communism can be said to have been propagated
first by Karl Marx, the German philosopher known for his popular ideology
“Marxism”. Karl Marx essentially believed that because of the prominent class
difference that exists in a capitalist society, there would be leftist
revolutions lead by the workers to overthrow and abolish the existing class
system. He placed his faith in the dictatorship of the proletariat so that needs
of the masses and not those of the few are catered for.
The most common example of communism is the USSR, however,
Russia did not follow Marxism in its purest form, rather with slight
alterations in the form of what is called Leninism and Stalinism. Leninism
emerged after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution and Stalinism in the times of
Joseph Stalin.
Stalinism was characterized by repressive rule and extreme
left wing policies. His five-year plans predominantly ended private businesses
and many people argue that it Stalinism can be regarded as the dictatorship of
Stalin rather than of the proletariat. Statues and paintings of Stalin were
hung in public places and schools in an attempt to develop a cult of
personality. There was also widespread use of propaganda in order to keep the
masses motivated in the fight against Capitalism.
These policies were different from what Karl Marx had
envisioned when the talked about the leftist revolution and since most
communist states, except possibly China, followed Russian version of communism,
we can argue that we have seen very little practical application of what Karl
Marx wrote about.
1 comment:
I agree that the governments of China and Russia were quite different from eachother. This is the reason that during the Cold War there was considerable tension between the two communist/socialist states and the United States attempted to capitalise on this tension.
Post a Comment