When the Soviet Union annexed the countries of East Central Europe, it began to spread its communist influence amongst the countries. After the death of Joseph Stalin, the new leader of the Soviet Union, Nika Khrushchev, began changing the repressive policies of Stalin, which opened the doors to the countries of East Central Europe to challenge the rule of the Soviets. In both Hungary and Czechoslovakia, there were uprisings for independence from the Eastern Bloc. Although the Hungarian Revolution and the Prague Spring had the similar crushing defeat by a soviet invading force, the two uprising differed in outcomes due to Hungary’s nationalist attempt to break free from communism versus the Czechoslovak attempts to reform communism internally within the country.
At the conclusion of World War II, the people of Hungary got to experience for the first time in over a hundred years a chance to vote in elections and created their own government on the foundation of democratic principles. The Soviets had troops on the Hungarian border and were not concerned about assessing their control of Hungary until 1948. At that time the local favorite Imre Nagy and Laszlo Rajk were removed and replaced by the Stalin hardliner Rakoski. Rakoski asserted his absolute control over Hungary. He purged the communist party of Hungary of “Titotists” and forced indoctrination of Stalinism in the educational intuitions throughout Hungary. Hungary was one of the most repressed country sin East Central Europe until 1953 with the death of Josef Stalin.
When Josef Stalin died and leadership of the Soviet Union changed to Nika Khrushchev, the period of the soviet thaw had a profound effect on the countries of East Central Europe. Nagy was made Prime Min...
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... turn an ask for allies for assistance and to give the impression that the entire Warsaw Pact would not tolerate the reforms by Dubcek. The Czech’s did not have the military power to stand up against the countries of the Warsaw Pact and surrendered the entire reforms of the Dubcek Era. Unlike Nagy of Hungary, Dubcek was arrested but his life was spared by the soviets. The Prague Spring ended in a similar fashion as the Hungarian Revolution. Brezhnev would not allow any country within the Warsaw Pact to reform or change the communism within the country. He called up all the surrounding countries of the Warsaw Pact to invade Czechoslovakia to end the reforms. The difference from the Hungarian Revolution was that there was not a huge amount of the loss of life. The invasion of Prague was quick and swift and Soviet control was established once again. Brezhnev declared “
Heda Margolius Kovály’s memoir, “Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968” recounts her experience of the Holocaust and the Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia, during the 20th century. In 1945, after the holocaust and after World War II, Czechoslovakia was in a period of distress, which made people seek for communism as a solution. Communism, a totalitarian regime, was a form of government in which nobody was allowed to own any private property and the government controlled all economic activity. This government structure was not only corrupt, but it also caused more economic crisis in Czechoslovakia. Despite the rough situation that Czechoslovakia was going through, none of its
During the 20th century, the rise of communism sparked rage in people throughout the world. More towards the end of the 1900's the fall of communism and dictatorships was just the beginning of what would eventually be a large democratic change for several countries. 1989: Democratic Revolutions at the Cold War's End, speaks about the change brought to several different countries from the 1980's-1990's and plans to show "the global transformations that marked the end of the cold war and shaped the era in which we live"(Pg V). During the cold war, communist had power and control over a large area and spread communism throughout several continents. This book specifically hits on six different studies of where communism and dictatorship affected these areas and what they did to stop it. Poland, Philippines, Chile, South Africa, Ukraine, and China throughout the end of the 20th century created revolutionary movements which brought them all one step closer to freeing themselves and creating democratic change.
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
Originally platformed by Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin took control of the communist party in 1924 when Lenin died of a stroke. Communist ideals were heavily in opposition to classical liberal values; Whereas Liberalism stressed the importance of the individual, Communism sought to better the greater good of society by stripping many of the individual rights and freedoms of citizens. Communism revoked the class structure of society and created a universal equality for all. This equality came with a price however. Any who opposed the communist rule were assassinated in order to keep order within society. Joseph Stalin took this matter to the extreme during an event known as the Great Purge. The Great Purge, also known as The Great Terror, began in 1936 and concluded in 1938. During these two years, millions of people were murdered and sent to labour camps in Siberia for opposing the Communist party and the ultimate dictator, Stalin himself. In some cases, even those who did not oppose the regime were killed. Sergey Kirov was a very popular member of the communist party and Stalin saw this as a possible threat to his ultimate power. As a result, Stalin order Kirov to be executed. Stalin furthered his violation of individual rights by introducing the NKVD who worked closely with the russian secret police force. One of the primary goals of the secret police was to search out dissidents who were not entirely faithful to the communist regime. This violation of privacy caused histeria en mass in the Soviet Union and millions were killed as a result. The Soviet union resisted liberalism to such an extreme that it resulted in the deaths of millions of people, leading to some of the darkest days in russian
This essay will concentrate on the comparison and analysis of two communist figures: Mao Zedong, leader of the Communist Party in China, and Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. The main focus of this paper will be to explore each figure’s world view in depth and then compare and contrast by showing their differences and similarities. Joseph Stalin was a realist dictator of the early 20th century in Russia. Before he rose to power and became the leader of the Soviet Union, he joined the Bolsheviks and was part of many illegal activities that got him convicted and he was sent to Siberia (Wood, 5, 10). In the late 1920s, Stalin was determined to take over the Soviet Union (Wiener & Arnold, 1999).
Various countries from Czechoslovakia and Hungary, which had. been occupied by the Red Army at the end of the war, were brought. under communist control and the leaders were simply murdered. Therefore Leaving Stalin in control, he tried to prevent the Western influence. reaching the East. Also to stop refugees leaving the East for West.
The cold war was failed by the Soviet Union for many reasons, including the sudden collapse of communism (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) This sudden collapse of communism was brought on ultimately by internal factors. The soviet unions president Gorbachev’s reforms: glasnost (openness) and perestroika (political reconstructering) ultimately caused the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Gorbachev’s basics for glasnost were the promotion of principles of freedom to criticize; the loosening of controls on media and publishing; and the freedom of worship. His essentials of perestroika were, a new legislature; creation of an executive presidency; ending of the ‘leading role’ of the communist party; allowing state enterprises to sell part of their product on the open market; lastly, allowing foreign companies to own Soviet enterprises (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) Gorbachev believed his reforms would benefit his country, but the Soviet Union was ultimately held together by the soviet tradition he was trying to change. The Soviet Union was none the less held together by “…powerful central institutions, pressure for ideological conformity, and the threat of force.
In order to conclude the extent to which the Great Terror strengthened or weakened the USSR, the question is essentially whether totalitarianism strengthened or weakened the Soviet Union? Perhaps under the circumstances of the 1930s in the approach to war a dictatorship may have benefited the country in some way through strong leadership, the unifying effect of reintroducing Russian nationalism and increased party obedience. The effects of the purges on the political structure and community of the USSR can be described (as Peter Kenez asserts) as an overall change from a party led dictatorship to the dictatorship of a single individual; Stalin. Overall power was centred on Stalin, under whom an increasingly bureaucratic hierarchy of party officials worked. During the purges Stalin's personal power can be seen to increase at the cost of the party.
In the fall of 1989, people all around the world were watching unbelievable scenes on their televisions. Thousands of people in eastern Europe were meeting in the streets and squares and demanding the end of the communist rule. For the first time in history, opposition to communism was publically voiced. Barbed wire border fences in Hungary were being torn down. East Germans were fleeing to the West. Overnight the Berlin wall collapsed. The start of these historical events was the Polish Revolution of 1989.
of the beginning of the fall of Communism in Poland. The Communist government saw that the
Following the death of Josef Stalin in 1953, the harsh policies he implemented in not only the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, but also its many satellite nations began to break down. There was a movement to distance all of the socialist nations from Stalin?s sadistic rule. In the Peoples - What? Republic of Hungary, there was much disillusionment with this Stalinist absolutism (Felkay 50). This disillusionment with the Soviet ideal of socialism led the people of the fledgeling socialist state of Hungary to rise up in revolt, but ill-preparedness and the strength of the Soviet Red Army put down the insurrection within several days.
Hungary experienced not only Soviet occupation, but also political oppression and economic decline. Many were critical of Hungary’s problems due to Soviet control, especially political oppression. Hungary developed into a communist state under the severe, dictatorial rule of Mátyás Rákosi. During Rákosi’s control, the Security Police began a series of eliminations, starting with...
In conclusion, the chaos that was encountered by t the Soviet Union together with the ideas the new leaders brought in enlightenment Eastern Europe about communism. This made the countries understand their freedom and rights through the Glasnot. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the freedom and independence of many soviet states. They were no longer a world super power and with the difficulties it faced economically, politically and socially, led to its own downfall. The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union also led to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe as the countries became democratic.
Dubcek immediately started trying to reform all aspects of the culture. There were many different reforms that he tried putting into effect. He strived for free speech, economic experimentation, open borders, and open debate in the political aspect of the country. The reforms specifically included liberalization of the country's repressive political environment, highly regimented economic system, and overly centralized administrative system, which has been come to know as the Prague Spring (Goldman 123). Also at this time, Czechoslovakia's culture consisted of artists, writers, jazz clubs, and other cultures of the West were very popular in Prague. Dubcek described it as creating "socialism with a human face" (www.wikipedia.com).
The leaders of communist nations have shown an insatiable desire for power. They take what the workers produce and give back only what is necessary (Orwell 10). Purges took place in communist governments under the leadership of dictators such as Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. Under Stalin's rule "30,000 communists [were] killed in Paris" (Joseph Stalin). George Orwell narrowly escaped Stalin's purges in Spain where "many of [his] friends were shot, and others spent a long time in prison or simply disappeared" (Orwell 5). In this purge Stalin successfully executed Trotsky, who had been a key figure in establishing communism in the U.S.S.R (Joseph Stalin). Communist governments are unstable ...