The post communist countries; Poland Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, and Uzbekistan share much of the same history, but the current reformation of each counties government after communism is quite different. The post communist counties that are doing better than the others owe their success to three factors; firstly how indoctrinated into communism the countries were, secondly how each of the countries governments reestablished themselves after gaining independence from the Soviet Union, and thirdly the countries' willingness to adopt free markets.
Both Poland and Bulgaria share similar successes after communism. Their societies are free, their states are strong, and their corruption is extremely low. Georgia travels a middle ground sharing traits in both camps liberal and repressive. In comparison the states of Russia and Uzbekistan are repressive, boarding on fragile, and share mid to high levels of corruption.
The Soviet Union was never able to establish a truly communist base in Poland. The country's deeply catholic roots would not allow the wave of change the Soviet Union need to create an extreme presence in the country. The existence of the Solidarity movement in Gdansk, proof of the polish peoples' exhaustion with the communist state was an irreversible taste of freedom that helped propel the country forward both immediately before and after independence from the Soviet Union (Reisinger). Since Poland never developed ideological ties to communism it was easier for the Polish government to become more democratic. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of Liberated Poland the government became a republic (Poland, CIA). According to the Nations in Transit, corruption in the Polish government is low to none (N...
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"Poland Country Profile." BBC News. BBC, 15 Apr. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Polland, Mashall. "Russia Economy in the Aftermath of the Collaspe of the Soviet Union." N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Reisinger, William M. "Solidarity." The Politics of Russia and Eurasia. English Philosphy Building, Iowa City. 2014. Lecture.
"Russia." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
"Russia." Freedom House.Corruption. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Russia." Freedom House.Media.N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Uzbekistan." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
"Uzbekistan Country Profile." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"Uzbekistan." Freedom House.Corruption. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Uzbekistan." Freedom House.Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Historically, Russia has always been a country of perplexing dualities. The reality of Dual Russia, the separation of the official culture from that of the common people, persisted after the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War. The Czarist Russia was at once modernized and backward: St. Petersburg and Moscow stood as the highly developed industrial centers of the country and two of the capitals of Europe, yet the overwhelming majority of the population were subsistent farms who lived on mir; French was the official language and the elites were highly literate, yet 82% of the populati...
Crockatt, Richard. The fifty years war : the United States and the Soviet Union in world politics, 1941-1991. London; New York; Routledge, 1995.
Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
During the twentieth century Russia and China had revolutions that changed the government and stock market. Russia underwent numerous revolutions constantly changing the foundations of many integral parts of the government. China throughout the twentieth century had countless revolutions, never seeming to end even during both world wars. China and Russia both being communist primarily during the entirety of the twentieth century had similar economies.
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.
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? Republic of Hungary, there was much disillusionment with this Stalinist absolutism (Felkay 50). This disillusionment with the Soviet ideal of socialism lead 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.
After the Second World War, the Soviet Union spread their political ideology among the countries of East Central Europe. Instantly, Josef Stalin spread Stalinization across each of the countries to assert Soviet control. He created totalitarian governments with limited freedoms for its citizens. Following the death of Stalin, the new leader of the Soviet Union, Nika Khrushchev, began changing the repressive policies of Stalin, opening the doors to the countries of East Central Europe to challenge the rule of the Soviets. Using the Soviet Thaw as an opportunity to reform the system of government, many countries including Hungary and Czechoslovakia had uprisings against Soviet Rule. The Hungarian Revolution and the Prague Spring were uprisings against the Soviet Union that both ended in defeat with Soviet Union. However, the outcomes for both countries differed in many ways because of the differences in the motives for the uprising, the loss of life and the differences in the leadership of the uprisings.
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.
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.
8Sites Richard, ‘The Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, 1900-1945’, in Michael Howard and William Roger Louis, The Oxford history of the twentieth century, New York, 1998, p. 117-27.
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2005. Print.
The fall of communism can be linked to several reasons. Some of these reasons were internal while other were the results of outside influence. For a form of any type of government to work the people must support it, true a government can use force to make their populace submit to the will of the government as with China in Tiananmem Square. In that case, the government use armed military force to put down student demonstrator demanding for democracy reform. Meanwhile over in Eastern Europe the people are able to force a change of government. When communism first took hold in Russia, Lenin predicted that their system would produce a new socialist man, completely loyal to communism. However, the young folks that had spent their whole life under communist control that hated this form of government and were trying to escape to the west. This maybe credit to fact that folks behind the Iron Wall were able to see the advantages the people of the west had. Other internal problems facing the communist governments of Eastern Europe was the collapse of their economy. The arms race the Soviet Union had been involved in with NATO had bankrupted their economy. This in turn effect the people, when the economy started to collapse, the people started to lose their jobs, were not able to get the basic necessities from the local stores. In most cases when one form of government can not provide the basic needs for their people, than the people will look for a form of government that can provide for them. Than there is one aspect of human nature that Communist Party in the Soviet Union was not able to control and the desire of the people of Eastern Europe to be free of Soviet control. Before World War II, the countries that made up Eastern Europe had been independent countries able to decide their own fate. When the Soviet Union pushed out the forces of Nazi Germany, they install puppet governments that were loyal to the Soviet Union. Inspite of 40 plus years of control, the communist party was never able to kill the dream of the people to govern themselves and chose their own destiny. The other major cause for the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was NATO.
Janos, Andrew C. “What was Communism: A Retrospective in Comparative Analysis.” Communist and Post- Communist Studies Volume 29 (1996): 1-24. Print.
Exploring the October revolution and the establishment of communism, Richard Pipes concludes that the origin of communism can be traced back to the distant past in Russia’s history. Pipes states that Russia had entered a period of crisis after the governments of the 19th century undertook a limited attempt at capitalisation, not trying to change the underlying patrimonial structures of Russian society. (Pipes, 1964)
Hesse, J., 1993. Administrative Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe: Towards Public Sector Reform in Post-Communist Societies. Cambridge, MA.