Communism in the USSR and China - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Communism in the USSR and China

Edited By Mr.

Barkhau

Shamelessly stolen from: http://conaapwh.weebly.com/class-powerpoints.html

Slide2

Communism: A General Overview

Socialism = the belief that the economy should be controlled by society, either directly or

through the government

Believe in: a classless society, equal distribution of wealth, gender equality, etc.

How is communism different?

It really isn’t very different

 think of communists as “extreme socialists”

Socialists believe their ideal society can be achieved slowly through progression and evolution of the government

Communists believe this society can only be achieved by overthrowing the government

Slide3

Communism: A General Overview

Cold War = 1946 – 1991

Global rivalry between the Soviet Union and the U.S.

Capitalism vs. Communism

Divided continents, countries, and cities

Spawned the space raceSpawned a dangerous arms race focused on nuclear weapons

Slide4

Communism: A General Overview

Communism in Europe – USSR, Eastern Bloc

Communism in Asia – China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia

Communism in Americas - Cuba

Slide5

Communism: A General Overview

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and its allies were brought together by:

Warsaw Pact = military alliance designed to counter NATO

Council on Mutual Economic Assistance = tied together the economies of the Soviet Union and those of Eastern European countries

Slide6

Communism: A General Overview

Communist parties also existed in non-communist countries

1950s = small communist party developed in the U.S.

Sparked fear and political repression

McCarthyism = movement of political repression against communists in the U.S.

 involved making accusations of disloyalty and treason without proper regard for evidence

Many people lost their jobs, had their careers destroyed, or were even imprisoned without any evidence that they were communists or communist sympathizers

Slide7

Brief Review of the Russian Revolution

Tsar (Czar) Nicholas II last absolute monarch in Europe

WW1 was very harsh on Russia’s economy

Rasputin

March Revolution 1917 – Nicholas II abdicates

Lenin leads the Bolshevik Revolution – November 19171918 – Nicholas II executed1918-1921 - Russian Civil War between Reds and Whites

Slide8

Russian Civil War: The Terror

Bolsheviks imposed a policy called “war communism”

Took direct control over all industries

Forced peasants to send food to the cities

Killed the imprisoned Czar & his family

Set up secret police force = the

Cheka

Arrested (and often executed) anyone considered an “enemy of the revolution”

Placed severe restrictions on the Russian Orthodox Church

Communists = anti-religion

Slide9

Russian Civil War

“Whites” surrendered in 1921

Outnumbered, disorganized, poorly equipped armies

Lenin and the Communists then had complete control of Russia

Lenin = ruled from 1921-1924

State of Russia = horrible

From 1914-1921 = 27 million Russians had died

Economy = in shambles

Peasants = still starving

Slide10

Lenin in Power

1922 = Russia becomes USSR = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics = Soviet Union

New constitution written = makes it a socialist state

In theory = Soviet Union supposed to be run by the workers

But really the Communist Party did

Slide11

Lenin in Power

Lenin died in 1924 at the age of 54

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Trotsky vs. Stalin

Fought for power after Lenin died

Leon Trotsky = leader of the Red Army during the Civil War

Joseph Stalin = General Secretary of the Communist Party

Difference = Trotsky wanted to spread Communism all over the world immediately & Stalin wanted to make it strong in the Soviet Union first

Slide13

Trotsky vs. Stalin

Trotsky = closer to Lenin and more well-known

Stalin = outmaneuvered Trotsky politically

Ability to remove and appoint government officials

Once he gained control of the government, he exiled Trotsky to Siberia in 1929

Trotsky eventually moved to Mexico City

 Stalin sent an assassin there to kill him

Slide14

Joseph Stalin

Ruled the Soviet Union from 1929 – 1953

Responsible for the next major extension of communist control

In Eastern Europe after WWII

Soviet military forces already there after the war

 stayed there to help impose communist regimes per Stalin’s orders

Stalin wanted to be surrounded by “friendly” governments as security against invasions from the West

Slide15

The Communist Revolution in China

Slide16

Review: Collapse of Imperial China

1911 – End of Qing Dynasty

1912 – Republic of China

Sun

Yat-sen

president1949 – Collapse of the Republic

Slide17

1920’s

1916 – 1928 – China’s central government fractured and China was ruled by various warlords

Slide18

The Nationalist Party

1928 – the Nationalist party gained control of China, reunifying the country

Leader was

Chian

Kai-shek

Slide19

The Nationalist Party

Promoted modern development – railroads, banking, airline services etc.

Party did not

addres

the rural areas and did not work to improve the countryside

Limited support to foreign nationals, wealthy

Slide20

The Nationalist Party

Constantly faced opposition from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Founded in 1921

Founded

byMao

Zedong

Slide21

The Nationalist Party

1927 = Nationalist Party cashed the CCP out of China’s Cities

CCP focuses on appealing to China’s peasants

Slide22

Chinese Communist Party

Slowly gained the respect and support of the peasants by:

Using guerrilla warfare tactics against the Nationalist Party

Experimenting with land reform in areas under communist control

Efforts to empower women

Creation of a communist military force to protect against Nationalist Party attacks

Slide23

Chinese Communist Party

CCP gained an enormous amount of support during Japan’s brutal invasion of China

Nationalist Party lost control over most of China and was forced to retreat to the interior

Nationalist Party seemed more concerned with eliminating the CCP than fighting Japan

Slide24

Chinese Communist Party

CCP (People’s Liberation Army), fought the Japanese

Offered security to many who faced Japanese oppression

Membership grew from 40,000 in 1937 to 1.2 Million in 1945

Slide25

Chinese Communist Party

The CCP gained even more support by doing the following in areas it controlled:

Reduced rents, taxes, and interest rates for peasants

Taught literacy to adults

Mobilized women for the struggle

Encouraged peasants to fight back against their landlords

Slide26

Chinese Communist Party

In 1949, 4 years after WWII, the CCP swept to victory over the Nationalist Party

Most of the Nationalist Party’s leaders fled to Taiwan

New leader of communist China = Mao Zedong

Slide27

Building Socialism in China and the USSR

Slide28

Building Socialism

1

st

step in building socialism = modernization and industrialization of their “backward societies”

Simultaneously wanted to eliminate inequalities of class and gender, prevent the growth of new inequalities as they modernized, and promote values of selflessness and collectivism

In order to do this, government had to be completely dominated by the Communist Party

Slide29

Building Socialism

Communist governments in China and the Soviet Union, therefore, became totalitarian:

Other political parties forbidden

Government controlled almost the entire economy

Government ensured that the arts, education and media conformed to approved ways of thinking

Organizations for women, workers, students, and professional groups operated under party control

Slide30

Communist Feminism

Both communist regimes took steps to liberate and mobilize their women

State-directed women’s initiatives

Slide31

Communist Feminism - USSR

As a result of laws and decrees passed by the Soviet Union:

Women were granted full legal and political equality

Divorce was legalized and made easier

Abortions were legalized and made easier

Marriage became a civil procedure among freely consenting adults

Illegitimacy was abolished

Women no longer had to take their husbands’ last names

Pregnancy leave for employed women was mandated

Women were actively mobilized as industrial workers

Slide32

Communist Feminism - China

The Marriage Law of 1950 in China implemented:

Free choice in marriage

Relatively easy divorce

The end of concubines and child marriages

Permission for widows to remarryEqual property rights for men and womenChinese women also became more involved in industrial production

Slide33

Communist Feminism - China

Problems for women:

Still expected to take care of the children and the housework

 now had the double burden of that PLUS paid employment

Women appeared only very rarely in the top political leadership

Communist feminism did not continue and faded within a decade of its beginning in each country

Slide34

Socialism in the Countryside

1

st

stage of socialism in the countryside = involved taking over landlords’ estates and redistributing that land equally among the peasants

2

nd stage of socialism in the countryside = collectivization of agriculture

Designed to completely end private property

Slide35

Collectivization in Soviet Union

Much more violent process

 Soviet communists did not have much support in the countryside

Peasants were forced into collective farms

A lot of resistance from the peasants

 example: many of them slaughtered and consumed hundreds of thousands of animals because they didn’t want to surrender them to the collectivesTerrible famine ensued  caused about 5 million deaths

Slide36

Collectivization in China

Peaceful process

 due to the close relationship between the CCP and the peasantry

“Great Leap Forward” in the late-1950s = an effort to mobilize China’s population for rapid development

Created “people’s communes”

Designed to move toward a more fully communist society with more social equality and collective livingMassive famine caused by administrative chaos and bad weather killed 20 million Chinese between 1959 and 1962

Slide37

Communism and Industrial Development

China used the same model for industrial development that the Soviet Union had developed decades earlier:

A series of five-year plans = brought all agricultural and industrial production under government control

State ownership of property

Priority = heavy industry

Massive mobilization of the nation’s human and material resources

Slide38

Indistural Development in China and USSR

PROS

Increased literacy rates

More educational opportunities

More social mobility

CONS

Rapid urbanization

Exploitation of the countryside to provide resources for industries in the cities

Growth of a bureaucratic and technological elite class with more privileges

Slide39

Stalin’s Response to Social Outcomes

Largely accepted these outcomes

Stalin had created a conservative society that had abandoned much of its revolutionary legacy

Commitment to full equality = abandoned

Endorsed: Russian patriotism, traditional family values, individual competition, and differences in wages to stimulate production

Slide40

Mao’s Response to Social Outcomes

Did

not

accept these outcomes

 continuously strove to combat these inevitabilities of industrialization

Tried to preserve the “revolutionary spirit” of ChinaMid-1960s = launched the Great Proletarian Cultural RevolutionDesigned to combat the capitalist elements that had “infiltrated” China

Slide41

The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

A campaign against the “Four Olds” = old thoughts, old culture, old habits, and old customs

Message = revolution and rebellion is

good

Wanted to put “intellectuals” in their place

Many schools were shut downWanted to establish a more equitable societyBrought healthcare, education, and rural industrialization to the countryside

Slide42

The Search for Enemies

Stalin used secret police to find “enemies” within the Soviet Union and his own Communist Party

Late 1930s = “The Terror” or “The Great Purges”

 millions of people were arrested for treason/disloyalty (usually in the dead of night)

Tried and sentenced either to death or to long years in harsh and remote labor camps, known as the “gulag”

Slide43

The Search for Enemies

Stalin had close to 1 million people executed between 1936 and 1941

About 5 million were sent to the gulag, where they died in appalling numbers

Throughout Stalin’s entire dictatorship, approximately 20 million people died in the Soviet Union

Slide44

The Search for Enemies

Mao Zedong = convinced that many within the Communist Party had been “seduced” by capitalist values

Called for rebellion against Communist Party itself

Red Guards = students and other young people that responded

Red Guards attacked local party and government officials, teachers, intellectuals, factory managers, and others they defined as “enemies” that had embraced capitalism