Transcript Intro to Communism

Intro to Communism
Terms: Bourgeoisie, Proletariat, Marx
Marx’s View on Capitalism
Communism was a theory by Karl Marx as
a way to organize society fairly.
 Marx saw that capitalism creates classes in
society.
 Bourgeoisie are the owners
 Proletariat are the workers
 These two classes will continually be in
conflict.

Marx’s View on Capitalism
Bourgeoisie own all the capital
(factories, tools etc)
 They also get all the profits.
 They can reinvest the profits in the
company or remove it and pay
themselves.

Marx’s View on Capitalism
Proletariat – These are the workers and
get paid a wage.
 They get no share in Company profits.
 At the mercy of the Bourgeoisies.
 The goal of the Bourgeoisie is to reduce
the costs of production and pay as little as
possible.

Term
“Dictatorship of the Proletariat”
A “dictatorship of the proletariat” will be
created to organize the country.
 They will ensure that the gains of the
revolt is secured from the capitalist.
 Most “Communist regimes” have only
achieved this.

Person
Vladimir Lenin
Lenin was leader of the Communist
Bolshevik party.
 Aided by Germany because he wanted
Russia to get out of the war.
 Party increased from 26000 to 2 million
 Created a military group called the red
Guards

November 1917
Lenin and the Bolsheviks seize power in a
revolution.
 Lenin gives all land to the peasants
 Factories are given to the workers who
elect a committee to run them.

Term: Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Lenin sets up a Dictatorship of the
Proletariat
 Kills all political opponents including the
tsar
 Education increased
 Religion banned in schools, priests
prosecuted
 Labour laws include 8 hour days, health
benefits, Holidays, pension mandatory

Terms: Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
The three leaders met at Yalta, Soviet
Union.
 Germany was to be defeated and
disarmed.
 Split into four zones of occupation given to
the Allies.

Yalta Conference
Eastern European countries were to have
free elections.
 The USSR was to join the war against
Japan.
 United Nations set up.
 Germany was to pay reparations, Stalin
wanted a large fixed sum the Allies would
not agree with.

Term: Potsdam
Potsdam Conference
Occupation zones decided.
 Nazi party banned and were to be tried as
war criminals.
 For reparations each power was to collect
industrial equipment from its zone. USSR
zone was mostly agriculture.
 Germans living in Poland, Hungary, and
Czechoslovakia were to return to
Germany.

Tensions after Potsdam
Truman replaced Roosevelt after his
death.
 Stalin invited non communist leaders in
Poland to the Soviet Union and imprisoned
them. Communists replaced them in
Government.
 Truman did not tell Stalin about plans to
drop bomb on Japan.

Tensions after Potsdam
Truman was suspicious since USSR had
the largest army in the world.
 USSR was developing its own atomic
Bomb.
 Truman believed Stalin was influencing
Eastern Europe to become communists.

Term: Truman Doctrine
U.S. President Harry Truman believed that
is was the responsibility of the U.S. to
prevent the spread of Communism in the
world.
 Change in foreign policy from isolationism
which was practiced throughout the two
world wars.

UN Involvement
Term: Domino Theory
Truman was afraid that if Korea fell to
Communism than so would Japan and
other Capitalists countries. (Domino
Theory).
 16 countries supported the UN invasion of
Korea including Canada.
 Truman chose General Macarthur to lead
the force.

Term 38th Parallel

They meet at the 38th
parallel (latitude) and
divided the country in
two.
1st phase
Terms: Macarthur, Yalu river
June – Sept.
 North Korea pushes
the South all the way
back to a small corner
of the country called
Pusan.

2nd phase
Macarthur organised
a landing at Inchon.
 Effectively surrounds
N Korean troops.
 Despite China’s
warnings they cross
the 38th parallel.

3rd phase
US ignore China and
push all the way to
the Yalu River.
 This borders with
China.
 Macarthur ignored
Truman’s orders and
began to approach
the Yalu.

China enters the war.
 Pushes the force back
past the 38th parallel.
 Un counter Attack
drives them back to
the 38th parallel.
 Armistice signed in
1953.

Rhee and Macarthur
Sigmund Rhee - U.S supported Leader of
South Korea, Capitalist.
 General Macarthur – General made
famous after war in the pacific. General in
charge of the Korean War.

Cuban Missile
Crisis
Person Fulgencio Batista
In 1950, Cuba was
ruled by a ruthless
dictator Fulgencio
Batista.
 He killed all opponents
and used the military
to support his rule.

Batista Government
Capitalist government.
 Military supported by the U.S
 He and members of his government were
very rich while the rest of Cubans were
poor.
 Disliked Communists.

Batista Government
The capital, Havana,
was treated as a
playground for rich
Americans.
 It was controlled by
American Italian Mafia
Leader Lucky Luciano.
 Lucky set up a
cocaine operation and
ran casinos.

Batista Government
Was also used to hide money from illegal
activities in the U.S.
 Many Americans set up factories in Cuba
to take advantage of local resources like
sugar cane and tobacco. Ex. Palmolive –
Colgate.
 This resulted in many rich Americans and
very poor citizens of Cuba

Cuban Revolution
Person: Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro was a lawyer and was
appalled at the corruption for the Batista
government.
 Received support through educating the
poor on the corruption of the government.
 He joined forces with Che Guevara and
organised an army which overthrew the
Batista government.

Castro Regime
Castro’s first business was to execute all
the corrupt government officials that
abused the poor.
 Then he nationalised all the foreign
American assets.
 Wealth was to be invested in Cuba.
 With this money he set up free health
care.

Term: Bay of Pigs Invasion
Cuba has fell to Communism and Castro is
allied with the USSR because of the trade
embargo.
 Kennedy could not have a communist ally
50 miles off the coast of Florida.
 Many people who did not agree with
Castro and Communism fled the country
and became exiles.

Bay of Pigs 1961
Kennedy decided to get the CIA to train
the exiles and plan an invasion of Cuba.
 Exiles taking country back sounds a lot
better than a US invasion.
 The invasion was a great failure and
Castro captured and jailed many of the
exiles.

Results of Bay of Pigs 1961
Because of this Castro felt threatened and
allied closure with the USSR.
 He needed them for protection.
 Allowed Russia to install military bases.
 Russia began shipping weapons into Cuba.

Khrushchev and Gulag
Khrushchev Leader of the Soviet Union
during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
 Policy of “Destalinisation” throughout
Russia and told of the Gulag Prisons.
 Gulag – Prisons and Labour camps Stalin
created to deal with anyone who opposed
him.

Détente, Hotline, MAD
Détente – Time of peace or settling of tension
during a conflict.
 Hotline – direct line of communication which was
set up after the Cuban Missile crisis between the
USSR and the USA.
 MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction – Theory
which states that if one country attacks with a
Nuclear weapon then the other would counter,
this would continue until both countries are
destroyed.

Short Answer 1. Marshall Plan
Truman believed Communism grew in
countries in poverty.
 Many governments were struggling to
rebuild after the war.
 They realised that if they built up Europe
now, they could have a trading partner for
life and keep it from falling to
communism.
 Created by General George Marshall

Marshall Plan
The USA offered money, equipment and
goods to states willing to work together to
create recovery.
 Included cash machinery, food and
technology.
 In return, they would agree to buy
American goods and allow American to
invest capital in their in their industries.

Results
16 nations set up the Organisation for
European Economic Cooperation.
 In 1953 US gave 17 billion
 Increased tensions and divide between
East and West.
 Stalin prevented Soviet countries from
engaging in the plan.

Results
Stalin accused the USA of using the plan
for their own selfish interests
 Plan to dominate Europe and help the
American Economy.

Short Answer Question:
2. Berlin Blockade 1948-49
Berlin Blockade
Political Divisions
After Potsdam Berlin was divided between
West (allied controlled and East USSR
controlled.
 West was capitalist democracy and East
was Socialist.

Berlin Blockade
Reconstruction Differences
Allies wanted to rebuild Germany to be a
strong country.
 Wouldn’t fall to Communism
 Create a trading partner
 Act as a shield against the spread of
communism in Europe

Berlin Blockade
Reconstruction Differences
USSR wanted a weak Germany that would
be incapable of an attack.
 USSR refused to let their zone trade with
the Western allied zone (West Berlin)

Berlin Blockade
Conflict
Since Berlin was in Soviet zone, they
controlled all access to city.
 Believed the Allies had no business in
Berlin since it was in the Soviet zone.
 U.S put up a military base.
 Capitalist way of life was on show as the
U.S tried to make their zone better.

Berlin Blockade
In protest, Stalin decided to restrict access
to Berlin by the Allies.
 Hoped to get the allies to pull out of Berlin
by starving the people.
 Abandon plans to develop Germany
 Eventually the people would turn to him
and switch to Communism and create one
city.

Berlin Blockade
Western Options
Ignore and drive through Blockade.
Advantages: 1)Show the Russians the U.S
could not be blackmailed.
2)They were the only ones with an A
bomb.
Disadvantages: 1)High risk of War
2)Russian forces outnumbered U.S forces in
Europe.

Berlin Blockade
Option 2: Pull Out of Berlin
Advantages:
1) Avoid any risk of War
Disadvantages:
1)Loss of prestige (positive reputation) for
the Western powers.
2) No one trust the Americans in the future
to stand against Communism.
Berlin Blockade
Option 3: Supply West Berlin by Air
Advantages:
1)Less risk of War than option 1
Disadvantages:
1) Risky Operation 4000 tons of supplies
required daily.
2) Costly to supply by two million people by
air.
Short Answer 3. and Terms
Socialism v. Capitalism
Usually 1 party state
 Elections and more
than one political
 Industry and
party.
agriculture owned by
the state. People
 Most industry and
encouraged to work
agriculture owned by
for the common good.
individuals.
 Classless society with
 They employ workers
no profit making
and keep all profits
made.
 Profits create classes
of people.

Terms: Bourgeoisie, Proletariat, Marx
Marx’s View on Capitalism
Communism was a theory by Karl Marx as
a way to organize society fairly.
 Marx saw that capitalism creates classes in
society.
 Bourgeoisie are the owners
 Proletariat are the workers
 These two classes will continually be in
conflict.

Marx’s View on Capitalism
Bourgeoisie own all the capital
(factories, tools etc)
 They also get all the profits.
 They can reinvest the profits in the
company or remove it and pay
themselves.

Marx’s View on Capitalism
Proletariat – These are the workers and
get paid a wage.
 They get no share in Company profits.
 At the mercy of the Bourgeoisies.
 The goal of the Bourgeoisie is to reduce
the costs of production and pay as little as
possible.

1st stage of Communism
Revolt
Eventually working class (proletariat) will
revolt and overthrow the owners
(bourgeoisie).
 They will take over ownership of the
means of production (factories, land etc.)
 This will dissolve all classes and equality
will be achieved.

Term
“Dictatorship of the Proletariat”
A “dictatorship of the proletariat” will be
created to organize the country.
 They will ensure that the gains of the
revolt is secured from the capitalist.
 Most “Communist regimes” have only
achieved this.

Question 4. Kennedy’s Options
Option 1 Do Nothing
He could do nothing and ignore the
missiles.
 This would have been political
suicide and if the Russians had seen
this as weakness on his part, they
could have taken advantage of it.
 Lose public support and be seen as a
weak president.

Option 2 Invasion
He could order a full scale military
invasion of Cuba.
 This would escalate the problem as
there were 22000 Soviet troops
there.
 Heavy casualties would look bad on
the presidency.
 Did not know where all the sites
were or if any were operational and
would be fired before they were
captured.

Option 3 - Air Strike
He could order an air strike against
the missile bases only.
 The problem again would be Russian
casualties.
 Air Force was not sure it could deliver
pin-point bombing raids on what
were relatively small targets.

Option 4 - Diplomacy
He could call on the Russians to remove
the missiles explaining the damage their
presence was doing to Russian/American
relations.
 However, the Russians were highly
unlikely to listen to a ‘polite’ request
especially as they even refused to
recognise the existence of the missiles at
the United Nations emergency meeting on
the matter.

Option 5 - Blockade
He could put a naval blockade around
the island - quarantine it - and not
allow any more Russian ships to
enter Cuba.
 This would still leave missiles on
Cuba but the negotiations would
continue in the background while
publically Kennedy would be seen to
be doing something specific.

Cuban Missile Crisis
Short Answer Question 5.
Lenin to Stalin
Lenin dies from
multiple strokes in
1924
 Stalin opposed the
New Economic Policy
of Lenin as it was not
Socialism.
 A new class of rich
landowners formed
called “Kulaks”

Collectivisation
Stalin felt he needed to modernise and
industrialise.
 In order for industrialisation to occur there
needs to be modernised farming
techniques.
 Greater yield from less work would allow
farmers to leave land and go work in
factories.
 Modernisation meant using tractors and
machines on large farms

Collectivisation
Stalin took control of small farms
controlled by one family and merged them
into large plots of land that supported
many families.
 The government then gave them tractors
and seeds.

Industrialisation
Stalin’s Aims
Security – threatened from Western
Nations, needed to modernise the Military
 Prove Communism was right
 Control – Stalin needed to control his
country so revolutions did not occur
 Agriculture – Needed to be able
manufacture tractors and farm equipment

Term: 5 Year Plans
First plan 1928-32
Increase armaments (military) by mining
iron, coal and producing steel.
 Take over all private business
 1929 Stalin ordered it to be completed in
4 years.

5 year Plan
2nd Plan 1933 - 37
Concentrated on consumer goods and
housing projects.
 Had to be abandoned because of
suspicion around Hitler
 Went back to producing weapons.

5 Year Plan
3rd Plan
Focused on luxury goods such as bicycles,
and radios that were in other
industrialised countries.
 Also abandoned when Hitler invaded

Results of 5 Year Plan
Output – Soviet Union made huge
advances to make it the world’s second
largest industrial Power
 New industrial centres and towns were
built from scratch in the centre of the
Union, protected from invasion
 See handout

Power and transport projects were
completed including huge hydroelectric
dams
 Urban Population increased by 29 million.

Stalin’s Dictatorship
Stalin used
propaganda to create
a “cult of Stalin”
 He had statues and
places named after
him. (Stalingrad)
 People had to clap
when his name was
mentioned in
meetings

Culture and Censorship
Stalin reviewed every film and book
written to make sure it promoted the
country.
 Stories had to celebrate the common
working people and the successes of
Communism
 Anyone in violation would be sent to
Labour camps or “Gulags”

Education
Children were taught that Stalin was the
“Great Leader”
 Students were taught Stalin’s version of
History
 Religion was banned and leaders
imprisoned
 Stalin was the only one to be worshipped.

Secret Police and Labour Camps
Stalin created and expanded his secret
police force to search out anyone in
opposition to his government.
 Guilty people were sentenced to death,
exile or hard labour.
 Labour camps called Gulags were set up
for prisoners.
 Millions of people were sent to do forced
labour.

Purges
Stalin was always fearful of losing power.
 Used terror in the form of Purges to get
rid of any opposition.
 This also helped with labour in mines

Purges 1930-40
Managers and workers that did not meet
the five year plans or talked bad about
them
 Kulaks that opposed collectivisation
 1934 Opposition party members
 1935 senior communists that may support
Other leaders (Trotsky)

Purges
Ordinary citizens – if someone suspected a
neighbour of not supporting the
government they could be arrested.
 Children were encouraged to tell on their
parents.
 People tortured to confession
 1 million people in Moscow killed

Purges and Results
1937 the Red Army – Most senior officers
and officials were killed or sent to Gulags.
 Left the army unprepared against Hitler’s
invasion.
 Executed = 1 million
 Died in Camps = 2 million
 In prison = 1 million
 Gulags = 8 million
 These are figures form one year.

Results Continued
Most of the advantages of Communism
was nullified after this.
 Expert scientists, administrators and
Engineers were usually sent to “Gulags” or
killed.
 People would tell on each other for self
interest.
 Stalin even killed members of his own
family.

Korean War