Factors in the Collapse of Soviet Communism and the Soviet Union, 1985-1991

Historical Background of Soviet Communism

• The socialist system was established in the Soviet Union in 1917 and made all-round progress for about 70 years.

• It provided relief to oppressed humanity, gave direction, and inspired people to realize their dreams, but failed to make these dreams lasting.

• For centuries, mankind dreamed of a society free from divisions like exploiter vs. exploited and affluent vs. starving; the Soviet people were the first to realize this dream.

• In the first 20 years, the Soviet system developed a modern, socially approved system with first-rate industries and large-scale modernized agriculture.

• The economic base of socialist society was planned; exploitation of labor was eradicated; private trade was replaced by state and cooperative trade.

• Small-scale production was transformed into cooperative socialist production; means of production were fully owned by society.

• The class structure changed radically, ending the age of nobles and capitalists; labor was emancipated and owned the means of production, gaining higher technical and cultural status.

• Labour organizations were politically awakened, with trade unions having 21 million members in 1936.

• Workers’ psychology changed; they worked for their own good and society’s good; labor was respected for increasing production and prosperity.

• Peasants were freed from oppression by landlords, kulaks, moneylenders, and the Czar; agriculture was socialized with cooperative farming erasing social stratification and raising living standards.

• Literacy among peasants rose to 76.8% in 1939; they managed collective farms and participated in Soviet administration.

• Intellectuals’ social nature changed; they shifted from serving elites to supporting Soviet authority; a new class of intellectuals emerged from workers and peasants.

• These changes created social, political, and conceptual unity among Soviet people, the foundation of socialist power.

• Within 20 years after the October Revolution, Russia made rapid economic, political, and cultural progress; backward regions in Central Asia and Far East advanced socially.

• Socialism brought liberty, equality, health, and wealth to oppressed nationalities.

• The basic principle of socialism is to liberate workers, foster love for life, and ensure welfare.

• The Revolution especially benefited peasants by freeing them from starvation and improving food availability.

• The New Economic Policy (NEP) stabilized the economy; industry was socialized, but agricultural socialization was incomplete, affecting savings and industrialization.

• Lenin died in 1924 before fully explaining how NEP paved the way for socialism; Russia was industrially underdeveloped and agriculturally backward.

• In 1925, Russia decided to become a producer of machines instead of importer; in 1927, planned economic development was adopted, focusing on defense production.

• Collective farming was adopted; by 1937, 93% of available land was under collective farming.

• In the late 1930s, Stalin consolidated dictatorship; he became sole leader; party decisions were mostly his.

• Between 1930-1940, many Bolshevik leaders died or were eliminated; oppression became institutionalized; thousands sent to labor camps or prisons.

• Stalin’s regime damaged intellectual life, art, culture, and science; genetics study was banned for being “bourgeois.”

• Stalin died in 1953; after his death, political, economic, and foreign policy changes began.

• Khrushchev condemned Stalin’s atrocities; intellectual freedom and civil liberties were restored, though democratic politics remained distant.

• The age of terror ended but vestiges persisted for 30 more years.

• Brezhnev replaced Khrushchev in 1964 and ruled till 1982; his era is called a period of inactivity.

• In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became Communist Party Secretary and later USSR President; his reforms marked a second revolution.

• Socialist economy was based on democratic centralization and party spirit; democracy allowed criticism and participation, centralization ensured unified leadership and discipline.

• The Communist Party played the leading role, directing the economy, approving five-year plans, implementing reforms, guiding activities, and supervising institutions.

• By the late 20th century, the principles of democratic centralization and party control were criticized for excessive state intervention and bureaucracy.

• In practice, party machinery usurped powers under the guise of democratic centralization and party spirit, causing confusion and maladministration peaking during Gorbachev’s regime.