Caída Del Comunismo En Europa Central Y Este

Decline of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe


In the 19th century Europe was undergoing rapid industrialization and social change. As the Industrial Revolution advanced, socialist critics blamed capitalism for creating a new class of poor, urban factory workers who labored under harsh conditions, and for widening the gulf between rich and poor. Foremost among these critics were theGerman philosopher Karl Marx and his associate Friedrich Engels. Like other socialists, they sought an end to capitalism and the exploitation of workers. But whereas some reformers favored peaceful, longer-term social transformation, Marx and Engels believed that violent revolution was all but inevitable; in fact, they thought it was predicted by the scientific laws of history. They called theirtheory “scientific socialism,” or communism. At its most basic, the ideal of communism is a system in which everyone is seen as equal and wealth is distributed equally among the people. There is no private ownership. The state owns and controls all enterprises and property.
Marx and Engels expected the proletarian revolution to erupt in a highly developed Western country like Germany, France,Britain, or the United States. Instead the followers of Marx came to power in nations that lacked the preconditions he and Engels considered essential, namely capitalism and a mature industrial economy. The first of these countries was Russia, a huge, poor, relatively backward nation that was just beginning to acquire an industrial base. After World War II (1939-1945), regimes calling themselvescommunist took power in Central and Eastern Europe, China, and other regions. The spread of communism marked the beginning of the Cold War, in which the Soviet Union and the United States, and their respective allies, competed for political and military supremacy. By the early 1980s, almost one-third of the world’s population lived under communist regimes until the 1980s when the far-reachingreforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev destabilized the communist world.
The first factor which contributed to the failure and eventual collapse of communism was the fact that the Communist party's domination was illegitimate from the beginning. Lenin came to power after a bloody Civil War between those who supported Lenin and those who opposed the Soviet regime. He was prepared to make any andevery sacrifice to win the war and save "the revolution". The forcible requisitioning of food and supplies was approved by Lenin. This could only be achieved by enforcing strict and absolute discipline at every level of society. Terror was to become the chief instrument of power and Lenin was to assume the role of dictator. This was a phenomenon which was to become a symbol of communist regimesthroughout their lifetime.
This trend was followed when Stalin came to power as leader of the
Communist party and the Russian government in 1929. He had achieved
this through plotting and trickery and by shifting alliances. Under Stalin any opposition was swiftly and brutally crushed. In no Eastern
European country did the revolution have the support of more than a
minority of people,yet this minority retained absolute control. The
communist take-over and subsequent regime was achieved by undemocratic
methods, that is, rigged elections, terror, totalitarian state, harassment
and threats. In relation to foreign policy, Stalin exerted his influence to ensure that all Eastern European countries (except Yugoslavia) had Soviet-imposed puppet regimes. Stalin's domination was nowtotal. After the war Stalin succeeded in establishing a communist buffer zone between Russia and
Western Europe. Any resistance he met in establishing communist states was
quickly suppressed by intimidation and terror. For example Stalin
engineered a communist coup in May 1948 in Czechoslovakia in which a
government minister Masaryk was killed and the president was forced to
resign. This...