Russia And Bosina Essay, Research Paper

P, this economy called for some private ownership of the means of

production, but the majority of industry was made property of the

people, which meant the majority of the means of production was

controlled by the government. Lenin’s government made many

achievements. It ended a long civil war against the remnants of the

old Czarist military system and established institutions in

government. During this period, and in fact throughout the majority of

the Communist rule, censorship and the subordination of interest

groups such as trade unions was imposed to stop dissension and

increase conformity to the new governments policies.

Lenin died in 1924, and was quickly followed by Joseph Stalin as

head of the Soviet Communist Party, the oppressive reforms started by

Lenin were continued and at length became completely totalitarian.

Stalin became the most powerful man in Russia. He controlled to bulk

of all the political power and with that he started a ruthless

campaign of removing all opposition to the Communist rule. During this

period called the “Great Purge” Stalin systemically executed anyone

who stood in his path. Millions of people were arrested and either

harassed or killed. The economic status of the Soviet Union was yet

again changed and the entire system became controlled by the

government. All private ownership ended. A mass program of

industrialization was commenced, and the strength of the Soviet

Military was substantially increased. The citizens during this period

endured great hardship. Agricultural production output diminished

resulting in food shortages, these shortages were enha! nce by the

mass exportation of food, this was done to pay for industrial imports.

Stalin also put the production of what he called production goods such

as manufacturing machinery over basic consumer goods such as clothes

and other staples. During this period the Second World War broke out

and drained most of what was left of the already impoverished state.

Yet after the war national unity was strengthened as well is the

Soviet military machine. The Soviet Union became a super power, the

U.S. being the only country more powerful than it.

After the death of Stalin in 1953 Nikita Khrushchev became First

Secretary of the Communist party. Stalin’s death marked the end of

supreme power for the head of the party, and Khrushchev condemned

Stalin’s actions as unnecessary and harmful to the process of moving

the Socialist government to it’s goal of pure Communism. During this

period the public was given a say in the government, albeit an

extremely minor one, and the judicial system eased it’s aggressiveness

allowing a defendant a better chance of defending themselves.

Khrushchev concerned himself with bettering the plight of the

individual, attempting to increase the supply of food and making goods

such as home appliances, making automobiles somewhat available, and

providing more housing. A new policy of efficiency and quality control

was brought in. Leadership was somewhat decentralized to allow common

managers and directors more power to run their production units.

Although Krushchev started a process of slight reform he was dismissed

due to in part a massive shortage of grain and dairy products, and the

fact that he had started to seize more power and “His efforts to

streamline party organizations produced chaos and conflict among party

administrators.” He was also blamed for the Russia “defeat” during the

Cuban Missile Crisis, and of not accomplishing anything toward the

reunification of Germany under East German rule. After the ousting of

Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev became the Soviet Communist Party

Secretary General in October of 1964. Under his administration the

majority of the decentralization of power was destroyed bringing a

centralized form of control back into effect. Krushchev’s denouncing

of Stalin’s policies was criticized and slowly some of Stalin’s

political disciplinary policies were restored. Stalin was named a war

hero. There began an outright attack on dissidents from the literary

and scientific community. During this time there was an inefficient

use land, labour and resources which resulted in an economic

slackening. In this time what was supposed to ultimately be a

classless society became classed as bureaucrats were paid for loyalty

with material wealth, allowing them a better standard of living,

because of this public interests were placed secondary to personal

gain. The 1980’s saw a dramatic drop in the Soviet citizens already

impoverished standard of living. This caused strikes and public outcry

against the administration which threatened the stability of the

Soviet Union. The people were angry at the fact that the Communist

Party had not lived up to what it had promised which was in return for

their obedience they would receive employment, free health care, and a

level of comfort. March 1985 marks a turning point in the Communist

rule of Russia. Mikhail Gorbachev is elevated to the position of

General Secretary. He is aware of the current social upheaval

occurring and that change must occur if Communism is to survive. He

begins a program called “Perestroika” which was the organizational

restructuring of the Soviet economy and government apparatus.

Gorbachev discovers that this change will depend on other changes,

among others a more tolerant and open political environment , more

public influence over governmental and military institutions. This

called for major long term change of the political system. He

began a policy called “Glasnost” which emphasized openness with regard

to discussion of social problems and shortcomings.

The purpose of these reforms was to elevate the Soviet standard

of living in order to reaffirm the citizenry’s loyalties to the

Communist party and to enable the rebirth of the Soviet economy and

ideal. State control was lo! osened and individual initiative

encouraged. He expanded the authority of the Soviet presidency and

transferred power from the Communist party to popularly elected

legislatures in the union republics. In international affairs, he

withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan, normalized relations with

China, signed a series of arms control agreements with U.S. Presidents

Ronald Reagan and George Bush. During this period of change strong

Nationalistic opinion started in the republics of the Soviet Union

causing major upheaval. In 1991, as the Soviet economy deteriorated,

Gorbachev faced competing pressures from hard-line Communists,

from free-market reformers, and from nationalists and secessionists

seeking independence for their republics. The hard-liners, who

included many top government officials, staged a coup in August,

placing Gorbachev under house arrest, but within three days the

reformers had restored Gorbachev to power. He immediately resigned as