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Communism and post-communism

This analysis compares the state populations and GDP per capita of communist and post-communist states including Russia, Poland, P.R.C., Vietnam, Cuba, and D.P.R.K., highlighting the historical origins of the regimes and the collapse of communism in 1989. It also explores the three pillars of the communist regime and the reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping and Gorbachev.

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Communism and post-communism

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  1. Communism and post-communism

  2. Post-communist states • State Population GDP per capita • Russia 142,893,540 $12,100 (P.P.P.) • Poland 38,536,869 $14,100 (P.P.P.)

  3. Communist states under reform • State Population GDP per capita • P.R.C. 1,313,973,713 $7,600 (P.P.P.) • Vietnam 84,402,966 $3,100 (P.P.P.)

  4. Communist states • State Population GDP per capita • Cuba 11,382,820 $3,900 (P.P.P.) • D.P.R.K. 23,113,019 $1,800 (P.P.P.)

  5. Historical origins of the regimes • October Revolution in Russia (1917) • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics • East Europe and North Korea after WWII • Chinese revolution (1911-1949) • Chinese Communist Party • Vietnamese revolution (1945-1975) • Cuban revolution (1959)

  6. “Arc of Containment”

  7. A Soviet camp? • Warsaw Pact was established in 1955 in Eastern Europe to counter NATO • divisions within world communist movement • Albania and Yugoslavia broke free from Soviet control after the late 1940s • USSR-PRC ideological and military conflicts after the late 1950s

  8. 3 pillars of communist regime • Marxist ideology • Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) • Communist Party • Lenin (1870 - 1924) • command economy • Stalin (1879 - 1953)

  9. Leninist party • Party monopoly • of the “correct ideology” • of political power • Communist Party • proletarian vanguard • alone could comprehend and represent the objective long-term interests of the masses

  10. The Party State • Communist Party held monopoly on real decision-making power • government responsible for implementation • Communist Party leaders • cult of personality around Stalin • de-Stalinization after 1956 • collective leadership

  11. Organization of Leninist party • nomenklatura • Party control of government • appointment to key positions • “democratic centralism” • centralized decision-making • internal discipline

  12. Organization of Leninist party • hierarchy • General Secretary • Secretariat • Politburo • Central Committee • Party Committees at local levels • republics, provinces, counties, etc. • Party Committees/Branches in firms etc.

  13. Command economy • state ownership of property • state management of firms • central planning

  14. Command economy • Early successes • mobilization of resources • heavy industry • reduce poverty • later problems • consumer goods shortage • technologically backward • international competition

  15. Reforms • Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up” since late 1970s

  16. Gorbachev’s Reforms (1985-91) • glasnost • openness in the political system • perestroika • economic restructuring • foreign policy • improved relationship with the West • transformed relationship with East European states

  17. Collapse of communism (1989) • Democratization in East Europe • Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, etc. • pro-democracy student movement in China • Tian’anmen Square • breakup of the Soviet Union • 1991

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