1. Communism POSC 150 Introduction to Political Theory Braunwarth

2. Russian Society late 19th c. • Keeping up with the rest of Europe? • No, very backward, illiterate, and superstitious • The nobility spoke French • Semi-Feudal, peasant society • Economy based on agriculture • Is this the setting for a Marxist Communist Revolution? • No - very small proletariat

3. Russian Politics • Much Discontent • from both Peasants and Intellectuals • No freedom of debate/discussion • opposition parties outlawed • spies and informers everywhere • prisons full of dissidents • some illicit pamphlets, terrorism

4. Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) • Older brother executed for trying to assassinate Tsar Alexander II • Went underground, became a revolutionary, and took the name of Lenin • Plunged into an extensive study of Engels and Marx

5. Leninism • Learned: class struggle is the driving force of historical development • Must take advantage of class distinctions • Any means necessary to achieve ends • Hardened against “softness”

6. Vanguard Party • What is it? • Small, organized group of revolutionary intellectuals • Need to agitate, organize, and educate the workers to their “true” interests • Needed to overcome “trade union consciousness” • Revolution would be more likely with “immiserated” proletariat and vanguard

7. 1917 Russian Revolution • Fed up with defeats and shortages WWI • March: riots in big cities, troops join in • Tsar Nicholas replaced by Kerensky • October: Bolsheviks storm Winter Palace • Seized mines, mills, factories, etc. • Led to counter-revolution by landowners and other privileged groups (whites) • 1918-1920 civil war: Reds won

8. Russian Communism • Lenin needed the Vanguard of the Proletariat to bring about the revolution in Russia • Did the resulting state whither away as predicted by Lenin? • Why or Why not? • Example of “The Iron Law of Oligarchy”

9. China Overview • About same size as U.S. • over 1 billion people v. 255 million • Similar Climate, settled East to West

10. China 19th c. • Decline to Desperation (much starvation) • Situation: very similar to Russia • Very small proletarian (1 in 200) • Large Peasant population • Very poor, largely feudal (war lords) • Also, exploited by Imperialist Powers • Opium Wars • 1850s: series of Peasant Revolts

11. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen • Born 1866 in a poor farming family • founded Kaomintang Party (KMT) • Led rebellions against emperors including successful 1911 revolution • Good intentions but co-opted by foreigners • Died 1925

12. Mao 1893-1976 • Librarian (educated) • restricted to what had been translated into Chinese: Communist Manifesto, Lenin’s Imperialism • Founding member of Chinese Communist Party 1921

13. Chiang Kai-Shek • General in imperial army • Joined KMT • Succeeded Sun yet-sen • Actively opposed to Mao and communists

14. 1935 The Long March • Mao with army of 200,000 • 1 year: capture 160 cities, cross 16 mountain ranges, innumerable rivers, • average 24 miles/day • with conscripts, lost ~ 400,000 • end up in caves in Yenan province • guerilla warfare, befriended people • “swim like fish in the ocean” • set up small self-sufficient communism

15. Japan invades 1937 • Chiang Kai Shek solidifies power • More concerned with communists “disease of the heart” • KMT blunders in both wars • Mao fights much better • 1946 Communists begin taking over • After 1949 Chiang Kai Shek takes wealth and flees to Taiwan

16. Revolution 1949 • Nation instead of Class • Not so much internal class warfare as • anti-imperialist war of national liberation • Rural Proletariat: • Lot of emphasis on oppressed people • They supported him • Revolution began in countryside • Model for revolution in Asia and Africa

17. Progress under Mao • Virtually eliminated starvation, prostitution, female infanticide, female foot binding, profiteering • kicked out foreign corrupters • Agriculture increases 4%/year • Industrial production increases 11% • “small is beautiful” • built dams, reclaimed land, etc.

18. Always Fighting USSR model • 1957 Hundred Flowers: • encouraged criticism of entrenched elite • 1958 Great Leap Forward • Industry in small cottage industries • Neither worked well • Still very poor country • People largely enthusiastic

19. Cultural Revolution 1966 • Revolution within the revolution • Saw problems in USSR • Tried to return power to people rather than entrenched elites • Moved elite and intelligentsia to country • Set back production some and education a lot • Ultimately couldn’t stop the ILOO • C.R. eventually manipulated by elite

20. Post Mao • After death in 1976: Deng Xiaoping • emphasis on Economic Development • some introduction of Free Mkt economy • No corresponding Political Freedoms • Tiananmen Square 1989