Russia's Downfall

A detailed Summary of Russia's Downfall

The fall of the Communist regime and adoption of Democracy in the Soviet Union was more than just a political affair. The resolute bond between economics and politics, which was the central characteristic of the state socialist system, created a unique situation for the successor states of the Soviet Union. The Communist regime was so infused in every aspect of Soviet life, that the Russian people were left with little democratic tradition.

Russia faces the seemingly impracticable task of economic liberalization and democratization. This is combined with the fact that the new administration must address human rights issues, such as living conditions and the supply of staple goods. This new

form of administration makes the prospect of a full democratic switch seemingly impossible.

To fully understand the scope of the transformation of the governing power in the Russian Federation, one must first look at the old Socialist/Communist regime in order to see the circumstances under which it fell. Analyzing the old regime provides a reliable account of why this transference is almost impossible. In the beginning, Communism was a Utopian ideal to the people of Russia.

Communism rose with the promise of equality and employment. In ad

The process of democratization of Russia happened too quickly. This was done in the hopes that the fast privatization of industry would hinder any chance of re-nationalizing the economy, and basically forcing this new change into the government. At the same time, privatization has contributed greatly to the popular belief that this new system is partial. State assets were distributed disproportionately to insiders, to people willing to circumvent the law, and in some cases to criminals. Official corruption, the lack of enforced laws and the insufficiency of clearly defined property laws, has lead to public dissension.

Von Laue, Theodore H. Why Lenin? Why Stalin? Why Gorbachev? The Rise and Fall of the Soviet System. New York, New York: Harper Collins, 1993.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lenin died in 1924, and was quickly succeeded by Joseph Stalin. With the Bolsheviks in power, they appointed Stalin as the head of the Soviet Communist Party. (Von Laue, p. 125). The oppressive reforms started by Lenin were continued and at length became completely totalitarian. Stalin became the most powerful man in Russia. He controlled the greater part of all the political power and with that he started a ruthless campaign of removing all opposition to the Communist rule. This period became known as the "Great Purge", and Stalin systemically executed anyone who stood in his path. (Stephenson, p. 377). Millions of people were arrested and either harassed or killed. The economic status of the Soviet Union was changed yet again and the entire system became controlled by the government. All private ownership ended. A mass program of industrialization was launched, and the strength of the Soviet Military was substantially empowered.

After the ousting of Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev became the Soviet Communist Party Secretary General in October of 1964. (Thompson, p.423). Under his administration, the majority of the decentralization of power was destroyed, bringing a centralized form of control back into effect. Khrushchev's denouncing of Stalin's policies was criticized and slowly some of Stalin's political disciplinary policies were restored. "...Khrushchev...pronounced Stalinism an anathema, in the famous secret speech...and charged Stalin with crimes against Bolsheviks and even with bungling the war against Hitler." (Page, p.245). There began an outright attack on traitors from the literary and scientific community.

In February 1994, Rutskoi and Khasbulatov were granted amnesty by the Lower House of parliament, despite Yeltsin's objection. In December 1994, Yeltsin sent Russian military forces into the region of Chechnya, which had declared its independence from Russia in 1991. Since that time, Russia had made only minor military efforts to reclaim Chechnya. This use of military force is an example of the fact that true democracy can not exist in Russia, these tactics were Soviet-era coercive measures.

He began a policy called "Glasnost", which emphasized openness concerning the discussion of social problems and shortcomings. (Thompson, p.469). The purpose of these reforms was to improve 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 loosened and thus individual initiative became encouraged. He expanded the authority of the Soviet presidency and transferred power from the Communist party to a popularly elected legislature in the union republics. He began a reform, and instituted the reconstruction of external alliances.

Although Khrushchev started a process of reform, he was dismissed due to a massive shortage of grain and dairy products. When he had started to secure more power, his efforts to consolidate party organizations created disorder and conflict among party administration.

With the apparent lack of public participation in government, a

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lower House, Soviet Union, Von Laue, Russian Federation, Communist Party, Party Thompson, Communist Regime, Secretary Communist, Hitler Page, Mikhail Gorbachev, soviet union, communist party, von laue, communist rule, russian federation, standard living, communist regime, soviet economy, supreme soviet, russian economy, soviet communist party, immediately resigned communist, resigned communist party, communist party secretary,

 3055
 12 

Category: History