The Start, Ideas, and Downfall of Communism in Europe and Russia

The Start, Ideas, and Downfall of Communism in Europe and Russia
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Introduction
Communism is a concept that is based on the ideals that everyone is equal and wealth is supposed to be equally distributed among the people. In communist society, there is no private ownership and the state owns and distribute enterprise and property. The Soviet Union subscribed to these ideas and maintained a ban on parties that opposed these ideas. However for parties that were sympathetic to communism, the ban was lifted. The power of the state in the Soviet Union was concentrated in the communist party and the state was run by one leading elite. Moreover, communism did not entertain free press and civil liberty. They used a wide range of censorship and propaganda. A communist state is characterized by totalitarian authority. The state collectivized agriculture and owned the economy. All the facets of the society was influenced by the state. This paper explores the rise and fall of communism in both Russia and Europe. The paper seeks to examine the factors that led to the collapse of communism.
The advent of communism ideas and its teaching can be traced to Karl max. Soviet leader Lenin borrowed the ideas from Karl max and modified them. According to Lenin and communism, rich people were selfish and were supposed to share their wealth. The state should own factories and properties on behalf of the people and people should only elect communists. Communism believed that religious belief was a nonsense that ought to be wiped out by the government.
Various factors played to the collapse of communism. After Lenin took power, he sought to quell the growing dissent and consolidate power by perpetrating terror and intimidation. Lenin used terror as the chief instrument of power in attempt to enforce discipline at all the levels in society. Lenin model of leadership soon became a symbol of dictatorship in which public opinion was repressed in favor of the state. Lenin came to power after a civil coup and because he was not legitimately elected, his popularity became an issue and thus he resorted to dictatorial tactics in order to consolidate power. When Stalin succeeded Lenin, he later continued with the underhand tactics of Lenin. Stalin ensured that all the opposition forces were crushed and the minority controlled resources. Communist achieved a totalitarian state through rigged election, harassment and threats, Stalin convicted members of the communist party who were deemed to have acted treacherously and failed to show loyalty to Stalin. In Eastern Europe, soviet imposed puppet regimes in order to ensure perfect control. Through terror and intimidation, Stalin managed to entrench communist ideologies in Eastern Europe. From the underhand tactics of the Stalin and Lenin regimes, it is evident that majority of the citizens did not support the communist ideas but rather the minority. One of the contributing factors to the fall of communism in Russia and Europe is thus the unpopular nature of the regime and the fact that only a minority supported communism.
Various legislative revolution took place in Eastern Europe after 1989. In Hungary for instance, there was multiparty and competitive election, democracy and free associatio...