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Similarities and differences between democracy and communism
Similarities between communism and democracy
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The Cold War (1945-1991) was basically an ideological standoff between the ideas of Communism supported by the Russians and Democracy/Capitalism supported by the Americans. Communism is a political ideology which has the central principle of ¡§communal or communist ownership¡¨ of all property and therefore the abolition of private property. Democracy is a form of government in which the people vote, have a representative government and via these representatives ¡§govern themselves¡¨. During the period between 1961 to 1963, Nikita S. Khrushchev represented Communism and ruled Russia, while John F. Kennedy embodied democracy and lead America. The two leaders differed in their foreign policies as is evident by the Berlin Wall incident and the Cuban missile crisis, but both were somewhat radical in their domestic policies. Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was first secretary of the Soviet Communist party from 1953 to 1964 and effective leader of the USSR from 1956 (premier from 1958) to 1964. He was born on April 17th, 1894, in the village of Kalinovka, Kursk province. As a young boy, Khrushchev worked long hours in the coal mines. Khrushchev seemed to be a revolutionist from a young age as he organized several strikes and in 1918 he joined the Bolshevik party and fought in the Civil War. Afterward, he was sent by the party to a technical institute to learn more about Marxism. Khrushchev rose steadily up the party ladder, always combining his talents as an administrator with his technical training. After assignments in the Ukraine, he became head of the Moscow regional party committee, and in 1934 he became a member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist party. In these positions he directed the construction of the Moscow subway. Although increasingly influential, Khrushchev was never an intimate associate of Joseph Stalin; he concentrated on technical rather than political accomplishment. After World War II he was brought back to Moscow, where he became ¡¥one of stalin¡¦s top advisers¡¦. When Stalin died in 1953, Khrushchev used his wit to thrust all his opponents for leadership, including Malenkov. He became both Party Secretary and controlled the government through his associate Marshal Bulganin, who he named Premier. He ruled from 1956 to 1964. John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, On May 29, 1917. He graduated from Harvard in 1940 and ¡¥turned his senior thesis into a best selling book, Why England Slept¡¦. He then became a War hero in World War II, when he led the survivors of his boat, (which had been hit be a Japanese torpedo), through ¡¥perilous waters to safety¡¦.
The Cold War was a series of global conflicts connected by the common goal of self determination. The global war which spanned from the 1940s to the 1990s was not solely based on the differing ideologies of communism and capitalism, but rather stemmed from the opportunity after World War II to alter the international system. Countries like the USSR, US, and the global south engaged in conflicts in order to defend their self determination. During the Cold War period self determination could be described as having the ability to make independent decisions within the international system, such as by determining its own statehood, government, and treaties. In the first part of the Cold War, ranging
John F. Kennedy, of Irish decent, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29,1917. He entered the Navy, after graduation from Harvard in 1940. In 1946, home from World War II, Kennedy became a Democratic Congressman and in 1953, he joined the Senate. A "privileged aristocrat," his father's wealth and influence contributed largely to Kennedy's political career. 1 John's father, Joseph Kennedy was a self-made millionaire. "In Joseph's political career, he accompanied President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, as the chairman of the new Securities and Exchange Commission. Joseph was also chairman of the Maritime Commission and from 1937- 1940, he was ambassador to Great Britain." 2 John's mother, Rose (Fitzgerald) Kennedy, was daughter to John F. Fitzgerald, Mayor of Boston. John's paternal grandfather, Patrick J. Kennedy, had served in the Massachusetts Senate.
Mikhail Gorbachev, a rising leader in the Soviet Union, implemented many reforms throughout his reign as general secretary of the Communist Party from 1985-1990, and president from 1990-1991. Born on March 2, 1931, Gorbachev was raised by a family of Russian peasants. In 1946, at the young age of fifteen, he joined the Komsomol (Young Communist League). After proving to be a promising member, he enrolled in Moscow Sate University and became a member of the Communist Party. Mikhail Gorbachev held many positions in the Komsomol, and in 1980 he became a full member of the Politburo, a political party in Russia whose methodology was to provide continuous stability and leadership during the Russian Revolution.
Stalin was born as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (later became Joseph Stalin) on December 18, 1879 and his parents were Besarion Jughashvili (father) and Ketevan Geladze (mother). When he was young, his father, Beso, had beaten his mother and him several times. They had a troublesome marriage and often argued about Stalin’s future. His mother wanted him to be a priest because she thought he was smart, so she did everything to get him a good education. His father wanted him to be a cobbler, and said that since he [Stalin’s father] was a cobbler, Stalin would follow the family job and become a cobbler. Fortunately, Stalin‘s mother defeated her husband and she even humiliated him. Stalin ended up doing what his mother wanted-- for a while (Radzinsky 17-31).
Coming from a peasant background, Nikita Khrushchev served as the head of the Ukrainian party organization in the midst of and following World War II. Subsequently, he found himself as a member of the Soviet political elite during the late Stalin period. Following the death of Stalin, a brewing rivalry between Malenkov and Khrushchev manifested itself. It resulted in Malenkov resigning as prime minister in February 1955. The resignation of Malenkov allowed Khrushchev to become the most important figure within the collective leadership.
The film JFK was created in 1991 and it was directed by Oliver Stone and the cast included many actors such as Kevin Costner and Gary Oldman along with Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner. The film depicts a lawyer named Jim Garrison trying to find out and solve what really happened to JFK and who murdered him. The film correlates to our textbook Chapter 20 “The New Frontier and Great Society”, and 20.1 and 20.2, “Kennedy and the Cold War” and “The New Frontier” to be precise. Both the film and the textbook reflect Kennedy's achievements throughout his span as the president including but not limited to conflicts throughout his time that would ultimately lead to his downfall.
One of many Soviet leaders that changed the path the country was taking. Vladimir Lenin was the political leader after the successful Bolshevik Revolution In 1917. Lenin did many things that changed the path of Russia, renamed the Soviet Union after he seized power in 1917. Lenin was the grand mastermind behind the Bolshevik party and he led the revolution that allowed him to seize power and in turn create a communist state. Lenin then proceeded to create the "New Economic Policy" that led The Soviet Union into an economic uprising, allowing individual businesses to price their own goods and services, also known as capitalism (http://www.bbc.co.uk). Even though Lenin was sometimes a ruthless yet remarkable politician, he was well respected by the people for leading them into this economic prosperity (http://www.pbs.org). Lenin revolutionary prowess in succeeding to overthrow the Russian government and putting into power his own inspired many other revolutionaries like Fidel Castro (http://www.pbs.org). Finally, his own respected reputation led Josef Stalin to "Photoshop" himself with Lenin to gain respect by the people of the Soviet Union. Lenin lead the newly created Bolshevik party to the success of the October Revolution, the success of the Civil war between the Mensheviks, the allied powers and the Russian people versus the Bolsheviks, the communist party, and he then proceeded to create the "New Economic Policy" that led the newly formed USSR into economic prosperity.
In the beginning Josef Stalin was a worshiper of his beloved Vladimir Lenin. He followed his every move and did as he said to help establish and lead the Bolshevik party. Much of the early part of his political career was lost due to his exile to Siberia for most of World War I. It wasn’t until 1928, when he assumed complete control of the country were he made most of his success. After Lenin’s death in January 1924, Stalin promoted his own cult followings along with the cult followings of the deceased leader. He took over the majority of the Socialists now, and immediately began to change agriculture and industry. He believed that the Soviet Union was one hundred years behind the West and had to catch up as quickly as possible. First though he had to seal up complete alliance to himself and his cause.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev showed legacy and leadership when he launched a program of political, economical, and social reform for the Soviet Union. He changed and influenced many people lives positively with his reformations, and started a “revolution” that later seemed to get out of his grasp, causing the end of the Soviet Union.
Once Stalin was out of the picture Khrushchev was named the successor. Like Stalin, he climbed the communist latter behind the scenes. There is much to be said about Stalin and Khrushchev’s relationship but one would note that Khrushchev would turn out to be a genuine man of the people. Khrushchev came from a peasant family and was generally uneducated. However, he grew to power and popularity and saw the window of opportunity after Stalin’s unexpected death in 1953. Khrushchev was tough, resourceful, and independent, three traits that were important for rebuilding Russia’s infrastructure. Khrushchev gave a secret speech to the twentieth congress, denouncing Stalin of his crimes, paranoia, and cult-personality. Khrushchev proved to be an effective
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass., on May 29, 1917. Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1940 and joined the Navy the next year.
Nikita Khrushchev rose to power after the death of Stalin. He was a leader who desperately worked for reform yet his reforms hardly ever accomplished their goals. He was a man who praised Stalin while he was alive but when Stalin died Khrushchev was the first to publicly denounce him. Khrushchev came to power in 1953 and stayed in power until 1964, when he was forced to resign.
Joseph Stalin was part of the Soviet Union Leadership that took control of power in 1924 after the death of Socialist Government leader Vladimir Lenin (Sakwa 71). His political role took a toll when he became one of the seven members of the Politburo established in 1917 to undertake the Russian Revolution. After the success of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was made the General Secretary of Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Sakwa 31). Stalin’s active involvement in the Bolshevik Revolution, a part of the larger Russian Revolution, was instrumental in seizing of State power and abolishment of Tsarist Monarch. His main role during the revolution was organizing guerilla warfare that led to the death of many
Joseph Stalin was born on December 18th in the year 1879. His name was originally Losif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. He was born in the town Gori, Georgia. Stalin was a very frail child. During his childhood he had a few accidents, one which left his face scarred from smallpox. As a child he was also bullied a lot, this began his search in life for greatness and respect. Further into his childhood he received a scholarship to a seminary to study for the priesthood in the Georgian Orthodox Church. Here he studied to become a priest, but ended up becoming interested in the revolutionary movement against the Russian monarchy. During his time at the seminary he missed too many exams, so he was expelled in 1899. During his time out of the seminary he became more involved in criminal activity. Then in 1906 Stalin married a seamstress and had two sons. Then she died and he remarried to the daughter of a Russian revolutionary, she later committed suicide. Stalin also fathered multiple other children out of wedlock. He took the name Stalin which means steel in Russian. Around this time the Soviet government was going through a violent period. At which point they created the position that gave stalin his power.
The next two leaders were Nikita Khrushchev and after that it was Leonid Brezhnev. Nikita Khrushchev was the next leader of the Soviet Union; he had taken over Stalin’s old job of being General Secretary. Khrushchev had many experiences under Stalin; he was involved in the Five Year Plans, the purges and WWII. Khrushchev policy involved negative aspects which come with resenting the rich and grievances. His positives would be that everyone is equal and life would be overall better. Khrushchev believed that Stalin deformed the idea of Communism. So to put it in a nice way Khrushchev hated Stalin. Khrushchev gave a ‘Secret Speech’, with that he spoke about all the horrible things Stalin had done for the USSR. The main things that Khrushchev said was that Stalin unjustly persecuted on communists, Stalin miscalculated with Hitler and WWII and he allowed and encouraged cult leadership. Khrushchev’s goal was to undermine Stalin supporters, the thought if you move away from bad things, good things will eventually happen. He then started something outsiders called ‘de-stalinization.’ This completely stopped praise of Stalin. This did lead to a rift with a few leaders, one leader was Mao and he is from China. At this time China didn’t do well with