Book Comparison of the Rise of Communist Parties, Soviet Union, and China
The first half of the twentieth century were the breeding years of Communism. The books Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini by Bruce F. Pauley and China in Transformation by Colin Mackerras both deal with the rise of Communism, the former in the Soviet Union and the latter in China. Although one book deals with the rise of Communism in the Soviet Union and the other book deals with the rise of Communism in China, both authors have similar abstract ideas about the elements necessary for a Communist takeover, such as the importance of “revolution, reform, change, and reaction”. (Mackerras, 2) One can see that what both these authors agree on, when looked at abstractly, is that for a “Communist victory” to occur, the course of events must happen in that sequence.
What Pauley and Mackerras agree on, as an obvious element necessary for the rise or victory of Communism, is the presence seemingly qualified leader. In the Soviet Union, it was Lenin (later Stalin); in China it was Mao Zedong who finally brought the Communists to power. “An eloquent, charismatic or powerful leader” is the key to any type of government takeover.
An underlying element necessary for the rise or victory of Communism would have to be a certain state of being that the country would have to be in at the time of the takeover. Although the full takeover of the Soviet Union by the Communist Party happened earlier than in China, many similarities can be seen in the political, social, and economic sectors of the countries in the years directly preceding the takeover.
Since the Communist takeover in the Soviet Union happened earlier than in China, as mentioned above, one shou...
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... exist today on a major level, it was able to survive many challenges to its regime.
There have been many revolutions and many historians who have described revolution. Perhaps one of the most correct definitions of revolution would be the one said by Mao Zedong. He said, “A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence whereby one class overthrows another”. And the perfect examples of that would be the Communist Revolutions in the Soviet Union and China.
Bibliography:
Mackerras, Colin, China in Transformation 1900-1949;New York: Addison Wesley
Longman Limited, c 1998
Pauley, Bruce F., Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini; Illinois: Harlan Davidson, Inc, c 1997
Revolution is one word that summarizes complete change. To put the name of a country before the word revolution means complete change in that country's government. In some way, whether it be politically, economically, or socially, the government failed to appease the people. In France and Latin America they stopped at virtually nothing to gain their goal. Latin America literally bit the hand the fed them and France beheaded their own king. This was all done in the name of reformation and change because somehow their government severely let down their people.
The birth of the early 20th century gave way to many political changes around the world such as the emergence of communism as a new way to govern countries. The Soviet Union was the first country to convert to this way of governing through the Russian Revolution in 1917. With the rise of the Bolsheviks party, a small socialist party who supported the working class more than the upper class, as an outcome to this revolution many countries were inspired to follow their footsteps. One such country was China. As China fell imperially in 1911, the Chinese Communist party emerged, reflecting the same values as its inspiration by organizing the country’s urban-working class. With the invasion of Japan, China’s enemy, in 1937 the CCP’s internal opposition,
Success, as defined by the Oxford English dictionary, is the prosperous achievement of an objective. (Oed.com 1968) Conferring to this definition, the 1949 Chinese revolution was certainly a successful revolution. The Communist Party of China (CCP) was incredibly successful in its attempt to replace the bourgeoisie dominated nationalist government – The Kuomintang (KMT) - with a proletariat class lead communist government. However, whether the achievement of such an objective proves to be prosperous for China and its peoples requires further analysis.
According to Webster’s Online Dictionary, revolution is “a sudden, radical or complete change.” During the early settlement of the British colonies, settlers became so culturally different from those in Great Britain that they already seemed to be their own country. This is what John Adams meant in saying, “What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the Revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people… years before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.” In fact, the revolution began years before the colonists began to feel mistreated by the British. As they arrived in the new colonies, they noticed many major differences in the society and culture of this new place. As time went on, they learned about the colonies and the society there, and eventually, they evolved their cultures and lifestyles to comply with this new society. The primary changes the colonists the colonists made were in their economic system, their lifestyle, and their freedoms. In England, the economic system was primarily industrious, while in it was agriculture. In addition, the colonists, especially those in the south, relied very heavily on slave labor for agricultural purposes. In Great Britain, however, slavery did exist, but it was not relied upon for a functional society. The final change the settlers made in the New World was religion. In Great Britain, the king forced everyone to join the Church of England and leave the Roman Catholic Church. When in the colonies, settlers could go back to whatever religion they desired, so colonial religion was extremely diverse. Therefore, three main changes or “Revolutions”
A revolution is a complete overthrow of an established government or political system, which means that the events occurring in Germany in 1918 didn’t constitute a revolution. Groups changed in and out of power, but in the end it was always one group ruling over the people, just as the Kaiser had. The Social Democrats, a right-wing political group, eventually took his place, using the Freikorps to control people. The Spartacists wanted a revolution exactly like that in Russia in the previous year, but they were never allowed the chance to come into great power. And so the governmental and social system remained fairly similar to that of the Kaiser’s rule.
Revolutions are usually described as “radical” events. A “radical” event is defined as one that greatly changes the political, cultural, social, and/or economic nature of a society. I believe that the American Revolution was a radical event that dramatically changed our society. There were many impacts to the changes such as slavery, primogeniture, the Articles of Confederation, republican motherhood, and government. This was the time in life, that we as America gained our independence from Britain. The American Revolution is what shaped our world to become what it is today.
Which means all people, not giving thought to any struggle in the past. A revolution is a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, especially one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence. As stated before, society changed, but the social structure of the society did not. When observing historical context, this can be a revolution because social structures either reverted back to the old ways then changed to an extent.
Even though the United States and the Allies won World War II, there was paranoia about Communism including the fear of invasion by the Soviet Union and China. This fear came from the Cold War and the fai...
China's capitalism and boom was born when their president, Deng Xiaoping permitted the provinces to dismantle their communes and collective farms. This led China to venture into free-market economics, although they were still under the communist political system. When President Deng announced that they needed Western money and expertise, China flung their trade doors wide open and China went on a capitalist drive without ever looking back. By mid 1960's, the Chinese Revolution settled down to the job of ruling China. Its main goal was essentially nationalist: a prosperous modern economy. While there continued to exist substantially economic inequalities, distribution of wealth was probably a bit more equal than in most Western countries.
Revolution is briefly described as an attempt to overthrow a government to start a new one. The American Revolution took place between 1775 and 1783 and was a fight for American Independence from England. In 1764, the first of many “Intolerable Acts” were passed. The British Parliament began to excise tax on the American colonies without representation, sparking the great conflict. The British were continuing to incorporate new ways to make more money. England was the most powerful country at the time with an intimidating military, so this wasn’t a hard task to complete. The American Revolution was very Revolutionary because, it jump started the abolition of slavery, it brought about many political and social advances, and served as a stepping stone towards a democracy and a strong centralized government.
China has been ruled by the Communist Party ever since. It was the events between 1946 and 1964 that strengthened communism in China. At the end of World War II, the Nationalist Party (GMD) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) raced for power in China. The chairman of the Communist Party was Mao Zedong and their army was known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The Nationalist’s were led by Chiang Kai-shek and their army was the Kuomintang.
This essay will concentrate on the comparison and analysis of two communist figures: Mao Zedong, leader of the Communist Party in China, and Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. The main focus of this paper will be to explore each figure’s world view in depth and then compare and contrast by showing their differences and similarities. Joseph Stalin was a realist dictator of the early 20th century in Russia. Before he rose to power and became the leader of the Soviet Union, he joined the Bolsheviks and was part of many illegal activities that got him convicted and he was sent to Siberia (Wood, 5, 10). In the late 1920s, Stalin was determined to take over the Soviet Union (Wiener & Arnold, 1999).
The book China Since 1945, written by author Stewart Ross, opens in a description of the Chinese Empire in the 1900’s. There it describes the terrain of the Chinese lands and thoroughly states the fact of having the Great Wall of China to keep out the barbarians at 221 B.C. The author uses a very admiring tone of the Chinese Empire and seems to think it’s one of the very few best empires that have ever formed. In fact, Rozman states, ‘ …the cultural and scientific achievements of the Chinese had been immense, including the invention of paper, printing and gunpowder, and the creation of the most exquisite paintings and by most “Empire Critics” China was one of the best Civilizations around.
Mao resigned as president of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in April 1959 , after the Great Leap Forward, planning for Chinese production to “overtake Britain in 15 years”, failed and caused a widespread famine in China, where 20-30 million people starved. President Liu and General Secretary Deng began to restore China , while Mao remained ceremonial head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Liu and Deng introduced many liberal and effective policies , which involved stepping back from communist ideals. Collectivisation and communal cafeterias were abandoned and peasants recommenced private, “capitalist” farming. They even rehabi...
Rosenberg, William G., and Young, Marilyn B. Transforming Russia and China: Revolutionary Struggle in the Twentieth Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.