Ways of the World:A Brief Global History with Sources

Third EditionCHAPTER 21

Revolution, Socialism, and Global Conflict:The Rise and Fall of World Communism

1917–presentCopyright © 2016 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Distributed by Bedford/St. Martin's/Macmillan Higher Education strictly for use with its products; Not for redistribution.

Robert W. Strayer

Global Communism

A. Roots in nineteenth-century socialism (Karl Marx)B. Height in 1970sC. Various expressions of communism: common groundD. Rivalry and hostility

II. Revolutions as a Path to Communism

A. Russia: Revolution in a Single Year1. Tsar Nicholas II forced to abdicate (February 1917)2. Provisional Government inadequate3. Bolshevik seized power in a coup (October 1917)4. Bolsheviks during the civil war5. For 25 years, new USSR only communist country

II. Revolutions as a Path to Communism

B. China: A Prolonged Revolutionary Struggle1. Communism won in China in 19492. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Mao Zedong3. CCP driven from the cities: won support from peasants4. Recruited women with important reforms5. Given a boost by Japan’s invasion of China6. CCP addressed foreign imperialism and peasant exploitation

III. Building Socialism

A. Communist Feminism1. “Women’s liberation”2. CCP’s Zhenotdel (Women’s Department) 19193. Communist China worked for women’s equality4. Limitation on communist women’s liberation

III. Building Socialism

B. Socialism in the Countryside1. Communists redistributed land to peasants2. Second stage of rural reform

III. Building SocialismC. Communism and Industrial Development

1. Industrialization a fundamental2. China followed USSR model3. Social outcomes of industrialization4. Confidence in centralized planning

III. Building Socialism

D. The Search for Enemies1. Paranoia in USSR and China2. USSR: the Terror (Great Purges) of late 1930s3. China: the search for enemies a public process4. Both the Terror and Cultural Revolution discredited socialism

IV. East versus West: A Global Divide and a Cold War

A. Military Conflict and the Cold War1. Europe: the cold war’s first arena2. NATO and the Warsaw Pact: rival military alliances3. Communism spread into Asia, caused conflict4. Major cold war-era conflict in Afghanistan5. The battle that never happened: Cuba

IV. East versus West: A Global Divide and a Cold War

B. Nuclear Standoff and Third-World Rivalry1. USSR created a nuclear weapon in 19492. 1949-1989: Fear of massive nuclear destruction3. Careful avoidance of nuclear provocation on both sides4. Both sides courted third world countries

IV. East versus West: A Global Divide and a Cold War

C. The Cold War and the Superpowers1. U.S. became leader of the West against communism2. U.S. military effort sustained by economy3. American popular culture spread around the world4. Nikita Khrushchev took power in USSR in 19535. Growing conflict among communist countries6. World communism reached greatest extent in 1970s

V. Paths to the End of Communism

A. China: Abandoning Communism and Maintaining the Party1. Deng Xiaoping came to power in 19762. China opened itself to world economy3. CCP kept its political monopoly4. China a “strange and troubled hybrid”

V. Paths to the End of Communism

B. The Soviet Union: The Collapse of Communism and Country1. Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary in mid- 1980s2. Glasnost revealed what a mess the USSR was3. Democratization: free elections in 19894. Move to end the cold war: unilateral military cuts