Communism And The Soviet Union - 1681 Words

Have you ever had a case of the hiccups that you just couldn’t seem to get rid of? You tried all the tricks in the book, from holding your breath, to standing upside down, but those pestering hiccups still stuck around? In a sense, many Eastern European countries had a persistent case of the hiccups, during the early 1990s, which they were trying to shake. Except this wasn’t your average case of the hiccups, these hiccups were called communism. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, most post-Soviet satellite states began making the transition to become liberal democracies. However, the transition from communist governments to democratic governments was not necessarily a smooth one for most of the Eastern European countries. Decades of oppressive Soviet rule and deep-rooted communist parties made ties to the Soviet Union especially hard to cut. Ukraine, in particular, struggled mightily to break away from the Russian communists, and that struggle is still continuing today. In the form of a corrupt government and pro-Russian supporters in South and Eastern Ukraine, roadblocks were created on the Ukrainian road to democracy that they are still trying to maneuver. In analyzing the challenges posed to Ukraine in their continuing transition to a liberal democracy, it is important to start in 1990, when Ukraine officially declared independence. This declaration included principles of self-determination, democracy, and the priority of Ukrainian law over Soviet law.Show MoreRelatedCommunism And The Soviet Union1782 Words   |  8 PagesAfter World War II, the Soviet Union wanted to create more communist nations, especially along their western border, to prevent themselves from being vulnerable to attack from the West again as they had been from Nazi Germany. Countries like the United States and Great Britain did not want the Soviet Union to spread communism but some Eastern European countries that had been victims of the Nazi regime saw communism as a good way to prevent another fascist regime from rising. Combined with the factRead MoreCommunism And The Soviet Union Essay1672 Words   |  7 Pageseastern bloc popularly known as the United Social ist Soviet of Russia (USSR) and the western bloc dominated by United States and European countries. Now the Soviet Union supported socialist economic ideology and was prepared to ensure that the socialist countries remained socialist-by all means. On the other hand, United States and allies were for capitalism and were determined to spread it as far as possible. They detest socialism and communism because it was against building of business empiresRead MoreCommunism And The Soviet Union1853 Words   |  8 PagesOn December 26, 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was officially dissolved. While the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a sign that the Cold War was soon to be over, the breakup of the Soviet Union truly symbolised its end. After a bitter era of global fighting between capitalism and communism, each led by the United States and the USSR respectively, it appeared that, for better or for worse, capitalism had prevailed. Today, it looks like this indeed was the ca se. The People’s RepublicRead MoreCommunism And The Soviet Union979 Words   |  4 Pagesdistain for communism and the Soviet Union; they fanned the ideological flames between capitalism and communism rather than putting them out. Directly after the war the US created the Marshall Plan, where they gave $13 billion to European states. In President Truman’s speech ‘The Truman Doctrine’ he talks about Greece and Turkey and threatens if aid is not given, Greece’s democracy will be under threat by armed men supported by communists. This was a strategic ploy to prevent communism, by allowingRead MoreCommunism And The Soviet Union1314 Words   |  6 PagesCommunism in Eastern Europe was an ideology that took hold of the region for more than forty years. Each state fell into the Soviet sphere of influence after the end of World War II, and from then on until 1989, communism was the absolute norm for all of Eastern Europe. Though communism was the only fo rm of government found in the region, each state was unique in how it carried out its policies as some were more lenient than others. As time progressed through the Communist Era, there were changesRead MoreCommunism And The Soviet Union2261 Words   |  10 Pagestyrannical and bloodthirsty dictator who led the Soviet Union, wanted to spread Communist rule through Eastern Europe, China, and Korea, which the United States opposed. The world split between democratic countries backed by America and Communist countries supported by the Soviet Union, and birthed a conflict called the â€Å"Cold War,† because, as opposed to a â€Å"hot† war, there were no direct military confrontations between the main enemies. Stalin and the Soviet Union’s plan of world control caused AmericansRead MoreThe Fall Of Communism And The Soviet Union Essay2058 Words   |  9 PagesPrior to Putin’s 2001 State of the Nation address, Russia was dealing with the overwhelming effects of economic and political reform. The fall of Communism and the Soviet Union left Russia in a fragile state. When Putin references â€Å"the period of disintegration of the Statehood† he is referring to the lack of stability and legitimacy in Russia’s era of reformation in the 1990s that threatened the very existence of the nation. The sources and indicators of this disintegration can be found through anRead MoreCommunism And Marxist Ideologies And The Soviet Union912 Words   |  4 Pages After World War II the Soviet Union led by Stalin maintained a strong presence and influence in Central and Eastern Europe, specifically, Poland through the communist Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR). In this paper I aim to address the reason why communism and Marxist ideologies were unsuccessfully received in post war Poland. I will be arguing *that Marxism was made into a tool of oppression by the Soviet Union, and therefore became illegitimate in itself. I intend on arg uing this theory byRead MoreCommunism in the Soviet Union and Why It Failed1561 Words   |  7 PagesCommunism in the Soviet Union and Why it Failed Communism is defined as a system of political and economic organization in which property is owned by the community and all citizens share in the enjoyment of the common wealth, more or less according to their need. In 1917 the rise of power in the Marxist-inspired Bolsheviks in Russia along with the consolidation of power by Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, the word communism came to mean a totalitarian system controlled by a single politicalRead MoreThe Soviet Union Responsible For The Consolidation Of Communism1776 Words   |  8 PagesESSAY PLAN To what extent was the Soviet Union responsible for the consolidation of communism in Eastern Europe in the period 1945-1953? Introduction During the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union was primarily responsible for the consolidation of communism in Eastern Europe. †¢ It was in the spring of 1948 that the Soviet Union had aggressively pushed for the imposition of Communist rule in most East European nations o Eastern Europe under Communist rule was comprised of Czechoslovakia