Communism in the 20th Century

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Socialism and Communism in the 20th Century

The main communist countries in the 20th century were the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Cuba.

Famine and socialism in the 20th century

Between 1917 and 2017, communist governments presided over the deaths of 100 million of their own citizens.
The collectivisation of farming transferred food production and land from individual farmers who owned crops to a government-owned farming project. Once the government controlled all of the country's food, food could be withheld from people to make them do whatever the government wanted. If they didn't comply, they starved to death. Poor organisation, incompetence, or a lack of information could also lead to less deliberate famines.
- In Stalin's Russia in the 1930s, up to 3.3 million people died in Ukraine in the 'Holodomor' meaning 'extermination by hunger'.
- In Mao's China, up to 45 million people are thought to have died from starvation and famine.

Concentration of power and socialism in the 20th century

In socialism, all economic and political decisions in a society are made centrally. Power is naturally concentrated into the hands of a very small number of people, a bit like a dictatorship.
- After Stalin succeeded Lenin as the leader of the USSR, the Moscow Trials tried and executed many of Stalin's political rivals - Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Bukharin.
- Stalin had a secret police called the NKVD who arrested 1.5 million people, caused the death of 680,000 people and sent 635,000 to gulags in Siberia (forced work camps). The NKVD had quotas for the minimum number of people that they had to arrest.
- In Cambodia, a communist party, the Khmer Rouge killed up to 2 million Cambodians, including political rivals and enemies of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader.

Incentives and socialism in the 20th century

In socialism, a small number of individuals decide everything that must be produced in a country. An individual is told what to produce and they are not permitted to produce anything else.
There is little incentive for workers to work hard, as people gain no additional benefit for working harder or for making higher quality products.
Although social planners try to guide control economies, they have the brainpower, innovation and information of only a small number of individuals in government.
Since China shifted closer to a capitalist model, companies like Tencent and Alibaba were founded and innovation in China and the standard of living has risen rapidly.

1Origins of the Cold War, 1945-9

1.1Events of 1945

1.1.1The Grand Alliance

1.1.2Yalta Conference

1.1.3Potsdam Conference

1.2The Collapse of the Grand Alliance

1.2.1Communism in the 20th Century

1.2.2Relations between Roosevelt, Stalin & Attlee

1.2.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Origins of the Cold War

1.3Developing Tensions

1.3.1USSR Actions

1.3.2Long Telegram & Iron Curtain Speech

1.3.3Cominform

1.3.4Greek Civil War & the Truman Doctrine

1.3.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Developing Tensions

1.4US Involvement in Europe

1.4.1US Policy Towards Britain & Europe

1.4.2US Attitudes Towards Germany & Berlin

1.4.3The Marshall Plan

1.5Conflict over Germany

1.5.1Sectors & Bizonia

1.5.2The Berlin Blockade

1.5.3The Formation of NATO, April 1949

1.5.4A-A* (AO3/4) - US Involvement in Europe

2Widening of the Cold War

2.1US Containment in Asia

2.1.1Japan

2.1.2China & Taiwan

2.2The Korean War

2.2.1Causes & Military Action in Korean War

2.2.2Attitudes of the USSR, China & the USA

2.2.3Panmunjon Armistice & Impact of the Korean War

2.2.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Widening of the Cold War

2.3Increasing Cold War Tensions, 1949 -1953

2.3.1McCarthyism & The 'Red Scare'

2.3.2USA Dominance in the United Nations

2.4Global Alliances

2.4.1Global Alliances in Europe & Asia

2.4.2Eisenhower, Brinkmanship & Domino Theory

2.4.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Tensions & Alliances

3The Global War

3.1Khrushchev

3.1.1Polish & Hungarian Uprisings 1956

3.1.2East-West Relations

3.2Cold War Rivalries

3.2.1Arms Race & Space Race

3.2.2Berlin Crisis & The Berlin Wall

3.2.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Khrushchev

3.3Conflict in Asia

3.3.1Indo-China

3.4Confrontation Between Superpowers

3.4.1Relations Between the USA & Cuba

3.4.2The Cuban Missile Crisis & its Significance

4Confrontation & Cooperation

4.1Vietnam

4.1.1Johnson

4.1.2Nixon

4.1.3Paris Peace Talks

4.2Cooperation

4.2.1Khrushchev & Kennedy

4.3Pressures on the USSR

4.3.1Czechoslovakia

4.3.2A-A* (AO3/4) - Confrontation & Cooperation

5Brezhnev Era

5.1Detente

5.1.1Settlements

5.1.2Detente up to 1979

5.2Second Cold War

5.2.1Renewed Hostilities

5.3Developments in Africa & Americas

5.3.1Angola, Ethiopia, Chila, Nicaragua, Grenada

5.3.2A-A* (AO3/4) - Brezhnev Era

6Ending of the Cold War

6.1Gorbachev

6.1.1Gorbachev & Reforms

6.2Cooperation between US & USSR

6.2.1Key Figures & Summits

6.3Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe

6.3.1Significance of 1989

6.4End of Tensions Across the World

6.4.1Africa, Afghanistan & the Americas

6.4.2Malta Summit & the Aftermath

6.4.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Ending of the Cold War

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