The rise and demise of world communism

George W. Breslauer

Communist parties ruled sixteen states over the course of the 20th century. At communistsm's high point, its adherents envisioned global triumph. Today, however, only five communist regimes remain in power. Why? In this book, George W. Breslauer, who has spent decades studying the evolution of communist states, provides a sweeping history of the world communist movement, focusing in particular on what communist states shared in common and why they began to differ from each other overt ime. Breslauer finds that the communist regimes all came to power in the context of warfare or its aftermath. Following the Soviet example, they all went on to "build socialism" according to a Stalinist template and were initially dedicated to "anti-imperialist struggle" as members of a world communist movement. But their common features. But their common features gave way to diversity, difference and defiance after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. For many reasons, and in many ways, those differences soon blew apart the world communist movement and eventually led to the collapse of European communism. While the dream of world communism is dead, the future of the remaining communist regimes that remain in power is uncertain. An accessible history of one of the most important political phenomena of the past 150 years, this volume provides readers with a crisp account of the entire movement – from the theories of Marx and Lenin to the on-the-ground policies of Stalin, Mao, Gorbachev, Deng, and other communist leaders – that culminates in our own era.

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Year of publication:	[2021]
Authors:	Breslauer, George W.
Publisher:	New York, NY : Oxford University Press
Subject:	Kommunismus \| Communism \| Sozialismus \| Socialism \| Entwicklung \| Economic development \| Welt \| World \| Sozialistische Staaten \| Geschichte \| Weltgeschichte
Description of contents:	Table of Contents [bvbr.bib-bvb.de] ; Description [global.oup.com]

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Extent:	ix, 345 Seiten
Type of publication:	Book / Working Paper
Language:	English
Notes:	Enthält Literaturangaben und ein Register Part I. General patterns in world communism -- What did communist regimes have in common? -- How did communist regimes differ from each other? -- The world communist movement : from Moscow-centric to pluralistic -- Part II. Ideology and organization : the heritage -- Marxism : the vision -- Leninism : the instrument -- Part III. Coming to power and "building socialism" in Russia -- The Bolshevik seizure of power -- Consolidating Bolshevik power -- Respite -- Building socialism : Stalin's revolution from above -- The Great Terror and Stalinist despotism -- Was Stalinism a logical continuation of Marxism, Leninism, or neither? -- Was Stalin's revolution from above a rational strategy of modernization? -- Stalinism and world communism in the 1930s -- The impact of World War II on the Soviet Union and world communism -- Part IV. The Stalinist model spreads westward and eastward -- The creation of East European communist states -- Origins and entrenchment of the Cold War, 1945-1953 -- World War II and the creation of Asian communist states : the People's Republic of China -- Consolidating power and "building socialism" in China -- Communist parties come to power in Korea and Vietnam -- Part V. After Stalin : froom similarity to difference -- What follows Stalinism in the USSR? -- Diversity and defiance within the world communist movement -- "Building communism" : competition for ideological "correctness" within the world communist movement -- The Sino-Soviet schism, 1957-1963 -- Cuba's indigenous revolution, 1959-1970 -- The Soviet Union after Khrushchev : Bureaucratic Leninism -- Alternatives to utopia in China, 1960-1965 -- The great proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969 -- Maoism : an accounting -- Part VI. The realignment of international relations : from proletarian internationalism to pragmatism -- The collapse of the world communist movement and the rise of détente -- Why US-Soviet détente failed -- The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, December 1979 -- Part VII. The collapse of European communism -- Varieties of opposition to Bureaucratic Leninism in Eastern Europe, 1968-1985 -- Gorbachev's peaceful revolution from above -- Gorbachev and the abandonment of anti-imperialist struggle -- Part VIII. The remains of communism in a postcommunist world -- From Maoism to Market Leninism : the Chinese economic miracle after Mao -- China in a post-communist world : can Leninism survive Market Leninism? -- Market Leninism in Vietnam -- Market Leninism in Laos -- Bureaucratic Leninism in Cuba -- Stalinism in North Korea -- Part IX. Conclusions -- Why the drive to difference? -- Assessing the communist experience : tragedy or achievement? -- Is there a future for new communist states?
ISBN:	978-0-19-757967-1 ; 978-0-19-757969-5 ; 978-0-19-757970-1
Other identifiers:	10.1093/oso/9780197579671.001.0001 [DOI]
Source:	ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW

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