The Collapse of the Soviet Union

“THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM CAN BE VIEWED FROM THE PRISM OF LENINIST VERSUS STALINIST CONCEPTIONS OF COMMUNISM” DISCUSS.

OYEBODE PETER TAIWO
HIS/2009/051

COURSE CODE: HIS 417

COURSE TITLE: HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SINCE 1945.




Submitted to: CHARLES OGIDAN.

Before looking at how the two conceptions of Lenin and Stalin culminated into the fall of communism, it is imperative to first look at the different conceptions and the personalities behind them, how they both contributed to the consolidation of communism as well as the collapse.
Leninism is a series of principles propounded by Vladimir I. Lenin, who was a prominent figure in the Russian Revolution of 1917. He built on the already established communist ideals of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Lenin's conception of communism had through the years undergone considerable change from his earlier standpoint. This was evident in the system he adopted in the closing years of the 1914-18 war (after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917). Among his chief goals were: to ensure a classless society with production in the hands of the people; increase the standard of living for many workers and peasants; and to ensure the growth of private business among other goals. He emphasized on action by a small, deeply committed group stemmed both from the need for efficiency and discretion in the revolutionary movement and from an authoritarian that was present in all of his political thought. Thus it can be said that Lenin advocated democratic dictatorship with the aim of incorporating the proletariat into the system. Having understood the necessity of an international revolutionary movement, he advocated for socialist/communist revolution in Russia and the soviet states. The authoritarian aspect of Leninism appeared also in its insistence upon the need for a “proletarian dictatorship” following the seizure of power, a dictatorship that in practice was exercised not by the workers but...