10.0 Introduction to Communism

DefinitionsBourgeoisie: The capitalist class. Those

that own the means of production in a capitalist system. In other words, the factory and business owners.

(Boar-jwah-zee)

By definition, their goal is to exploit the workers (keep wages as low as possible to maximize profits)

Proletariat: The working class. Those that receive a wage. This group has no ownership of the means of production.

They are being exploited because they are generating the wealth of the economy, but receiving only minimal benefits.

Means of Production: Capital. What is used to make things in any economy. Machines, buildings, tools, etc.

In a capitalist society, an elite group called the Bourgeoisie own the means of production.

In a socialist society, the means of production are owned by the state

In a communist society, the means of production are shared by all people.

Stages of HistoryStages of History are defined by the

“superstructure.” This is how political organization is a reflection of economic organization.

Socialism: Dictatorship of the proletariat. The state (once taken over by the proletariat) owns the means of production.

Pre-Civilizatio

n

• No class structure or means of production

Tyranny

• One ruling class centered on one figure in a primitive economy.• Working class are a slave class

Feudalism

• Power divided between an elite nobility• Working class are serfs,

Absolutism

• Power centered on one figure (takes the power structure of tyranny and the economic structure of feudalism)

• Working class are serfs

Capitalism

• Means of production owned by a bourgeoise class (takes the power structure of feudalism and creates a new economic system)

• Working class is a wage-earning class

Socialism

• Means of Production owned by the state (combines the power structure of absolutism with the economic system of capitalism)

• Working class is ruling class

Communism

• Control of the means of production is divided equally, thus becoming meaningless (creates a political system and incorporates the economic potential of socialism and capitalism)

• Class is meaningless

Stages of HistoryCommunism: A utopia. The last stage of

history and culmination of mankind. Here, everything is shared and everyone is equal.

Karl Marx

Wrote Communist Manifesto in 1848

Believed that capitalism was an unstable system

Karl Marx (How to Change it)Marx was inspired by the French Revolution

Believed that capitalism would be violently overthrown.

Thought that the proletariat would get frustrated and revolt.

Where it Would Start

Marx believed that revolution would begin in the more industrialized nations, as they had the greatest inequalities.

For example, US, France, or Britain

Marx: What would Happen Afterwards

After the revolution, there would be “socialism” to force people to be less greedy.

Eventually, utopian society of complete equality (Communism)

LeninAlso thought that capitalism was an unfair

and unstable system.

How it would changeViolent revolution

But because proletariat was too weak, you would need professional revolutionaries (called the Vanguard)

Lenin: Where it would startLenin believed that revolution would start

where capitalism was weakest.

Examples: Africa, Asia, Latin America, Russia

Lenin: What would Happen Afterwards

A wave of revolution would spread across Europe.

Agreed with Marx about stages of history.

Key Working Principles of Communism1. The ends justify the means

2. Revolutions are sudden and violent (communists should be prepared to deal with this)

3. The Party must be disciplined and unified to carry out its goals

4. The Working Class may not be aware that they are being exploited (capitalists have developed tools to trick the working class, like nationalism and religion)

5. The goal of the Communist Party is to push society towards its ultimate goal: communism. Progress along the stages of history is paramount.

Joseph StalinInvents the “Stalinist State”

Stalin believed that any criticism of government or its leader was “counter-revolutionary” and must be squashed.

Estimated Deaths: 20 million in Russia.

Why so many Deaths?Terror:

Use Fear as a political tool to change society.

Purges:Eliminating Counter-Revolutionaries within the

Party

CollectivizationCommunizing agriculture to create class

consciousness

GulagsSoviet-style forced labor camps

Communism in Practice—An Economic PerspectiveCompared to countries of similar economic

development; communist countries usually experienced much higher growth rates than non-communist countries (at least for the first generation); many times with higher productivity rates.

Compared to countries with similar GDP per capita, communist countries did and do have higher standards of living (better education, healthcare, overall quality of life).

Communism in Practice—An Economic PerspectiveContrary to popular belief, Soviet-communist

countries had currencies and they had inequalities. For example, the Soviet Union in 1980 had more inequality than capitalist Sweden.

North Korea vs. South Korea: For about 15 years after the Korean war, North Korea was wealthier by almost every economic measure. In the 1970s, South Korea began its export-led growth scheme. Meanwhile, North Korea focused on self-sufficiency.

What were the economic problems?Planning the Market: The entire market

had to be planned by the Central Government. The “Gosplan” in the USSR required the input of tens of thousands of people to decide what would be produced and how much would be produced.

Queues---Lines: Essential goods and services were available to all. You just had to wait in line to get them. Sometimes these lines were waiting lists that took years.

What were the economic problems?Lack of Choice: To make economic

planning manageable, factories produced one type of jeans or one type of car.

Lack of Consumer Goods: Useless gadgets were useless to leaders of the Soviet Union. Basic necessities would be met, but all other resources were put into “heavy industry” to compete with America’s defense department.

What were the economic problems?No Disincentive Effect: Everyone was

given a job. Nobody was fired. Over time, workers in communist countries lost the will to do well.

Black Market: If something is wanted, it will be supplied. Controlling illegal purchases became almost impossible.

Communism—Planned EconomiesAdvantages Disadvantages

More “Public” goods: education, healthcare, national sports, public housing.

Difficult to manage. Why plan something that happens naturally?

All members of society are “taken care of.”

No freedom of choice or freedom of speech. No property.

Sense of solidarity with other people…society not driven by greed.

Individuality and entrepreneurship discouraged.

Able to rapidly steer a country towards war production.

Difficult to maintain growth rates over a long period of time.

Vietnam War Lecture (10.4)

I. Background Information (--1954)

II. Drawing America In (1954-1964)

III. Failure of American Intervention (1964-1975)

Vietminh (communist Party of Vietnam), NVA=North Vietnamese Army

Capital: Hanoi

NLF (National Liberation Front), aka: Vietcong. Communists in South Vietnam

Leaders: Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap

I. A. DRV: Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North)

ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam): South Vietnamese Army

Capital: Saigon

Leaders: Ngo Dinh Diem, Nguyen Van Thieu (and other Generals)

B. RVN: Republic of Vietnam (South)

Vietnam had been fighting for its independence for almost 2,000 years

(Chinese, French, Japanese, French, Americans)

Vietnam had almost no economic incentives for American involvement

Biggest imports from Vietnam were tin and rubber

Background Information (--1954)

Japanese leave in 1945.

Same year, Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh declare independence

Initially Ho worked with non- communists to form a new government, but then pushed them out of the government

French refuse to accept Vietnamese independence and fight a war for control.

C. Pre 1954

A. French suffer final defeat at Dien Bien Phu

B. Nations meet at Geneva to figure out a peace settlement.

1. North is given independence under Chinese support (dominated by communists)

2. South put under control of French supported Vietnamese forces in South

3. Elections set to be held in 1956

D. 1954

A. North

Ho Chi Minh consolidates communist power, destroys resistance

B. South

Diem becomes president of South Vietnam

Refuses to hold elections because he believes they will not be fairly carried out in the North (and he knows he will lose in the South)

II. Drawing America In

1.US Supported Diem in the South

2. Vietcong forms in the South to overthrow Diem (combination of appeals to the people and terrorist attacks)

3. Diem, a catholic in a land of Buddhism, upsets Buddhists by discriminating against them and protecting the church-held lands

C. Losing Control in the South

ARVN launches an American sponsored coup against Diem in 1963 (roughly 2 weeks before Kennedy is assassinated)

Kennedy assumed Diem would be removed from power, but he was killed by the ARVN generals

South Vietnam will be under unstable military authority until the fall of Saigon in 1975

D. End of Diem

A. EntryAs South Vietnam became more

chaotic, LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson) begins giving more aid and covert support to South Vietnam

August 2, 1964: Apparent attack upon American vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin. American ships were secretly supporting raids against North Vietnam.

Tonkin Resolution gives president unlimited use of force in Vietnam

III. Failure of American Intervention

Year Troop Level 1959 760 1960 900 1961 3,025 1962 11,300 1963 16,300 1964 23,300 1965 184,300 1966 385,300 1967 485,600 1968 536,100 1969 475,200 1970 334,600 1971 156,800 1972 24,200 1973 50

American Troop Levels

Johnson begins “Operation Rolling Thunder” that will drop bombs on North Vietnam

7 million tons of bombs will be dropped on Vietnam during the War (not including Napalm). 2 million tons were dropped during the entirety of World War II.

American Marines land at Da Nang in summer of 1965 to protect airfields

B. The American War (Stage 1--Bombing)

1967-1968: Johnson shifts military policy towards “Search and Destroy” Missions

Soldiers go into the villages and jungles to find and kill the Vietcong

Results in highest casualty numbers for American troops. Requires “escalation” of US military forces.

Johnson tells nation that war is almost won and that communists are losing hope.

Tet Offensive(January 1968) shocks the nation (nearly destroys Vietcong, Johnson says he will not run for president in next election)

C. The American War (Stage 2—Ground Troops)

Tet Offensive

Nixon is elected in 1968 with campaign promise to win and get out (not clear how this would be done)

Nixon moves to “Vietnamization”Having the Vietnamese fight the Vietnam

War

In 1969, Nixon begins to secretly bomb Cambodia along the “Ho Chi Minh Trail” to stop supplies from getting to Vietcong

My Lai Massacre also makes headlines in 1969

D. The American War (Stage 3—De-escalation)

Ho Chi Minh Trail

How North Vietnam was able to transport military supplies from the North to the South.

The trail went through Cambodia and Laos, around the DMZ

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Nixon begins to cut troops in 1972, claiming that Vietnamization was working (it really wasn’t)

Paris Peace Accord: Ceasefire signed in 1973. American soldiers begin full withdrawal soon after (most believe that ceasefire was a condition of American withdrawal. Nixon wanted space in between when soldiers left and when South Vietnam fell)

1975: South Vietnam is completely conquered by Vietminh and Saigon falls (becomes Ho Chi Minh City)

Nixon (removed from office) would later claim that Vietnam could have been saved if Democratic Congress had sent troops back into Vietnam in 1975

E. Withdrawal and Ending

IV. Legacy of WarAbout 2-3 million Vietnamese killed Agent Orange destroyed vegetation and led to

poisoning, birth defects, and cancer.US: 58,000 Killed in Action, 153,000 wounded in action.

Vietnam became a communist totalitarian state, as did Laos and Cambodia.

Chaos from bombing in Cambodia eventually destabilized the country and led to the Khmer Rouge genocide.

Over one million refugees from the region.

Historiographical DebateVietnam and the 1960s are the turning

point in historiography.

After Vietnam/1960s, historians will turn towards “revisionist” interpretations that criticize American action and power.

In the 1980s-present, some historians have challenged the revisionists. They are called the “post-revisionist.”

Vietnam: 3 Schools of Thought

“Revisionist…Traditionalist?”“Liberal”: American power is a good force, but it was misused in

Vietnam. By devoting so much attention to the war, America weakened its position around the world and ruined the “Great Society.” (Schlessinger, Karnow)

“Radical…Revisionist”: American power is just as bad as Soviet power. America’s involvement was a logical continuation of American imperialism caused by America’s capitalist system. (Kolko)

“Conservative….Revisionist?”The war could have been won, but it wasn’t because of strategic

mistakes driven by politics. The soldiers didn’t lose the war, public opposition to the war did. Vietnam War represents a weakness of American willpower, not a weakness of the American military. (Davidson, Kripenevich)

Vietnam 3 SchoolsLiberal: “Good effort, but America should

have focused attention elsewhere.”

Radical: “American action was greedy, unjust, and imperialistic.”

Conservative: “Good war, but the hippies ruined it.”