What made the Soviet experiment work, and what did eventually lead to its failure - Essay Example

What Made The Soviet Experiment Work, And What Did Eventually Lead To Its Failure? Executive Summary This paper has presented a comprehensive account of the cause of the revolution. It has described how, a rush into a new system with very little knowledge and experience, coupled with other factors such as; conflicts within the parties, and the civil war; led to the failure of the soviet experiment. There is a description of the soviet experiment. Also included is a description of capitalism and its integration with the Russian economy, as well as, a description of socialism and its compatibility to the Russian economy. There is also a discussion about the qualities of the revolutionary leaders that led to the success and failure of the experiment, conflict between the two parties that formed the revolution, the civil war, and the outcome that led to the abandonment of socialism. All these have been described with reference to examples from historical texts and documents. Introduction Before 1914, Russia was a country of great wealth considering the farmed land estates that it had. These lands were however, inadequately used and there were millions of peasant farmers that grew poorer by the day due to increased population of industrial works, and high rents imposed on them by the landlords. The state of the economy of Russia was not good because of a variety of factors. Russia had no domestic market for its industrial products. The country had built a railway to be used to export products, and also invested largely on foreign capital. Russia also had a small population of landlords and capitalists who could be counted as wealthy, but the rest were labourers and peasants who were too poor to buy large quantities of industrial products. Because of all these factors, Russia could not develop, and the pressures of poverty pushed people to the edge1. Lack of development, corruption, and poverty led to discontent, and drove a section of Russians to begin the quest for a revolution. Before the insurrection, there had been many riots. Because of all these events, revolutionaries thought that the capitalist way of governance was to blame, and immediately after the Bolsheviks seized power, they initiated a new form of governance. In this research paper, the main argument is that the cause of the revolution was poverty and poor development in the country. The new leaders then thought that socialism (the Soviet experiment) would bring development in the country, but because of lack of experience and knowledge about how the socialist system works, together with other aspects such as the civil war, the soviet experiment failed23. The Soviet Experiment The Russian Revolution in 1917 provided an opportunity for a great experiment in social justice and democracy. A popular uprising overthrew the Russian Monarchy in March 1917. In November, the successor of this Monarchy was also overthrown by the Bolsheviks. These events occurred amidst World War I. In 1914, Russians were optimistic about their quest and direction. They gathered in support of the then leader, Tsar Nicholas II, in the declaration of war against Germany. This was on 1914, 2nd August. Things did not turn out right, and two years later, the same crown become frustrated. People were unhappy with inadequate support Russian soldiers got from the home front and the great number of combat casualties. People started demonstrating their grievances openly in the streets. It seems this was the beginning of riots for in 1916 to 1917; Petrograds experienced a lot of shortages that forced them to demonstrate in the streets. They blamed the shortage of food, fuel, and other supplies on the government’s inability to provide transport for the goods into the city; the government was considered incompetent. Because of this, workers demonstrated on the streets, and women filled the streets in search of bread. Even the soldiers were hungry and cold. For this reason, they were reluctant to shoot the rioting crowds. On 11th and 12th, however, some soldiers shot the people who were rioting, and this formed the turning point of events, and eventually led to the revolution on 17th March. Soldiers from Pavlocsky agreed not to take orders from their superiors after the shooting, and soon others from other Regiments followed. It was easy for a provisional government to take over. The provisional government failed to the two most important issues that the Russians were concerned with. The provisional government failed to terminate the war against German and Austria, and refused to redistribute land to peasant farmers. This gave way for the Bolsheviks to take over4. Bad Leadership Stories in the Red Calvary show the actions of the soldiers that discouraged people, and made them angry with the government. There was hunger, yet still, soldiers could go to the villages and take food and horses as they willed. In the story of ‘The Konzapa’s Commander’, the author writes; “the cavalry is ruining the crops and changing horse”5. This could have been during Stalin’s or Lenin’s rule. Lenin’s rule was the beginning of the war communism. During this time, the Reds were brutal in their action to drive defeat the secessionists, whites, and to begin the transformation of the Russian society into a social one. These actions brought discontent among the people, and Lenin had to look for another solution. He came up with a new economic policy. In the early years of Lenin’s reign, apart from fighting the party’s enemies such as the whites, Lenin’s government has also gained other enemies from the citizens. There was forceful requisition from peasants that ignited resistance. The introduction of the new economic policy saw a transformation from forceful requisition to subsidized tax on peasants’ produce. After the whites defeat, a new economic policy seemed to deal with the peasants’ issue. The government became stable for some time until Lenin died. Stalin’s takeover brought about more fears and forceful taking of peasant’s grains and produce6. According to the story, it is a necessary act, but to the peasants, that does not ease their pain. They crowd the headquarters buildings to air their grievances7. This could be explaining the early years of Stalin’s reign. Stalin was, however, ruthless and would eliminate or incapacitated those who opposed him. The failure of the Soviet experiment should be blamed on the leaders who were mostly self-centred. In the history of the formation to the fall of the Soviet Union, the only leader that can be considered to have cared for the public is Lenin, but he also had his shares of poor leadership. Russia was a nation with productive land. The leaders should have recognized this and utilized it to raise the economy of the nation. Instead, the leaders frustrated the most important resource in productivity; the citizens. The system adopted by Lenin, Stalin, and two subsequent leaders only strained and discouraged the citizens from working hard. Communism was a theory developed against the problems of the world. Ironically, it brought the most devastating effects to the same people it was meant to protect. Communism as a theory stated that the problems of the world were due to inequalities, and to eliminate that, capitalism had to be completely eliminated. This way, there would be no poor or rich people, and there would be no problems. There would be no classes of people into bourgeoisie, the middle class, the poor or the proletariat. Communists also argued that there would be no conflicts between the social classes. Under communism, no individuals were to own lands or houses. All property was to be collectively owned and used for the common good8. This justified actions of the Red cavalry who took more from those who had more produce. People were discouraged to produce more, because the more they worked hard, the more frustration they received from the Red Cavalry. It seems as if the communism system adopted by the Russian encouraged laziness among the citizens. Stalin’s actions to ensure the communism was successful could be justified, because the citizens had to be forced to work hard. Forcing the citizens to work for the common good means the peasant farmers had to be angry with the government all the time. Trying to avoid the social classes was also illogical; Stalin and other leaders were above other citizens in terms of social life. There was inequality, and so forcing people to work for the common good, was an ironical course. Poor leadership is also evident in the repressive actions of the leaders, especially Stalin, and in the results of the factories where people were to work. Siegelbaum indicates that; “the Soviet publications did not include documents that set forth the arguments of those objecting to shock work nor of people who doubted the benefit of the movement”9. This was a way of repressing any rebellion, and many of Stalin’s rivals were executed. They were accused of treason or other charges, to which they were innocent, and executed. Some were frustrated through other means, for example, Mikhail Zoshchenko. Zoshchenko was accused of writing satirical literature against Stalin’s government, and for that reason, he was forbidden from writing and expelled from the Soviet Writers’ Union10. This expulsion also meant that Zoshchenko could not use his worker’s ration card. This was around 1946 when there was a famine. Zoshchenko was used as a scapegoat to show the public the government’s new line of action. It would not tolerate anyone objecting to its way of governance. Zoshchenko, however, wrote to Stalin explaining that he has never been against the Soviet Union11. Communist party leader in Leningrad, Andrey Zhdanov, accused Zoshchenko’s of writing a story; ‘The Adventure of the Ape’, which he claimed was a mockery of the Soviet lifestyle12. Lack of Experience; Forcing a System on People Inconsistency in the form of governance and system is also another reason the Soviet Experiment failed. There was a transition from one leader to the other, each succeeding leader taking a system of governance of the previously overthrown or the late leader. Lenin’s government, for example, were against the Tsar governance, and so it tried to develop an industrialized society, which could cater for the needs of the people. This was, however, disrupted by civil war which was between the provisional government and the Bovelshiks, the famine, and poor governance. The next leader, Stalin, took back the country to its communism, which entailed the use of brutal means to get revenues. After Stalin, the next leader criticized his ways and adopted a different approach of governance. The next person that took over leadership adopted the Stalins ways of governance. Wars and Famine The success of the Soviet experiment was also affected by famine and war. Famine led to so many deaths, and the government had to resort to food rationing to help the people survive. Even with food rationing, more people still died. More than 632 000 people died of hunger. Famine affected the implementation and progress of the Soviet experiment. Soviet Union worked for the common good, which means the little food obtained was supposed to be divided among all Russians equally. The union tried this by food rationing, but still people died of hunger. The government tried to stick to the philosophy, but it brought more harm than good. People were forced to depend on worker’s ration card to get meals. The method through which the government managed the famine situation and the famine consequences led to the mistrust among the people, for the communist system. This contributed to the support for capitalism1314. Even the soldiers went hungry. In a letter written by a Red Cavalry soldier addressed to his mother, the soldier requests his mother if she could send some food. This gives the impression of the desperate situation at the time15. Even though there was a famine, the communism did not help much. Capitalism would have been appropriate because it would have motivated individuals to produce surplus. They would then sell these to the poor and the government. Any additional aid from external sources would be given to those who were unable to get food. This was, however, a natural disaster that was unpreventable. War also contributed to the failure of the system. It distracted government attention and resources to the war, instead of a great course. During War for example, The Germans blocked Leningrad leading to a shortage of food in the city. So many people starved to death16. Communism was expected to create a heroic working life for the people; instead it created a lot of disorder. The disorder was the symbol of the five-year plan of communism, instead of the rosy picture of many industries installed for people to work. Working conditions were poor, and people got diseases due to poor living conditions. People also ran away from the farms to work in the construction sites. Agricultural produce reduced thereby affecting the nation’s food supply17. Conclusion This paper presents a historical picture of the initiation of Bolshevik government, its failures in terms of embracing socialism, and factors that led to its failure. Bolshevik government wanted to create a political, financial, and economic environment that could sustain and improve the capitalist industry. The country was however divided, with the agricultural sector and the smaller industries in the hands of the private managers, and the larger industries belonging to the state capitalist trusts, and commerce in the hands of unlicensed private traders and cooperatives. The state of the nation brought confusion to the government leading to the failure of the Soviet experiment. There are diverse aspects that led to the state of the nation that could not support Bolshevik’ form of governance. From the history of the Russian’s experience, communism was not the best system for the government. There may have been factors such as famine, and war, but the system of governance was not possible to execute. It brought disorder in the economy instead of equality and democracy that it was expected to create. At the introduction of communism, Russians thought their lives were tied to the great truth. In the course of trying to fulfil the aim of the great truth, they realized that communism was just an intellectual fantasy. Russians thought that capitalism was an old system that destroyed their government, not knowing it was the best system of governance for their economy at the time. The leaders made the situation worse by their poor governance and corruption. Russians thought that their leaders would guide them to prosperity, but they were failed by selfish leaders who only focused on their interests. Any person who talked against the Soviet Union was frustrated. It took time for the Russians to realize how impossible it was to form a society with no social classes. References Babel Isaac, Red Cavalry and Other Stories, (London: Penguin Books Limited, 2005), 91-321. Clark Katerina, and Dobrenko Evgeny, 2007, Soviet Culture and Power: A History in Documents, 1917-1953 (Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2007), 33-431. Eaton, Katherine Bliss, Daily Life in the Soviet Union, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004), 1-35. Grossman Vasily, A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army. Ed. Antony Beevor, Trans. Luba Vinogradova (Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2011), 280-306. Hook, Sue Vander, Communism, (ABDO, 2011), 9-10. Siegelbaum Lewis, and Sokolov Andrei, Stalanism as a Way of Life: A Narrative in Documents. (Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2004) 33-187. Werth Alexander, Russia at War: 1941 - 1945, 2nd Ed., (New York:Carroll & Graf Publication, 1999), 323-355. Zoshchenko Mikhail, 1961, Scenes from the Bathhouse: And Other Stories of Communist Russia, (Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1961), 175-181. Read More