Communism in AmericaThe rise and fall of communism in the worlds greatest

capitalist state

Oberon D-LCHA3UWilson

Itinerary

Communist Ideals A short history of early communism

Eras of American Communism:

Rise: 1919-1928 Depression years: 1929-1934 Golden Age: 1935-1945

Demise: 1945- Effects and Opinion Discussion question

Communist Ideals

Communists believe that it is the struggle between the Bourgious (upper class) and the Proletarians (lower class) which propells history, and constant civil wars in which the poor take the power is taken as evidence for this claim

Communist ideals also state that capitalism is inherently flawed and will eventually evolve into a better society in which money and private ownership do not exist. The goal of a communist organization is usually to hasten these revolutions

A short history of early communism1800-1917

Communism has it's roots in the massive inequality between the 'proletarian' working class and the 'bourgeois' upper class generated by the industrial revolution

In 1848, political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engals wrote the communist manifesto, a clear statement of a rising opinion among many political theorists

Early Communism part 2

Throughout the rest of the 19th century, communism continued to gain strength. It's greatest proponents were in Russia, and the nation dropped out of WW1 in 1917.

They proceeded to have a civil war resulting in the world's first modern communist government

Eras of American

Communism

Birth of Communism in America1919-1928

The previously weak and divided pro-communist groups of America were united into the Communist Party USA, or CPUSA

many socialists were inspired by the success of the Bolsheviks

While they received support from Moscow, CPUSA failed to gain much support due to post-war prosperity

In late 1919, a series of vastly overblown strikes and minor riots were blamed one the communist 'reds'.

This caused the first Red Scare, whose intensity was strong but only endured until 1920, when it was realized that there was truly little to fear

Birth part 2

Even after the end of the Red Scare, the party was unable to gain much support due in part to the still-thriving economy, and also due to internal dissent.

The party remained divided on many issues until 1928, when the Soviet Union began aggressively improving it's economy

This bolstered the enthusiasm of the still- small Communist Party USA, and led them to more ambitious projects

While they encountered little success, they predictions of a failure of capitalism led to great success

The Great Depression Years1929-1934

Support for the communist ideals increased after their dire predictions of a capitalist failure were proved true by the Great Depression

During the depression, the Soviet funded party was in a good position to gain influence, and attempted to create unions and assist the working class nationwide, and were met with limited success

They also were major proponents of Africa-American rights

Depression yrs. Part 2

Despite new support due to the depression, the communist party USA was still small and underfunded, incapable of starting the revolution they sought.

When Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and brought in the New Deal, the communists were worried and rightfully so. This was a great blow to their influence, and they condemned it as incipient fascism

Golden Age1935-1945

However, the Communist Party only called this fascism until the true fascism that was Adolf Hitler came into power in Germany in 1933.

It may well be that the horrific European dictators that so damaged the world were the best thing that happened to communism, especially in it's USA form

People turned to the communist party for solace in these worried times

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union seemed to be the only one opposing Germany, while other nations settled for appeasement

Many people joined the communist cause in this time period, seeing communism as the hopeful future that defied tyranny, and the CPUSA saw the greatest support of it's history, with 50 000 members

Golden Age part 2 The newfound support for communism

experienced a massive downturn however, when the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact with their sworn enemies, Germany in 1939

The resulting miniature Red Scare lasted until 1941, when the rebuked party was suddenly back up on it's feet following the Soviet Union's reentry intro the war

The second World War ended well for communism, with the party being viewed as supremely patriotic and the communist world greatly expanded in eastern Europe

Demise1945-

While all seemed well after the end of the war, relations quickly soured and the Cold War began

Communism quickly became and enemy of the American way of life through propaganda

This also began McCarthyism, America's irrational hatred of communism named after an anti-communist senator

McCarthyism, also known as the Second Red Scare, lasted from 1947-1957 and all but destroyed the communist ideals in America. Communism went from patriotic in 1945 to illegal a decade later

Demise - Present

To this day, the American utter hatred of communism is evident in that the powers that be can easily insult anyone attempting change by simply calling them a communist – odds are Obama won't be elected next term...

However, some socialist idea live on, and the communist party USA still exists in a highly moderate form

The Effects of American Communism(According to Me)

Unity:

Communism and the Red Scares certainly did some good things for America – they unified Americans. Nothing brings people together like a common enemy, and in their battle for dominance over the communist led to great accomplishments such as landing on the moon

Too much faith in Capitalism:

However, I think it drove American culture too far to the political right, and gave them too much faith in their system. Just because it emerged victorious doesn't mean it is perfect, all it really means is that it is better than those in power.

Opinion on Events

I think that it is probably for the best that communism has not succeeded. It is a wonderful vision of how things could be, but with human nature I think that it is impossible to implement and may fail even if done right. No nation seems to have got past the 'benevolent dictator' phase to the 'no possessions no oppression' phase. That seems to me like a sign that it probably just can't work. However, capitalism is nearly as bad.

I think the events of American communism's downfall also reflect how easily and often the American people have been tricked by their government or by any form of propaganda McCarthyism didn't come from the bottom up, it came from the top down.

Discussion

Do you think that the best system won? Was it a fair 'fight' between these two powerful systems?

Was communism's defeat for the best, and what would it mean if communism had won?

THE END