The Russian Revolution of 1917 had many lasting long-term effects on the Russian people and the outside world. Although Communism was faced with stiff opposition throughout the twentieth century, it was still a powerful force. An effect experienced in the time of the harsh Stalin was "collectivization." Collectivization was the process of bringing all farmland under the ruler's control. Collectivization had tremendous effects on the people of Russia because they were forced to work, not for themselves, but for the government. By 1932, 88% of the farm-land in Russia was Stalin's. The process was almost complete by 1937. The peasantry was enserfed. Any resistance was crushed right away. The "Whites" tried to resist the "Reds" but were destroyed in the aftermath of the revolution. Even those who were not directly resisting were sometimes disposed of either through execution or GULAG (slave labor camps in Siberia).
After World War II, Russia sought to expand Communism to include other countries. Basically the only resistance to this spread of Communism was by the United States and countries of like mind in NATO. The U.S. wanted to contain Communism and keep it from "infecting" other countries where democracy might flourish. Thus began the Cold War. The two superpowers did not want to step on the other's toes, so to speak. Detente was the word used to describe the easing of tensions between Communist nations and non-Communist nations. Whenever Russia tried to "communize" a country by offering aid and weapons, other countries, primarily the U.S., would support that country to keep it from Communism.
In the end, Communism and its ideas, caused many problems. Communism was the cause of certain wars such as the Vietnam War. Communism was the cause of much suffering of its people such as in Russia. Also, Communism was the cause of its own fall. By failing to stimilate growth, Russia, the center of Communism, suffered economic stagnation. Failure to compete in interstate commerce leads to the collapse of autocracy. That, along with governmental reforms, such as Glasnost (openness) within the Soviet Union made for its downfall. A coup in August 1991 by Party and KGB diehards, tried to remove Gorbachev because of the way things were going, but failed leading to the banning of the Communist Party.

Information on Russia.


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