Fall of communism in Eastern Europe

Economic and Political Factors That Led to the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe

Right after the Second World War, a new war had pervaded humanity with the gradual dominance and spread of Communism in the Eastern Europe and Asian regions. Proposed as Karl Marx's program for the creation of a socialist society in the modern period, Communism had gained inspiration for countries who tried to veer away from the influence of the Western world, and adopt a new society that contradicts the principles of capitalism. Believing that indeed, capitalism has an inevitable propensity to create stratification and marginalization to specific groups in the society, Eastern European nations formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR or Soviet Union) in order to push through Marx's proposition that a socialist, Communist society be established.

With its inception Communism had spread to include other nations as well, particularly those in the Asian regions, such as China and the northern parts of Korea and Vietnam, as well as Cambodia. With the proliferation of nations adopting the Communist social and politico-economic paradigm, Western nations, specifically Great Britain and United States, felt threatened that these Communist nations would oppose the prevalent status quo among most societies, which are all capitalist economic societies. What thus transpired was a Cold War that created divisions among nations, wherein two factions were created: those who support the Communist Agenda, and those who support the Modernist Project, which portrayed capitalism as better, more liberal, and successful than Communism. Indeed, history illustrated that the Communist agenda to establish a socialist society did not succeed, and a few decades after the rise of Communism, it fell immediately, particularly among the Eastern European nations.

However, political and economic factors have contributed to the fall of Communism. It is erroneous to claim that Communism failed because it is, in its entirety, a faulty proposition created by Marx. These political and economic factors are significantly related to the U.S. And Britain's Modernist Project, which developed within the Marshall Aid Plan. The Marshall Plan was created to provide financial aid and support to Eastern European, as well as Asian, nations who have been crippled by the effects of World War II. Through the creation of organizations that provide financial and social support, such as the World Bank and United Nations, respectively, nations that need rehabilitation after World War II were given indirect financial aid and political support from the U.S. And Britain.

The Modernist Project through the Marshall Plan was the political factor that led to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. With Eastern European nations enticed by the financial aid and political support that the U.S. And Britain provided, it became easier for them to weaken the hold of Communism. Furthermore, because Communism and a socialist economy were still in its infancy, the effects of a proletarian-led society did not bring out the expected results among these Communist nations. In effect, primarily due to the strong political influence and economic power of the U.S. And Britain, they were able to push through their anti-Communist program, providing military support through the provision of soldiers and weaponry for nations divided between Communism and capitalism.

A deeper analysis of the economic state of the Soviet Union during the rise of Communism also helps to further understand how it eventually failed to create a new social order in the modern period. Post-war Eastern Europe was driven with poverty and scarcity of its basic resources; thus, its nations were weak not only politically, but also economically. When the Soviet Union implemented a Communist society, agricultural was its base industry, thereby generating almost all its financial resources and fund from it. And because a socialist economy posits that no private property should be kept, all resources and possession were owned and regulated by the government. It is also the government that regulates the flow of financial resources, giving them control in allocating and distributing these funds.