Essay on “The End of Communist Ideology” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

The End of Communist Ideology 

The cold war is over. With the end of cold war it was felt that the Communist ideology has ended too. The credit went to Nikhail Gorbachov, ex-President of former Soviet Union. But how can an ideology end? No ideology dies. It remains in some form or the other. Its degree varies but continues to play its role. When the Communist systems were crumbling in late 80’s and early 90’s, Francis Fukyama wrote an article, ‘end of ideology’. It led to serious debates regarding end of Communist ideology.

The Communist ideology propounded by Karl Marx was realized by Lenin in Russian Revolution in former Soviet Union. Communist ideology stands for real freedom by end of all exploitations. It believes in primacy of economic factors which determines human consciousness. According to Marx, society is divided into two classes one is haves and the other is have nots. The interests of both are of hostile nature. It believes in existence of conflicts. State is an instrument of domination in the hands of economically dominant class. So during Communism, the state will wither away and result into stateless and classless society. But during the transformation, a socialist state will be established with ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ which will help in the process of Communism.

In former Soviet Union, these tenets of Communist ideology were not really practiced. It assumed serious distortions on political, social and economic fronts. Moreover, Communist ideology started playing greater role in International relations. After the end of Second World War, the whole world was divided into two blocks: the Capitalist and Communist World. Cold war started between two blocks. Two superpowers emerged led by United States of America and former Soviet Union. Various countries joined either of the two blocks. It was ideology which played decisive role in foreign policies of nations.

During Stalin’s period, measures were not taken to achieve the goals of Communism. As a result various distortions of the ideology developed later on which became its own enemy. On political front, people did not enjoy real freedom. There was rule of only one Communist party which led to totalitarian system. On economic front, system of command economy was practiced. With initial success of centralized planning and infrastructure developed, the whole system became stagnant, inefficient and corrupt. Corruption was rampant which are the whole system gradually. People were left with shortages and long queues. Discontent and frustration developed which led to demands to change the system. Social tensions started mounting due to non-freedom and collapsed economic performances. Dictatorship of the proletariat which was for a short time prolonged and the state could not wither away due to corrupt bureaucracy and one party rule.

When Gorbachov became the President, the economy was in really bad shape. Former Soviet Union was not in a position to compete with the West, though militarily it was still powerful. Gorbachov went for drastic reforms. He initiated reforms both at international and national levels. He deideolized the international relations which helped in easing of tensions between Superpowers. Various dissonant measures were taken which ultimately helped in ending the cold war. East European countries which were part of Communist block were allowed to pursue independent foreign policies. In fact, they were first to go under transformation. Berlin wall fell and East Germany and West Germany were unified.

On the domestic front, planned economy was abandoned. Private enterprises were allowed to flourish and go for entrepreneurship. Heavy investments from West followed soon to save the Russian economy. The principles of ‘Glashost and Prestroika’ were followed which meant ‘openness’ and ‘restructuring’ respectively. Multiparty system developed in Russia. It galvanized the situation so much that some groups wanted speedy reforms. They were not satisfied with the pace of the reforms. The changes in former Soviet Union were of revolutionary nature. It happened so fast that the reforms became irreversible. It led to the disintegration of former Soviet Union. All the republics became independent very soon as if they were waiting for the freedom.

The drastic changes were the need of the hour to save the Communist ideology. There was no total disappearance of Communist Party or ideology. But its dominance has been limited. In the subsequent polls in Russia, Communist Party continues to play decisive role. In China, it is still there with reformed strategies. In China, modernization of economy has been gradual with the political control of Communist party. In many East European Countries, Communist Parties have come to power. Communist ideology is still there in many countries but with a difference. As an ideology it can’t die. It is an utopia which stands for humanism, real freedom. Its aberrations have been taken care of. It will be there to play a role as long as exploitations and sufferings continue to be there. Now it exercises its responsibilities with human face.