Understanding Socialism Part 2: A history of Socialism in practice

Understanding Socialism Part 2: A history of socialism in practice

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In looking at Socialism in practice throughout modern history, debates are always had over what constitutes a Socialist society. The fact that Socialist ideas have never been clearly defined, and as such have changed over time has certainly not helped. Believers in Socialism and Communism inevitably state that every identified country that has implemented Socialism, never in fact implemented true Socialism. The reasons for this, of course, is that they do not want their belief systems linked with the death of millions of people. Also, their belief in the utopian ideals of Socialism are so strong, that when it has not occurred, then it simply cannot be the true form of Socialism.

Often the statement that is given as to why a country was not Socialist, is that the country in question was actually based on State Capitalism, not Socialism. In other words, the ruling power was using the entire population of the country as a workforce to generate profit. However, it is impossible to explain away every Socialist country as not been Socialist, by overlooking the fundamental factors and pointing only to periphery factors. The key components of a Socialist society are this:

1. The belief in the Marxist principle of oppressor versus oppressed, also known as victim and victimiser.
2. An overthrow of the capitalist system
3. Government taking over or controlling the means of production and property, this includes nationalisation of education, religion and the press.
4. A belief in a classless society

My belief is that when you have the definition of the third point, and at least two of the others, then you have a Socialist society.

Russia & the USSR

Russia was the first country to implement Socialism. Lenin went about instilling his beliefs of Marxist theory onto the population of Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution. In 1922 the USSR was formed, this was a union of fifteen countries. The USSR stands for United Soviet Socialist Republic. Lenin died in 1924 and the leadership was eventually taken over by Joseph Stalin, one of the 20^th centuries most murderous leaders, who also had very strong Marxist beliefs.

Stalin set about industrialising the Soviet Union through his series of five-year plans, he created state-owned factories and railway lines across territories. Stalin set targets for every industry, with targets set right down to the individual worker. Punishment was issued for each individual that was not able to reach the targets. Workplace deaths were a frequent occurrence as managers brushed aside safety concerns in order to meet the targets. One canal project saw over 100, 000 deaths. Workers were forbidden to be late or absent from work due to illness and were not allowed to change jobs. With all of this, workers saw a continual decrease in their wages until the late 1930s. A massive shortage of consumer goods spread across the Soviet Union, as the industrial push meant that there were too few skilled workers. The result was poor housing, lack of clothing and other essential items.

A massive array of prison camps, known as Gulags, were set up throughout Siberia and the rest of the Soviet Union to imprison any political prisoner or criminal. These would be similar to what we would expect to find in Socialist North Korea today. These camps were started by Lenin but used extensively by Stalin. Anyone who disagreed with or disobeyed Stalin’s authority would face imprisonment in a Gulag. The Gulags were a brutal prison system and were documented well by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a Russian soldier sent to a Gulag with hundreds of thousands of other Russian soldiers after the war. Stalin was concerned that because they had seen the prosperity of the west, they may corrupt his utopian society with its ideas. Solzhenitsyn’s three volumes of the Gulag Archipelago documents many atrocities he witnessed and stories of those he spoke with. It is estimated that up to as many as 15 million people either died in these camps or as a result of these camps.

Stalin’s control over media and freedom of thought and speech was absolute. Anybody caught reading unsanctioned material would face the punishment of being sent to a Gulag. Stalin had church leaders arrested and imprisoned, shutting down churches and even destroying many in his bid to remove religion from society. Education was placed under the complete control of Stalin, with the Socialist government writing the curriculum according to Socialist ideals.

Collectivisation is a fundamental Socialist policy implemented by Stalin. Stalin’s plan was to link small farms together into larger farms and have all produce shipped to a central location for distribution. Initially, the farmers resisted Stalin, until he forcefully placed thousands of them into Gulags and took control of the land. By 1932 Stalin’s plans had led to a massive famine, the most severe in the agriculturally rich lands of the Ukraine, where it is estimated that as many as six million starved to death, the Ukrainian famine is known as Holodomor. In total it is estimated that as many ten million Soviet citizens died of starvation.

The deaths listed so far do not account for the purges by Stalin, where anyone that Stalin saw as a potential threat was imprisoned or murdered, this included many talented military leaders. In total it is estimated that as many as sixty million people died as a direct result of Stalin’s rule.

China

The Long March in China by the Red Army in 1934 was a retreat by the Communist party from the ruling power who was attempting to eliminate them. The retreat sent the Communists west and then north. It was this event where Mao Zedong established his leadership of the party. Through a series of back and forwards alliances with other political parties and with the support of the peasant farmers, Mao’s CPC party (Communist Party of China) eventually came to power in 1949.

Even prior to Mao’s ascension to power, he had worked to win the support of the peasant farmers. Mao’s intention was to remove class distinction, to do this he intended to have all of the landlords and well-off peasants murdered, as this would allow him to redistribute the land. His intention was to have thirty million killed, the mass murder was also specifically designed by Mao to have people denounce each other "To tie everyone's fate to the regime so they are afraid of the return of the old regime. That's revolution. There is no going back."

Mao’s system had communities (oppressed) whipped into a frenzy where the landlords and rich peasants (oppressors) would act out their anger in vengeance. It is estimated that around 4.5 million Chinese were murdered from this campaign. The murderous campaign was so violent that some victims were dismembered, some buried alive, some beaten to death, many tortured violently before being shot. Victims also included the young children of the landowners. By the time the campaign had finished, all landowners had completely disappeared.

In 1958 Mao introduced his economic program The Great Leap Forward. Under this program, all of the farmland was centralised under government control, and large communes formed of around 20,000 people. Mao worked to industrialise the country and sent many workers into the factories and to infrastructure projects. By 1959 a famine had started that would last into 1961, where an estimated total of around 45 million would die of starvation.

Mao Zedong also removed free speech from the country and sought to eradicate religion. Churches were shut down, missionaries sent back to their home countries, even the traditional beliefs of Buddhism and Confucianism were outlawed.

The total number of deaths under Mao Zedong range anywhere up to 75 million, making him the most murderous leader, not just of the 20^th century, but of all time.

Germany under Hitler

This next point is a very contentious point for many, with many defending their point of view with zealous anger. However, I believe that if open-minded and honest research is conducted, then others will reach the same conclusions that I have. That point is, Hitler was a Socialist.

Nazism, which is a fascist doctrine, is fundamentally Socialist in nature. The term NAZI actually stands for ‘The National Socialist German Worker’s Party’. Nazism was National Socialism, as opposed to traditional or international Socialism, one of the key differences between the two being that International Socialism is economically focused, and National Socialism is race focused. Also, where Socialism strips away private ownership and entrepreneurship, National Socialism also eliminated entrepreneurship and allowed private ownership only under the premise that the government still had overall control of its use.

Hitler was staunchly anti-Communist, many assume that this meant he was pro-capitalist. However, this is far from the truth. It would be truer to say that he viewed his form of Socialism as superior to that of Stalin. Hitler adopted Mussolini’s ideology of fascism for Germany, Mussolini who was Italy’s leader during much of the Second World War, was a staunch believer in Marxist ideology, and considered Karl Marx as one of the great thinkers, and the ‘greatest of all theorists of Socialism’.

A number of typical Socialist ideologies can be seen in Hitler’s Nazi Germany, this included the nationalisation of education, restrictions on the freedom of religion, the removal of free speech, including the burning of books. Hitler opened a large number of child care centres, forcing women into the workplace and implementing his strategy of state-raised children. Hitler also socialised healthcare and provided a range of fee handouts to German citizens including food stamps and clothing, all socialist policies.

In the first blog I posted on the subject of Socialism, I noted that the core principle of its ideology was the principle of two classes, ‘oppressed and oppressors’. Hitler used this principle with deadly force, blaming the Jewish community for much of the economic woes of Germans. Hitler’s hatred of the Jews led to over six million of them being wiped from the face of the planet through a murderous campaign. In total Hitler’s regime would see a total of around eleven million people murdered.

Final thoughts

Since the 1917 Russian Revolution, dozens of countries from all continents have attempted to implement Socialism, most with devastating results, some with just bad results. In the history since Lenin and Stalin, not one country has successfully implemented Socialism. Some point to Sweden and some of the Nordic countries as a success story, however, Thomas DiLorenzo’s book ‘The problem with Socialism’ puts an end to that myth. 

Others point to some of the European countries and their Quasi-Socialist systems, however, these countries only succeed because it is still based on a free market economy. As the American economist Thomas Sowell points out, the more Socialist the country becomes, the poorer its citizens become, and the freer the country becomes, then the wealthier its citizens become. China is a perfect example of this, since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, they have slowly opened the door to free market trade for its citizens. In 1980, 9 out of 10 Chinese were living in poverty, today, with their largely free market economy, only 1 out of 10 Chinese are living in poverty.

Everything I have said here is not to say that we should not have some systems in place to ensure that the working class is not taken advantage of, and that we should not have some social policies in place to ensure citizens are left in poverty. Even Margaret Thatcher with all of her hate of Socialism believed in a safety net. Also, George Orwell’s book ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ shows a clear picture of a society that does not properly look after its poor. My belief is that a free market system and personal freedom are the essential ingredients needed in order for everyone to prosper, and that Socialism and all of its restriction of human liberties is a sure path to hell. 

 “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.” 
― Milton Friedman