Russia and China, both at different times in history, transitioned the way their countries were ruled into communism. Early in the 20th Century, Russia was one of few countries left governed by a Monarchy. Although ideas and theories on governments had changed throughout Europe, Russia had remained to change. The Romanov Dynasty was in power over Russia until start of the Russian Revolution in 1917. The people of Russia were unhappy and discontented by how their country was run, which led to the revolution.
Chinese dynasties ruled over China dating back to 2100 BC beginning with the Xia Dynasty and ending with the Xing Dynasty. Although there were similarities in the two countries, there were also many differences which were key to the success and failure to the countries change over to communist rule. In 1547, the first Czar to take control of Russia was Ivan the Terrible. Many Czars ruled in between the time of the first Czar until the last Czar, Nicholas II. During the Romanov Dynasty, the Czar’s held complete control of the Russian city-states.
The people of Russia along with the Czar’s believed they were appointed by God to rule Russia by the Holy Russian Empire. However, by 1894, the people of Russia started talking about change and ideas of a new government started to be the topic. The pheasants in Russia became disenchanted on the serfdom imposed upon them and looked for change to better their lives as well as their city-states. In addition to the people of Russia’s disdain for how Russia was ruled, disastrous decisions were made by Nicholas II to turn the people against him even more.
He refused in implement any reforms that the people yearned for to help them. He made the irreparable mistake of going to war with Japan. Their defeat to Japan pushed the people further away from the Czar. Nicholas also made the mistake of welcoming a monk name Rasputin who only further ruined the reputation of the Czar and his royal family due to his immoral behavior and corrupt life. Another blow to the Russian people was the impending collapse of the economy. The final straw was when Czar Nicholas left for the German front in World War I.
In his absence, his wife took over the capital. There were rumors that she was a German spy and the people blamed her for the loss of Russian soldiers in the war due her being a spy. In 1917, the Russian generals left Czarist regime and Nicholas was forced to relinquish rule over Russia. The revolution began. The arrival of Vladimir Lenin in Russia led Russia into communism. Lenin appealed to the desires of the workers and peasants. However, Lenin’s radical socialist reform turned to a civil war in Russia after seizure of privately owned land took place.
Four years later, Joseph Stalin entered the picture and became leader of Russian communist party. Stalin, however, was far worst for the people than Lenin. He used absolute power and fear to control peasants and workers. Stalin’s power eventually went to his head and led to his demise. His conspiracy theories pushed him to remove key party members or anyone he suspected of trying to overthrow his rule. In the end millions of people were killed and sent to labor camps. Russia under Stalin’s rule continued on the downward spiral up until his death in 1953.
In the end, the people who were freed from the Russian Monarchy only had to endure endless suffering and terror from the communist party leader who ended the Monarchy. The Chinese Dynasties transition into communism took a different path for different reasons. Where Russia ignored the pleas and needs of the peasants, China focused on bettering life for peasants. The Chinese Communist Party or CCP came into effect in the 1920’s and was inspired by Western ideas of Marxism and by the revolution which took place in Russia. The CCP was led by leaders who embraced Marxist-Leninist ideas.
However, in 1922, the CCP joined the Chinese Nationalist Party. Eventually, the CCP was absorbed into the Chinese Nationalist Party in 1922. But eventual differences in supporters of the CCP and Chinese Nationalist Party or KMT resulted in civil war between the two. Sides were divided. Mao Zadong took over control of the CCP and eventually wound up defeating the forces with the KMT. The remaining government with the KMT fled the country and in 1949, Zadong founded the People’s Republic of China. The communist party is still in place in China today.
Although there are many common factors when comparing the transition into communism between Russia and China, there are also many differences. The differences are what set apart the success of China and failure in Russia’s attempt at communism. Where China took the peasants and their needs into consideration with their move to communism, Russia could have cared less about what the workers and peasants needed. In the end, it was ultimately the support of these people that either made or break the respective countries history in communism.
