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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology Sajjad Ali Khan Abstract

During the last century or so, two dominant doctrines i.e. Capitalism and Socialism had been in a state of constant confrontation resulting in engaging the two Super powers, the United States and the Soviet Union in wars such as the ietnam !ar and the Cold !ar. "he Cold !ar that continued for several decades finally led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. "his article was an attempt to #uestion the so called perception of conceiving socialism as a major cause of the disintegration of the USS$. %t was found that the $ussian &odel of Socialism 'Communism( was different from the Socialism of &ar) and *ngel in a number of aspects. %t had also received immense criticism from some of the prominent &ar)ists. +ased on the review of literature, the article concludes that the failure of communism in the Soviet Union should by no means be considered as the failure of socialism and as such socialism has nothing to do with the disintegration of the Soviet Union. %nstead, it is in fact the special model of socialism adopted and implemented in the Soviet Union that led to its disintegration. "he basic line of argument here is that the $ussian socialism was completely at odds with the socialism of &ar) and *ngels both in its spirit as well as in practice.
Key words: Socialism, &ar) and *ngels, Soviet Union, Disintegration, Causes

Introduction "he fall of the Soviet Union is an important event in the history of human,ind. %t is often seen as the fall of one of the most dominant doctrines of its time that is Socialism. "here is no doubt that the disintegration of the Soviet Union had had serious
Author is -ecturer, Department of Development Studies, C.&SA"S %nstitute of %nformation "echnology, Abbottabad. / 0a,istan

The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

repercussions for the ongoing socialist movements in the rest of the world and ultimately put the socialism doctrine on its last leg. All this has resulted in a common perception that there is something terribly wrong with socialism. 1urther to this, it is also generally believed that socialism itself has served as the major cause of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. "his article is an attempt to #uestion the so/called widely held notion of perceiving socialism as the most dominant factor in the fall of the Soviet Union. "he author intends to respond to the so/called perception by trying to tac,le a single #uestion that will constitute the core of this article and may significantly contribute to on the ongoing debate. %n simple words, the #uestion may be put as2 what is it that caused the Soviet Union to disintegrate3 socialism or the Soviet communism4

"he author believes and there is a great deal of evidence to support the notion that the disintegration of Soviet Union should not necessarily be conceived as the failure of socialism. %n a similar vein, it is also important to understand that it is not appropriate to blame socialism for the fall of the Soviet Union. "his is because the type of socialism 'communism( adopted and implemented in the Soviet Union had encountered several deviations from the socialism of &ar) and *ngels and was thus regarded by many prominent &ar)ists of that time a betrayal to Socialism. As such one area of particular interest that may re#uire special e)amination on part of the author is the #uest for the pitfalls in the $ussian model of socialism in order to ,now how it differed from the socialism of &ar) and *ngels. %n addition to this, the author also intends to highlight several other factors that might have had played a pivotal role in the disintegration of the USS$. "his article may serve as one of the many responses to the widely held notion of perceiving socialism as the major cause of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. %t is hoped that

The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

the findings of this article may help in shaping the future of socialism. 0rior to engaging in discussing the core issue, it is considered imperative to give an outline of the paper. "he contents of this article are arranged in a manner that allows the readers to get to the core of the article through a step by step approach. "hat is the article starts by introducing the readers to the origin, meaning and the different forms of socialism. "he ne)t portion which constitutes the core of this article focuses on the cause of the failure of socialism. "he last portion is dedicated to discussion and conclusion.

2. Socialism: origin, meaning and types 2.1 Origin Socialism as a way of life is often perceived to have been e)iting long ago prior to its first appearance as a doctrine in the journal of the .wenite movement in +ritain in 5678 '+rowning, 59983 7::(. !here as according to +ritannica .nline, the term socialism was first used in 56;<. "he term had actually been applied to the writings of 1ourier and Saint Simonians in 1rance and $obert .wen in +ritain5. "he title of a boo, The Socialist Tradition from Moses to Lenin by =ray '59:6( also points towards the fact that its roots are e)tending deep into the past. "he very e)istence of Socialism as a historical phenomenon is often believed to be because of its emphasis on cooperation, fairness and e#uality, all of which have a missionary appeal '+rowning, 59983 7::(.

>owever, the emergence of socialism in the nineteenth century has a uni#ue conte)t and it is thus believed that the origin of the

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Socialism." *ncyclop?dia +ritannica. 7<<6. *ncyclop?dia +ritannica .nline. @ &ay 7<<6 A http3BBsearch.eb.comBebBarticle/::9:7 C.
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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

nineteenth century socialism has its roots in the struggle movement of the wor,ing class who had remained victims of capitalism. >udelson '599;3 58( has rightly pointed out that during the middle of the nineteenth century, socialism was seen as an answer to the social #uestion that is an answer to the problems of poverty, slums, hunger, disease, crime, drugs and prostitution. %n the words of +rowning '59983 7::(, the nineteenth century socialism proposed egalitarian moral principles for solving the problems and injustices caused by the industrial world. %t emphasiDed on industrial reforms and fair distribution of wealth and power, a spirit of socialism which is often referred to as collectivism. According to >udelson '599;3 58(, an important feature of this socialism was to address the problems of the wor,ing class from a broader and more theoretical perspective.

2.2 Meaning

As stated earlier, the roots of socialism e)tend deep into the past. "he concept might have had undergone slight changes over the course of time. As such the term socialism has been defined in different ways by different people at different times '+rowning, 5998(. %t can mean different things to different thin,ers. And even where there is an agreement among thin,ers on its meaning, there is still a room for disagreement on some important issues such as why is it necessary and how to achieve it '>udelson '599;3 58(. 0rior to discussing the evolution that has ta,en place in the concept of socialism over the course of time 'more or less related to the types of socialism( it is considered imperative to define socialism in the simplest possible words.

=enerally spea,ing, Socialism refers to a system of social organiDation that advocates the control of property as well as the distribution of income by society rather than by individuals or

Journal of Political Studies

mar,et forces 7. "o put it into simpler words, it is an economic system which advocates the ownership of the means of production by the wor,ers rather than by the rich minority of capitalists. Socialism may also be defined as E the organization of society in such a manner that

any individual, man or oman, finds at !irth e"ual means for the develo#ment of their res#ective faculties and the utilization of their la!our$ The organization of society in such a manner that the e%#loitation !y one #erson of the la!our of his neigh!our ould !e im#ossi!le, and here everyone ill !e allo ed to en&oy the social ealth only to the e%tent of their contri!ution to the #roduction of that ealth' $

2.3 Forms of socialism


"he concept of socialism has evolved continuously since its inception. Conse#uently, socialism has ta,en several different forms. Some of the most prominent types of socialism are discussed below.

2.3.1 Communism
%t is the doctrine of the conditions of liberation of the proletariat '*ngels, 56F8(. %t may also refer to a classless, stateless social organiDation production .
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common is

ownership

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further

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&ar)ism/

-eninism, Stalinism, &aoism, $eligious Communism, "rots,yism and Shachtmanism.

7 Socialism '7<<6(. %n *ncyclopedia +ritannica. $etrieved April 77, 7<<6, 1rom *ncyclopedia +ritannica .nline3 http3BBsearch.eb.comBebBarticle/ 95<9@68 ; Socialism defined by August +ebel in &%A3 *ncyclopedia of &ar)ism3 =lossary of "erms http3BBwww.mar)ists.orgBglossaryBtermsBsBo.htm Gsocialism F >eliumH Hhttp3BBwww.helium.comBitemsB5@;<@7/socialism/refers/broad / array Access on3 <@B<@B<6

The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

2.3.2 Democratic Socialism Democratic socialism refers to any attempts aimed at bringing about socialism through peaceful means rather than through the use of force. %t advocates the ownership of the means of production by the entire population and accumulation of political power in the hands of the people@. 2.3.3 Li ertarian Socialism -ibertarian socialism encourages the emergence and growth of the trade unions. %t also advocates abolition of property and the handing over of resources and production into the hands of the wor,ers. Some of the tendencies of this type of socialism are Anarchist Communism and Anarcho Syndical ism:. . !auses of the collapse of the Soviet Union

"he number of factors responsible for the disintegration of the Soviet Union is legion and may range from economic and social factors to the special mode of socialism that had been in practice in the Soviet Union until its disintegration. Among these factors, the one that is of special interest to the author in the discussion to follow is the form of socialism 'communism( introduced by -enin and his +olshevi, party in $ussia. "he very reason for critically analyDing the $ussian Communism as a cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union is to #uestion the widely held belief of blaming socialism for the disintegration of the USS$. "his is done by highlighting the contradictions of the Soviet model of socialism 'communism( with the socialism 'of &ar)(. "he detailed account of the Soviet model of socialism is aimed at convincing the readers that the Soviet model has nothing to do with the socialism 'of &ar) and *ngels(. Conse#uently, communism 'the Soviet model of socialism( rather than the
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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

socialism 'of &ar) and *ngels( should be blamed for the fall of the Soviet Union. "he other factors such as economic and social factors will also be highlighted with due consideration. %t is deemed necessary to highlight these factors because the author considers them as a byproduct of the Soviet model of socialism. 3.1 !"e #ussian model of socialism and its s"ortcomings Socialism as a system of social organiDation and as an economic system was introduced in $ussia once ladimir -enin and his +olshevi, party seiDed power in 5958. "he $ussian Socialism may in fact be referred to as I&ar)ism/-eninismJ a term that refers to &ar) theories that had been amended and put into practice by -enin. "he &ar)ism/-eninism was envisaged as a means for the implementation of socialist policies in the country. "he +olshevi,s were also able to combine the former $ussian *mpires to form the Union of Soviet Socialist $epublics 'USS$ or Soviet Union(8. "he $ussian model, however, had a number of shortcomings and as such posed serious repercussions for the contemporary socialist movements around the world. "he first and most important of the upheavals that it caused was the split in the international socialist movement. An important reason for the split in the international socialist movement was the difference in the attitude of the social democratic parties towards the war.

3.1.1 Cause of t"e s$lit in t"e international socialist mo%ement According to >udelson '599;3 87( social democratic parties divided into three major camps on the basis of their attitude towards the war that is those showing patriotic support for the &SK *ncarta http3BBencarta.msn.comBencyclopediaH8:5@877F5 BCommunism.htmlGs5 accessed on3 5@B<@B<6
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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

war effort, those demanding an end to the war and those calling for transforming the war into a revolutionary war. ladimir -enin is said to be among the leaders of the revolutionary camp. >udelson '599;( further points out that the terms socialism and communism which used to be pretty much synonymous until the end of the nineteenth century too, on distinct meanings with the +olshevi, revolution of the 5958. Accordingly, socialists who followed the ideas of the +olshevi, leader . %. -enin came to be ,nown as E communistsL and those who did not as EsocialistsL.

3.1.2 #e%olutionary rat"er t"an e%olutionary in its a$$roac" Another important feature that distinguishes the $ussian Communism from Socialism and that may be referred to as the cause of the split in the international socialist movement, is its belief in the use of force for achieving its goals. +rowning '59983 7::( points out that the most serious division in socialism can be observed between &ar)ist revolutionary parties and social democratic parties. "he revolutionary &ar)ists parties, for instance, the +olshevi, party in $ussia has believed in the use of force and have always tended to see, a revolutionary approach toward shaping the goals where as social democratic parties on the other hand have avoided the use of force and have tended to see, an evolutionary approach. %n fact, -enin and his +olshevi, party had ta,en certain steps which were clear deviations from &ar)ism. Conse#uently, a number of prominent &ar)ists considered the +olshevi, revolution as a perversion of the &ar)ism.

3.1.3 &ndermining t"e $rocess of natural e%olution !hile implementing communism in $ussia, -enin and his +olshevi, party also undermined the process of natural evolution, a term applied by &ar) to identify the emergence of five different epochs namely primitive communism, ancient slave societies, feudalism, capitalism and socialism which were

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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

se#uentially ordered. *ach epoch, according to &ar), had to emerge from its predecessor and in turn give birth to its successor '>udelson, 599;(. Unli,e the social democratic parties who see, an evolutionary development whereby capitalism gradually changes into socialism, the +olshevi, party was committed to brea,ing with capitalism '+rowning, 59983 7:8( and as such s,ipped one of the epochs in the process of natural evolution.

3 . 1 . ' !e n d e n c y t o w a r d s d i c t a t o r s " i $

%n addition to this, -enin and his +olshevi,s party were also opposed to any form of parliamentary democracy. %n the elections for the parliamentary body, the Constituent Assembly, the +olshevi,s won about 7@ percent of the vote, &enshevi,s won only F percent, the bourgeois parties won about 5; percent of the total votes. !hereas the Socialist $evolutionary 0arty 'S$s( won majority of the votes. "he S$s and some independents li,e Kerens,y believed in the process of natural evolution and as such were convinced that a period of capitalism must precede the emergence of socialism. Conse#uently, they believed that a period of capitalism must follow the overthrown of the feudal tsarist regime in $ussia '>eller and Ke,rich, 596:3 ;5(.

Despite the fact that the S$s attracted majority of the voters for their advocacy of the land reform 'according to which land had to be ta,en from landowners and redistributed among the peasants( they failed to implement the land reforms because of the fear to lose their allies among the bourgeoisie. "he S$s constituted the dominant group in the elected constituent assembly. As such the +olshevi,s had to relin#uish power to the S$s. "hey, however, refused to do so because -enin believed it to be a great mista,e to adhere to the forms of parliamentary democracy 'Kola,ows,i, 5986(. %nstead, -enin and the 89

The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

+olshevi,s declared the dictatorship of the proletariat. "his gives us an idea of the ,ind of Soviet regime under the +olshevi,s revolution which was by no means a democratic republic '>udelson, 599;3 8@(. Karl Kauts,y who had long ago tried to convince the +olshevi,s to help establish a democratic parliamentary republic prior to implementing socialism, criticiDed the +olshevi,s for betraying both democracy as well as socialism because Kauts,y believed that there could be no socialism without democracy. As such, Kauts,y concluded that the +olshevi,s revolution did not result in socialism. $ather it resulted in a dictatorship in which the +olshevi,s, the so/ called communists, e)ploited the wor,ers who were being unable to resist e)ploitation incurred by +olshevi,s because of the absence of democracy, freedom of press and freedom of organiDation 'Salvadori, 59893 77;/77@(.

3.1.( )erce$tions of $rominent Mar*ists a out t"e #ussian model of socialism

Kauts,y was not the only &ar)ists who criticiDed the +olshevi,s. &any prominent $ussian &ar)ists also showed serious concerns about the +olshevi, revolution. 1or instance, 0ledhanov, the father of the $ussian &ar)ism, denounced the dictatorship of the +olshevi, as the dictatorship of a group supported by terrorist means. According to 0ledhanov, it had nothing to do with &ar)ism or Socialism. Similarly, era Masulich, one of the founders of the $ussian Social Democratic -abour 0arty, denounced the +olshevi, revolution as a counterrevolutionary coup. Another leading theoretician of $ussian &ar)ism, %ullii &artov, considered the +olshevi, revolution to be at odds with the &ar)ist theory of history and cultural values because of its belief in use of violent force '+urban,, 596:(.

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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

3.2 +conomic causes of t"e colla$se of t"e So%iet &nion Another important reason that is generally perceived to have e#ually contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union is related to economic upheavals. %t was in fact the failure of the economic system in Soviet Union that not only compelled the Soviet bureaucracy to rethin, of the economic system but also acted as catalyst for the collapse of other socialist countries. "he failure of the economic system caused a decrease in rate of development of production forces which in turn ultimately led to stagnation '1otopoulos, 7<<@(. "here was considerable decrease in the growth rate of industrial output in the USS$ from 59:<s to 596<s. 1or instance, the growth rate fell from 8 percent in 59:<s to F percent in 598<s and 7 percent in 596<s 'SDymans,i(. Similarly, a continuous decline was observed in the average =D0 growth rate which fell from 8 percent in 59:<s to about @ percent in 598<s and 7 percent in 596<s '1otopoulos, 7<<@(. Some of the reasons of the collapse of the Soviet economy are discussed below.

3.2.1 Centrally $lanned economy %n the Soviet Union, under Stalin, the economy was centrally planned where as the political power was also mainly concentrated in the hands of the communist party ''>udelson, 599;3 6:(. 3.2.2 )ro lems wit" t"e centrally $lanned economy .ne of the major problems with the social statism is to combine I growthJ with Isocial justiceJ, two elements that are apparently incompatible. +ecause the IgrowthJ element often leads to the concentration of economic power whereas the Isocial justiceJ element leads to the dispersion of economic power and to e#uality. "hus, in an attempt to ma,e the benefits of the growth accessible to everyone, the socialist statism, often ignores the 91

The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

fundamental interdependence of the growth and the concentration of the economic power. Similarly, the merging of the growth element with the social justice element results in an incompatibility between the ends and the means. Conse#uently, in a socialist statism, the ends 'growth economy( may not be compatible with the means 'central planning(. "he greater the degree of statism, the more incompatible will be the ends and means, thus further contributing to the failure of the system '1otopoulos, 7<<@(.

3.2.3 +ngagement in wars

.ne of the major reasons for the decline in the Soviet economy may also be attributed to its continuous engagement in several wars such as the !orld !ar % and %%, the Korean !ar, the ietnamese !ar and the Cold !ar. !hereas, on the one hand, the wars brought huge sufferings to the Soviet Union in terms heavy loses of human life, it also deteriorated the Soviet economy on the other hand. Despite the fact that the Soviet Union stood victorious in some of these wars 'for instance, the Korean and the ietnamese wars(, however, it gained very little compared to the costs incurred on these wars6. "he Cold !ar served a means of engaging the two superpowers in heavy Arm Js $ace. As such, the financial costs of the cold !ar posed serious repercussions for the Soviet economy. "he United States e)ploited this opportunity to ,eep the Soviet Union engaged in long lasting conflict which deteriorated the Soviet economy on the one hand and demoraliDe the Soviet regime on the other hand. Conse#uently, the war that had been inflicted on the Afghans as a short term military intervention soon became an e)pensive stay for a decade. "he financial costs of the Cold !ar is, thus, believed to have brought the Soviet Union on its last leg by the mid of 596<s '>obsbawm, 599F3 F89(. >elium http3BBwww.helium.comBitemsB7 5:9@:/soviet/union/ established/years accessed on <@B<@B<6
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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

3.3 Social causes

.ne of the factors for the long survival of the communist party in $ussia may also be attributed to the level education of the $ussian people and their level of e)posure to the outside world. >udelson '599;( points out that by the 598<s, a lot had been changed in terms of education and e)posure of the $ussian people to outside world especially the !est. >edelson states that by the 598<s, an overwhelming $ussian population was well educated and living in urban areas. Similarly, because of the improvement in SovietsJ relationship with the !estern countries during the late 59:<s and 598<s, a huge number of the Soviet citiDens had the opportunity to travel the !est. "his e)posure played a significant role in undermining the official anti/capitalism ideology according to which the capitalist system was suppose to being poverty and sufferings to the wor,ers.

Corruption is another factor that had devastating impacts on the $ussian society. >udelson '599;( points out that with in the Soviet system, party officials enjoyed e)traordinary power over the distribution of scarce consumer goods. >aving connections with the party official, a person could thus easily get the consumers goods such apartments, cars, televisions or refrigerators without waiting for his turn to come. "he system thus resulted in creating ample opportunities for bribes, ,ic,bac,s and payoffs. %t became a common perception to use the system to oneJs advantage. !ithin the communist party and the government circles were mafias who e)ploited their positions of power for personal gains. According to >obsbawn '599F3 F8:(, by the mid 596<s, corruption had become a prominent phenomenon throughout the Soviet Union and posed a major threat to the e)istence of the Soviet state.

". #iscussion and conclusion 93

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"o begin with, % must point out that the above discussion on the causes of the disintegration of the Soviet Union is a brief account and hence, should by no means be regarded as a comprehensive document on the subject. "he author admits to have had s,ipped many important factors that could have been arguably be stated as reasons for the disintegration of the Soviet Union. "his is because the prescribed length of the article suggested to ta,e into account only those factors which the author perceived to be relatively more relevant and most important.

%t is worth repeating here that this article was interested to #uestion the widely held perception of conceiving socialism as the cause of the disintegration of the USS$. Conse#uently, the whole discussion in the article revolved around the factors responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union. !e saw that such factors ranged from economic and social factors to the special model of socialism being in practice in the Soviet Union. %n order to conclude this discussion, it is important to ta,e any stance that is either to agree with those who consider that the failure of the Soviet Union was mainly caused by the failure of socialism in the Soviet Union or to go the other way round that is to argue against it.

% do not feel hesitant to state that the failure of communism in the Soviet Union should by no means be considered as the failure of socialism and as such socialism has nothing to do with the disintegration of the Soviet Union. %nstead % believe that it was in fact the special model of socialism adopted and implemented in the Soviet Union that led to its disintegration. "he basic line of argument here is that the $ussian socialism was completely at odds with the socialism of &ar) and *ngels both in its spirit as well as in practice. Conse#uently, it seems a bit premature to herd the two 'i.e. socialism and $ussian communism( with the

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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

same stic,. "hat is to put them both into the same category without ta,ing into account the fact that the two differed from each other both in their spirits as well as in practice. .wing to this, it would be unjust to ma,e socialism responsible for the sufferings caused by (ussian communism or in other words to ma,e socialism responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union. >ence, the basic argument here is that the two should be tac,led two different systems, it is deemed necessary to give a detailed account of how the two differs from each other.

"he first and most important thing to point out is that the $ussian model of socialism should by no means be considered as true socialism. "he founder of the $ussian Communism, ladimir -enin, had in fact made certain modification to the theories of the founder of the 7<th century socialism '&ar)(. "hese modifications were later on called Mar%ism)Leninism and served as the core principles of the $ussian model of socialism. &ar)ism/-eninism or the $ussian Communism was in fact at odds with the socialism of &ar) and *ngels in a number of manners. 1or instance, contrary to the socialist democratic parties, -enin and his +olshevi, party were revolutionary in their approach towards a change. "hey would also not feel hesitant in the use of violent force in achieving any desired goal 'the change(. Accordingly, they insisted &ar)ists in other countries to follow the lessons of the +olshevi, revolution in their countries of residence. >ence, these principles were at large at odds with the &ar)ist theory of socialism, they got severe criticism from a number of prominent &ar)ists. "his resulted in a clear division in international social movement. "hose influenced by -eninJs philosophy called themselves as communists and those who did not were called as socialists$

Another contradiction of the $ussian communism with socialism is to ignore the process of natural evolution. According to &ar),

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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

the natural evolution referred to five different epochs through which a society normally passes and finally reaches the state of socialism. "hese epochs included primitive communism, ancient slave societies, feudalism, capitalism and socialism which were se#uentially ordered. Similarly, each epoch had to emerge from its predecessor and in turn give birth to its successor. +y the time when -enin his +olshevi, party seiDed power, $ussia had hardly passed through the feudalism state and as such was not ready to enter the final stage of the natural evolution that is socialism. Conse#uently, many &ar)ists had warned the +olshevi, party to avoid the implementation of communism in $ussia because it was not the right time for it.

"he final and most important contradiction in this case is the tendency of the +olshevi, party towards dictatorship. .f the twenty one conditions re#uired of all parties affiliated with the new international, one was regarding support for the dictatorship of the proletariat '>udelson, 599;(. And -enin and the +olshevi, party showed its support for the dictatorship of the proletariat when at a certain point in time they refused to relin#uish power to the Socialist $evolutionary 0arty 'S$s( who had got majority in the elections for the parliamentary body, the Constituent Assembly and declared dictatorship of the proletariat.

% must state that % also believe that reasons other than this '$ussian communism(, responsible for the fall the Soviet Union, are in fact the byproducts of this special mode of socialism. "hat is to say that the economic and social reasons discussed earlier that do have a pivotal role in fall of the Soviet Union are also closely lin,ed to failure of the communist system. "heir role in the fall of the Soviet Union is secondary because 'as % stated earlier( they are the byproducts of the communism. 1or instance, corruption which is one of the social causes and that had become a way of life in most of the Soviet Union by the end of

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the 598<s may be attributed to the e)isting inefficiencies with in the Soviet system. %n a similar vein, the centrally planned economy 'an important feature of Soviet model of socialism( resulted in increasing the comple)ity of the economy that is there had been a considerable increase in the chain of command connecting enterprises with &oscow and also with one another9.

"he above discussion is more or less a comprehensive account on the reasons of the fall of the Soviet Union. %t gives us an idea of what is it that should be considered as the cause of the disintegration of the USS$. %t was found that the major cause of fall of the Soviet Union is the Soviet model of socialism itself. "he other causes that seem to e)acerbate the disintegration process are more or less the outcome of the Soviet model. >ence, the Soviet model of socialism is at odds with the socialism 'of &ar) and *ngels( in many respects, it is, therefore, argued that the Soviet communism rather than socialism should be considered as the major cause of the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist $epublics 'USS$(.

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The fall of the Soviet Union: The fall of a state or the fall of an ideology

>udelson '599;(

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$eferences +rowning, =., K., '5998(. Political *deologies$ %n A)ford, +., +rowning, =. K., >uggins, $., $osamond, +., =rant, A. and "urner, N. 'ed.( '7<<7( Politics: +n *ntroduction$ Kew Oor,3 $outledge +urban,, N., '596:(. *ntelligentsia and (evolution$ .)ford3 .)ford University 0ress. *ngel, 1., '59:9( Selected !or,s, olume .ne, p. 65/98, 0rogress 0ublishers, &oscow. http3BBwww.mar)ists.orgBarchiveBmar)Bwor,sB56F8B55Bprin/ com.htm 1otopoulos, "., '7<<@( "he &ultidimensional Crisis and %nclusive Democracy. 0ublished by %nternational Nournal of %nclusive Democracy. http3BBwww. inclusivedemocracy.orgBjou rnalBssBmultid imen sionalHcrisisH0$%K"A+-*.htmGP0rologueQ Accessed on3 <@B<@B<6 =ray, A. '59:6( The Socialist Tradition ,rom Moses to Lenin, Kew Oor,3 >arperCollins. >eller, &., and Ke,rich, A., '596:( Uto#ia in Po er$ Kew Oor,3 Summit +oo,s >obsbawm, * '599F( +ge of -%tremes, the Short T entieth .entury /0/1)/00/, &ichael Noseph, -ondon >udelson, $. >., '599;( The (ise and ,all of .ommunism$ U. S. A3 !estview 0ress. Kola,ows,i, -., '5986( Main .urrents of Mar%ism, vol. 7, .)ford3

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Clarendon 0ress.

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Salvadori, &., '5989( 2arl 2auts3y and the Socialist (evolution /445)/ 0'4$ -ondon3 K-+. A. SDymans,i, E"he Socialist !orld System,L in Socialist States in the !orld System, C. K. Chase/Dunn, ed. '-ondon3 Sage 0ublications, 5967( %eb sources used Socialism '7<<6(. %n *ncyclopedia +ritannica. Accessed on April 77, 7<<6, 1rom *ncyclopedia +ritannica .nline3 http 3BBsearch .eb.comBebBarticle/9 5<9@68 >eliumHhttp3BBwww.helium.comBitemsB5@;<@7/socialism/refers/ broad/array Accessed on3 <@B<@B<6 >elium http3BBwww.helium.comBitemsB9@5 ;:8/there/certainly/ plenty/cause Accessed on3 <@B<@B<6 Socialism defined by August +ebel in &%A3 *ncyclopedia of &ar)ism3 =lossary of "erms http3BBwww.mar)ists.orgBglossaryBtermsBsBo.htmGsocialism Accessed on3 <:B<@B<6 &SK *ncarta http3BBencarta.msn.comBencyclopediaH8:5@877F5BCommunism. h tmlGs5 Accessed on3 5@B<@B<6

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