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Brice Silver

Mrs. Morgan

11th Grade American Literature

21 March 2011

Democracy vs. Communism

“No matter what you or anyone else does, there will be someone who says that there’s

something bad about it”, said Tom Clancy (“Tom Clancy Quotes – Brainy Quotes”). He

effectively describes how there is always someone out there who opposes and disagrees with

everything one does or ideas one has. In this case the United States of America and the Soviet

Union disagreed about political and economic ideas of one another and opposed each other in the

Cold War. Tom Clancy, born March 12th, 1947, in Baltimore, Maryland, created the genre

“techno thriller” while becoming a famous author (“Clancy, Tom.”). The Hunt for Red October,

written by Tom Clancy, takes place during the Cold War and is about Russian naval officers who

deceive their crew into helping them defect from communist Soviet Russia to the democratic

United States (Clancy). During the defection of Captain Marko Ramius, the captain of a new,

state of the art, nuclear submarine Red October, the Soviets attempt to find and sink the sub, both

with the USSR fleet and the GRU agent on the sub itself (Clancy). Jack Ryan, a former marine

turned CIA analyst, ends us being responsible for shepherding Red October away from the

Soviet fleet and to the United States. Ramius and Ryan try many tactics to achieve their goal,

even blowing up another, decommissioned, submarine planted with evidence to give the

appearance that Red October was destroyed, but only after an action-packed standoff with a

Soviet sub does the Red October make it into the USA (Clancy). The author of this novel, Tom
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Clancy, shows the relationship between Soviet Russia and the United States and the tension

involved when nuclear war and complete annihilation are at stake. Throughout history the

relationship between Communism and Democracy has constantly been changing and evolving.

What is Communism? Communism is defined as “An economic and social system

envisioned by the nineteenth century German scholar Karl Marx. In theory, under Communism,

all means of production are owned in common rather than by individuals. In practice, a single

authoritarian party controls both the political and economic systems” (“communism.” American

Heritage). Karl Marx felt disturbed by the injustices of a society divided by class and also didn’t

agree with industrial capitalism, saying that the ruling or upper class owns the means of

production while the lower, working class, becomes the means of production (“communism.”

Britannica). Marx’s materialist theory stated that “History is a series of class struggles and

revolutionary upheavals, leading ultimately to freedom for all” (“communism.” Britannica).

With these feelings, Karl Marx wrote the Manifesto of the Communist Party in 1848, describing

how workers will all rise up and overthrow the government, replacing it with a non-

governmental society in which everyone lives in freedom without class (“communism.”

Britannica). Marx died in 1883, and in 1895 Marx’s followers split into two, revisionists and

revolutionary Marxists (“communism.” Britannica). Among the revolutionary Marxists were

Linen and other leaders of the Russian Revolution of 1917 (“communism.” Britannica). Linen

led the Bolsheviks in seizing power with what is known as the Red Army. Linen then installed

his changes to Marx’s theory. Linen dies shortly after in 1924, Joseph Stalin then came to power.

Once in power, Stalin created Stalinism by making three large changes to the currently Marxism-

Leninism in Russia (“communism.” Britannica). These changes were all made to directly benefit

him. Almost all communist governments today, such as China and Russia, are shifting toward
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capitalism and Democracy. On the other hand, countries such as Cuba and Vietnam have market

economies, but communistic politics. North Korea is currently holding onto old Soviet

Communism by being as isolated as possible with an extremely repressive government.

What is Democracy? Democracy is defined as “A system of government in which power

is vested in the people who rule either directly or through elected representatives”

(“Democracy.”). Democracy isn’t as straight forward as Communism because Democracy is

much old, and therefore has many more branches and types such as: Parliamentary Democracy,

Direct or Pure Democracy, Constitutional Democracy, and Representative Democracy. One of

the first known forms of Democracy was ancient Athens and the use of Direct or Pure

Democracy.

Relations between Soviet Russia and the United States didn’t start with the Cold War, but

goes back to when the Soviet Union was formed. In 1917, when Lenin pulled Russia out of

WWI, the Russian upper class and capitalist countries such as the United States fought back

against Lenin’s Red army with an army now knows as the White Army. But in1920, the Red

Army ended the Russian Civil War by defeating the White Army. The United States’

involvement in the Russian Civil War created an aggressive feeling of opposition between the

Communists and the capitalists. In a turn of events, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,

USSR or Soviet Russia, and the United States of America were allies during World War II.

While these countries were allies, they didn’t treat each other with either respect or friendship,

only creating tension that lasts today. This tension started the Cold War. The Cold War was

fought on front of politics, economics, and propaganda, with only very limited fighting done

with weapons (“Cold War.”). One of the major causes of the war was the Soviet influence over

most of now-Communism Eastern Europe, which Stalin had set up as a barrier, and the
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American influence over Western Europe with the Marshall Plan and NATO. By 1948, the Cold

War had solidified (“Cold War.”). Some of the weapons at the disposal of either side were the

atomic bombs, the Soviets creating their first in 1949 ended the United States’ monopoly over

weapons of mass destruction; nuclear submarines, such as Red October in The Hunt for Red

October; and huge armies willing to die for their country (“Cold War.”).

In 1949 a war ended in China. A civil war between two Chinese forces had taken place,

one Democratic, the other Communist. This war was fought by Chinese men, but was founded

and supported by the United States and Soviet Russia, each taking their appropriate side. And in

1949, the Communism government, under a bent form of Communism, came into power in the

mainland (“Cold War.”). This war, and more importantly the victory of Communism, is one of

the main reasons the relationship between China and the United States of America are complex

today, for we need them economically, but prefer to only do business with capitalists and

Democratic countries. The next year, in 1950, a Soviet-supported, Communist North Korea

invaded neighboring United States-supported, Democratic South Korea, starting the Korean War,

which would last for three years, and making irreparable relations between North and South

Korea (“Cold War.”). This attack from the North also created mutual feelings of distrust between

North Korea and the United States of America which are everlasting. Tensions between the

United States and Soviet Russia died down for a few years after the death of Joseph Stalin, long-

time leader of the USSR (“Cold War.”). But just as they had before, tensions grew as both sides

developed and produced more weapons and international warheads (“Cold War.”). In 1962, the

Soviets started installing missile silos in the Communist country of Cuba. These missiles would

have had the capability of launching a nuclear attack on U.S. cities. This sparked what is known

as the Cuban Missile Crisis, an event that nearly brought the two countries to war, stopped by an
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agreement that resulted in the removal of the missiles. This event, along with an oppressive

Communist regime, is the main reason that the United States currently has a trade embargo on

Cuba, and keeping the two countries locked in diplomatic arguments. Neither side of the Cold

War wanted to fall behind militarily wise for fear of the other, creating a stockpile of weapons

that could easily destroy both countries and possibly the world. The United States had invaded

many other countries to knock out the Communists such as the successful invasion of

Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Granada (“Cold War.”). But the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics also had its victories in defending an invasion of Cuba and using Communist North

Vietnam to invade South Vietnam. The Vietnam War ended with North Vietnam taking control

of South Vietnam and making the entire country communist, making it an enemy of the United

States and causing it to fall behind on a global scale. Finally, the end of the Cold War came into

sight as the USSR was coming into internal problems and the fact that neither country wanted a

war with the other because it would only lead to global destruction via atomic bombs. Once the

USSR had fallen it was clear that the Cold War had ended, and since then the United States have

been signing treaty after treaty with Russia along with many disarmaments to reduce the number

of bombs at disposal and to avoid a catastrophe.

Currently the U.S. has bad relations with man Communist countries such as Cuba, North

Korea, and Vietnam, but with Communist countries showing changes and the chance for

Democracy such as China and Russia, the United States embraces them as friends. Now

knowing all of the build up to the Cold War, the many conflicts the many countries faced, and

the end results with current day politics, one can see how Relationships between Communism

and Democracy have struggles. So now one can make sure that the mindless build up of arms,
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and the many other mistakes these countries are guilty of during this time, remain in the past, and

are only learned from.

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Works Cited
“Clancy, Tom.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica,
2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
This website was used to give background information on Tom Clancy. The background
information could show one where the story spawned from and, in turn, where the conflict for
this essay came from.
Clancy, Tom. The Hunt for Red October. New York: Berkley, 2010. Print.
This is the book the entire essay was written about. The book was the main topic along with the
underlying theme brought to light from the book of Communism vs. Democracy. Without this
source there would be no conflict to write about, no research to do, and no essay.
“Cold War.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopæia Britannica, 2011.
Web. 1 Mar. 2011.
The meat of the paper was a direct result from the research derived from this website. The paper
consisted of the cause and effect in the cold war, along with the long term effects of the events
that occurred. Encyclopædia Britannica did a great job at explaining much of this information
and the essay could not have been without it.
“communism.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
Communism plays a major role in this paper; therefore one must know the information to
support the essay. This website accurately gave the information needed to write such a paper by
describing the build up and current status of communism.
“communism.” The American Heritage© New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition.
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
This provided the dictionary definition of what communism is. The website also gave a general
insight and a great place to start.
“Democracy.” The American Heritage© New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition.
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.
Just like communism, the dictionary definition started the history of democracy off with what it
is, and a general statement.
Gottfried, Ted, and Melanie Reim. The Cold War. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century, 2003.
Print.
Gottfried wrote an exemplary book which tells all about the cold war and any relative
information about it. Since most of the paper had to do about this topic, this book went hand in
hand with the rest of the sources to provide overlapping information that guaranteed that the
information was correct.
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“Tom Clancy Quotes – Brainy Quotes.” Famous Quotes at Brainy Quote. Web. 19 Feb. 2011.
This website started the paper off with a great quote by Tom Clancy which could be used to
relate the author, book, and topic all at the same time.