Red Banners and Iron Fists: The Rise and Fall of 20th-Century Communism

By the early 20th century, numerous communist parties had been established. These parties were inspired by Marx's Communist Manifesto, which underpinned their ideology. At the heart of this ideology was the abolition of privatized industry. However, before the outbreak of World War One, they had little impact in industrialized Europe such as Great Britain, Germany and France.

Among the communist parties was the Bolshevik Party, which was founded after a split from the Marxist RSDLP. Their most prominent campaigner was Lenin, who would later become the Bolshevik Party leader. This Russian party called for the dissolution of the monarchy within Russia to be replaced by their communist regime. As such, Lenin and the Bolsheviks remained exiled from the Russian Empire before 1914.

When Germany declared war on the Russian Empire, the Czar became commander in chief of the Russian army. A series of military defeats for the Russian army followed, and by 1917 the Germans occupied much of Russian Poland as well as parts of the Baltics. With heavy losses and military defeats, the Russians called for the abdication of the czar. With the support of his army lost, the czar duly abdicated. When the king vacated the throne, a vacuum was left, which Kerensky would fill until further constituent elections.

The Russian Revolution was not over, as Lenin and the Bolsheviks returned to Russia soon after. After returning, the Bolsheviks later seized the Winter Palace in October. In that month, they established a new communist regime dominated by the Bolshevik Party, which would later become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany was drafted, Russia was pulled out of the war. They had surrendered vast territory in the east, but peace had been briefly restored in Russia. But that peace did not last long after the constituent elections. The Bolsheviks did not amass the most votes, so Lenin effectively disbanded the Russian Constituent Assembly. Thereafter, a Civil War began in Russia, which included a variety of armies that were collectively the Whites, and the Bolsheviks' Red Army.

During the Civil War, the Bolsheviks gradually defeated the dispersed White armies. By the early 1920s, most had been wiped out by the Bolsheviks. Thus, by 1922 the USSR was established, which merged the first Soviet Republics with Russia. Bolshevik Party leader Lenin effectively became the first Soviet Premier.

And so it was in Russia that a communist regime was first established. Elsewhere, communist parties were also expanding from 1918 onwards. In Germany, there was the KDP, which in 1919 also sought to emulate the Bolsheviks with a similar revolution. However, the communists there were disbanded when the Freikorps were called in. In Italy, the communist parties also gained increasing support in the early '20s before a new fascist regime was established. As they promised to preserve the Italian monarchy, they won the support of Italy's king.

As such, for much of the inter-war period the USSR had few allies. Lenin's NEP (New Economic Policy) ensured an economic revival in Russia, although the policy was discontinued by his successor Stalin. It was not entirely clear who should replace Lenin, and Stalin emerged as Soviet Premier by 1927.

Stalin's primary policy was that of the Five-Year Plans. Stalin stated that the USSR had to quickly industrialize to bridge the gap with the West, and the Five Year Plans set lofty targets for expanding Russian industrial output. Whilst the targets were not entirely met, Russia's heavy industrial base considerably expanded during the period.

When the German army invaded the USSR, this heavy industrial base was essential for the supply of armaments and munitions. The Germans ravaged some industrial areas, but others remained firmly intact to produce tanks, planes, and other armaments in greater quantities. After their initial retreats, the Russian army pushed the Germans out of the USSR, then Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe, before occupying Berlin.

Victory had been won, and Stalin met with the Allies at the Potsdam Conference. Salin provided lukewarm pledges regarding elections across Eastern Europe. Whilst some were held, with communist parties gaining only a small number of votes, the election outcomes were disregarded. Gradually, communist parties in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania and East Germany consolidated new Communist regimes in what became the Eastern Bloc.

The Iron Curtain had descended across Europe, and beyond it communist regimes were also emerging during the early Cold War period. Perhaps the most notable, and one that to some extent remains today, was that of Communist China after the communists emerged victorious in a postwar Civil War. In Cuba and Vietnam, communism also expanded. As such, the USSR had gained a Cold War allies.

Although the USSR was never at war with the United States, a frosty Cold War spilled over into numerous smaller localized wars. Mostly, these included communist groups that had a degree of support from Moscow, and NATO-backed non-communists. Some communists, as in Vietnam, emerged victorious whilst others were defeated.

As the USSR stagnated in the early 1980s, new Soviet Premier Gorbachev ushered in a series of reforms. Glasnost and Perestroika were supposed to transform the USSR, but instead they actually sowed the seeds for the collapse of communism in Russia and beyond. Whilst the Cold War was gradually closed with a series of nuclear arms reduction treaties, non-communist parties across the Eastern Bloc were revitalized. In 1989, they won a series of elections across the Eastern Bloc. With little support from Russia, the communist regimes crumbled in Poland, East Germany, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

Once the Berlin Wall was opened and gradually demolished, the Cold War was effectively over. Soon after, communism in Russia also collapsed as one by one the Soviet Republics began to withdraw from the USSR. As the USSR crumbled, Yeltsin's victory in the 1991 elections ensured the demise of Russian communism.

As such, communism in Europe collapsed in the early 1990s. The USSR lost the Cold War in Europe, at least. However, communism remains prevalent in parts of Asia.