The Communist Experiment

Overview

Part of the McGraw-Hill Explorations in World History Series, The Communist Experiment offers an accessible, comparative, and thematically complete treatment of the “communist experiment” based on the idea that communism represents a unique lens through which to view the history of the 20th century on a global scale. Because communism relates to many other events and forces of the world at that time--world war, fascism, the rise of the United States, decolonization, feminism, the rise of the Third World, revolution, and more--it provides an excellent pathway for understanding those developments and their effects throughout the world.

Table of contents

A Note from the Series Editors

Chapter I: Communism in Context
Communism as a Global Phenomenon
Communism in World History
Conclusion: Communism and the Twentieth Century

Chapter II: Revolution and the Birth of Communism
Why Revolution?
The Collapse of Old Regimes: Russia
The Collapse of Old Regimes: China
Nine Months: The Bolsheviks and the Russian Revolution
Thirty-eight Years: The Making of the Chinese Revolution
Conclusion: Unexpectedness and Conjuncture

Chapter III: Building Socialism Alone: Stalinism and the Soviet Experiment
The First Socialist Society
Stalinist Socialism
The Search for Enemies: A Soviet Holocaust
World War II and Beyond: Stalin's Final Years
Conclusion: Explaining Stalinism

Chapter IV: Mao's Path: Building Socialism in China
Starting Points: Comparing China and the Soviet Union
First Steps
Toward Socialism: Following the Soviet Model
Toward Socialism: Finding a Chinese Path
Conclusion: Socialism and the Search for Enemies: Comparing the Soviet Union and China

Chapter V: Communism in the Global Arena
Standing Alone: The Soviet Union and the World, 1917-1945
Europe Divided: The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1950
Communist Breakthroughs in Asia, 1949-1954
The Global Expansion of the Cold War, 1955-1985
The Cold War and the Nuclear Arms Race
Dissension in the Communist World
Conclusion: The Communist World in the 1970s

Chapter VI: The End of the Communist Era
The Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union
The Abandonment of Communism in China
The Fate of Two Communisms
The World and the End of the Communist Era
Conclusion: The Communist World in a New Century: Shrunken and Diluted

Epilogue: Communism and Reflections on History
Understanding and Forgetting
Intentions, Outcomes, and Surprises
Making History
Ambiguous Judgments

Suggestions for Further Reading
Notes
Credits
Index