The Communist Experiment: Revolution, Socialism, and Global Conflict in the Twentieth Century

Overview

Main description

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 EditorsChapter I: Communism in ContextCommunism as a Global PhenomenonCommunism in World HistoryConclusion: Communism and the Twentieth CenturyChapter II: Revolution and the Birth of CommunismWhy Revolution?The Collapse of Old Regimes: RussiaThe Collapse of Old Regimes: ChinaNine Months: The Bolsheviks and the Russian RevolutionThirty-eight Years: The Making of the Chinese RevolutionConclusion: Unexpectedness and ConjunctureChapter III: Building Socialism Alone: Stalinism and the Soviet ExperimentThe First Socialist SocietyStalinist SocialismThe Search for Enemies: A Soviet HolocaustWorld War II and Beyond: Stalin's Final YearsConclusion: Explaining StalinismChapter IV: Mao's Path: Building Socialism in ChinaStarting Points: Comparing China and the Soviet UnionFirst StepsToward Socialism: Following the Soviet ModelToward Socialism: Finding a Chinese PathConclusion: Socialism and the Search for Enemies: Comparing the Soviet Union and ChinaChapter V: Communism in the Global ArenaStanding Alone: The Soviet Union and the World, 1917-1945Europe Divided: The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1950Communist Breakthroughs in Asia, 1949-1954The Global Expansion of the Cold War, 1955-1985The Cold War and the Nuclear Arms RaceDissension in the Communist WorldConclusion: The Communist World in the 1970sChapter VI: The End of the Communist EraThe Collapse of Communism in the Soviet UnionThe Abandonment of Communism in ChinaThe Fate of Two CommunismsThe World and the End of the Communist EraConclusion: The Communist World in a New Century: Shrunken and DilutedEpilogue: Communism and Reflections on HistoryUnderstanding and ForgettingIntentions, Outcomes, and SurprisesMaking HistoryAmbiguous Judgments Suggestions for Further Reading Notes Credits Index