In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the most powerful Communist State in the world. After his rise to power, he introduced such changes in the theory and practice of Communism, which have led to the collapse of Communism in many Communist countries of the world, except China, Cuba, and North Korea till 1990. These changes began with two policies of Mikhail Gorbachev, which he called glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). What are the causes of the collapse of Communist system? They are many, but we shall mention important ones only: Failure of the Communist economic theory: As we have said above, Marxism-Leninism aimed at tremendous economic development in every communist country by means of centralised planned economic system.
Although the Soviet Union achieved great progress in heavy industry, but it failed to do so in the case of the consumer goods industry, with the result that there was always great shortage of food and other articles of daily needs. It caused much hardship and discontent among the common peoples in the Communist countries, especially in the Soviet- dominated East European countries in comparison with the rich countries of Western Europe and USA. When Gorbachev proclaimed glasost and peresroika, the East European countries, namely East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria were the first to discard the communist system, and adopt the free market economy of the capitalist West. Not only the economic successes of the capitalist USA as against the communist Soviet Union but also the economic successes of the capitalist West Germany as against the Communist East Germany further confirmed the failure of the Communist government-controlled economic system of production and distribution.
Communist system was based on totalitarian dictatorship: In every communist country, all powers were concentrated in the hands of the Communist Party and its General Secretary. No opposition party was legally allowed to exist. Although the Soviet Constitution granted many basic rights but these were only on paper. In fact, no individual enjoyed any right, and freedom, such as the freedom of opinion, to form a party, or freedom of the press, or freedom of association or freedom to travel in one’s own country. With the collapse of Communism, several political parties have come into being in East European countries. Even in the Soviet Union the old monopoly of power of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) has been discarded and an opposition party is being set up, but the conservative elements in the Soviet government and army are trying hard to prevent the rise of a real opposition party in their country.
After its victory in the Second World War, Soviet Union dominated almost all the East European countries. But since 1989, they have again become independent, sovereign States. Thus East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria have reasserted their independence.
Several component Republics of the Soviet Union are also trying to become independent, sovereign States, such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and the three Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
All these failures and changes will, sooner or later, end in the transformation of the Communist States. Some of them will remain communist in name but will become capitalist and democratic States, based on capitalist economic system and on the human rights and freedoms of the individual. However, with the revival of capitalism, such capitalist troubles, as inflation or rise in prices and unemployment, will also begin in these countries.