Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Survival of communism in cuba

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The early part of the 20th century saw great global economic turmoil, and, led by Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal” program in the United States, many nations expanded the role of government to prevent further economic downfall. Western nations followed the Keynesian approach to using their government to assist in economic issues. Other nations, in Eastern Europe and throughout Asia and Latin America, turned toward communistic approaches with their governments. Communism began to develop on a larger scale after World War II. Communist influence in the world began with the communist Soviet Union in the final years of World War II. Even though the Soviet Union worked alongside non-communist nations in World War II to defeat the Axis powers, after the war the Soviets parted ways with western nations and their predominantly democratic ideologies. The Soviet Unions response to promote economic prosperity was laid out in their 1936 constitution to have a “planned economy.” The Soviets preferred, communistic approach to economic planning differed from the Keynesian approach used by prominent western nations. This communistic approach became attractive to a number of nations throughout Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Most of the communist states of the Cold War era have fallen; the only officially communist states that exist in the world today are China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam. Cuba is the only state in the Americas, and not Asia, which still officially is communist.

In the 20th century the world saw an overall increase in the role of the state in the economy and the size of the government. This took form in one of two ways, the Keynesian democratic form, or the Soviet inspired communist form. The United States and the United Kingdom spurred a Keynesian approach to government and the economy. John Maynard Keynes, an English economist in his work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, developed the Keynesian Economic Theory in 1936. This approach to the role of the state defied classical economic tradition in the sense that it allowed for greater involvement of the state in the economy. Keynes believed that a purely free market system of economics would continue to fail to meet employment needs. His solution was to approach economics at a macro level, which included the state rather than looking separately at the economy and the government. Keynes favored government intervention within the economy, not to invade capitalism with socialism, but to save capitalism from socialism and from itself. Keynes preferred that the state took “a greater responsibility for directly organizing development.” The majority of decision-making was intended for the decentralized market, rather than with a centralized plan, a key difference from communism. Keynesian economics has been the dominant economic ideology in industrialized western nations, including the United States as exemplified by president Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal.” The Keynesian approach allows for states to provide for the general welfare of their citizens, as well as management of its economy without centrally controlled planning of the economy A centrally controlled economy was exemplified by the Soviet Union but later fell. Cuba took the Soviet example and applied it to their nation, as the Cuban leaders of the time did not believe a capitalist system was best for their country. The Cuban communist system is still in operation today.

Soviet communism first began to spread with the Soviet Union conquering parts of Eastern Europe. This led to further concern with the United States and its allies because of the fear that the Soviet Union would attempt to conquer the world, as Nazi Germany had attempted to do during World War II. The first large scale military conflict in which a Soviet influenced communist state was involved was the Korean conflict in the 1950s. Korea was split in a civil war between the capitalist south and communist north. The United States militarily supported the south, and the Soviets militarily supported the north. The conflict ended in 1953, yet North Korea still exists today as an authoritative communistic regime. With the rise and spread of communism throughout the world came numerous Cold War conflicts as the United States and its allies became increasingly concerned with the Soviet led spread of communism. In the early 1960s, Cuba became a communist state. Cuba received support from the Soviets, and opposition from the United States. This resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1961, in which a deal was made between the United States and the Soviet Union in which the Soviets would not arm Cubans with missiles if in return the United States would not invade Cuba. Soon after Cuba, Vietnam became a battle site between capitalism and communism. The conflict was similar to that of Korea, in which the United States militarily supported the capitalist favoring south and the Soviets supported the communist north. The conflict ended in bloodshed, and Vietnam has remained a communist state since. Along with North Korea, Vietnam Laos and China, Cuba is also a modern day communist state.

Coming from a history of European colonization, and gaining independence from Spain less than 50 years before World War II, and gaining independence only under the terms set by the United States, Cuba would eventually come to part ways with “The West.” This would include their capitalist form of government. Numerous Latin American nations during the Cold War attempted communist or socialist forms of governments but were often shut down by the United States. Cuba is the only one to succeed and only one of five nations in the world to use an officially communist form of government, located just 90 miles from the United States.

Since gaining independence from Spain in 1898, Cuba still adhered to United States policy until the mid 1900s. This policy included authoritative dictatorial rule, and in 1959 the Cuban Revolution, which favored communism, would come to existence in response to the dictator Batista in 1959. This gave way for the communist revolutionary Cuban leader Fidel Castro. In 1961 Cuba officially became the communist state that exists today. This caused the United States to nearly suspend its relationship with Cuba. The failed “Bay of Pigs Invasion” attempt by the United States to overthrow the communist regime, and the “Cuban Missile Crisis,” allowed Cuba to be completely independent of United States intervention. The falling of communism in the 1990s had a great impact on Cuba. Their partnership with the Soviet Union ended, economic turmoil erupted, and the standard of living declined. During the 1990s this led to liberalized, yet heavily regulated, economic efforts. Cuba still remained a communist state after the global decline of communism. Although since the 1990s there have been various accounts toward a liberal Cuba, and Cuba’s relationship with the United States has slowly opened, Cuba still remains a comparatively successful example of communism.

References

Survival of communism in cuba Wikipedia