The Fall of Communism

Politics and Government in central and Eastern Europe. Said Ahmed Title: Why did Communism collapse? In this essay, I will examine what Communism is, the factors that have led to the collapse of Communism and how Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Communism is a political philosophy based upon the principle of collective ownership of both property and the means of production. Communists therefore, view history from the perspective of class struggle …

…iter in the Party periodical Nowe Drogi in 1987, openly admitted that forty years of Socialism had not 'abolished the exploitation of man by man or done away with social injustice' 4 Communism as an ideology and a system of government only existed because it restored and sustained by military force and Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost only facilitated the collapse of Communism, by creating social and nationalist movements that challenged the ruling elite and the communist ideology.