AP European History DBQ 14

Vanessa Birrueta
AP European History
July 25, 2014 DBQ 14
Citizens of Eastern European socialists states saw communism as an opportunity to unify the countries; however, the failure of establishing a classless society, the dishonesty of the communist leaders, and the lack of support from the people led the citizens to lose hope and turn their backs on communism. Communism was designed to eliminate class barriers and make every day life easier for both the people being ruled and the rulers. However, the Soviet Union established a so­called communist regime that did not adhere to the ideologies in which communism was originally created, which was to serve the masses. This form of communism failed in countries such as Poland,
Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.
The original intent of communism was meant to have a classless society. However, the soviet communist parties did not actually achieve that. As Milovan Djilas wrote in The New Class, “The exclusive, if unwritten, law that only party members can become policeman, officers, diplomats, and only they can exercise actual authority, creates a special privileged group of bureaucrats.” The unofficial class of bureaucrats defied the true meaning of communism. Communists rulers created an illusion that was named communism, but in its basis, was not communism whatsoever.
Soviet communists used their privileges to create a class that pushed the everyday citizen further down and limited the progress an individual can make. The everyday citizen was forced to live a life where they wake up, work, go home, eat, and sleep. The citizens were stripped down to their basic necessities that were sometimes even rejected. Croatian columnist, Slavenka Drakulic, wrote how,
“Every mother in Bulgaria can point to where communism failed, from the failure of the planned economy, to the lack of apartments, child­care facilities, clothes, disposable diapers, or toilet paper.”
The communist did not provide all the necessities for people to live comfortably. Still, the communists kept suppressing the lower class, while the bureaucrats lived comfortably. Communism was never meant to have a society in which an individual is held back from their necessities. Yet, The soviet

communists repressed many necessities and civil rights which included freedom of speech and public expression. Vaclav Havel, president of Czechoslovakia, spoke in his New Year’s Day Address of 1990 how, “Our country is not flourishing. The great creative and spiritual potential of our nation is not being applied meaningfully.” Havel perfectly understood that communism withheld a lot of their creativity by not allowing people to freely express themselves. He even mentioned how, “The state, which calls itself a state of workers, is humiliating and exploiting them instead.” Communist worked people extremely hard for a low wage “producing things for there is no demand while we are in short of things we need.”
Soviet communists took advantage of the power they had over the citizens and used that power to enlarge the gap between leaders of the communist party and the people being ruled.
According to a Croatian columnist, Slavenka Drakulic, “the banality of everyday life is where it
[communism] really failed, rather than on the level of ideology.” The communist party did not provide enough services for the people which caused the people be opposed to communism. Without the support of the people, communism was bound to fail. People are what makes the essence of government. Without people, there would be no government. The Soviet government did not make life or the everyday citizen to feel as though they were being heard or included into all the decisions that were being made by the government every day.
Without a classless society, honest rulers, or support from the ruled, communism in the Soviet
Union set itself up for failure. The citizens of the eastern European socialist states had no right to go through life under communist rule by the Soviets. Communism did not improve the economy, or unify the states. Communism actually did the opposite; it impoverished the countries and separated the states.
Because of this, the eastern European states lost hope on their countries and the possibility of having a successful, happy future.