Communism in Decline: From Sputnik to Gorbachev

by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius

Communism was more than a new philosophy to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels when they wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848. They saw it as a brand-new way of life, a new civilization for the modern man and woman. The communist way of life was to represent a total liberation from all of history, which they saw as nothing more than struggle, exploitation, and suffering. Instead of building upon the past, they proposed that communism would focus only on the future, promising total social equality for all and sharing in a new stage of human societal evolution.

When measured against other social theories throughout world history, communism is more than just another a philosophical thought experiment. The beliefs and practices of communism were institutionalized in Lenin’s Bolshevik state, as experienced within the experimental and unprecedented development of the Soviet Union. For 74 years, the experiment held together. Communist regimes, at their peak, ruled more than one-third of the world’s population.

What happened? What really caused this giant experiment to decline and fall apart?

In Communism in Decline: From Sputnik to Gorbachev, Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius reveals the internal and external forces that ripped apart the grand communist experiment. What were the mistakes made by the Soviet leaders who believed too deeply in their own propaganda? And why were they not able to see the many ironies in their own poor decisions? In 12 fascinating lectures, you will learn how the Soviet Union went from winning the space race against the United States in 1957 to Gorbachev’s resignation and the dissolution of the great experiment in 1991.

Genres: History

12 pages, Audiobook

Published September 13, 2024

About the author

Distinguished Professor in the Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences
Biography
Professor Liulevicius specializes in modern German history, with a particular focus on German relations with Eastern Europe. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Peace, and Revolution from 1994-95. He has taught at the University of Tennessee since 1995. From 2008 to 2021, he served as the director of the Center for the Study of War and Society.

Reviews

[Flash Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I again mostly agree with EngineerinVA’s favorable review, so I’ll just add some minor disagreements. While Professor Liulevicius is indeed worthy of the Great Courses, I wouldn’t say that he was the best in their strong lineup. (I’d suggest Kenneth Harl.) And this series of lectures is not the very best, perhaps for understandable reasons: more recent history probably aims for a broader audience, hence lacks some depth possible for ancient history, and being recent, lacks some perspective.
    An incidental solecism, around fifteen minutes into lecture 1: “dark side of the moon.” Lecture 3’s mention of the coup in Chile should have had some mention of the backing for it. I think lecture 5 should have had shorter personal anecdotes (the toothpaste count in particular), and more communist jokes. (My favorite, which perhaps wouldn’t have fit: In the distant future, a Russian history teacher asks her class: “Who was Lenin?” Awkward silence. “OK, then, who was Stalin?” Another awkward silence. Finally, “Who was Brezhnev?” Slightly less awkward pause; a student tentatively raises his hand and says, “Uh, ma’am, wasn’t he a minor despot in the Age of Solzhenitsyn?”)
    Professor Liulevicius of course has strong judgments about communism (I would be suspicious of anyone of his extraction who did not), but he does not let them cloud his exposition. I do think, however, that he should have run his concluding moral characterization past a professional philosopher: A correct condemnation does not necessarily constitute a necessary and sufficient definition.
    I watched some of the lectures, and listened to others. While listeners would have missed the professor’s wife picture of him sitting in Marx’ lap, otherwise just listening would not be a major loss. In lecture 4, for instance, I would not have minded not seeing the pictures of Rivera and Frida Kahlo (which I have already seen more than enough for one lifetime). I would have preferred instead more pictures of their artwork.
    The subtitles avoided the blunders in Professor Liulevicius’ earlier course on Eastern Europe.

[Beaty Bouncy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit wow, I need to listen to the last half of this one again. The final interpretive section rang very important to me, especially the portion concerning the line between goodness and evil in all humans, and the quote on how those who view freedom as an “unwanted” forced responsibility wish to align themselves as members of “comprehensive coordination” and administered “control of society and themselves” (which can lead folks to identify with an “overwhelming power that oppresses”) so as to feel “strong while enslaved”. What a way to put it. The “instinct to identify with power” is a dangerous one indeed, and can make fools of all of us through a diversity of means. “Seeking license for sanctioned approved violence against others” is historically, and contemporaneously a very visible, and distressing, symptom of this.

As someone who considers themselves to be personally “aligned” and generally involved in “leftist” politics with certain critiques, drawbacks, and oppositions that felt elusive to justify or articulate: listening to this entire lecture series has helped me immensely to temper my views on the individual, the collective, and the administration of government to them. Very grateful for my time with this series. Can’t recommend enough!

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this dude. He had on-the-ground experiences in Lithuania, the Soviet Union, and other places mentioned in this lecture series. And he tells jokes. It might seem disrespectful to include jokes when discussing something as awful as Communism, but by including jokes that actual Lithuanians and Soviets and East Germans told at the time, I got a sense of the joke tellers' frustrations, fears, and priorities. This series taught me about blues masses (in East Germany), the Seven Unmentionables (in China) and the Two Whatevers (also in China). And I found out what Moscow smelled like in 1989: diesel fuel and unusually stinky tobacco.

[Rik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great concluding series that brings it forth to the current era. Summarizes the global decline of communism in 12 lectures that serve as good introductions to subjects within subject that could be the focus series if their own. (Though, why this was broken into 3 mini series instead of one long one is beyond me, plenty of the great courses run for 36 or 48 lectures!)

[Enrico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty much the same quality as all the courses of this professor. If you like one, you will like all. He has a very deep knowledge about his topic and is an excellent communicator.