Not a lot of time to comment at the moment–you guys know how wordy I can get, even for a tankie–but I will list some factors that have had an effect, not really any solutions to how they could have won though. I will MAYBE come back and flush out some things, but I am highly ignorant in history at this time so other comrades might be more of use to you.
Things to consider:
The Backwards State of Tsarist Russia (and the aftermath of WW1/“Civil” War) that the USSR inherited compared to the States generous development at the time.
The Disastrous Effect of WW2 on the USSR compared to the War Profiteering Boom of the US.
After Stalin’s death there was a rightwing takeover from Khrushchev, steering the USSR further and further away from the path of socialism. This departure from Marxism-Leninism is what brought the PRC to be against the USSR, causing the Sino-Soviet split.
-The party’s departure from ML theory and too much of its resources being invested into heavy industry and especially the military, let there be a decent chunk of the population discontent–do mind, the majority voted to keep the USSR intact.
At the same time Khrushchev’s “idea of peaceful coexistence” led to the AES states taking a much less active role against imperialism.
The Imperialists eventually won with the help of Gorbachev and Yeltsin, raping and pillaging the Soviet Union.
Let me add this tho. While we refer to the era of “the Cold War” as the era of the USSR specifically resisting US imperialism, in fact there’s no such thing as “The Cold War”. First of all it wasn’t cold, the Imperialists were very active in massacring colonial independence movements and especially communist ones. But moreover, as long as an AES state exists (DOTP) and an Imperialist state exists (DOTB) there will ALWAYS be a contradiction, and thus Imperialist aggression. What we call “cold wars” are just sharpened contradictions in the international class struggle. The “Cold war” didn’t begin with postWW2 powers, it began with the October Revolution and you can see this with the 14 countries invading it. It didn’t end, even at its peak relationship the US still smeared China, and now we are seeing a resurgence as anti-imperialist sentiment grows again. The class struggle ebbs and flows, and imperialist reaction will exert back the force pushed on it.
Again this was rushed but just wanted to put something down.
Not a lot of time to comment at the moment–you guys know how wordy I can get, even for a tankie–but I will list some factors that have had an effect, not really any solutions to how they could have won though. I will MAYBE come back and flush out some things, but I am highly ignorant in history at this time so other comrades might be more of use to you.
Things to consider:
Let me add this tho. While we refer to the era of “the Cold War” as the era of the USSR specifically resisting US imperialism, in fact there’s no such thing as “The Cold War”. First of all it wasn’t cold, the Imperialists were very active in massacring colonial independence movements and especially communist ones. But moreover, as long as an AES state exists (DOTP) and an Imperialist state exists (DOTB) there will ALWAYS be a contradiction, and thus Imperialist aggression. What we call “cold wars” are just sharpened contradictions in the international class struggle. The “Cold war” didn’t begin with postWW2 powers, it began with the October Revolution and you can see this with the 14 countries invading it. It didn’t end, even at its peak relationship the US still smeared China, and now we are seeing a resurgence as anti-imperialist sentiment grows again. The class struggle ebbs and flows, and imperialist reaction will exert back the force pushed on it.
Again this was rushed but just wanted to put something down.