HON351
Spring Semester 2008
Study Sheet
Twentieth Century Socialism and Communism
Reading Assignment:
Ball and Dagger, ch. 6
Other articles (optional)
"N. Korea Escalates 'Cult of Kim' to Counter West's Influence," Christian Science Monitor, January 3, 2007
"Israel's Oldest Kibbutz Votes for Privatization," Guardian (UK), February 20, 2007
Questions to consider while reading Ball and Dagger, chapter 6
1. How did the various revisionists interpret and modify Marx's theory during the latter part of the nineteenth century?
2. What were the historical circumstances in Russia that led up to the successful Bolshevik revolution in 1918?
3. What is notable about the approach the Lenin that had toward the overthrow of capitalism and the implementation of a communist system?
4. What is notable about the strategy that Stalin had for communistic rule in the former Soviet Union?
5. How did communism evolved under in China under the rule of Mao Zedong and his successors? What was the Cultural Revolution and what were its consequences?
6. To what extent have contemporary European countries emgraced socialist principles? What is the distinction between Social Democratic and Christian Democratic parties in European Politics.