According to Karl Marx, capitalism is a system that involves the
exploitation of man by man; under socialism, it is the other way
around. That wry joke, an ironic twist on the familiar Marxist remark
a century previously, was typical of popular humor in post–World War II Moscow,
where the dreams of a future Communist utopia had faded in the grim reality of life
in the Soviet Union.
Nevertheless, the Communist monopoly on power seemed secure, as did Moscow’s
hold over its client states in Eastern Europe. In fact, for three decades after the end
of World War II, the Soviet Empire appeared to be a permanent feature of the international
landscape. But by the early 1980s, it became clear that there were cracks
in the facade of the Kremlin wall. The Soviet economy was stagnant, the minority
nationalities were restive, and Eastern European leaders were increasingly emboldened
to test the waters of the global capitalist marketplace. In the United States,
newly elected President Ronald Reagan boldly predicted the imminent collapse of
the “evil empire.”
World History
