On this episode of The Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast, Jeremiah and Juan discuss the forces that lead to the rise of the Soviet Union before introducing the lesson.

In “Marxism, Socialism, and Communism,” professors of history, politics, and economics look at Marx’s life and writings, the misery and brutality in the Soviet Union, the atrocities of communist China, and the proliferation of Cultural Marxism in America. They explore how many ideas animating American politics today are rooted in Marxism, and yet how they differ from Marx’s thought. By taking Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and the Frankfurt School seriously, we can see the injustice and evil inherent in all strands of Marxism. We also better understand the critiques of communism made by Mises, Hayek, and Solzhenitsyn. We are, therefore, better equipped to defeat it. 

Tsarist Russia was prospering and growing, but Nicholas II was weak-willed. He allowed himself to be badgered into entering World War I and into abdicating his reign after the February Revolution. The weak provisional government was easily overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution despite the Bolsheviks’ lack of popular support. Lenin was a thorough Marxist who introduced extreme and brutal reforms.