The Rise and Fall of World Communism Pt 1

In this chapter I learned that in the past, Communism was a world wide thing. Communist regimes came to power almost everywhere during war, revolutions and other struggles. During the past two decades of the twentieth century communism has collapsed almost everywhere except China and the Soviet Union. Other than Russia and China, communism also traveled to Eastern Europe.
     In Russia, the communists came to power within a single year in 1917. There was one historic event thats opened the door to a huge social upheaval. Soldiers were seeking to end a terrible war or even go a wall. New trade unions arose to defend workers' interests and some workers even tried to gain control. During the civil war the Bolsheviks had harshly regimented the economy by seizing grain from angry peasants, suppressed nationalist rebellions, and perpetrated bloody atrocities.
     When China was under the rule of Mao Zedong many achievements, tragedies and limitations were made. Production in steel, coal, fertilizer and cement increased by large amounts. Along with the increase in production 17 million urban youth were sent to work in the fields and average life expectancy from 35-65 years. 20 million died during the Great Leap forward, 500,000 deaths during the Cultural Revolution and between 1 and 3 million counterrevolutionaries were killed. Mao's rule was both positive and negative but I don't think industry was worth all those lives.