Compare and differentiate Maoism and Stalinism Term Paper

Compare and differentiate Maoism and Stalinism - Term Paper Example The peasants and workers formed the revolutionary classes under this belief. Marxism-Leninism is a globally inclined ideology that was of the belief that the communist revolution was inevitable. It further advocated that once the revolution had happened in one country, then others will soon have their own revolutions. Thus, it was the duty of believers of Marxism-Leninism to try to export the revolution. Both Stalin and Mao tried to implement Marxism-Leninism in their countries albeit with some modifications to suit their present situations and personal convictions. The two leaders implemented â€Å"Five Year Plans† in their countries in order to spur development. Stalin’s First Five Year Plan (FFYP) begun early in 1926. His major focus was to transform the Soviet Union from an agrarian economy to a prominent industrial power. He argued that rapid industrialization was critical for the Soviet Union to flourish and survive as a world power. Stalin’s FFYP was prese nted as a Second Revolution and this helped him to mobilize the peasants as they perceived themselves to be in a class war with their previous oppressors (Keefe, 2009). Rather than follow Marxism-Leninism, the FFYP was a revolution from above; not from the masses. Stalin created a highly centralized command economy under the auspices of the State Planning Committee (Gosplan). The communist tenet of equality was disregarded as Stalin gave incentives to Managers and skilled workers. It should be noted that the FFYP put heavy emphasis on the heavy industry as massive resources were put in place to develop the oil and steel industry. Mao’s began implementing his First Five Year Plan (FFYP) in 1953. According to Friedman (2001), Mao’s core goal was to end Chinese dependency on agriculture and transform the country into an industrialized economy. Mao’s plan was very similar to Stalin’s since it also advocated for rapid industrialization so as to make China a wo rld power. The Chinese relied on the assistance of the Russians both economically and technically. Mao reorganized his administration to reduce bureaucracy and increase the country’s labor force. This move was aimed at reducing the chances of derailing progress due to a long chain of command. The peasants were required to diversify from agriculture to industrial work. Although the effectiveness of the First Five Year Plans for both leaders was questionable, they nevertheless went ahead to launch their Second Five Year Plans (SFYP). Stalin implemented his SFYP beginning 1933. This plan utilized the industries built during the previous plan to increase productivity. The Second Five Year Plan gave more attention to consumer goods unlike its predecessor. In retrospect, this plan was much more realistic and achieved considerably better results. After Mao’s FFYP, he implemented a much more audacious policy in the Second Five Year Plan. Mao believed that China would develop m ore rapidly if all resources were used to develop both industry and the agricultural sector concurrently. He utilized the country’s cheap labor to provide services primarily to the grain and steel industry. However, poor workmanship resulted in the failure of the steel production projects. The steel plants were poorly planned and there was scarcity of qualified engineers to oversee the work (Mark, 2001). In order to reign on the agricultural sector, both Stalin and Mao implemented the policy of Collectivization. Under Stalin,