Impact of Socialism

"Revolution is never practical – until the hour of revolution strikes. Then it alone is practical and all the efforts of the conservatives and compromisers become the most futile and visionary of human imaginings." – James Connoly

During the Cold War, almost one-third of the world’s people were under socialist rule. Huge nations such as the former Soviet Union and China became superpowers. Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe became the Warsaw Pact while the capitalistic west formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The two opposing sides square off in decades of psychological battle without actual military conflict. Finally, the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 under Mikhail Gorbachev signified the end of Soviet Communism.

Despite the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, socialist parties are still very influential throughout the world. For instance the Labour Party in United Kingdom is a modified socialist party. In Canada, the Communist Party and the Marxist-Lenist Party are forces to be reckon with. As long as poverty and workers exist, the fight for socialism will never end.