CURRICULUM PART II- FACTS BEARING ON THE PROBLEM SYLLABUS FOR COURSE SIX THE COMMUNIST BLOC MONDAY, 3 JANUARY TO FRIDAY, 28 JANUARY SECOND TENTATIVE DRAFT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M01009A001402410006-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 58
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 29, 2013
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: November 10, 1954
• Content Type: MISC

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PART II FACTS BEARING ON TIC, PROBLEM
SYLLABUS FOR COURSE SIX
THE COIIvLUPNIST BLOC
MONDAY, 3 JANUARY TO FRIDAY, 28 JANUARY
SECOND TTY?TATIVE DRAFT
THE NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE
Washington 25, D. C.
10 November 1954
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THE NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE
Washington 25, D. C.
November 10, 1954
This syllabus for Course Six, "The Communist Bloc" for
the Academic Year 1954-1955 is hereby approved and promulgated for
the guidance of the Staff, Faculty and Members of the Class at the
National War College.
H. A. CRAIG
Lieutenant General, U. S. Air Force
Commandant
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PART II - FACTS BEARING ON THE PROBLEM
COURSE six
TilE COM-1UNIST BLOC
,y - SCOPE OF COURSE
1. Introduction
a. Our course of study during the year to date, has led us from a
general survey of the world today through consideration of the nature of
international conflicts into a study of the military element of national
power. Course Four added, by way of introduction to the bloc studies, a
survey of the non-military components of national power and of some of the
major elements -- geographical, economic, and political-- which make up
components. In Course Five we considered and evaluated the strengths and
weaknesses of the Free World Bloc both as absolutes and relative to the
blocs ability to withstand Communist pressures. The natural sequence of
study now leads to a similar consideration and evaluation of the Communist
Bloc, Because this encompasses the Soviet Union, its satellites and its
junior partner, Communist China-- a vast and complex area relatively un-
familiar to most Americans, our treatment has to seek a satisfactory
balance between the introduction of fundamentals and more sophisticated
analyses and interpretations. The fact that Communism is a special and
vital ingredient of contemporary Soviet and Chinese national power adds a
further complexity with which Course Six must deal.
2. Purpose
The purpose of Course Six is to consider the economic, military,
political, and social strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet Union, its
satellites, and its partner, Communist China, in order to build up an
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overall evaluation of the Communist capabilities and probable courses
of action in continuing their drive toward world domination either by
acts short of all-out war or by such war.
3. Subject Matter .
a. Course Six, for clarity and convenience of study, divides the
broad subject of The Communist Bloc into four elements, two of which are
further sub-divided.
b. The first division is concerned with certain general character-
istics of the Communist world, Its subdivisions are partly physical and
partly topical--physical in the literal sense that one segment opens the
course while the other segment concludes it; topical in that the first
segment deals with the nature of the Communist movement while the second
is the overall evaluation of capabilities and intentions.
c. The second division, also sub-divided, concentrates on the Union
of Soviet Social Republics. Its first subdivision deals with basic
background material; its second, with descriptive analyses of contemporary
situations.
d. The third division, because of the pressure of time the shortest
of all, reviews the current status of the Soviet satellites to determine
their contributions to Soviet power.
e. Communist China is the object of our regard in the fourth part
of the course. The course of Communism in China, its impact on the
economy and on the military strength of China, its ambitions and its
problems are all briefly reviewed.
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4. Academic Procedures
a. Lectures and recommended readings will be as indicated in
Section D, "Detailed Program." Additional books and articles for
reading and reference are listed in the bibliography at the end of this
syllabus.
b. There will be a committee problem. (See Section C.)
c. Discussion groups will meet every day except on the last two
days of the course which are reserved for the committee presentations and
seminars.
d. Oral presentations based on individual studies will be given
throughout the course,
e. Several movies, pertinent to the immediate subject being studied,
will be presented during the course. Attendance is voluntary.
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B - ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE
4. Daily Topics
First Week
CONS NISM IN G 1Fli.ALs__I
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
3 Jan
4 Jan
5 Jan
6 J?n,.'
7 JO-nn
The Nature of Contemporary Communism
The Lure of Communism
THE USSR: BACKGROUNDS
Soviet Lands and Peoples
The "Monolithic" Government
Soviet Planned Economy
Second Week
THE USSR; CURRENT
Mon
10 Jan-
Soviet Economic Strengths and Weaknesses
Tue
11 Jan
Soviet Scientific and Cultural Capabilities
Wed
12 Jan
Soviet Military Capabilities I
Thu
1.3 Jan
Soviet Military Capabilities II
Fri
14 Jan
Soviet Strategic Concepts
Third Week THE SATELLITES
Mon 17 Jan Changes Since Stalin
Tue 18 Jan The SatollitQ Since Stalin
Wed 19 Jan Military and Economic Contributions of the Satellites
COMf1UNIST CHINA
Thu 20 Jan The Growth of Communism in China
Fri 21 Jan The Economy of Communist China
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Fourth Week
Mon
2I Jan
The Foreign Policies of Communist China
Tue
25 Jan
The Military Capabilities of Communist China
COMMUNISM IN GENERA, II
Wed
26 Jan
Comunist Strengths and Weaknesses
Thu
27 Jan
Committee Problem Presentations
Fri
28 Jan
Semiriers
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D -- DETAILED PROGRAM
FIRST DAY
MONDAY, 3 ,JANUbRY
THE NATURE OF CONTEMPOR?:RY COMMUNISM
1. Introduction
a. "Communism" once meant simply a social system in which property
is held in common. Such systems were found rmong many primitive peoples
(e. g., the Incas and the Germanic tribes), among some early Christian
groups, and were described in the writings of Plato, More, Fourier, and
many others. Despite various experiments in communistic living (such
as the Oneida Community and Brook Farm, to mention American examples)
which were inspired by philosophical theories, communism until a generation
or so ago could properly be thought of as primarily a philosophical
abstraction. This is no longer true even though there still exist
various kinds of "philosophical communists."
b. Communism, as the word is used today, means Marxian Communism or,
to give its more commonplace meaning, the system of government, economy,
and society practiced in the Soviet Union, Communist China, and elsewhere.
Since the system first was developed in and is still largely dominated
by the Soviet Union there is sound reason for calling it "Soviet Communism."
c. The story of how a socio-economic theory, originally developed
by two Germans living in England, was transplanted to Russia and transmuted
into one of the great dynamics of our time is fascinating and important.
Unfortunately, it lies largely beyond the scope of our study due to the
pressures of time. In the process of transportation and transmutation,
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many changes took place but certain basic concepts never changed. Among
these were and are: the belief that the doctrines--the system of Marx-
Lenin-Stalin as these are often called--contain the only key to social
developments; the belief that social developments occur only through
conflict; and the twin beliefs in the inevitable decay of capitalism and
its replacement, through violent revolution, by Communism triumphant.
d. Contemporary Communism is more than a set of theories, and more
than a mere cover behind which power-hungry men can operate. It has
become a "guide to action" which affects, directly or inversely, nearly
It
everyone in the world. Because Khruebchev, Malenkov, and Company are the
masters of this "guide" as well as the masters of Soviet and satellite
national power, we begin our study of the Communist Bloc with a 1 look at
this movement which has properly been called a secular religion.
2. Scope of the Topic
a. Today we scan some of the highlights of fundamental Communist
doctrines with special attention to their uses and applications as
"guides to action" and as managerial techniques. A very hasty review
of the early history of the system of Marx-Lenin-Stalin is also included
in the topic.
3. Guide Lines of Discussion
a. Are Khrushchev, Malenkov and Company "dedicated to our destruction?"
If so, does this position stem from their current self-interest or from
an ideological base?
b. Is it possible to distinguish between propagandistic appeals which
Soviet leaders may be presumed not to believe and basic doctrines which
it may be presuumed they do believe?
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c. Does the Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin system almost automatically
beget intra-group conspiracy within the ranks of the leaders? If so) is
this an exploitable weakness?
d. Does the Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin system require a monolithic state?
e. Is monolithism a strength or a weakness?
f. What can a study of the ideology of Soviet Communism contribute
toward an understanding of our enemy?
4. Lecture
The formal lecture for the day is entitled NOT A DOGMA BUT A GUIDE TO
ACTION and will be delivered by Dr. Warren B. Walsh, Director of the
Political Affairs Division, The National War College.
5. Reading
a. THE SOVIET'S hARXIST HERIT_GE, by 14'arren B. Walsh, Chap. 9 from
Groat Issues, Brown, 1951, p. 161-180.
b. A SPECTER IS HAUNTING Et;1,OPE, THE THEORY ND PRLCTICE OF
COJ~T]UNISM, and THE TACTICS OF COI1111UNISi.4, Parts I - III
from The Strategy and Tactics of World Communism, House
Document No, 19, 60th Congress, 2nd Session, 1948, p. 1-50,
c. TEN FALLACIES ABOUT COluMJNISM by William Henry Chamberlin,
The Russian Review, Vol. 12, No. 3 (July, 1953) pp..139-152.
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SECOND DAY
TUESDAY,. JANUARY
THE LURE OF CO4AUNISN
1. Introduction
a. To meet successfully the challenges of contemporary Communism we must
know what attracts free men and women toward and into the movement. According
to recent (July, 1954) Soviet boasts there are approximately 21,000,000 members
of the Corniunist Party in the USSR, its satellites and Red China and about
9,000,000 more outside these countries. The last figure is probably exagger-
ated but, to balance that, it does not include the tens of millions of fellow-
travelers, party-liners, crypto-Co miurn.sts, or dupes who are found wherever
the Party is found (and sometimes whore it isntt).
b. These 9,000,000 members plus their many millions of associates, af-
filiates, and stooges all owe and give their primary allegiance to Moscow.
This has added a new power tool and a new dimension to politics and inter-
national relations. It explains why we face not only Frenchmen who act like
Frenchmen, which is sometimes hard enough for ?mericans to appreciate, but
also some Frenchmen--800,000 according to the Kremlin--who behave not like
Frenchmen but like Russians. But this is an explanation that does not satisfy.
Why did these people become the devoted adherents of the system which was
described yesterday? This question is relatively easy to answer if asked
about Communist countries because the advanta;es of being part of the ruling
elite are obvious. But why do people in other circumstances--specifically
why do men and women who presumably have real freedom of choice, choose
Communism?
c. There are no pat answers to that question--or none that are valid at
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least. We shall not find the answers, either, but the quest will add to our
understanding of the nature of the enemy. If we hope to keep people away
from the enemy, it is obvious that we better find out all we can about what
attracts people to the enemy.
2. Scope of Topic
A combination of circumstances--lack of time, incomplete knowledge, the
complexity of the subject--dictates that we limit our study mostly to those
persons in free countries who are lured into the Communist Parties.
3. Guide Lines of Discussion
a. We hear about "belly Communism"--that is, about the appeals which
Communism holds for the physically hungry or otherwise underprivileged. Is
this an accurate analysis? Is it an adequate analysis?
b. Does the Free World offer or can it offer any "guide to action"
comparable to that laid down by the Communists?
c. Can the Free World offer and does it offer, answers to the common
emotional hungers which Communism exploits?
d. How would you try to dissuade a person from joining the Communist
Party?
e. How would you try to help a person to free himself from his ties with
the Party?
4. Lecture: The formal lecture for the day is entitled `.;HY DO THEY CHOOSE
COTIU.JISA and will be delivered by Dr. Warren B. Walsh.
Reading
a. CO,~DIU NIS'i, SOCIAL CLASSES AND POWER, by Seton-Watson, Chap. 16
From Lenin to Malenkov, 1953, p? 330-356.
b. WHY THEY BECOME CO:'IUNISTS, by Janeway, in New York Times Magazine
June 14, 1953, starting on p. 13.
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c. THE APPEAL OF COMMUNISM, by Fred C. Bruhns, Pacific Spectator,
Vol. 6, No. 4 (1952) pp. 413-427.
6. Movies
The film, "SOVIET FOREIGN POLICY", featuring Mr. George Kennan and
students of the NWC, will be shown. Attendance is voluntary.
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THIRD DAY
WEDNESDAY,T JANUARY
SOVIET LANDS AND PEOPLES
1. Introduction
a. We have been regarding the system which dominates the lives of hun-
dreds of millions of persons throughout the world. Now it is time to look
at the USSR, chief power center of Communism and, by that token, chief enemy
of all free men and nations, especially ourselves. Today we begin that look
(and open the second part of the course) by glancing, so-to-speak, at the
stage setting and some of the actors,
b. Both have some inherent interest, but our concern with them is more
purposeful than mere curiosity. We are interested in the Soviet lands and
peoples partly because an acquaintance with them gives a reality and a sub-
stance to our study. The enemy of whom we spoke a moment ago is human and
not theoretical. He occupies space and derives his power--which is real in-
deed--partially from the resources of that space. We can visualize him better
if we know a little about that space. And we can judge better the power (as
well as some of the problems) of the masters of the USSR if we know something
about the geographical and human elements involved.
c. The purpose of today's topic, to state it even more explicitly, is
to survey the Soviet lands and the Soviet peoples as elements of Soviet
national power. Since both lands and peoples are relatively strange to us,
the survey will have to be sweeping and must begin with certain fundamentals
of an introductory character. On this foundation can be built our estimates
of strengths and weaknesses.
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2. Scope of Topic
We depend upon brief readings, supplemented by discussion and visual
aids, to sketch the face of the Soviet land. Our attention is concentrated
on people as a major element in Soviet national power.
3. Guide Lines of Discussion
a. What are the implications of the predominant age groups of the Soviet
population in terms of military manpower?
b. Vhat are the implications of the predominant age groups of the Soviet
population in terms of industrial manpower?
c. What are the implications of the predominant age group of the Soviet
population in terms of political reliability and tractability?
d. What is the situation of the following minorities in the USSR:
religious, racial, national, social, political, economic?
(-,. What enduring patterns of mass beliefs and behaviors are found among
the Soviet peoples? Are these elements of strength or of weakness to the
national power?
f. V)-hat significant population movements have taken place within the
Soviet Union?
4. Lecture
The formal lecture for the day is entitled THE SOVIET PEOPLE AND SOVIET
NATIONAL POWER and will be delivered by
5. Reading
a. THE RESOURCE BACKGROUND, Schwartz, Chap 1 from Russia's Soviet Economy,
1950 (rev. ed., 1954) p. 1-33.
b. THE SOVIET MAN -- PORTRAIT OF A MYSTERY, by Frederick C. Barghoorn,
in The Now York Times Magazine for 3 May, 1953, p. 9 & if.
c. THE SOVIET MAN, by Andrew Y1. Denny in The Military Engineer, Vols.
43-44, No. 297 (1952) pp. 32-36.
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d. SOVIET SOCIETY: FROM THE DACHA SET DOWN,, Fortune Magazine,
February 1953, pp. 125 & If.
6. Movies
The Soviet film, ""14th August," will be shown. This is a highly glamorized,
propaganda view of the USSR but it gives some notion of the vastness and con-
trasts of the Soviet lands. Attendance is voluntary.
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FOURTH DAY
THURS'7AY, 6 JANUARY
THE "MONOLITHIC" GOVERNMENT
1. Introduction
a. It is a standard and proven assumption that government is one major
component of a nation's total power. We have explored this assumption in
general terms in Course IV and in specific terms in other courses. Today we
shall. use an examination of the Soviet government as one of the measuring
sticks of Soviet power. As in other aspects of our study of the USSR it is
necessary to combine some introductory fundamentals with more sophisticated
analyses.
b. It would be an enormous task under optimum conditions to govern
213,000,000 persons. The task becomes staggering when these millions are
widely separated physically and of varying backgrounds, local interests, and
levels. Complexities and problems are greatly increased when the system re-
quires that a very high degree of centralized control be exercised over all
aspects of the lives and activities of so many millions of people. This is
precisely what the Soviet system does require and the Soviet people are, of
course, widely scattered and of diverse characters. A study of how the ten men
who rule the USSR make their will felt throughout the length and breadth of
the USSR, of what problems have been encountered, of which problems have been
solved and which remain unsolved, will aid in evaluating the power these men
control.
c. Government in the USSR has two faces--the Communist Party and the
formal government apparatus. These are two sides of one coin, and the coin
is controlled by the ten men--Khrushchev, Malenkov, Molotov, Bulganin, Zhukov,
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et, alii---who make up the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union, These men usually manage to present a monolithic
facade to the world. Equally important in terms of monolithism, all activi-
ties and all controls--social, political, economic, and psychological--are
tinder the Presidium's domination,
d. The calculated use of force a nd terror is one of their instruments
of control, but it is only one and it is easy to exaggerate it partly because
its existence and use are anathemas to free men. Not all Soviet citizens,
however, have to be forced or terrorized into working for their government.
Many are loyal from conviction and/or self-interest. Suasion, indoctrination,
and non-violent techniques of control are also very important tools of the
Presidium.
2. Scope of Topic
Excluding all but a quick glance at the formal theories and legal tech-
nicalities of Soviet government, we concentrate on actual ways, means, and
problems in the operation of the Soviet's "Party-Government" having in mind
that we are interested in it as an element of Soviet national power.
3-. Guide Lines of Discussion
a. What are the elements of strength and what are the elements of weak-
ness in the Soviet system of government?
b. Are these elements peculiarly Soviet or peculiarly Communist or are
they common to totalitarian, authoritarian regimes?
c. What are the attitudes of the Soviet people toward their government?
Are they proud of it? Just resigned to it? Hopeful and eager to revolt
against it?
d, Is the "collective leadership" which the Soviet press now talks about
a fact or a facade?
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a. Stalin's doath tested the Party-Government system. What has this
testin ; ruveel,ed?
4. Lecture
The formal lecture for the day is entitled THE 3Ei LITIES OF GOVERNMENT
IN THE USSR, end will be delivered by
5. R.,
-ding
a. :i?CH