philosophy

They didn't distort anything. There was just no other way to build communism.

There wasn't. Because first, they hoped for a socialist revolution worldwide, and then they suddenly realized that their utopia wouldn't work... Lenin, towards the end of his life (he died, I think, in 1924), understood this mistake and wanted not pure communism in the future, but with elements of a market economy (NEP reforms). But Stalin decided that socialism (which, as is known, is the first stage of communism) could be built in a single country (it's as easy as pie...). This is the key mistake, in my opinion. :cool:

And Brezhnev wasn't a saint either.

It's a pity about Brezhnev - there were high hopes for him!

In my opinion, there were no high hopes. And there couldn't have been. If there had been, we would already be living under communism. Of course, I'm not condemning him. As a politician, I like him, but... He wanted to quietly and calmly move forward with his "developed socialism" and reach communism without making any effort or carrying out reforms - this is called "taking it easy." And meanwhile, the socialist country was in its death throes. :smile16: