Ugh. The reasons Russia's communism failed is an incredibly complicated and still debated subject. Throwing it all to "people's inherent desire to be better than others or to excel" is completely wrong.
Lots of reasons. You could watch the movie "Reds" with Warren Beatty. It's just a movie, but it should be a good jumping off place to see what parts to investigate.
For example, I'm sure sanctions from the rest of the world [1] from the beginning didn't do them any favors. Having a wolf in with the hens (named Stalin) was also unfortunate.
[1] All terrified that revolution would kick off in their countries. Justified fear as well, it did just that in Spain.
