The history of the political ideology of communism hypothetically stretches all the way from the Palaeolithic up until the present day. However, most modern forms of communism are based upon Marxism, a variant of the ideology formed by the sociologist Karl Marx in the 1840s. Various historical movements and societies that have stressed egalitarianism and common ownership of goods have been described as communist, including hunter-gatherer societies and early Christianity. Marxism subsequently gained support across much of Europe, and under the control of the Bolshevik Party, a communist government seized power during the Russian revolution, leading to the creation of the Soviet Union, the world’s first Marxist state, in the early 20th century.
During ensuing decades, communist governments took power in many parts of the world, including most of eastern Europe, eastern Asia and parts of Africa. During the late 1980s and early 1990s most of these communist regimes collapsed and adopted capitalistic economic policies, even if remaining nominally communist, like the People’s Republic of China. Today, communist governments control countries like Cuba and Nepal, as well as various provinces in India.
Various historians have studied the history of communism, including Robert Service and Archie Brown, many of whom have taken a negative view of the ideology, which they viewed as having a tendency towards authoritarianism, totalitarianism and for allowing human rights abuses.
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Early Development (1840-1916)
Pre-Marxist Communism
Many historical groups have been considered as following forms of communism. Karl Marx and other early communist theorists believed that hunter-gatherer societies, as were found in the Palaeolithic, were essentially egalitarian and he therefore termed their ideology to be "primitive communism". Certainly, communist ideas do predate Marxism, with various philosophers in Ancient Greece, such as Pythagoras and Plato (in his The Republic) propagating the idea of common ownership. Some have also noted that early Christianity supported a form of communism through the teachings in the New Testament which emphasised sharing amongst everyone equally. Like Christianity, other ancient Jewish sects, like the Essenes, also supported egalitarianism and communal living.[1]
In England during the Early Modern period, various groups supporting communist ideas appeared. The Roman Catholic Thomas More propagated the concept of a society where the products of society should be shared equally in his Utopia (1516) as did Tommaso Campanella in his The City of the Sun (1601).[2] Within a few centuries, during the English Civil War, various groups on the side of the Roundheads propagated the redistribution of wealth on an egalitarian basis, namely the Levellers and the Diggers.[3]
During the French Revolution of 1789, various anti-monarchists, particularly the Jacobins, supported the idea of redistributing wealth equally among the people, including Jean-Paul Marat and Gracchus Babeuf. Many French thinkers maintained these beliefs even when France returned to a monarchist regime under Napoleon Bonaparte, including Louis Blanc, Charles Fourier and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon who declared the slogan “Property is Theft”.[4]
Karl Marx
"Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution."
— Karl Marx, 1844 [5]
In the 1840s, a German philosopher and sociologist named Karl Marx (1818–1883), who was living in England after fleeing the authorities in the German states, where he was considered a political threat, began publishing books in which he outlined his theories for a variety of communism now known as Marxism. Marx was financially aided and supported by another German émigré, Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), who like Marx had fled from the German authorities in 1849.[6] Marx and Engels took on many influences from earlier philosophers; politically, they were influenced by Maximilien Robespierre and several other radical figures of the French Revolution, whilst economically they were influenced by David Ricardo and philosophically they were influenced by Hegel.[7]
Marx stated that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles," something that he believed was happening between the bourgeoisie who then controlled society and the proletariat (the working class masses) who toiled to produce everything but whom had no political control. He purported the idea that human society moved through a series of progressive stages, from primitive communism through to slavery, feudalism and then capitalism, and that this in turn would be replaced by communism - for Marx therefore, communism was seen as inevitable, as well as desirable.
Marx founded the Communist Correspondence Committee in 1846 through which the various communists, socialists and other leftists across Europe could keep in contact with one another in the face of political oppression. He then published The Communist Manifesto in 1848, which would prove to be one of the most influential communist texts ever written. He subsequently began work on a multi-volume epic that would examine and criticise the capitalist economy and the effect that it had upon politics, society and philosophy; the first volume of the work, which was known as Capital, was published in 1869. However, Marx and Engels were not only interested in writing about communism, they were also active in supporting revolutionary activity that would lead to the creation of communist governments across Europe. They helped to found the International Workingmen's Association, which would later become known as the First International, to unite various communists and socialists, and Marx was elected to the Association's General Council.[8]
Early Development of Marxism
During the latter half of the 19th century, various left-wing organisations across Europe continued to campaign against the many autocratic right-wing regimes that were then in power. In France in 1871, socialists set up a government known as the Paris Commune after the fall of Napoleon III, however they were soon overthrown and many of their members executed by counter-revolutionaries.[9] Meanwhile Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels joined the German Social-Democratic Party, which had been created in 1875, but which was outlawed in 1879 by the German government, then led by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who deemed it to be a political threat due to its revolutionary nature and increasing number of supporters.[10] In 1890, the party was re-legalised, and by this time it had fully adopted Marxist principles. It subsequently achieved a fifth of the vote in the German elections, and some of its leaders, such as August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht, became well-known public figures.[11]
At the time, Marxism took off not only in Germany, but it also gained popularity in Hungary, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Netherlands, although did not achieve such success in other European nations like the United Kingdom, where Marx and Engels had been based.[12] Nonetheless, the new political ideology had gained sufficient support that an organisation was founded known as the Second International to unite the various Marxist groups around the world.[13]
"The communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win."
However, as Marxism took off, it also began to come under criticism from other European intellectuals, including fellow socialists and leftists; the Russian collectivist anarchist Mikhail Bakunin for instance criticised what he believed were the flaws in the Marxian theory that the state would eventually dissolve under a Marxist government, instead he believed that the state would gain in power and become authoritarian. Criticism also came from other sociologists, such as the German Max Weber, who whilst admiring Marx, disagreed with many of his assumptions on the nature of society. Some Marxists tried to adapt to these criticisms and the changing nature of capitalism, for instance Eduard Bernstein emphasised the idea of Marxists bringing legal challenges against the current administrations over the treatment of the working classes rather than simply emphasising violent revolution as more orthodox Marxists did. Other Marxists opposed Bernstein and other revisionists, with many, including Karl Kautsky, Otto Bauer, Rudolf Hilferding, Rosa Luxemburg, Vladimir Lenin, and Georgi Plekhanov sticking steadfast to the concept of violently overthrowing what they saw as the bourgeoisie-controlled government and instead establishing a "dictatorship of the proletariat."
The Early Communist States (1917-1947)
The Russian Revolution and the formation of the Soviet Union
At the start of the 20th century, the Russian Empire was an autocracy controlled by the Tsar, with millions of the country's largely agrarian population living in abject poverty, and as the anti-communist historian Robert Service noted, "poverty and oppression constituted the best soil for Marxism to grow in."[14] The man responsible for largely introducing the ideology into the country was Georgi Plekhanov, although the movement itself was largely organised by a man known as Vladimir Lenin, who had for a time been exiled to a prison camp in Siberia by the Tsarist government for his beliefs.[15] A Marxist group known as the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was formed in the country, although it soon divided into two main factions; the Bolsheviks, who were led by Lenin, and the Mensheviks, who were led by Julius Martov. In 1905, there was a revolution against the Tsar's rule, in which workers' councils, known as "soviets" were formed in many parts of the country, and the Tsar was forced to implement democratic reform, introducing an elected government, the Duma.[16]
In 1917, with further social unrest against the Duma and its part in involving Russia in the First World War, the Bolsheviks took power in the October Revolution. They subsequently began remodelling the country based upon communist principles, nationalising various industries and confiscating land from wealthy aristocrats and redistributing it amongst the peasants. They subsequently pulled out of the war against Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which was unpopular amongst many in Russia for it gave away large areas of land to Germany. From the outset, the new government faced counter-revolutionary resistance from a myriad of forces, including anarchists, scattered tsarist resistance forces known as the White Guard, and Western powers, leading to the events of the Russian civil war, which the Bolsheviks won and subsequently consolidated their power over the entire country, centralising power from the Kremlin in the capital city of Moscow. In 1922, the Russian Empire was officially redesignated to be the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, whilst in 1924 Lenin resigned as leader of the Union due to poor health, and soon died, with Joseph Stalin subsequently taking over control.
Comintern, Mongolia and the communist uprisings in Europe
In 1919, the Bolshevik government in Russia organised the creation of an international communist organisation that would act as the Third International after the collapse of the Second International in 1916 - this was known as the Communist International, although was commonly abbreviated as Comintern. Throughout its existence, Comintern would be dominated by the Kremlin despite its internationalist stance. Meanwhile, in 1921 the Soviet Union invaded its neighbouring Mongolia to aid a popular uprising against the imperialist Chinese who then controlled the country, instituting a Marxist government, which declared the nation to be the Mongolian People's Republic in 1924.[17]
Comintern and other such Soviet-backed communist groups soon spread across much of the world, though particularly in Europe, where the influence of the recent Russian Revolution was still strong. In Germany, the Spartacist uprising took place in 1919, when armed communists supported rioting workers, but the government put the rebellion down violently with the use of a right-wing paramilitary group, the Freikorps, with many noted German communists, such as Rosa Luxemburg, being killed.[18] Within a few months, a group of communists seized power amongst public unrest in the German region of Bavaria, forming the Bavarian Soviet Republic, although once more this was put down violently by the Freikorps, who historians believe killed around 1200 communists and their sympathisers.[19]
That same year, political turmoil in Hungary following their defeat in the First World War led to a coalition government of the Social-Democratic Party and the Communist Party taking control. The communists, led by Bela Kun, soon became dominant and instituted various communist reforms in the country, however the country was subsequently invaded by its neighbouring Romania within a matter of months who overthrew the government, with the communist leaders either escaping abroad or being executed.[20] In 1921, a communist revolt against the government occurred whilst supportive factory workers were on strike in Turin and Milan, northern Italy, however the government acted swiftly and put down the rebellion.[21] That same year, a further communist rebellion took place in Germany, only to be crushed, but another occurred in 1923, which once again was also defeated by the government.[22] The communists of Bulgaria had also attempted an uprising in 1923 but like most of their counterparts across Europe, they were defeated.[23]
Stalinism in the Soviet Union
In 1924, Joseph Stalin, a key Bolshevik who had been heavily involved in the October Revolution, took power in the Soviet Union. He was supported in his leadership by Nikolai Bukharin but had various important opponents in the government, most notably Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev. Stalin continued Lenin's process of building a communist society, creating a variant of communism known as Stalinism and as a part of this he abandoned some of the capitalist, free market policies that had been allowed to continue under Lenin, such as the New Economic Policy. He radically altered much of the Union's agricultural production, modernising it by introducing tractors and other machinery, by collectivising the farms and by persecuting the kulaks, or richer farmers who rented their land to others for a profit.[24]
Stalin also came to dominance over Comintern, and introduced a policy in the international organisation of opposing all leftists who were not Marxists, labelling them to be "social-fascists", although many communists, such as Jules Humbert-Droz and Angelo Tasca, disagreed with him on this policy, believing that the left should unite against the rise of right wing movements like fascism across Europe.[25]
Spreading Communism (1948-1957)
Eastern Bloc
The Chinese Revolution
The Cold War and Revisionism (1957-1979)
Maoism and the Cultural Revolution in China
The Cuban Revolution
The Collapse of the Communist Powers (1980-1992)
Contemporary Communism (1993-Present)
With the fall of the communist governments in the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc, the power that the state-based Marxist ideologies held on the world was weakened, but there are still many communist movements of various types and sizes around the world. Three other communist nations, particularly those in eastern Asia, the People's Republic of China, Vietnam and Laos, all moved toward market economies but without major privatization of the state sector during the 1980s and 1990s; see Socialism with Chinese characteristics and doi moi for more details.[citation needed] Spain, France, and Greece have very publicly strong communist movements that play an open and active leading role in the vast majority of their labor marches and strikes, and also anti-austerity protests, all of which are large, pronounced events with much visibility. Also, worldwide marches on International Workers Day sometimes give a clearer picture of the size and influence of current communist movements, particularly within Europe.
Cuba has recently emerged from the crisis sparked by the fall of the Soviet Union given the growth in its volume of trade with its new allies Venezuela and China (the former of whom has recently adopted a "Socialism for the 21st Century" according to Hugo Chavez). Various other countries throughout South and Latin America have also taken similar shifts to more clearly socialistic policies and rhetoric, in a phenomenon academics are calling the "pink tide".
North Korea has had less success in coping with the collapse of the Soviet bloc than its counterparts, which led that government to "supersede" its original Marxism-Leninism with an ideology called Juche. For this reason among others, there are no significant communist movements, whether State-based or local, who consider North Korea to have any connection to communism whatsoever. Cuba, however, does apparently have an ambassador to North Korea, and China still protects North Korean territorial integrity even as it simultaneously refuses to supply the state with material goods or other significant assistance.
In Nepal, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) leader Man Mohan Adhikari briefly became Prime Minister and national leader from 1994 to 1995, and the Maoist guerrilla leader Prachanda was elected Prime Minister by the Constituent Assembly of Nepal in 2008. Prachanda has since been deposed as PM, leading the Maoists to abandon their legalistic approach and return to their typical street actions and militancy and to lead sporadic general strikes using their quite substantial influence on the Nepalese labor movement. These actions have oscillated between mild and intense, only the latter of which tends to make world news. They consider Prachanda's removal to be unjust.
The national government of India depends on the parliamentary support of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and CPI(M) leads the state governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. The armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) is fighting a war against the government of India and is active in half the country; the Indian government has recently declared the Maoists its chief objective to eliminate.
In Cyprus, the veteran communist Dimitris Christofias of AKEL won the 2008 presidential election.
In Moldova, the communist party won the 2001 and 2005 parliamentary elections, but the most recent Moldovan elections results, in which the communists supposedly won a third time, were massively protested (including an attack on the Parliament building by angry crowds) and another round was held in which the other major party was found to have won and the communists were forced into opposition.
In Ukraine and Russia, the communists came second in the 2002 and 2003 elections, respectively. In the Czech Republic, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia came third in the 2002 elections, as did the Communist Party of Portugal in 2005.
Brazil has the Communist Party of Brazil as a member of the governing leftwing coalition led by president Lula da Silva; his party, Workers' Party (Brazil), itself has many different communist and democratic socialist tendencies within it.
In South Africa, the South African Communist Party (SACP) is a member of the Tripartite alliance alongside the African National Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. Sri Lanka has communist ministers in their national governments.
Colombia is in the midst of a civil war which has been waged since 1966 between the Colombian government and aligned rightwing paramilitaries against two communist guerrilla groups; the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army (FARC-EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN).
The Philippines is still experiencing a low scale guerrilla insurgency by the New People's Army.
See Also
References
- ^ Service (2007:14-15)
- ^ Service (2007:15)
- ^ Service (2007:16)
- ^ Service (2007:16-17)
- ^ Private Property and Communism by Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
- ^ Service (2007:24-25)
- ^ Service (2007:13)
- ^ Service (2007:27-28)
- ^ Service (2007:28)
- ^ Service (2007:29)
- ^ Service (2007:36)
- ^ Service (2007:39-41)
- ^ Service (2007:36-37)
- ^ Service (2007:46)
- ^ Service (2007:48-49)
- ^ Service (2007:50-51)
- ^ Service (2007:115-116)
- ^ Service (2007:86)
- ^ Service (2007:90-92)
- ^ Service (2007:86-90)
- ^ Service (2007:92-94)
- ^ Service (2007:95-96)
- ^ Service (2007:117-118)
- ^ Service (2007:98-103)
- ^ Service (2007:167)
External links
- BBC animation showing fall of Communism in Europe
- The Red Flag: Communism and the Making of the Modern World - Book review by Quentin Peel for The Financial Times