Communism

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Communism is an idea of how society should work. It is both a kind of political philosophy and a description of how some countries run themselves.

Contents

[edit] Philosophy

The Communist Manifesto
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The Communist Manifesto

According to Communist writers and thinkers, the goal of communism is for workers to take control of factories and business and to share things with people as they needed them. People who used to own the land, factories, and other parts of the economy (what socialists and communists call the "means of production") would not be allowed to own these things any more. The government would make sure that everyone had what they needed (called the socialist stage), until everyone understood how to share the right way (called full or true communism). If the country was a monarchy, it would become a republic with everyone having the same rights. Eventually, once there was true communism, there would be no need for any government since people would share and get along by working together in small groups of workers councils run by volunteers.

This is an old idea, but it became popular after the French Revolution and other popular movements in Europe in the early 1800s.

[edit] Politics

Some communists believed that in a democracy, people would naturally want to be communist, so they tried to make communist parties in their own countries win free elections. Others thought that democratic countries would never volunteer to be communist, so there needed to be a war or revolution. Most communist countries did hold elections, but the only candidates that were allowed belonged to the communist party, so the elections were not free ones (elections where many candiates from many parties run for office). Some communist leaders such as Stalin or Mao Tse Tung had lots of strict laws and a secret police force to keep themselves in power. People could be sent to prison for speaking against communism or the government. Many people were also killed because they were against communism or the leader of the country.

Most communist countries had a legislature to make laws. But the legislature usually did not have any real power and the laws it passed didn't matter if the leader of the country or the Communist Party decided they didn't like them. The Communist Party had all the real political power.

All of the countries that became communist either had a violent revolution or were invaded by another communist country that left behind a government. Some democratic countries today have active communist parties, such as in India, Italy and France. These parties usually do not want to overthrow the government or economy, but they do want to make the economy more socialist.

In many other countries, especially those that used to be ruled by communist dictatorships, the communist party is illegal or discouraged from holding power (like in Eastern Europe). This is to prevent another dictatorship by one political party or leader.

[edit] History

Karl Marx
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Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels
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Friedrich Engels

In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote The Communist Manifesto, a short book with the basic ideas of communism. Most socialists and communists today still use this book to help them understand politics and economics. Many non-communists read it too, even if they don't agree with everything in it. It is a very important book in human history.

Marx's ideas were liked by many groups and individuals, and in 1917, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky led a Russian group called the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution which got rid of the Czar (king) of Russia and established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Also called the Soviet Union or USSR).

The Soviet Union was the first country to try to use communism, but the country never became communist in the way that Marx and Engels described. People who support communism say that this is because the people in charge of Russia were not real communists and didn't understand how to do it right. However, very few supporters of communism thought that the Soviet Union was not really a proper communist state when it was powerful. They changed their minds after the Soviet Union collapsed. People who do not support communism usually say that the example of the Soviet Union and other communist countries proves that communism is dangerous and doesn't work no matter who tries it.

During the 20th century, many people tried to make countries become communist countries. In the late 1940's, China also had a revolution and became a communist country with Mao Tse Tung as its leader. In the 1950's, the island of Cuba became communist with Fidel Castro as leader. At one time, there were many communist countries, but today there are very few. North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, and China are the only ones left.

[edit] Disputes

Lenin
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Lenin

Many people have written their own ideas about communism. Vladimir Lenin of Russia thought that there had to be a group of hard-working revolutionaries (called a vanguard) to lead a socialist revolution worldwide and create a communist society everywhere. Leon Trotsky, also from Russia, argued that socialism had to be international, and it wasn't important to make it happen first in Russia. He also didn't like Josef Stalin, who became the leader of the USSR after Lenin's death in 1924. Even though he had been picked to take over after Lenin, Trotsky was kicked out of the Soviet Union by Stalin in 1940, and then killed. This scared many people, and lots of communists argued about whether this was right and who's ideas should be followed.

Stalin thought that it was important to make communism powerful in the Soviet Union first, then spread it around the world when it was stronger. Some communists (like Leon Trotsky) said that Stalin was not a real communist, because the original idea of communism needed small groups of workers voting and deciding on things together, and Stalin didn't like voting or democracy.

Mao Tse Tung of China thought that peasants (poor people without land) were more important to the revolution in China than the working class (people who worked in factories or in trades), because there were so many more of them. Mao's version of communism is usually called Maoism. After the death of Stalin in 1953, Mao saw himself as the leader of worldwide Communism until he died in 1976. Today the Chinese government is still ruled by the Communist Party, but they actually have what is called a mixed economy, and they have borrowed some things from capitalism. Not many people in China today follow Maoism, but revolutionaries in other countries like Peru and Nepal like his ideas and are trying to make their own countries communist.

[edit] Symbols and Culture

Hammer and Sickle symbol. The hammer represents factory workers, the sickle farmers and peasants
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Hammer and Sickle symbol. The hammer represents factory workers, the sickle farmers and peasants

The color red is a symbol of communism around the world. A red five-pointed star sometimes also stands for communism.

The hammer and sickle is a well known symbol of communism and was on the flags of many communist countries. Some communists also like to use pictures of famous communists from history such as Marx, Lenin, and Mao Tse Tung as symbols of the whole philosophy of communism.

A song called The Internationale was the anthem of communism. It has the same music everywhere, but the words to the song are translated into the national language of each separate country.

Communist propaganda poster from Poland
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Communist propaganda poster from Poland

There is also a special kind of art and architecture found in many communist and former communist countries. Paintings done in the style of socialist realism are often done for propaganda to show an ideal version of a country's people and political leader. Stalinist archietecture was supposed to represent the power and glory of the state and its political leader. Some non-communists also enjoy this kind of art, but most art and architecture historians agree that it is not very good and does not contribute much to the history of art.

Jokes about communism and political leaders were very popular in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. It was illegal to tell these jokes, and people could get into a lot of trouble for telling them. Most of the jokes were about how bad conditions were in these countries, even though the government told everyone things were good. People today still like these jokes, and they are now part of the history of the former communist countries.