Communist Movements
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| Communism |
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Concepts
Marxist philosophy Marxian economics Historical materialism Surplus value Mode of production Class struggle Classless society Proletarian internationalism Workers' self-management World revolution |
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Aspects
Communist state Communist party Communist revolution Communist symbolism Communism and religion History of communism |
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Variants
Marxism Leninism Marxism-Leninism Anti-revisionism: Stalinism - Maoism - Hoxhaism Trotskyism Luxemburgism Titoism Juche Castroism Guevarism Left communism Council communism Anarchist communism Religious communism Christian communism Eurocommunism World communism Stateless communism National communism Primitive communism Scientific communism List of communist parties |
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Internationals
Communist League First International Second International Third International Fourth International |
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Leading individuals Gracchus Babeuf Karl Marx Friedrich Engels Peter Kropotkin Rosa Luxemburg Karl Liebknecht Antonio Gramsci Vladimir Lenin Leon Trotsky Joseph Stalin Kim Il-Sung Mao Zedong Ho Chi Minh Palmiro Togliatti Josip Broz Tito Che Guevara |
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Related topics
Anti-capitalism Anti-communism Cold War Communitarianism Criticisms of communism Criticisms of communist party rule Dictatorship of the proletariat Left-wing politics New Class ยท New Left Socialism Socialist economics "Workers of the world, unite!" |
The October Revolution of 1917 in Russia sparked a revolutionary wave of socialist and communist uprisings across Europe, most notably the German Revolution, the Hungarian Revolution, Biennio Rosso and the revolutionary war in Finland with the short lived Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic, which made large gains and met with considerable success in the early stages; see also Revolutions of 1917-23.
Particularly in the years 1918-1919, it seemed plausible that capitalism would soon be swept from the European continent forever. Given the fact that European powers controlled the majority of Earth's land surface at the time, such an event could have meant the end of capitalism not just in Europe, but everywhere. Additionally, the Comintern, founded in March 1919, began as an independent international organization of communists from various countries around the world that evolved after the Russian Civil War into an essentially Soviet-sponsored agency responsible for coordinating the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism worldwide.
| โ | Revolutions are the locomotives of history. | โ |
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โ Karl Marx |
With the prospect of world revolution so close at hand, Marxists were dominated by a feeling of overwhelming optimism, which in the end proved to be quite premature. The European revolutions were crushed one by one, until eventually the Russian revolutionaries found themselves to be the only survivors. Since they had been relying on the idea that an underdeveloped and agrarian country like Russia would be able to build socialism with help from successful revolutionary governments in the more industrialized parts of Europe, they found themselves in a crisis once it became clear that no such help would arrive; see Socialism in one country.
After those events and up until the present day, the international situation never came quite so close to a world revolution again. As fascism grew in Europe in the 1930s, instead of immediate revolution, the Comintern opted for a Popular Front with liberal capitalists against fascism; then, at the height of World War II in 1943, the Comintern was disbanded on the request of the Soviet Union's Western allies.
Read more about this topic: World Revolution
Famous quotes containing the words communist and/or movements:
“In a higher phase of communist society ... only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be fully left behind and society inscribe on its banners: from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The short lesson that comes out of long experience in political agitation is something like this: all the motive power in all of these movements is the instinct of religious feeling. All the obstruction comes from attempting to rely on anything else. Conciliation is the enemy.”
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)