One app for all your study abroad needs
Communism is a political ideology. It is a type of government where the state owns the main resources, including means of production, property, education, agriculture, and transportation. It proposes a society where everyone equally shares the benefits of labor, eliminating the class system by redistributing income. Let us see what is communism!
Table of Contents
Definition
Communism is a political and economic ideology. It aims to establish a socioeconomic order that is based on the ideas of common ownership of the means of production. It believes in the absence of money, social class, and the state.
Also Read: What Is Fascism?
Beliefs of Communist Ideology
Karl Marx is known as the Father of Communism. He proposed this ideology in a book named Communist Manifesto which he wrote with Friedrich Engels. The manifesto focused on the following beliefs
- Class struggle in all historical societies
- Instability created by capitalism
- Equal division of labor profit
History and Timeline of Communism
- November 7, 1917: Emergence of the Soviet Union, the first communist government, after the October Revolution inspired by The Communist Manifesto
- July 1, 1921: Inspired by the Russian Revolution, the Communist Party of China is formed.
- January 21, 1924: Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin eventually takes over, industrializing the country with a state-controlled economy. However, leading to famine. The world witnesses the Great Purge
- May 9, 1945: Cold War Begins
- World War II ends, U.S.S.R. declares victory over Nazi Germany.
- Korea divides into the Soviets-occupied communist North and the United States-occupied South.
- March 12, 1947: Under President Harry S. Truman the U.S. provides defense from communist takeovers by entering into the wars in Vietnam and Korea.
- October 1, 1949: After the civil war, Mao Zedong, China’s Communist Party leader, declares the creation of the People’s Republic of China. The US ends diplomatic ties with China.
- January 1, 1959: Fidel Castro takes over Cuba and makes it a Communist state
- April 25, 1975: Formation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under Communist rule
- November 9, 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall
- 1989-90: Collapse of communist regimes in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Benin, Nicaragua, Mozambique, and Yemen.
- December 25, 1991: The Soviet Union dissolves with the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev.
Also Read: Right Wing V/S Left Wing: Meaning, Differences, Similarities
Communist Countries
In the 1900s, one-third of the world’s population had communist governments. However, today only five countries have a communist form of government:
- North Korea
- China
- Laos
- Vietnam
- Cuba.
Debatably these countries do not meet the true definition of communism. And stand in a transitional phase between the end of capitalism and the creation of communism.
Quiz
Results
#1. Which of the following countries does not have a communist form of government?
#2. When did the Berlin Wall fall?
#3. Who is known as the father of communism?
Communism is a political and economic ideology. It aims to establish a socioeconomic order that is based on the ideas of common ownership of the means of production. It believes in the absence of money, social class, and the state.
On one hand, Communism believes that the working class should be in control of capital and production as well as shared ownership. On the other hand, Socialism believes in a more gradual shift of power from the bourgeois to the working class and is more concerned with the collective good.
Hope you have gotten all the relevant information about what is communism! If you want to know more about topics like this, then visit our general knowledge page! Alternatively, you can also read our blog on general knowledge for competitive exams!
25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today.
