What is Communism? Find Out History, Beliefs, Pros and Cons

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. Furthermore, it proposes a society where everyone equally shares the benefits of labour, therefore eliminating the class system by redistributing income. Let us see what is Communism!

Definition

Communism is a political and economic ideology. Additionally, it aims to establish a socioeconomic order that is based on the ideas of common ownership of the means of production. Moreover, 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
• The instability created by capitalism
• Equal division of labour profit

History and Timeline of Communism

Here is the History and Timeline of Communism:

History and Timeline of Communism
7th November, 1917	Emergence of the Soviet Union, the first communist government, after the October Revolution inspired by The Communist Manifesto.
1st July, 1921	Inspired by the Russian Revolution, the Communist Party of China was formed.
21st January, 1924	Lenin dies and Joseph Stalin eventually takes over, industrializing the country with a state-controlled economy. However, this led to famine. The world witnesses the Great Purge.
8th May, 1945	World War II ends. U.S.S.R. declares victory over Nazi Germany.
9th May, 1945	Cold War begins.
7th September, 1945	Korea was divided into the Soviet-occupied communist North and the United States-occupied South.
12th March, 1947	Under President Harry S. Truman the U.S. provides defense from communist takeovers by entering into the wars in Vietnam and Korea.
1st October, 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.
1st January, 1959	Fidel Castro takes over Cuba and makes it a Communist state.
25th April, 1975	Formation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under Communist rule.
9th November, 1989	Fall of the Berlin Wall.
1989-90	Collapse of communist regimes in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Benin, Nicaragua, Mozambique, and Yemen.
25th December, 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

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