History of communism

The history of communism encompasses a wide variety of ideologies and political movements, sharing the core theoretical values of collective ownership of wealth, economic enterprise, and property. Most modern forms of communism are grounded at least nominally in Marxism, an ideology conceived by noted sociologist Karl Marx during the mid nineteenth century. Marxism subsequently gained a widespread following across much of Europe, and throughout the late 1800s its militant supporters were instrumental in a number of failed revolutions on that continent. During the same era, there was also a proliferation of communist parties which rejected armed revolution, but embraced the Marxist ideal of collective property and a classless society.

Although Marxist theory suggested that the places ripest for social revolution—either through peaceful transition or by force of arms—were industrial societies, communism was mostly successful in underdeveloped countries with endemic poverty such as the Russian Empire and the Republic of China. In 1917, the Bolshevik Party seized power during the Russian Revolution and created the Soviet Union, the world's first Marxist state. The Bolsheviks thoroughly embraced the concept of proletarian internationalism and world revolution, seeing their struggle as an international rather than a purely regional cause. This was to have a phenomenal impact on the spread of communism during the twentieth century, as the Soviet Union installed new communist governments in Eastern Europe following World War II and indirectly backed the ascension of others in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Pivotal to this policy was the Communist International (also simply known as the Commintern), which was formed with the perspective of aiding and assisting communist parties around the world and fostering revolution. This was one major cause of tensions during the Cold War, as the United States and its military allies equated the global spread of communism with Soviet expansionism by proxy.

By 1985, one-third of the world's population lived under a communist system of government in one form or another. However, there was significant debate among communist ideologues as to whether most of these countries could be meaningfully considered "Marxist" at all. Many of the basic components of the Marxist system were altered and revised by various self-styled communist regimes. The failure of communist governments to live up to the ideal of a classless society, as well as their general trend towards increasing authoritarianism, has been linked to the decline of communism in the late twentieth century. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 several communist states repudiated or abolished the ideology altogether.

By the twenty-first century only a small number of communist governments remained, namely Cuba, Vietnam, and Laos. Despite retaining a nominal commitment to communism, the People's Republic of China has essentially ceased to be governed by the principles of Marxism or Maoism, reverting to an authoritarian regime with a mixed economy.