History of Communism

"A spectre is haunting Europe -- the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies. Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by its opponents in power? Where is the opposition that has not hurled back the branding reproach of communism, against the more advanced opposition parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries?" ~ Excerpt from 'The Communist Manifesto'

The above lines of one of the most historically influential treatise of the world, 'The Communist Manifesto', published in the year 1848, written by the father of communism Karl Marx and Friedrich Angels, have changed the political sphere of the world since their start. The publication of Communist Manifesto was regarded as the most important event in the history of communism as it laid the principles and ideologies of the communist league, the first Marxist international organization, founded in about 1836, by a group of German workers.

Communism History

Communism, a branch of socialism, envisages a society where there is equality for all people. The equality is achieved by distributing equal wealth to all the members of the society, thus making everyone at par with the other. Communism, as said earlier, blossomed and started becoming active in many parts of the world from 1848. Some regarded communism as a Utopian idealism that can never be attained in a society while its proponents believed that it was the answer to all their miseries and sufferings. The communist supporters believed in declaring an open war on their opposition, and this is clear from the most popular last lines of the manifesto:

"The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. "

The Russian Civil Revolution (1917 - 1921)
The Russian Revolution, also called Bolshevik Revolution or the October Revolution, is famous as the first outburst of the unrest among the people against the growing economic divide. Basically, there were two revolutions in Russia in 1917. The first was the February Revolution, where the monarchy of the Tsar ended and the provisional government rose to power. The second revolution was the Bolshevik or October Revolution, where the provisional government replaced the Bolsheviks, the group of self-proclaimed professional revolutionaries, led by Vladimir Lenin. Lenin, one of the prominent political figures in history, is known for his contributions to the theory of Marxism-Leninism. The start of communism in Russia is associated with Lenin.

Death of Lenin, Stalin Become USSR Leader (1924)
Another revolutionary leader who has acquired a crucial place in the history of communism is Joesph Stalin. Stalin, as a young revolutionary, supported the acts of Lenin and slowly gained his confidence. As Lenin saw great potential and power in Stalin's personality, he appointed Stalin as head of many important organizations in the party. In October 1922, Lenin was admitted in hospital and slowly was succumbing to death due to poor health. Stalin gained enormous power in the party during this period. Finally, when Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin became the USSR leader.

The Great Famine Hits Ukraine (1932-33)
Regarded as the most debated topic on the political and cultural face of Ukraine, the famine of 1932-33, led to the loss of 7-10 million lives. There are various schools of thought about the famine. Some historians believe that hunger was used as a weapon by Joseph Stalin to break the unity of Ukrainian people so that he could centralize his power in Ukraine. Many judge the great famine to be an artificially planned genocide program by Stalinist regime. The mass killings clearly highlighted that class struggle and Utopian ideologies can be threat to the life of peasants and workers.

Treachery of Joseph Stalin (1936)
Power corrupts the heart of men and it was clear when tens of millions of people were executed in the labor camps of Stalin, that was politically meant to eliminate peasants, laborers and civilians who opposed the ideas of the leader. In the camps of 'Gulag', millions who opposed Stalin were killed.

Nazi Pact, Stalin and World War II (1939-1945)
The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, a short-lived pact, between two completely different leaders, Adolf Hitler and Joesph Stalin, was signed as not to invade or attack each others territory. In 1939, Adolf Hitler, a staunch supporter of Nazism and chief of Nazi army, was preparing for war and he wanted to acquire Poland in the same way he annexed Austria, without force. However, Hitler didn't want to fight two wars and so he signed the pact with Stalin, thereby, promising Soviet Union not to attack it. Two polar opposites, Hitler and Stalin who hated each others idea of Fascism and Communism respectively, were in agreement for sole political agenda. When they were allies, they split up Poland, half for Hitler and half for Stalin. Hitler however, broke the pact in 1941 and shocked Stalin. Germany invaded Russia in 1941, under the name of 'Operation Barbarossa', regarded as the largest military operation in human history. The number of casualties were one of the largest ever in the history of military operations on any country. The history of communism was chiefly affected by the World War II and the Russian invasion of Axis powers.

The Iron Curtain Speech (1946)
The historic Iron Curtain Speech was given on March 5th, 1946, by Winston Churchill, the great wartime leader of Britain, at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri, after receiving an honorary degree. The iron curtain marked the beginning of the era of cold war that lasted till 1991, until the fall of the Soviet Union. The concept of iron curtain was meant to create ideological and physical boundaries between various powers in Europe and divide them into two areas. The iron curtain took the shape of physical borders between Eastern and Western Europe, most prominently, the Berlin Wall seal by USSR.

The cold war era lasting till 1991, shaped the future of the world in a significant way. The US was aware about the fears of communism again rising its head and so its diplomatic tactics ensured that cold war maintained the strategic political and military pressures on countries.

As the Soviet Union won many important allies in the second world war in Eastern Europe, communism spread to many countries. Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania formed governments based on the ideologies of Soviet communism. By 1950, communism in China was also on a roar, besides its rising power in many nations of Middle East and Africa, and Vietnam. After Joesph Stalin died in 1953, Nikita Khruschchev became the Soviet's Union leader and he called for returning to the principles of Lenin, denouncing the inhumane war crimes of Stalin. He called this branch of Marxism as Maoism. Communism after the cold war was mostly dominated by some important events that have been mentioned below. From the end of the World War 2 to the 21st century communist nations, it covers all:

• Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan (1947)
• The famous Berlin airlift and Czechoslovakia and North Korea coming under communist Domination (1948-1950)
• History about The Korean war (1950-1953)
• Tibet comes under communist control (1951)
• North Vietnam comes under communist domination (1954)
• Hungarian revolt of 1956
• Fidel Castro rises to power in Cuba (1959)
• 'The Great Leap' forward in China (1959)
• The Berlin Wall seal by USSR (1961)
• Cuban missile crisis (1962)
• Gulf of Tonkin incident (1964)
• Invasion of Czechoslovakia by USSR (1968)
• Paris Peace Accord, end of US role in Vietnam War (1973)
• Khmer Rogue genocide, nearly 2 million killed (1975)
• Angola and Mozambique dominated by communists (1977)
• USSR invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
• Resistance of communism in Poland (1980)
• Invasion of Grenada Island by the US (1983)
• Mikhail Gorbachev takes over as Soviet Union leader (1985)
• Fall of communism in Europe, fall of Berlin Wall and Tianamen Square incident(1989)
• Democratic Election in Nicaragua (1990)
• Formal ending of Cold war (1991)
• Countries that still are Communists: China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and North Korea

The history of communism, as we can see, has been marked by some great political movements and wars.

The ideology of communism, although aimed for equality, has led to massive loss of life and property in history. Some other forms ideologies like imperialism, democracy and liberalism have been phenomenal in shaping world history. The debate whether communism is effective or not is clouded by doubts when we look back into its history. However, some nations still believe in it and follow it as their ideologies. Hope this article on what comprises communism history must have given you some hint about the most debated political movement in world history.