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Communist revolution

Type of revolution From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Communist revolution
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A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism.[1] Depending on the type of government, the term socialism can be used to indicate an intermediate stage between capitalism and communism and may be the goal of the revolution, especially in Marxist–Leninist views.[2] The idea that a proletarian revolution is needed is a cornerstone of Marxism;[3][4] Marxists believe that the workers of the world must unite and free themselves from capitalist oppression to create a world run by and for the working class.[5] Thus, in the Marxist view, proletarian revolutions need to happen in countries all over the world.

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Theory

Karl Marx saw revolution as a necessity for communism, where the revolution would be based on class struggle led by the organised proletariat to overthrow capitalism and the bourgeoisie, followed by the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat.[1]

Leninism argues[6][7] that a communist revolution must be led by a vanguard of "professional revolutionaries", men and women who are fully dedicated to the communist cause and who can then form the nucleus of the revolutionary movement.[8] Thus meaning that under Lenin's framework a communist revolution is not necessarily a proletarian revolution.[9] Some Marxists, such as Rosa Luxemburg,[10][8] disagree with the idea of a vanguard as put forth by Lenin, especially left communists.[11][12][13] Another line of criticisms insist that the entire working class—or at least a large part of it—must be deeply involved and equally committed to the socialist or communist cause in order for a proletarian revolution to be successful. To this end, they seek to build massive communist parties with very large memberships.

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Communist revolutions and coups throughout history

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Perspective

The following is a list of successful and unsuccessful communist revolutions and coups throughout history. Among the lesser-known revolutions, a number of borderline revolutions have been included which may or may not have been communist revolutions. The nature of unsuccessful revolutions is particularly contentious since one can only speculate as to the kinds of policies that would have been implemented by the revolutionaries had they achieved victory.

Successful

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To arms, everyone!, a Yugoslav Partisan propaganda poster

Unsuccessful

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A barricade thrown up by Communard National Guard on 18 March 1871 during the Paris Commune.
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Communists driving through the streets of Budapest after the proclamation of the Hungarian Soviet Republic.
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Memorial erected to the September Uprising.
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A Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter of the Brazilian Air Force conducting anti-communist operations in Araguaia.

Ongoing

Table of revolutions

More information Start date, End date ...
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See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Communist revolution.

Notes

  1. The Persian Socialist Soviet Republic was invaded and reincorporated into Qajar Iran in November 1921.[26]
  2. While not explicitly Communist in Nature, the Easter Rising of 1916 was supported by Marxist groups such as the Irish Citizen Army.
  3. The Irish soviets, declared during the revolutionary period of the Irish war of independence and the Irish civil war, which were defeated by the Irish Free State forces.
  5. Led by Béla Kun,[68] defeated after five months.[51]
  6. About 400 participants of the Proština rebellion were arrested and taken to the Pula remand prison. Fascists and soldiers beat and mistreated arrested the anti-fascists on the way, and several people died as a result of the beatings. Gradually, the anti-fascists were released from prison and later, in the context of the process of wider political amnesty, all were released.[78]
  7. The anti-fascist, socialist Labin Republic uprising in modern-day Labin, Croatia, which pushed out Mussolini's fascist forces and established a socialist society in the city and surrounding towns.
  8. The Chinese Communist Revolution was the final stage of the Chinese Civil War, that resulted in the victory of the Chinese Communist Party in China in 1949.[93][96]
  9. The uprising, known as La matanza (the slaughter), was a Pipil and peasant rebellion led by Farabundo Martí.
  10. The period from the end of Chōsen, through the socialist People's Republic of Korea and the foundation of Democratic People's Republic of Korea, to the beginning of the Korean War.[118]
  11. As of 1992, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea no longer prescribes to Marxism–Leninism,[124] and as of 2009 is no longer a communist state.[125]
  12. The defeat of the French at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, 1954, and brought the Communist Party of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh to power in North Vietnam. A victory followed closely by the protracted guerrilla warfare-dominated Vietnam War (1957–1975), which in turn led to the fall of Saigon and the driving-out of occupying United States military forces there, and the unification of North and South Vietnam by communist guerrilla forces into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The conflict drastically changed neighboring Laos and Cambodia.
  13. The Jeju uprising was notable for its extreme violence; between 14,000 and 30,000 people (10 percent of Jeju's population) were killed (with some reports from Korean officials reporting numbers killed as high as 100,000) and 40,000 fled to Japan.[151][152]
  14. Nationalistic revolution led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara which overthrew former president Fulgencio Batista and instated a Marxist–Leninist socialist regime later on in Cuba.[168] Even though Batista had been elected for his first term, he achieved power for his second term through a coup d'état.[169]
  15. The Laotian Civil War resulting in the victory of the communist Pathet Lao/Lao People's Revolutionary Party in Laos by 1975, eliminating a coalition government with anti-communists led to the establishment of the communist-administered Lao People's Democratic Republic.
  16. The Nicaraguan Revolution that overthrew the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle and brought the Sandinistas to power in Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990.
  17. Instability and the arresting of political opponents eventually led to left-wing protests[197] and Massamba-Débat relinquishing power to Marien Ngouabi, who declared the People's Republic of the Congo under the control of the Congolese Workers' Party.[198]
  19. The civil war in Cambodia ended with the Khmer Rouge revolution in 1975. The Communist Party of Cambodia and Pol Pot then ruled the country until 1979.
  20. Maoist-styled "Protracted People's War" in the Philippines.[245]
  21. The overthrow of Haile Selassie by Mengistu Haile Mariam who then set up one-party Marxist–Leninist rule in Ethiopia by the communist Workers' Party of Ethiopia, until they were defeated and expelled by the revolutionary democratic and Hoxhaist[268][269] Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front during a subsequent civil war.[270]
  22. After the new president, Ziaur Rahman, offered pay increases for the soldiers, most soldiers lost interest in the ideals of the revolution.[275]
  23. They were overthrown by the mujahideen in 1992.[280]
  24. The FMLN (mainly composed of Marxist–Leninist guerrilla groups)[287] fought against the U.S. backed military government which suppressed the rebel movement by framing and mass murdering alleged Marxist–Leninist revolutionaries (El Mozote massacre).[288] The FMLN was inspired by the ideologies of Farabundo Martí and Vladimir Lenin.
  25. The internal conflict in Peru comprised two rebellions by two different Marxist organizations. One, the Shining Path, fought a bloody war beginning in 1980 with successive Peruvian governments, both democratic and authoritarian in nature. Another organization, known as the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), named after an Incan warrior Túpac Amaru began their own rebellion in 1982. The MRTA and Shining Path quickly became bitter enemies and fought one another as well as the government of Peru. Fighting goes on today with a small number of Shining Path cadres, however the movement has mostly been crushed and only operates in a very remote jungle region. The Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement was largely destroyed in 1997 after the Japanese embassy hostage crisis.
  26. After the formation of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sanka led many socialist policy implementations. One example is the suppression of most of the powers held by tribal chiefs in Burkina Faso. The chiefs were stripped of their rights to tribute payments and forced labour as well as having their land distributed amongst the peasantry.[302] Blaise Compaoré later led the 1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état, which killed Thomas Sankara and reversed his far-left policies.[303][304]
  27. The Maoist Unified Communist Party of Nepal fought a fairly successful revolutionary war against the autocratic King of Nepal. In 2006 peace was declared, and an agreement was reached that the Maoists would join an interim government.
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References

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