Questions tagged [communism]
An ideology derived from socialist theory of the nineteenth century. Communism defines a condition in which socialist development has lead to the virtual elimination of economic class. This is ultimately achieved by worker ownership and control of the means of production (defined as the tools & facilities which produce goods). Throughout the 20th century multiple nation states claimed either to have achieved communism or to have been developing it.
151 questions
3
votes
0
answers
150
views
Were any members clergy (priests, rabbis, or imams) in the USSR members of Communist party or KGB operatives?
Inspired by question Were there in the USSR monasteries decorated with Soviet orders?. Although religion was contrary to the dominant Marxist ideology (but see Christian Communism), it was tolerated ...
- 4,219
-2
votes
1
answer
157
views
Was there communist opposition to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?
I was told to come here from Politics SE so this is a repost.
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to support the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government. This obviously led to much ...
- 97
-3
votes
1
answer
133
views
What is the origin of the quote "Educated individuals are good for all of society." [closed]
In this video by Babylon Bee (at 1:16), the lady claims that either Che Guevara or Karl Marx said something along the lines of "Educated individuals are good for all of society.". Is that ...
- 190
-3
votes
2
answers
123
views
Ranking Eastern Europe Communist regimes by severity of repression [closed]
I was wondering that the severity of repression, censorship, economic stagnation must have varied greatly across the Eastern bloc countries between 1945-1990. It may even have varied over the years in ...
- 350
13
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Why did the communist Khmer Rouge use a religious image in their flag?
The Khmer Rouge, or the Communist Party of Kampuchea, used this flag:
It features the Angkor Wat, a famous Buddhist temple with a Hindu origin.
As far as I have been able to understand, the symbol ...
- 698
-4
votes
2
answers
229
views
Did Bolsheviks try to foster socialist revolution in Europe?
At the moment of the Socialist Revolution (or coup d'état) in October/November 1917 Russia was still mostly an agrarian society, whereas Marxist theory predicted Socialist revolutions in developed ...
- 4,219
6
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Is Wikipedia's identification of Lebed an error?
Speaking of the Alexander Yakovlev's conflict with the hardcore communists, the Wikipedia article says:
In the early 1980s, Yakovlev returned to the Soviet Union, and became a prominent supporter of ...
- 4,219
11
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Why would people join a bloc party?
In the former Soviet Union satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe, apart from the ruling Communist Party, there were bloc parties, to give a façade of democracy. I can understand the interest ...
- 3,724
2
votes
1
answer
172
views
Did Western governments object to repression of western communists during Stalinism? [closed]
I am interested in the repression of western communists (traveling to or residing in the USSR) during the Stalin era. How extensive was it? What were the justifications from the Soviet point of view? ...
- 4,219
3
votes
0
answers
140
views
To what extent did Russian bourgeoisie and capitalism continued to exist through the Soviet rule in the USSR? [closed]
During the Communist rule in Russia, the industry and land were mostly nationalized, and many of the previous landowners or industrialist were either exiled or physically exterminated. However, the ...
- 4,219
1
vote
2
answers
670
views
Why did China and some other communist countries boycot the 1980 Summer Olympics?
The 1980 Summer Olympics was held in Moscow, Soviet Union.
Many countries boycotted the games initiated by the United States for Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
But there were some communist ...
- 279
2
votes
1
answer
263
views
Why did Russia, Cuba, NK, China support the Peruvian government during the internal conflict?
This Wikipedia page has me scratching my head at the righthand information panel especially at the information under "Belligerents". According to the list China, North Korea, Cuba, Russia (...
- 323
8
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Did Karl Marx openly advocate violence? (or oppose it?)
Whether Marxism is inherently violent is often a point of contention. The supporters of Marxism often claim that the violence of the Communist regimes of the XX-th century was of their own making, and ...
- 4,219
14
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Who said, "Freedom to do what?"
I read a quote recently, it was either Lenin or Stalin, one of their aides said, "Now, comrade, we will have freedom!" and Lenin (or Stalin) replied, "Freedom to do what?" The ...
- 249
0
votes
2
answers
717
views
What were Lenin's and Trotsky's roles in the October revolution of 1917?
Lenin spend the two months preceding the overthrow of the provisional government far away from Saint-Petersburg/Petrograd or Moscow - even the official Soviet version of events openly and readily ...
- 4,219
5
votes
0
answers
159
views
Was Lassalism persecuted in the USSR during the Stalin period?
Background
Ferdinand Lassalle was the founder of the General German Workers Association (ADAV), which is considered as the first organized labor movement (at least in Germany) and would later evolve ...
- 4,219
13
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Why would this word have been an unsuitable name in Communist Poland? Is it because it's a racial slur?
In Marek Hłasko's The Graveyard (set in communist-occupied Poland) there is a scene where, in a political party meeting one of the party members (Nowak) is forced to change the name of his dog. This ...
- 239
2
votes
0
answers
266
views
How did Mao regain and consolidate power after the Great Famine?
Mao Zedong's position had weakened after the Great Famine, and in the period during and leading up to the Cultural Revolution, he regained and consolidated his power. I am interested in getting a ...
- 121
1
vote
0
answers
91
views
Why did the French SFIO abandon its anti-militaristic views after Jaures' death?
Before his murder on July 31st 1914, Jaures and the SFIO attempted to unite the workers of the different European countries to not take part in what became WWI. However, only two days after his death, ...
- 111
15
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Why did this anti-communist pamphlet, from the USA in the 1950s, include UNESCO among its targets?
The English language Wikipedia article on McCarthyism includes an image of an "anti-communist" pamphlet, apparently from the 1950s:
I was intrigued by point 4:
RIGHT NOW films are being ...
- 3,724
7
votes
1
answer
226
views
Could the leader of the Soviet Union have been removed legally?
The list of Soviet Union's leaders shows that usually leaders remained in office until their death, I'd like to know:
What was the legal status of the Soviet Union's leader? How was he elected or ...
- 225
0
votes
1
answer
202
views
Were the "Petlurovites" who took Kiev in 1918 commanded by a communist?
In the novel White Guard (Белая гвардия), Mikhail Bulgakov describes the capture of Kiev in 1918 by Petlurovites as a disaster, and their being worse than the Whites (whom he supported). Yet, history ...
- 32.7k
0
votes
1
answer
115
views
Communist Party member Stances on Molotov Ribbentrop Soviety German Treaty [closed]
I am reading "Toward Freedom, The Case against Race Reductionism" by Toure Reed. In his section about Black Progressives, he writes about how the influence of the Communist Party on the NNC ...
17
votes
3
answers
5k
views
What was the ethnic composition of Soviet government?
One often describes USSR in ethnic terms, as Russian domination over other nations (many of which later became independent states). While the USSR certainly practiced ethnic policies (such as ...
- 4,219
1
vote
0
answers
145
views
Why were Chinese and Soviet five year plans shorter than five years? [closed]
In the Chinese and Soviet systems of economic planning, they famously used "five year plans". However, most if not all of these plans apparently lasted shorter than five years. For example, ...
- 29
4
votes
1
answer
173
views
What was the official theoretical journal of the communist party of the USSR?
Like other ruling communist parties the propaganda organs of the USSR would have also published material covering theoretical topics relating to building socialism, communism, etc. These materials ...
- 518
2
votes
0
answers
96
views
Was Zhivkov under house arrest partly for inciting racial hatred?
So I was randomly reading about Tohor Zhivkov. The Guardian states:
Zhivkov, who has since died, was tried and sentenced to house
imprisonment, partly for inciting racial hatred in a 1980s campaign ...
- 139
4
votes
1
answer
830
views
Was Anti-Japaneseism a real political ideology?
According to a page on Wikipedia, there was a movement in the Japanese New Left called "Anti-Japaneseism", which claimed that
"The nation called Japan and the entire Japanese race ...
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Why wasn't Mao purged after the failure of the Great Leap Forward?
In 1958, Mao Zedong launched the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to forcibly collectivise Chinese agriculture and industrialise the country within just a few years. This involved the use of ...
- 941
19
votes
6
answers
10k
views
Why wasn’t the USSR “rebranded” communist?
I found that the Third International in 1921 sponsored a worldwide transformation of former “socialist” parties (that was concretely related to the rejection of so-called “reformism”, to be somewhat ...
- 943
5
votes
1
answer
864
views
Did Soviet people know Stalin's birth name?
We all know now that Stalin's birth name was Jughashvili (Ioseb Besarionis dzе Jughashvili). Lenin was born Ulyanov, Trotsky was Lev Davidovich Bronstein, Kamenev was Leo Rosenfeld, etc.
Searching ...
- 11.3k
1
vote
1
answer
455
views
How true is the Soviet killing quota under Stalin? [closed]
In The Soviet Story from 1:37:54 to 1:38:54, killing quotas of Soviet citizens are talked about. I could not find any concrete reason, evidence, or documentation suggesting that such "killing ...
-5
votes
1
answer
234
views
Is it true that novel 1984 became famous under US propaganda? [closed]
I've heard from some one that novel 1984 was not a very excellent novel but under US propaganda and CIA's pressure it became famous.
And also the opposite of this happened to novel Brave New World.
...
5
votes
2
answers
480
views
How were USSR oblasts and cities governed?
From Wikipedia “During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the “Oblast” CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest ...
- 171
2
votes
1
answer
423
views
Why was there a "workers' militia" in Eastern Europe but not in the USSR?
After WWII, especially after 1956 in several Eastern European countries the ruling Communist Parties formed "workers' and peasants' militias", see for example, Worker's Militia or Combat ...
- 399
2
votes
0
answers
103
views
Would Indonesia have become a communist country if Soekarno hadn't stepped down? [closed]
Along with Josip Tito and some other leaders, Soekarno is one of the founders of Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, which Britannica describes as an "abstention from the use of arrangements of ...
- 121
13
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How much of the Jonestown money actually got given to the USSR?
So, I was reading the Wikipedia page on the Jonestown massacre, and I noticed that several members of the People's Temple (including their leadership) willed all of their money to the Communist Party ...
- 316
5
votes
1
answer
233
views
What is this illustration portraying?
While doing my presentation I have come across this illustration titles "Downfall of the Soviet Union". I am, however, unable to determine, who are the people on this illustration and what is it ...
- 59
5
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Why was there so little information about sex in Eastern Block countries?
By "Taboo" I meant the lack of widespread access to the information (very few sources, sparse information in biology books etc). I've edited the title for clarification.
As you all probably ...
- 3,360
-5
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What was Karl Marxs views on drug use?
Considering the involvement of leftist guerrillas in south america in the drug trade got me thinking. How does that consolidate with the idea that the communist revolution is supposed to be for the ...
- 99
2
votes
2
answers
993
views
Was it ever possible to see students with burka/paranji having education at the schools and universities of the Uzbek Soviet Republic?
Despite strict 'hujum' (assault in English) policies against veiling as part of the liberation of women in Muslim populated less-developed areas of the Soviet Union during the early years of the ...
- 51
0
votes
2
answers
19k
views
What does Deng Xiaoping mean by "Hide your capacities, bide your time '?
I came across this interesting quote by Deng Xiaoping:
Hide your capacities and bide your time
however I didn't find much about this quote on the Internet explaining the exact context and meaning ...
- 350
4
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Why doesn’t Cuba's flag have any communist symbolism?
The wikipedia page on the flag of Cuba says:-
It is one of the two flags of a currently socialist country (the other being Laos) that does not use any Communist Symbolism.
The symbolism is (from ...
- 1,398
1
vote
2
answers
877
views
What prompted Cuba to fight against South African Imperialism? [closed]
After the Cuban Revolution, Cuba fought against South African apartheid against the advice of its Soviet sponsors who were looking for a rapprochement with the US.
What prompted such a move? Although ...
- 2,610
-2
votes
1
answer
372
views
Are there any communist countries that were model high functioning societies? [closed]
low pollution rate
high living standards
Are there any historically model communist countries?
- 151
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Were Communists drafted for the Vietnam war?
Given that it wasn't illegal to be a member of a Communist party in the US, how did the military handle draftees who might be sympathetic to North Vietnam? Were men who were members of the Communist ...
- 153
1
vote
1
answer
350
views
Was there any politization of "hard" science (math, physics, chemistry, biology) in the Asian communist countries?
Where proven science results contradict political views, the most obvious solution is to try to discredit those results, by creating your own versions. It has been done multiple times in history, for ...
- 3,360
0
votes
3
answers
373
views
How (not why) did the Bolshevik party seize such complete control of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets?
How (not why) did the Bolshevik party seize such complete control of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets ("the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 ...
user15163
1
vote
2
answers
206
views
"...as stated by its atheistic leaders more than 30 years ago" in McCarthy speech
I read this quote in a speech given on June 2, 1950 by Joseph McCarthy that said:
"We know that the major aim of communism, as stated by its atheistic leaders more than 30 years ago, is to create ...
102
votes
10
answers
20k
views
Has a sovereign Communist government ever run, and conceded loss, on a fair election?
Have there been cases where a sovereign Communist government ran in an open and fair multi-party election and conceded a loss?
The reason for the sovereign qualifier is simple. If, for example, the ...
- 7,684