COMMUNISM

definition
Latin word communis, “common, universal”

- Communism is a political and

economic system in which the major
productive resources in a society—
such as mines, factories, and farms—
are owned by the public or the
state, and wealth is divided among
citizens equally or according to
individual need.
- A social system in which all (or
nearly all) property and resources
are collectively owned by a
classless society and not by
individual citizens. 
History of Communism

•Pre-Marxist Communism

•Karl Marx

•The early communist states

•Spreading communism

•Contemporary communism
Pre-Marxist Communism

Primitive communism

Pythagoras and Plato

Karl Marx
Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it
knows itself to be this solution
- Marx, 1844

- He claimed the idea that human society

moved through a series of progressive stages
from primitive communism through
to slavery, feudalism, and then capitalism –
and that this in turn would be replaced by
communism. Therefore, for Marx communism
was seen as inevitable, as well as desirable.
The early communist states

The Russian Revolution and the formation of

the Soviet Union

By 1917 the bond between the tsar and most of the

Russian people had been broken. Governmental
corruption and inefficiency were rampant. The tsar’s
reactionary policies, including the occasional dissolution
of the Duma, or Russian parliament, the chief fruit of
the 1905 revolution, had spread dissatisfaction even to
moderate elements. The Russian Empire’s many ethnic
minorities grew increasingly restive under Russian
domination.
Spreading Communism
•Warsaw Pact Nations: Albania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland and Hungary
•Yugoslavia (1945 - 1992)
•North Vietnam (1954 - 1976, although still
technically communist following the unification of
Vietnam)
•Yemen (1969 - 1990)
•Somalia (1969 - 1991)
•Cambodia (1975 -1989)
Contemporary
Contemporary communism
communism

These countries claim to be a communist

country.
•China, since 1949
•Cuba, since 1959
•Vietnam, since 1976
•North Korea, since 1948
•Laos, since 1975
Socialism Communism

Equal share Absence of

in profit and money and
property ownership to
establish
social order
Pros of Communism

1. It can do away with all class systems. 

2. It can dramatically decrease unemployment
rates. 
5. It paves the way for a strong and safe country. 
4. It puts dictators in power. 
5. It provides citizens with all their basic needs.
Cons of Communism

1. It does not shed much light on its rulers. 

2. It is anti-ambition. 
3. It can fuel poverty. 
4. It can be just as corrupt as capitalism. 
5. It constrains the voice of the people.
COMMUNISM