Communism is a socioeconomic policy that advocates a classless society
in which the government owns and controls all property and means of
production. It is the opposite of capitalism, which is the policy upon
which the U.S. economy is based. Within communism, there is no business competition, and wealth is distributed equally among people.
Another primary difference between communism and capitalism is its
leadership. Communism requires authoritarian, single-party rule, which
sometimes results in force to control opposition. The concept of communism dates back to ancient Greece, when
philosopher Plato (428 BCE–348 BCE) advocated it as a kind of communal living. The real father of communism, however, is German philosopher Karl Marx (1818–1883). Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto in
1848, in which he outlined and explained his theory of communism.
The author worked closely with Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), a
German social scientist and philosopher. Engels helped Marx write the
Manifesto. The men referred to communism as “scientific socialism.”
Socialism
Communism is based on the theory of socialism, which developed in
Europe during the working-class rebellions of the nineteenth century.
Supporters of the theory argued that those in power had forgotten the
ideals of liberty, equality, and the right to existence. Until political rights
included economic and social equality, these ideals could never be realized. Therefore, the gaps between the wealthy and the poor must be destroyed.
Marx and Engels considered communism the highest form of socialism. Because history was full of struggles between capitalists (those who
own property and/or money) and the working class (known as proletariats), they believed that society must be on the path toward communism:
To them, communism was inevitable. Marx believed that the working
class would ultimately rule in a socialist society that would eventually
evolve into a communist society—one without poverty, government corruption, and class distinctions. His view of socialism is sometimes referred to as Marxism.
Leninism
Russian statesman Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), one of the twentieth
century’s most revolutionary thinkers, was another supporter of communism. He took Marxism one step further and developed his own brand
of communism, known as Leninism.
Lenin explained his beliefs in a political pamphlet, titled What Is to
Be Done? (1902), in which he argued that the proletariat can achieve a
revolutionary consciousness only if it forms a political party comprised
of full-time, professional revolutionaries. He also said that goals could be
reached only through democratic centralism, whereby decisions are made democratically by the group, but once made, those decisions must
be supported without exception and actively promoted.
Lenin insisted that capitalism could be overcome only through revolutions, not through reforms. The ultimate goal of Lenin and his followers was to overthrow the existing Russian government, and in 1917,
he did just that as he led the Bolshevik Revolution (also known as the
October Revolution or Russian Revolution). The Bolsheviks were professional revolutionaries organized by Lenin, and they represented the
struggling proletariats of Russia at the time.
On October 25, 1917, Lenin led the uprising in St. Petersburg,
Russia’s capital. The Bolsheviks met with little opposition in taking over
the Winter Palace (home of the Russian czar and his family). The victory
brought several improvements for Russia’s working class. Workdays were
shorter and wages were higher. Private bank accounts—held mainly by
the wealthy—and the church’s property and bank accounts were seized.
Private land—owned only by the wealthy—was seized and redistributed
among the peasantry (rural working class). Russia became a socialist nation. In 1922, Russia joined with other republics to become the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), or the Soviet Union.
After Lenin
In his lifetime, Lenin never proclaimed that the Soviet Union had become socialist; he merely stated that the communists had come to power.
Upon Lenin’s death in 1924, a great power struggle began between dictator Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) and revolutionary Leon Trotsky
(1879–1940). Stalin was a Leninist and Trotsky considered himself a
Marxist. When Stalin’s view became the law of the land, Trotsky was expelled from his country.
Stalin was a ruthless dictator whose campaigns of political repression
claimed the lives of millions. During his rule, the Soviet Union helped
defeat Germany in World War II (1939–45) and so became one of the
world’s two superpowers (with the United States) in the postwar era. By
1937, the Soviet Union had developed into the world’s second most industrialized nation.
The 1930s were devastating for Russians who disagreed with Stalin’s
doctrine. Stalin put into action what became known as the Great Purge,
a campaign of intense political repression, persecution, and execution.
Where once he called his policy Marxism-Leninism, the dictator now referred to it as Stalinism. To punish those who were against him, Stalin
confiscated grain and other food, sending his country deep into famine
from 1932 to 1934; millions of people starved to death or died by execution or in brutal prison labor camps.
Stalin died from the effects of a stroke in 1953 and was succeeded
by Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971), who denounced the fallen leader
and began a process called “de-Stalinization.”
Communism in Asia and Cuba
Communism was not found only in the Soviet Union. Before World War
II, it existed in other countries, but it did not control the government. In
China, the philosophy of statesman Mao Zedong (1893–1976) influenced
communism. In 1949, Mao led the Communist Party of China to victory
over the Kuomintang in the Chinese Civil War. As a result, he ruled the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) from 1949 until his death in 1976.
Mao’s theory was based on Marxism-Leninism, but he put his own
spin on it to allow for practical application. According to him, the peasantry was viewed as a major force in any revolution. Unlike Russian
communism, which relied upon working-class city dwellers, China’s
communism relied upon rural-based peasants.
Cuba was another communist country that based its theory on
Soviet communism, but revised it to fit the needs and wants of Cuban
economic and social circumstances. In 1959, revolutionary leader Fidel
Castro (1926–) and his followers overthrew the government of Cuba.
Shortly afterward, he was sworn in as the prime minister of Cuba, and
became the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1965.
Although some Cubans hated Castro, who became president of his
country in 1976, others praised him as a charismatic leader who did
much good for Cuba. His opponents described him as a dictator whose
rule was illegitimate because it was not established through legal means.
After several years of poor health, in February 2008 Castro resigned his
position, and the National Assembly elected his younger brother, Raúl
Castro (1931–), to succeed him as Cuba’s president.
America’s greatest fear
Communism in any form has long been the greatest fear of the U.S. government. Shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, an anticommunist Red Scare gripped the United States. So great was this fear that
innocent people were imprisoned for merely expressing their political
views. Any labor strikes or unrest were immediately associated with a
lack of patriotism, if not with an outright support of socialism and communism.
In 1919, J. Edgar Hoover (1895–1972) headed up the newly created General Intelligence Division of the Bureau of Investigation, eventually called the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He and his
team spied on organizations and individuals they suspected of having
communist ties or sympathies. Civil liberties were ignored, and the division eventually compiled more than two hundred thousand information
cards on suspects. Thousands of people were arrested on absurd charges.
For example, in Newark, New Jersey, a man was arrested simply because
he looked like a radical.
The national mood shifted when the injustices perpetrated by the
FBI were made public. By the summer of 1920, the Red Scare had run
its course.
McCarthyism
The Second Red Scare began in the late 1940s and lasted for about a
decade. Although the United States had sided with the Soviet Union
during World War II, the establishment of new communist regimes in
Eastern Europe shortly after the war, the Soviet Union’s development of
an atomic bomb, and a highly publicized spy case in the United States
raised fears and led to what is known as the Cold War. A cold war is
when there is no physical fighting, but political relations between countries are strained and tense. The Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1991.
On February 9, 1950, U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy (1908–1957)
of Wisconsin made a speech to a Republican Women’s Club in Virginia
in which he claimed to have a list of members of the Communist Party
and members of a spy ring who worked for the U.S. State Department.
Within a month, the hunt for communists within the United States was
labeled “McCarthyism.”
In addition to numerous local, state, and federal government anticommunist panels and committees, private agencies were hired to carry
out investigations for companies that suspected that communists were
lurking within their ranks. The most active government committee was
the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which had been formed in 1938. In October 1947, the HUAC began summoning
movie industry professionals to appear to testify about their alleged communist affiliations or beliefs and to implicate their colleagues. Although
some actors were subpoenaed, most of those persecuted were screenwriters and directors.
Among the first called to testify were ten men who refused to cooperate. They became known as the Hollywood Ten, and all were sentenced
to jail for terms of six months to one year. The day after the Hollywood
Ten were cited for contempt of court, the president of the Motion
Picture Association of America announced that his group would not
knowingly hire a Communist. This was the beginning of Hollywood
blacklisting, a process that eventually banned hundreds of actors and
writers from working in the film industry. The film studios denied them
employment, but they never admitted the blacklist even existed.
Beginning in 1940, various laws had been passed to protect America
from communist subversion. Under these laws, hundreds of people were
prosecuted legally but unjustly. McCarthy headed the Senate Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations from 1953 to 1954, and he used the
committee for anticommunist investigations. McCarthy’s relentless and
unethical pursuit and persecution of individuals caused him to lose supporters. As the movement became more extreme, its opponents became
more outspoken. One such opponent was well-known CBS newscaster
Edward R. Murrow (1908–1965). In 1954, Murrow aired two television
programs on the horrors and injustices of McCarthyism, the second of
which focused on Senator McCarthy himself. He was portrayed as dishonest and abusive, and that broadcast was praised as a key factor in ending the era of McCarthyism.
An end to the witch hunts
By the end of the 1950s, the American public had begun to doubt the
righteousness of McCarthyism. The U.S. Supreme Court almost singlehandedly ended the era with several court decisions. In 1956, a New
York college professor had been fired for invoking the Fifth
Amendment when McCarthy’s committee questioned him. The
Supreme Court declared this firing illegal. The following year, the convictions of fourteen communists were reversed, and the Supreme Court
revoked the power of HUAC to punish uncooperative witnesses. In
1958, the State Department was stripped of its authority to deny or revoke passports based on an individual’s communist ties or beliefs.
McCarthyism had come to an end.
Communism remains a threat to the U.S. government for the same
reason it once did: The cornerstone of American society and economy is
based on capitalism, and communism goes against every belief of capitalism.