Communist party Facts for Kids

A communist party is a political party that wants to achieve the goals of communism. Communism is a way of organizing society where everyone is equal and shares resources. The idea of a "communist party" became well-known from a book called The Communist Manifesto (1848). This book was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

In this idea, a communist party acts like a special group called a "vanguard party." This means it leads and teaches the working class (also called the proletariat). When a communist party is in charge, it rules through something called the "dictatorship of the proletariat." This means the working class, led by the party, holds all the power.

Vladimir Lenin came up with the idea of the communist party as a revolutionary leader. This happened when the socialist movement in Imperial Russia was split. There were two main groups: the Bolsheviks (meaning "the majority") and the Mensheviks (meaning "the minority"). Lenin believed that to be strong, the party should be small and well-organized. He called this "democratic centralism." It meant that decisions were made centrally, and everyone in the party had to follow them strictly.

The Mensheviks, including Leon Trotsky at first, thought that the party should also focus on getting support from many ordinary people. After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolshevik party took power in Russia. It later became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). In 1919, the Communist International (Comintern) was formed. This group helped spread the idea of communist party leadership around the world. The Comintern made its members use "communist party" in their names to keep the movement united.

The CPSU led the way in applying Marxism to Russia. This led to the creation of Leninism and Marxism–Leninism ideas and parties worldwide. After Lenin died, the Comintern said that Joseph Stalin's book Foundations of Leninism (1924) was the official explanation of Leninism.

How Communist Parties Organize People
How Communist Parties Are Named
How Many Members Do Communist Parties Have?
See also

How Communist Parties Organize People

Since a communist party was meant to be a group of active leaders, it needed other organizations to get support from many people. Communist parties often created "front organizations." These groups were open to people who were not communists.

Youth Groups

One of the most important front organizations was the party's youth wing. During the time of the Communist International, these youth groups were clearly communist. They were often called 'Young Communist League'. Later, the idea of youth leagues grew, and they used names like 'Democratic Youth League'.

Other Groups

Other groups like trade unions, student groups, women's groups, farmers' groups, and cultural organizations were also linked to communist parties. These groups usually followed the political leadership of the party. After many communist governments fell in the 1990s, some of these mass organizations continued to exist even without their founding parties.

A poster from the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi

International Organizations

The Communist International also set up international front organizations. These groups connected national organizations from different countries. Examples include the Young Communist International and the World Federation of Trade Unions. Many of these groups were closed when the Communist International ended.

After the Second World War, new international groups were formed. These included the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the World Peace Council. The Soviet Union also created the Cominform to unite communist goals in the Eastern Bloc.

Alliances with Other Parties

Historically, in countries where communist parties wanted to gain power, they sometimes formed alliances. They worked with non-communist parties and wartime groups. An example is the National Liberation Front of Albania. Once in power, these alliances often became "National" or "Fatherland" Fronts. In these fronts, non-communist parties were given a small role. This was called Blockpartei. Examples include the National Front of East Germany and the North Korean Reunification Front.

Sometimes, these fronts were formed without other parties joining. The goal was still the same: to share the communist party's ideas with non-communists. It also helped to get people to work on tasks for the country under the front's leadership.

How Communist Parties Are Named

The Communist International decided that all communist parties should have a similar name. They were required to use 'Communist Party of (name of the country)'. This meant that in some countries, different communist parties might have very similar names.

Today, some parties still use these original names. However, many parties changed their names over time. For example, the Bolshevik Party changed its name to the All-Russian Communist Party after taking power. Parties changed names to avoid being stopped by the government or to be more accepted by local people.

After the Second World War, many East European communist parties changed their names. This sometimes happened when they joined with local social democratic parties. New names included "Socialist Party", "Socialist Unity Party", "People's Party", "Workers' Party", and "Party of Labour".

The names of communist parties became more varied after the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s. This split divided the international communist movement. Parties that supported China and Albania often added words like 'Revolutionary' or 'Marxist–Leninist' to their names. This helped them show they were different from the pro-Soviet parties.

How Many Members Do Communist Parties Have?

In 1985, about 38% of the world's population lived under "communist" governments. This was about 1.67 billion people out of 4.4 billion. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) officially recognized 95 communist parties, both ruling and non-ruling. In total, there were about 82 million communist party members worldwide. Communist parties were a major challenge to liberal-democratic parties in the 20th century.

After the fall of the Eastern Bloc between 1989 and 1992, most of these parties either disappeared or changed their names and goals. In the 21st century, only five ruling parties at the national level still call themselves Marxist–Leninist parties:

As of 2023, the Chinese Communist Party was the second largest political party in the world. It had over 98 million members.

Communist party facts for kids

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