Communist party facts for kids
A communist party is a political party that works to create a society based on the ideas of communism. The name became famous from the book The Communist Manifesto (1848), written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
According to communist theory, these parties act as a "vanguard," which means they lead and educate the working class (also called the proletariat). When a communist party is in power, it governs through a system called the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The idea of a small, organized party was developed by Vladimir Lenin. In the early 1900s in Russia, socialists were split into two main groups. Lenin's group was the Bolsheviks ("the majority"), and the other was the Mensheviks ("the minority"). Lenin believed a small, disciplined party of professional revolutionaries was needed to lead a successful revolution.
This type of party was managed using democratic centralism. This meant that members could debate ideas, but once a decision was made, everyone had to support it completely. This kept the party unified and focused on its goals. The Mensheviks, on the other hand, believed that it was important to involve large numbers of people, not just a small group of leaders.
After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks took power in Russia and became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1919, they created the Communist International (or Comintern). This was an organization that brought together revolutionary parties from all over the world, spreading the idea of communist parties globally. The Comintern required all its member parties to use the name "Communist Party" in their official titles.
Contents
How Communist Parties Grew
Spreading the Idea
Under the leadership of the Soviet Union, the ideas of Marxism–Leninism (Lenin's version of Marxism) were adopted by new political parties around the world. After Lenin died, the official interpretation of his ideas was explained in a book by Joseph Stalin, Foundations of Leninism (1924).
Gaining Public Support
According to Lenin's theory, the main party should be small and made up of dedicated activists. To get support from the general public, communist parties created networks of other groups called front organizations. These groups were open to people who were not party members.
A common type of front organization was a youth group, often called a 'Young Communist League'. Later, many of these groups used broader names like 'Democratic Youth League' to attract more members. Other organizations, like trade unions, student groups, and women's groups, were also linked to communist parties. These groups helped spread the party's message and organize public support.
After World War II, new international organizations were set up to connect these national groups. Some examples include the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the World Peace Council.
Alliances and National Fronts
In countries where communist parties were trying to gain power, they sometimes formed alliances with non-communist groups. A good example is the National Liberation Front in Albania during World War II.
After gaining power, these alliances were often turned into "National Fronts." In these fronts, non-communist parties were allowed to exist, but they had very little real power. This practice, known as Blockpartei, was used in countries like East Germany with its National Front. A modern example is the Reunification Front in North Korea. This helped the communist party control the country while appearing to include other groups.
Naming of the Parties
The Communist International set a rule for how parties should be named. They had to be called the 'Communist Party of (Country Name)'. This is why some countries, like India, had several different parties with very similar names.
Over time, many parties changed their names. They did this either to avoid being banned by the government or to seem more friendly to the local people. After World War II, many communist parties in Eastern Europe merged with other socialist parties. They adopted new names like:
- "Socialist Party"
- "Socialist Unity Party"
- "People's Party"
- "Workers' Party"
In the 1960s, the communist world split due to disagreements between China and the Soviet Union (the Sino-Soviet split). Parties that supported China often added words like 'Revolutionary' or 'Marxist–Leninist' to their names to show they were different from the pro-Soviet parties.
Membership and Global Reach
By 1985, about 1.67 billion people, or 38% of the world's population, lived in countries ruled by communist governments. At that time, there were 95 officially recognized communist parties. In total, there were about 82 million communist party members worldwide.
However, between 1989 and 1992, most of the communist governments in Eastern Europe collapsed. Many of these parties were either dissolved or changed their names and goals.
In the 21st century, only a few countries are still led by parties that call themselves Marxist-Leninist. These are:
- The Chinese Communist Party
- The Communist Party of Cuba
- The Communist Party of Vietnam
- The Workers' Party of Korea (in North Korea)
- The Lao People's Revolutionary Party
As of 2023, the Chinese Communist Party was the second-largest political party in the world, with over 99 million members.
Different Views on Communist Parties
Historians and political scientists have different opinions about communist parties.
Some scholars, like Zbigniew Brzezinski, see them as all being very similar. They focus on the parties' strict, top-down control, rigid ideas, and strong discipline. This is sometimes called the "totalitarian" view.
Other experts argue that communist parties were very different from one another. They point out that parties in different countries had different structures and used the ideas of Marx and Lenin in unique ways to fit their situations.
Another question is why these parties were able to stay in power for so long. Some believe it was only because they used force to crush anyone who opposed them. Others argue that these parties were successful because they were able to adapt their policies to deal with new challenges and changing times.
See also
In Spanish: Partido comunista para niños
- Criticism of communist party rule
