Communism

:This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. For issues regarding Communist organizations, see the Communist party article. For issues regarding Communist Party-run states, see Communist state.

Cold War years

As the Soviet Union won important allies by victory in the Second World War in Eastern Europe, communism spread to a number of new countries, and gave rise to a few different branches of its own, such as Maoism.

Related Topics:
Second World War - Maoism

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Communism had been vastly strengthened by the winning of many new nations into the sphere of Soviet influence and strength in Eastern Europe. Governments modeled on Soviet Communism were formed in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania. A Communist government was also created under Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia, but Tito's independent policies led to the expulsion of Yugoslavia from the Cominform, which had replaced the Comintern, and Titoism, a new branch in the world communist movement, was labeled "deviationist."

Related Topics:
Albania - Bulgaria - Czechoslovakia - East Germany - Poland - Hungary - Romania - Marshal Tito - Yugoslavia - Cominform - Comintern - Titoism - Deviationist

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By 1950 the Chinese Communists held all of China except Taiwan, thus controlling the most populous nation in the world. Other areas where rising Communist strength provoked dissension and in some cases actual fighting include Laos, many nations of the Middle East and Africa, and, especially, Vietnam (see Vietnam War). With varying degrees of success, Communists attempted to unite with nationalist and socialist forces against Western imperialism in these poor countries.

Related Topics:
1950 - Chinese Communists - Taiwan - Laos - Vietnam - Vietnam War

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Maoism

After the death of Stalin in 1953, the Soviet Union's new leader, Nikita Khruschchev, denounced Stalin's crimes and his cult of personality. He called for a return to the principles of Lenin, thus presaging some change in Communist methods. However, Khrushchev's reforms heightened ideological differences between China and the Soviet Union, which became increasingly apparent in the 1960s and 1970s. As the Sino-Soviet Split in the international Communist movement turned toward open hostility, Maoist China portrayed itself as a leader of the underdeveloped world against the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, with Maoism gaining recognition worldwide as a new branch of Marxism.

Related Topics:
1953 - Cult of personality - 1960s - 1970s - Sino-Soviet Split - Maoism

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