Communism

(noun)

A revolutionary socialist movement to create a classless, moneyless, and stateless social order structured upon common ownership of the means of production, as well as a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of this social order. This movement, in its Marxist-Leninist interpretations, significantly influenced the history of the 20th century, which saw intense rivalry between the "socialist world" (socialist states ruled by communist parties) and the "western world" (countries with capitalist economies).

Related Terms

Examples of Communism in the following topics:

  • Utopian Communities

    • The Oneida Community, founded by John Humphrey Noyes in Oneida, New York, was a utopian religious commune that lasted from 1848 to 1881.
    • The goal was a balance between individuals in a community of love and respect.
    • The perfectionist community Noyes envisioned ultimately dissolved in 1881, although the Oneida Community itself continues to this day.
    • Property was held communally, and no animal labor was used.
    • The community was short-lived and lasted only seven months.

  • A Communications Revolution

    • The United States experienced a communication revolution in in the early 1800s, during which the penny press and the electrical telegraph emerged.
    • Advances in forms of communications greatly expanded in the United States during the early 1800s.
    • The penny press and the electrical telegraph were among the innovations that emerged during this communications revolution.
    • They generally took two forms: mercantile sheets intended for the business community, which contained ship schedules, wholesale product prices, advertisements, and some foreign news; and political newspapers, which were controlled by political parties or their editors as a means of sharing their views with elite stakeholders.
    • Improved communication systems fostered the development of business, economics, and politics by allowing for dissemination of news at a speed previously unknown.

  • Voting in the Colonies

    • Thus, elections became the main forum in which men could profess political allegiances, publicly demonstrating their community civic pride.
    • Attendance on election days also served as a means of civic education and communal reinforcement of the appropriate, expected behavior of young males.
    • The public vote allowed for local community observation of the electoral process, as well as the political allegiances of males in the community.
    • Furthermore, elections often included speeches, rallies, celebrations, parades, and other celebratory demonstrations that reinforced the notions of civic duty, pride, and active contribution to the community.

  • American Technology

    • Inventions emerged in the 19th century that greatly impacted communications, transportation and commercial agriculture.
    • Though the United States borrowed significantly from Europe's technological advancements during the Industrial Revolution, several great American inventions emerged at the turn of the 19th century greatly impacting manufacturing, communications, transportation, and commercial agriculture.
    • The communications revolution that began in this period served to bridge communities and transform business.

  • Forming a Slave Community

    • Despite brutal circumstances, African slaves formed strong communities that often served as methods of resistance.
    • Despite brutal circumstances and limited freedom, African slaves formed strong communities that often served as methods of resistance.
    • The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South is a book written by American historian John W.
    • Culture developed within the slave community independent of the slaveowners' influence.
    • Despite harsh conditions and brutal circumstances, slaves found ways to build strong communities.

  • Containment in Vietnam

    • The Vietnam War was fought on the principle that the spread of communism needed to be contained.
    • The U.S. war in Vietnam was fought on an ideology that communism and the spread of the Soviet Union needed to be contained, a policy that was contested in U.S. politics in the 1960s and 1970s.
    • Although it continued to aim at restraining the Soviet Union, detente was based on political realism, or thinking in terms of national interest, as opposed to crusades against communism or for democracy.

  • "The Hour of Maximum Danger"

    • Kennedy felt that the spread of communism (the "hour of maximum danger") required the policy of containment.
    • The spread of communism during the Kennedy administration represented a grave threat to the Western world.
    • Thus, a dominant premise during the Kennedy years was the need to contain communism at any cost.
    • Kennedy felt that the spread of communism (the "hour of maximum danger") required the policy of containment.
    • In this policy, Kennedy voiced support for the containment of Communism, the reversal of Communist progress in the Western Hemisphere, and sought to prevent the spread of communism and Soviet influence in Latin America following the Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in the 1950s.

  • The Settlement House Movement

    • The settlement house movement was a reform that intended for the rich and the poor to live together in interdependent communities.
    • These and other settlement houses inspired the establishment of settlement schools to serve isolated rural communities in Appalachia.
    • Hull House conducted careful studies of the Near West Side, Chicago community, which became known as "The Hull House Neighborhood."
    • She said that if women were to be responsible for cleaning up their communities and making them better places to live, they needed to be able to vote to do so effectively.
    • Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities.

  • Politics in Public

    • American colonial governments were local enterprises, with deep roots in a given community.
    • Characteristic of the Anglo-American colonies was an extensive communal culture, centered on the civic and political sphere.
    • Attendance on election days also served as a means of civic education and a communal reinforcement of what behavior was expected of young males.
    • The public vote meant that the local community observed the electoral process and the political allegiances of males in the community.
    • Such widespread participation in local community governments was characteristic of the colonies.

  • Colonial Government

    • American colonial governments were a local enterprise rooted deeply roots in communities.
    • Widespread participation in local community governments was also distinctive of the American colonies.
    • Merchants, landlords, petty farmers, artisans, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Quakers, Germans, Scotch Irish, Yankees, Yorkers, and many other groups participated in local community government life.
    • Widespread participation in both colonial and local community governments was widespread among free white males in the 18th century.