Leninism Leninism is a political theory for the organisation of a revolutionary
vanguard party and the achievement of a
dictatorship of the proletariat as political prelude to the establishment of socialism. Developed by and named for the Russian revolutionary
Vladimir Lenin, from the
Bolshevik faction of the Bolshevik-
Menshevik split in the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, Leninism comprises political and economic theories developed from orthodox Marxism and Lenin's interpretations of Marxist theories, including his original theoretical contributions such as his
analysis of
imperialism, principles of
party organization and the implementation of socialism through
revolution and
New Economic Policy reform thereafter, for practical application to the socio-political conditions of the
Russian Empire of the early 20th century.
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a political ideology developed by
Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s. Based on Stalin's understanding and synthesis of both Marxism and Leninism, it was the official
state ideology of the
Soviet Union and the parties of the
Communist International after
Bolshevisation. After the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin established universal ideological orthodoxy among the
Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), the Soviet Union and the Communist International to establish universal Marxist–Leninist
praxis. In the late 1930s, Stalin's official textbook
The History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) (1938), made the term Marxism–Leninism common political-science usage among communists and non-communists. The purpose of Marxism–Leninism is the revolutionary transformation of a capitalist state into a socialist state by way of
two-stage revolution led by a vanguard party of professional revolutionaries, drawn from the proletariat. To realise the two-stage transformation of the state, the vanguard party establishes the dictatorship of the proletariat and determines policy through democratic centralism. The Marxist–Leninist
communist party is the vanguard for the political, economic and social transformation of a capitalist society into a socialist society which is the lower stage of socio-economic development and progress towards the upper-stage
communist society which is
stateless and
classless, yet it features public ownership of the means of production, accelerated
industrialisation, pro-active development of society's productive forces (research and development) and
nationalised natural resources. As the official ideology of the Soviet Union, Marxism–Leninism was adopted by communist parties worldwide with variation in local application. Parties with a Marxist–Leninist understanding of the historical development of socialism advocate for the nationalisation of natural resources and
monopolist industries of capitalism and for their internal democratization as part of the transition to
workers' control. The economy under such a government is primarily coordinated through a universal
economic plan with varying degrees of
market distribution. Since the fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, many communist parties of the world today continue to use Marxism–Leninism as their method of understanding the conditions of their respective countries. A variety of currents developed from Marxism-Leninism have gained prominence in various countries, including
Bolshevism and
Mariáteguism.
Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and related policies implemented from
1927 to 1953 by Stalin. Stalinist policies and ideas that were developed in the Soviet Union included rapid industrialisation, the theory of
socialism in one country,
collectivisation of agriculture,
intensification of the class struggle under socialism, a
cult of personality, and subordination of the interests of foreign
communist parties to those of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), deemed by Stalinism to be the leading vanguard party of
communist revolution at the time. As a political term, it has a variety of uses, but most commonly it is used as a
pejorative shorthand for Marxism–Leninism by a variety of competing political tendencies such as capitalism and
Trotskyism. Although Stalin himself repudiated any qualitatively original contribution to Marxism, the communist movement usually credits him with systematizing and expanding the ideas of Lenin into the ideology of Marxism–Leninism as a distinct body of work. In this sense, Stalinism can be thought of as being roughly equivalent to Marxism–Leninism, although this is not universally agreed upon. At other times, the term is used as a general umbrella term—again pejoratively—to describe a wide variety of political systems and governments. In this sense, it can be seen as being roughly equivalent to
actually existing socialism, although sometimes it is used to describe totalitarian governments that are not socialist. Some of the contributions to communist theory that Stalin is particularly known for are the following: • The theoretical work concerning nationalities as seen in
Marxism and the National Question. • The notion of socialism in one country. •
Marxism and Problems of Linguistics. • The theory of
aggravation of class struggle under socialism, a theoretical base supporting the repression of political opponents as necessary.
Trotskyism Leon Trotsky and his supporters organized into the
Left Opposition and their platform became known as Trotskyism. Stalin eventually succeeded in gaining control of the Soviet regime and Trotskyist attempts to remove Stalin from power resulted in Trotsky's exile from the Soviet Union in 1929. During Trotsky's exile, mainstream communism fractured into two distinct branches, i.e. Trotskyism and Stalinism. Trotskyism supports the theory of
permanent revolution and
world revolution instead of the two-stage theory and socialism in one country. It supported
proletarian internationalism and another communist revolution in the Soviet Union which Trotsky claimed had become a
degenerated worker's state under the leadership of Stalin in which class relations had re-emerged in a new form, rather than the dictatorship of the proletariat. In 1938, Trotsky founded the
Fourth International, a Trotskyist rival to the Stalinist Communist International. Trotskyist ideas became more prominent through the 1960s, having found echo among political movements in some countries in Asia and Latin America, especially in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Sri Lanka. Many Trotskyist organizations are also active in more stable, developed countries in North America and Western Europe. Trotsky's politics differed sharply from those of Stalin and Mao, most importantly in declaring the need for an international proletarian revolution (rather than socialism in one country) and unwavering support for a true dictatorship of the proletariat-based on democratic principles. As a whole, Trotsky's theories and attitudes were never accepted in Marxist–Leninist circles after Trotsky's expulsion, either within or outside of the Soviet Bloc. This remained the case even after the "
Secret Speech" and subsequent events critics claim exposed the fallibility of Stalin. Trotsky's followers claim to be the heirs of Lenin in the same way that mainstream Marxist–Leninists do. There are several distinguishing characteristics of this school of thought—foremost is the theory of permanent revolution, contrasted to the theory of socialism in one country. This stated that in less-developed countries the bourgeoisie were too weak to lead their own
bourgeois-democratic revolutions. Due to this weakness, it fell to the proletariat to carry out the bourgeois revolution. With power in its hands, the proletariat would then continue this revolution permanently, transforming it from a national bourgeois revolution to a socialist international revolution. Another shared characteristic between Trotskyists is a variety of theoretical justifications for their negative appraisal of the post-Lenin Soviet Union after Trotsky was expelled by a majority vote from the
All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and subsequently from the Soviet Union. As a consequence, Trotsky defined the Soviet Union under Stalin as a planned economy ruled over by a bureaucratic caste. Trotsky advocated overthrowing the government of the Soviet Union after he was expelled from it. Trotskyist currents include
orthodox Trotskyism,
third camp,
Posadism,
Pabloism, and
Morenism.
Maoism Maoism is the Marxist–Leninist trend of communism associated with
Mao Zedong and was mostly practised within the
People's Republic of China. Khrushchev's reforms heightened ideological differences between China and the Soviet Union, which became increasingly apparent in the 1960s. As the
Sino-Soviet split in the international communist movement turned toward open hostility, China portrayed itself as a leader of the underdeveloped world against the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Parties and groups that supported the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in their criticism against the new Soviet leadership proclaimed themselves as
anti-revisionist and denounced the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the parties aligned with it as
revisionist "
capitalist roaders". The Sino-Soviet split resulted in divisions amongst communist parties around the world. Notably, the
Party of Labour of Albania sided with the People's Republic of China. Effectively, the CCP under Mao Zedong became the rallying forces of a parallel international communist tendency. The ideology of the Chinese communist party, Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought, was adopted by many of these groups. After Mao's death and his replacement by
Deng Xiaoping, the international Maoist movement diverged. One sector accepted the new leadership in China whereas a second renounced the new leadership and reaffirmed their commitment to Mao's legacy and a third renounced Maoism altogether and aligned with
Albania.
Deng Xiaoping Theory visiting the US in 1979. Drawing inspiration from Lenin's New Economic Policy,
Deng Xiaoping Theory is a political and economic ideology first developed by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. The theory does not claim to reject Marxism–Leninism or Mao Zedong Thought, but instead it seeks to adapt them to the existing socio-economic conditions of China. Deng also stressed
opening China to the outside world, the implementation of
one country, two systems and through the phrase "
seek truth from facts" an advocate of political and economic
pragmatism. As reformist communism and a branch of Maoism, Dengism is often criticized by traditional Maoists. Dengists believe that isolated in our current international order and with an extremely underdeveloped economy it is first and foremost necessary to bridge the gap between China and Western capitalism as quickly as possible in order for socialism to be successful (see the theory of
primary stage of socialism). In order to encourage and promote the advancement of productivity by creating competition and innovation, Dengist thought promotes the idea that the PRC needs to introduce certain market elements in a socialist country. Dengists still believe that China needs public ownership of land, banks, raw materials and strategic central industries so a democratically elected government can make decisions on how to use them for the benefit of the country as a whole instead of the land owners, but at the same time private ownership is allowed and encouraged in industries of finished goods and services. According to Deng Xiaoping Theory, private owners in those industries are not a bourgeoisie. Because in accordance with Marxist theory, bourgeois owns land and raw materials. Private company owners are called civil run enterprises. The People's Republic of China was the first country that adopted this belief. It boosted its economy and achieved the Chinese economic miracle. It has increased the Chinese GDP growth rate to over 8% per year for thirty years and China now has the second highest GDP in the world. Due to the influence of Dengism, Vietnam and Laos have also adopted similar beliefs and policies, allowing Laos to increase its real GDP growth rate to 8.3%. Cuba is also starting to embrace such ideas. Dengists take a very strong position against any form of personality cults which appeared in the Soviet Union during Stalin's rule and the current North Korea.
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism is a political philosophy that builds upon Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. It was first formalised by the Peruvian communist party
Shining Path in 1988. The synthesis of Marxism–Leninism–Maoism did not occur during the life of Mao. From the 1960s, groups that called themselves Maoist, or which upheld Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought, were not unified around a common understanding of Maoism and had instead their own particular interpretations of the political, philosophical, economical and military works of Mao. Maoism as a unified, coherent stage of Marxism was not synthesized until the late 1980s through the experience of the people's war waged by the Shining Path. This led the Shining Path to posit Maoism as the newest development of Marxism in 1988. Since then, it has grown and developed significantly and has served as an animating force of revolutionary movements in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Nepal and the Philippines and has also led to efforts being undertaken towards the constitution or reconstitution of communist parties in countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States.
Prachanda Path Marxism–Leninism–Maoism–Prachanda Path is the ideological line of the
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre). It is considered to be a further development of Marxism–Leninism and Maoism. It is named after the leader of the CPN(M), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, commonly known as
Prachanda. Prachanda Path was proclaimed in 2001 and its formulation was partially inspired by the Shining Path which refers to its ideological line as
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism–Gonzalo Thought. Prachanda Path does not make an ideological break with Marxism–Leninism or Maoism, but rather it is an extension of these ideologies based on the political situation of Nepal. The doctrine came into existence after it was realized that the ideology of Marxism–Leninism and Maoism could not be practiced as done in the past, therefore Prachanda Path based on the circumstances of Nepalese politics was adopted by the party. Prachanda's positions are seen by some Marxist–Leninist–Maoists around the world as "revisionist".
Other Maoist tendencies Other Maoist-based tendencies include
Maoism–Third Worldism,
National Democracy in the Philippines, and
Naxalism, an ongoing Maoist-based insurgency in India.
People's Multiparty Democracy (Madanism) delivering a speech. People's Multiparty Democracy (, abbreviated , also called Marxism-Leninism-Madanism ()) refers to the ideological line of the
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and
Nepal Communist Party. This thought abandons the traditional Leninist idea of a revolutionary communist
vanguard party in favor of a
democratic multi-party system. It is considered an extension of Marxism–Leninism by
Madan Bhandari, the CPN-UML leader who developed it, and is based on the local
politics of Nepal.
Xi Jinping Thought Xi Jinping Thought is an ideological doctrine based on the writings, speeches and policies of
Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping. According to the CCP, Xi Jinping Thought "builds on and further enriches" previous party ideologies and has also been called as the "Marxism of contemporary China and of the 21st century". It consists of 14-point fundamental principles, which were announced together with Xi Jinping Thought.
Hoxhaism Hoxhaism is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist variant that appeared after the
ideological row between the CCP and the Party of Labour of Albania in 1978. The Albanians rallied a new separate international tendency. This tendency would demarcate itself by a strict defense of the legacy of Stalin and fierce criticism of virtually all other communist groupings as revisionist. Critical of the United States, Soviet Union and China,
Enver Hoxha declared the latter two to be
social-imperialist and condemned the
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia by withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact in response. Hoxhaism asserts the right of nations to pursue socialism by different paths, dictated by the conditions in those countries. Hoxha declared Albania to be the world's only state legitimately adhering to Marxism–Leninism after 1978. The Albanians were able to win over a large share of the Maoists, mainly in Latin America such as the
Popular Liberation Army and the
Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador, but it also had a significant
international following in general. After the fall of the communist government in Albania, the pro-Albanian parties are grouped around an international conference and the publication
Unity and Struggle.
Titoism Titoism is described as the post-World War II policies and practices associated with
Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War, characterized by an
opposition to the Soviet Union. Elements of Titoism are characterized by policies and practices based on the principle that in each country, the means of attaining ultimate communist goals must be dictated by the conditions of that particular country rather than by a pattern set in another country. During Josip Broz Tito's era, this specifically meant that the communist goal should be pursued independently of and often in opposition to the policies of the Soviet Union. The term was originally meant as a pejorative and was labeled by Moscow as a heresy during the period of tensions between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia known as the
Informbiro period from 1948 to 1955. The implementation of
socialist self-management which to move the managing of companies into the hands of workers and to separate the management from the state. It was also meant to demonstrate the viability of a third way between the capitalist
United States and the socialist
Soviet Union. From 1949 the central government began to cede power to communal local governments, seeking to decentralise the government and work towards a
withering away of the state.
Rankovićism disagreed with this decentralisation, viewing it as a threat to the stability of Yugoslavia. Unlike the rest of Eastern Bloc which fell under Stalin's influence post-World War II,
Yugoslavia remained independent from Moscow due to the strong leadership of Tito and the fact that the
Yugoslav Partisans liberated Yugoslavia with only limited help from the
Red Army. It became the only country in the Balkans to resist pressure from Moscow to join the Warsaw Pact and remained "socialist, but independent" right up until the collapse of Soviet socialism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Throughout his time in office, Josip Broz Tito and party leadership took pride in Yugoslavia's independence from the Soviet Bloc, with Yugoslavia never accepting full membership of the
Comecon and his open rejection of many aspects of Stalinism as the most obvious manifestations of this. Although himself not a communist,
Muammar Gaddafi's
Third International Theory was heavily influenced by Titoism.
Ho Chi Minh Thought harbor during his 1957 visit to
East Germany Ho Chi Minh Thought () is a
political philosophy that builds upon Marxism–Leninism and the ideology of
Ho Chi Minh. It was developed and codified by the
Communist Party of Vietnam and formalised in 1991. The term is used to cover political theories and policies considered as representing a form of Marxism–Leninism that has been adapted to
Vietnamese circumstances and history. Whilst the ideology is named after the Vietnamese revolutionary and President, it does not necessarily reflect the personal ideologies of Ho Chi Minh but rather the official ideology of the Communist Party of Vietnam. As with Maoism, the core of Ho Chi Minh Thought is the belief that the peasantry is the revolutionary vanguard in pre-industrial societies rather than the proletariat. Ho Chi Minh Thought is rooted in: •
Marxism-Leninism • Traditional Vietnamese ideology and culture • Eastern cultural thought:
Confucianism and
Buddhism • Western ideologies, specifically French and American political philosophy • Ho Chi Minh's personal morality
Castroism (left) and
Fidel Castro (right), photographed by
Alberto Korda in 1961. Castroism refers to the politics followed and enacted by the
Communist Party of Cuba under the leadership of
Fidel Castro, following a Marxist and a Leninist stance. Castro's political thought was influenced by the Cuban anti-imperialist revolutionary
José Martí, Marx, and
Hispanidad, a movement that criticized Anglo-Saxon material values and admired the moral values of Spanish and Spanish American culture. Besides Castro's personal thought, the theory of
Che Guevara and
Jules Régis Debray have also been important influences on Castroism. The
Socialist Workers Party in the United States follows a Castroist position.
Guevarism Guevarism is a theory of communist revolution and a
military strategy of
guerrilla warfare associated with
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who believed in the idea of Marxism–Leninism and embraced its principles. From his own experience he developed the
foco theory of
guerrilla warfare, that took inspiration from the Maoist notion of a "
protracted people's war", combined with Guevara's experiences in the
Cuban Revolution. When there were "objective conditions" for a revolution in a country, a small "focus" guerrilla as a vanguard could create the "subjective conditions" and unleash a general popular uprising. Guevara provided the details of the guerilla warfare used in Cuba with discussion in his book
Guerilla Warfare. Guevara explained that in certain contexts the armed struggle had no place so it was necessary to use peaceful mechanisms such as participation within
representative democracy. Although Che stated that this line should be peaceful but "very combative, very brave" and that it could only be abandoned if its orientation in favor of representative democracy was undermined within the population. It was once such means have been exhausted that guerilla warfare should be considered and prepared.
Nkrumaism meeting with
Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1966. Nkrumaism is a pan-African socialist theory which aims to adapt Marxist–Leninist theory to the social context of the
African continent. Nkrumah defined his belief system as "the ideology of a New Africa, independent and absolutely free from
imperialism, organized on a continental scale, founded upon the conception of
one and united Africa, drawing its strength from modern science and technology and from the traditional African belief that the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." Important influences on Nkrumah's work were different sources from within Africa, the
canon of Western philosophy, the works of Marx, Lenin, and black intellectuals in North America and Europe, like
Marcus Garvey,
George Padmore,
C. L. R. James,
W. E. B. Du Bois and
Father Divine. Aside from the Marxist–Leninist framework, this blending of ideas largely only took bits and pieces of other philosophical systems and even its use of traditional African cultural concepts were often stretched to fit into the larger theory. While a major focus of the ideology was ending colonial relationships on the African continent, many of the ideas were
utopian, diverting the scientific nature of the Marxist political analysis which it claims to support. Like other African political ideologies at the time, the central focus of Nkrumaism was on
decolonization across Africa. Nkrumah rejected the idealized view of pre-colonial African societies that were classless or non-hierarchical, but accepted that Africa had a spirit of communalism and humanism. Nkrumaism then argued that a return to these values through socialist political structures would both heal the disruption caused by colonial structures and allow further development of African societies. The pan-African aspects of Nkrumah's ideology were justified by a claim that all African societies had a community of economic life and that in contradiction to the
neocolonial structures that replaced formal colonies, only African unity would create real autonomy. While Nkrumah believed in the materialism and economic determinism of Marxism, he argued that focusing on the economic system was only appropriate after achieving independence throughout Africa and that the political struggle was the first order in colonial and neocolonial contexts.
Sankarism Sankarism is a description of the policies enacted and positions held by the government of
Thomas Sankara in
Burkina Faso. Ideologically, Sankara was a
pan-Africanist,
anti-imperialist and a communist who studied the works of Marx and Lenin, who sought to reclaim the African identity of his nation and opposed
neocolonialism. During his time in power he attempted to bring about what he called the "Democratic and Popular Revolution" (), a radical transformation of society with a focus on
self-sufficiency. A number of organizations were formed to implement this revolution, among them the
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the
Popular Revolutionary Tribunals and the
Pioneers of the Revolution. A vast number of reforms were enacted in Burkina Faso between 1983 and 1987, including mass vaccination programs, reforestation, elimination of
slums through new housing developments, and the development of national infrastructure such as railway networks. There is a strong political dissonance between the movements in modern
Burkina Faso which ascribe to Sankara's political legacy and ideals, a fact which the Burkinabé opposition politician
Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara (no relation) described in 2001 as being "due to a lack of definition of the concept." The "Sankarists" range from communists and socialists to
nationalists and
populists. The
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) of
South Africa, founded in 2013 by
Julius Malema, claim to take significant inspiration from Sankara in terms of both style and ideology.
Khrushchevism Khrushchevism was a form of Marxism–Leninism which consisted of the theories and policies of
Nikita Khrushchev and his administration in the Soviet Union, through
de-Stalinisation, liberal tolerance of some cultural dissent and deviance, and a more welcoming international relations policy and attitude towards foreigners.
Kadarism from 1956 to 1988. Kadarism (), also commonly called
Goulash Communism or the
Hungarian Thaw, is the variety of
socialism in
Hungary following the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
János Kádár and the
Hungarian People's Republic imposed policies with the goal to create high-quality
living standards for the people of Hungary coupled with economic reforms. These reforms fostered a sense of well-being and relative cultural freedom in Hungary with the reputation of being "the happiest barracks" of the
Eastern Bloc during the 1960s to the 1970s. With elements of
regulated market economics as well as an improved human rights record, it represented a quiet reform and deviation from the Stalinist principles applied to Hungary in the previous decade. This period of "pseudo-consumerism" saw an increase of foreign affairs and consumption of consumer goods as well. Kadarism came from a background of
Imre Nagy's "Reform Communism" (1955–1956), where he argues that Marxism is a "science that cannot remain static but must develop and become more perfect". Official policy employed different methods of administering the collectives in Hungarian society, leaving the pace of
mechanization up to each separately. Additionally, rather than enforcing the system of compulsory crop deliveries and of workdays credit the collectivizers used monthly cash wages. Later in the 1960s, cooperatives were permitted to enter into related and then general auxiliary businesses such as food processing, light industry and service industry.
Husakism Husakism (; ) is an ideology connected with the politician
Gustáv Husák of
Communist Czechoslovakia which describes his policies of
"normalization" and
federalism, while following a
neo-Stalinist line. This was the state ideology of Czechoslovakia from about 1969 to about 1989, formulated by Husák,
Vasil Biľak and others.
Kaysone Phomvihane Thought Kaysone Phomvihane Thought () builds upon Marxism–Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought with the political philosophy developed by
Kaysone Phomvihane, the first leader of the Communist
Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). It was formalised by the LPRP at its
10th National Congress in 2016. == Other Marxist-based ideologies ==