Communist revolution

A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, the term socialism can be used to indicate an intermediate stage between capitalism and communism and may be the goal of the revolution, especially in Marxist–Leninist views. The idea that a proletarian revolution is needed is a cornerstone of Marxism; Marxists believe that the workers of the world must unite and free themselves from capitalist oppression to create a world run by and for the working class. Thus, in the Marxist view, proletarian revolutions need to happen in countries all over the world.

Theory

Karl Marx saw revolution as a necessity for communism, where the revolution would be based on class struggle led by the organised proletariat to overthrow capitalism and the bourgeoisie, followed by the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat.

Leninism argues that a communist revolution must be led by a vanguard of "professional revolutionaries", men and women who are fully dedicated to the communist cause and who can then form the nucleus of the revolutionary movement. Thus meaning that under Lenin's framework a communist revolution is not necessarily a proletarian revolution. Some Marxists, such as Rosa Luxemburg, disagree with the idea of a vanguard as put forth by Lenin, especially left communists. Another line of criticisms insist that the entire working class—or at least a large part of it—must be deeply involved and equally committed to the socialist or communist cause in order for a proletarian revolution to be successful. To this end, they seek to build massive communist parties with very large memberships.

Communist revolutions and coups throughout history

The following is a list of successful and unsuccessful communist revolutions and coups throughout history. Among the lesser-known revolutions, a number of borderline revolutions have been included which may or may not have been communist revolutions. The nature of unsuccessful revolutions is particularly contentious since one can only speculate as to the kinds of policies that would have been implemented by the revolutionaries had they achieved victory.

Successful

• 1917–1923: The October Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War led to the establishment of the Soviet Union.
• 1921: The Mongolian Revolution ended imperial Chinese rule over Mongolia and established the Mongolian People's Republic.
• 1927–1949: The Chinese Communist Revolution led to the establishment of the People's Republic of China and fleeing of the Republic of China to Taiwan.
• 1941–1945: The Yugoslav People's Liberation War led to the defeat of axis powers in the Balkans, abolishment of the Yugoslav monarchy, and the establishment of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.
• 1942–1945: The National Anti-Fascist Liberation Movement in Albania established the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.
• 1944: The Bulgarian coup d'état led to the immediate abolishment of the Bulgarian monarchy, followed soon after by the establishment of the People's Republic of Bulgaria.
• 1945: The August Revolution forced Emperor Bảo Đại to abdicate and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
• 1946–1954: First Indochina War
• 1948: Czechoslovak coup d'état.
• 1953–1959: The Cuban Revolution overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, reestablishing the Republic of Cuba as a socialist state.
• 1955–1975: Vietnam War
• 1959–1975: Laotian Civil War
• 1961–1974: Angolan War of Independence
• 1961–1979: The Nicaraguan Revolution sees the Sandinistas oust the Somoza government.
• 1963: Les Trois Glorieuses in Congo-Brazzaville.
• 1968–1975: Cambodian Civil War
• 1969: The Corrective Move in South Yemen.
• 1969: The Somali coup d'état led to the formation of the Somali Democratic Republic.
• 1972: Mathieu Kérékou leads a military coup in Benin, leading to the creation of the People's Republic of Benin.
• 1974: Carnation Revolution (while the revolution overthrew the Estado Novo and created a governing alliance between army captains and the Communists, the demands for a workers' democracy were quashed by a new coup on 25 November 1975 that installed a minority government of the center-left Socialist Party with the backing of the United States and its Western allies)
• 1974: The 1974 Ethiopian coup d'état.
• 1978: The Saur Revolution leads to the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the start of the Afghan conflict.
• 1979: The New JEWEL Movement overthrow's Eric Gairy's government in Grenada, creating the People's Revolutionary Government.
• 1983: The Upper Voltan coup d'état led by Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré. Upper Volta was renamed Burkina Faso. Blaise Compaoré led the 1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état, which killed Thomas Sankara and reversed his far-left policies.
• 1996–2006: Nepalese Civil War.

Unsuccessful

• 1871: Paris Commune
• 1915–1920: Jungle Movement of Gilan
• 1916: Easter Rising
• 1918: Finnish Civil War
• 1918–1925: Canadian Labour Revolt
• 1918: Aster Revolution
• 1918–1919: German Revolution of 1918–19
• 1918: Red Week
• 1918: Luxembourg communist revolution
• 1918–1920: Estonian War of Independence
• 1919–1923: Irish soviets

• 1919: Hungarian Soviet Republic
• 1919: Bender Uprising
• 1920: Georgian coup attempt
• 1921: Proština rebellion

• 1923: September Uprising
• 1923: Hamburg Uprising
• 1924: Tatarbunary Uprising
• 1924: Estonian coup d'état attempt
• 1932: 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising
• 1935: Brazilian communist uprising
• 1936–1937: Spanish Revolution of 1936
• 1942–1954: Hukbalahap Rebellion
• 1945: Saigon Commune
• 1946–1954: Hukbalahap rebellion
• 1946–1949: Greek Civil War
• 1946–1951: Telangana Rebellion
• 1948–1949: Jeju uprising
• 1948–1989: Communist insurgency in Burma
• 1948–1960: Malayan Emergency
• 1948: Madiun Affair
• 1960–1996: Guatemalan Civil War
• 1962–1990: Communist insurgency in Sarawak
• 1965–1983: Communist insurgency in Thailand
• 1968–1989: Communist insurgency in Malaysia
• 1970: Teoponte Guerrilla
• 1971: JVP insurrection
• 1971: Sudanese coup d'état

• 1972–1974: Araguaia Guerrilla War
• 1975: 7 November 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état
• 1979–1992: Salvadoran Civil War
• 1982: Amol uprising
• 1987–1989: JVP insurrection
• 2021–2023: Eswatini protests

Ongoing

• 1964–present: Colombian conflict
• 1967–present: Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
• 1969–present: New People's Army rebellion and communist armed conflicts in the Philippines
• 1972–present: Maoist insurgency in Turkey
• 1980–present: Internal conflict in Peru
• 1990–present: DHKP/C insurgency in Turkey
• 2021–present: Myanmar civil war (2021–present)

Table of revolutions

See also

• Class conflict
• Communist state
• Communist society
• List of communist states

Notes

Bibliography