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History of communism Politics, sometimes defined as the art and science of government[1], is a process by which collective decisions are made within groups. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Image File history File links Hammer_and_sickle. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Schools of communism Marxism · Leninism Trotskyism · Maoism Left communism Council communism Anarchist communism Christian communism To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is therefore a branch of Marxism. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛泽东思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng SÄ«xiÇŽng), is a variant of Marxism-Leninism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ... Left Communism is a term describing a whole range of communist viewpoints which oppose the political ideas of the Bolsheviks from a position which is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views held by the Communist International after its first two Congresses. ... Council communism is a Radical Left movement originating in Germany and the Netherlands in the 1920s. ... Anarchocommunism is a form of anarchism that advocates the abolition of the State and capitalism in favor of a horizontal network of voluntary associations through which everyone will be free to satisfy his or her needs. ... Christian communism is a form of religious communism centered around Christianity. ... Communist parties Communist International World Communist Movement International Communist Current Communist Workers International Fourth International In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, the sociopolitical philosophy based on Marxism. ... The first edition of Communist International, journal of the Comintern published in Moscow and Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) in May 1919. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The International Communist Current is a centralised international left communist organisation with sections throughout the world. ... The Communist Workers International (German: Kommunistische Arbeiter-Internationale, KAI), also known as the Fourth International (though another group is better known by this name), was a council communist international. ... Emblem of the Fourth International The Fourth International has been the international organisation of Trotskyist communists. ... Communist states The Soviet Union People's Republic of China Cuba · Vietnam Laos · North Korea This article is about one-party states governed by Communist parties. ... Related subjects Socialism Titoism Marxism-Leninism Eurocommunism Religious communism New Left Planned economy Historical materialism Anti-communism The neutrality of this introduction is disputed. ... Titoism is a term describing political ideology named after Yugoslav leader, Josip Broz Tito, primarily used to describe the schism between the Soviet Union and Socialist Yugoslavia after the Second World War (see Cominform) when the Communist Party of Yugoslavia refused to take further dictates from Moscow. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... Eurocommunism was an attempt in the 1970s by various European communist parties to widen their appeal by embracing public sector middle-class workers, new social movements such as feminism and gay liberation, rejecting support of the Soviet Union, and expressing more clearly their fidelity to democratic institutions. ... Religious communism is a term used by some Communists that claim that before communism became associated with atheism, the word communism was mainly used by religious groups. ... The New Left is a term used in political discourse to refer to radical left-wing movements from the 1960s onwards. ... A planned economy is an economic system in which decisions about the production, allocation and consumption of goods and services are planned ahead of time, usually in a centralized fashion, though some proposed systems favour decentralized planning. ... Historical materialism (or what Marx himself called the materialist conception of history - materialistische Geschichtsauffassung) is a social theory and an approach to the study of history and sociology, normally considered the intellectual basis of Marxism. ... Anti-communism is an ideology of opposition to communist organization, government and ideology. ...

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People's war (also called protracted people's war) is a military-political strategy invented by Mao Zedong. The basic concept behind People's War is to maintain the support of the population and draw the enemy deep into the interior where the population will bleed them dry through a mix of 'Mobile Warfare' and Guerrilla warfare. The term is used by Maoists for their strategy of long-term armed revolutionary struggle. After the unsuccessful invasion of Vietnam in 1979, Deng Xiaoping abandoned People's War for "People's War under Modern Conditions". This moved away from reliance on troops over technology. Economic reforms fueled military and technological investment. Troops size was also reduced and professionalization encouraged. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The US M1A1 Abrams tank is a typical modern main battle tank. ... Guerrilla (also called a partisan) is a term borrowed from the Spanish guerrilla meaning little war, and used to describe small combat groups and the individual members of such groups (see Etymology). ... Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought (Chinese: 毛泽东思想, pinyin: Máo Zédōng Sīxiǎng), is a variant of Marxism-Leninism derived from the teachings of Mao Zedong (1893–1976). ...

The strategy of people's war was used heavily by the Vietnamese NLF. Similar ideas were advocated and used by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in the Cuban Revolution. Viet Cong (NLF) flag The Viet Cong, also known as the National Front for the Liberation of Southern Vietnam (Vietnamese Mặt Trận Dân Tá»™c Giải Phóng Miền Nam), (VC), or the National Liberation Front (NLF), was an insurgent (partisan) organization fighting the Republic... Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14, 1928 â€“ October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara or el Che, was an Argentine-born physician, Marxist revolutionary, politician, and Cuban guerrilla leader. ... Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (pron. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In its original formulation by Mao, people's war exploits the few advantages that a small revolutionary movement has-- broad-based popular support can be one of them-- against a state's power with a large and well-equipped army. People's war strategically avoids decisive battles, since a tiny force of a few dozen soldiers would easily be routed in an all-out confrontation with the state. Instead, it favours the strategy of protracted warfare, with carefully chosen battles that can realistically be won. A revolutionary force conducting people's war starts in a remote area with mountainous or otherwise difficult terrain in which its enemy is weak. It attempts to establish a local stronghold known as a revolutionary base area. As it grows in power, it establishes other revolutionary base areas and spreads its influence through the surrounding countryside, where it may become the governing power and gain popular support through such programmes as land reform. Eventually it may have enough strength to encircle and capture small cities, then larger ones, until finally it seizes power in the entire country. Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893—September 9, 1976) was the chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1935 until his death. ... A state is an organized political community, occupying a territory, and possessing internal and external sovereignty, that enforces a monopoly on the use of force. ... In the context of international relations and diplomacy, power (sometimes clarified as international power, national power, or state power) is the ability of one state to influence or control other states. ... Land reform (also agrarian reform although that can have a broader meaning) is the government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of — i. ...

Within the Chinese Red Army, the concept of People's War was the basis of strategy against the Japanese and also against a hypothetical Russian invasion of China. The concept of people's war became less important with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the increasing possibility of conflict with the United States over Taiwan. In the 1980s and 1990s the concept of people's war was changed to include more high-technology weaponry. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The United States intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003 also influenced views of people's war within the PLA. Although the United States was able to achieve quick victories in both cases, in Afghanistan, the United States relied heavily on local people for ground support and in Iraq the United States received unexpected difficulties with Fedayeen Sadaam using guerrilla tactics. Both situations influenced PLA thinking in that it seemed to demonstrate that technology alone was not sufficient to win wars and that support from local people was not an obsolete concept in modern warfare.

Outside of China, people's war has been basis of wars started in Peru on May 17, 1980, and in Nepalese People's War begun on February 13, 1996. A group of Peruvian Maoists known as the Shining Path at times controlled significant parts of the country, but they were dealt a blow by the arrest of their leader Abimael Guzmán in 1992; while they claim to consider this even only a "bend in the road", most independent sources have claimed them to be in decline since that time. By all accounts, at the height of the conflict in Peru both the Shining Path and the Peruvian government used terror tactics against the civilian population, especially in the countryside. Government tactics included sponsorship of death squads; Shining Path tactics included violent attacks on trade unionists and others they saw as rivals for the leadership of those opposing the government. This has made it very difficult to get any objective measure of support among the peasantry for either the government or the Maoist insurgents, since such tactics on both sides are liable to intimidate people, but unlikely to win hearts and minds. May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Note: This article needs additional contributors badly. ... February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso in Spanish) is a Maoist guerrilla insurgent organization in Peru; followers are generally called Senderistas. ... Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso (born 3 December 1934), a former professor of philosophy, was the leader of the Maoist insurgency Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso in Spanish) which was active in Peru from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. ... A death squad is an extra-judicial group whose members execute or assassinate persons they believe to be politically unreliable or undesirable. ...

In Nepal, the Maoists have succeeded in controlling most of the country and recently announced the formation of 100,000 troops into 3 divisions in what they call the "beginning of the strategic offensive". The Nepalese rebels have recently resorted to conscription, a practice that Mao himself opposed. They continue to negotiate with the royal government there, and have expressed openness to a negotiated solution, establishing some kind of electoral democracy in Nepal.

In India, it is said that Maoists control major areas in the eastern and southern regions, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. In the Philippines the Communist Party of the Philippines is waging people's war through its New People's Army while Maoist groups have also resorted to armed struggle on a smaller scale in Turkey. Andhra Pradesh : (ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్; Āndhra Prādesh), is a state in South India. ... Jharkhand (झारखंड in Devanagari) is a state in eastern India. ... The New Peoples Army, or NPA, is a communist-based revolutionary group in the Philippines, formed in December 1969. ... The New Peoples Army, or NPA, is a communist-based revolutionary group in the Philippines, formed in March 29, 1969. ...