The Communist countries Took center stage in the twentieth century with the USSR, Yugoslavia, Cuba or Czechoslovakia at the top. However, many more have taken this political, social and philosophical doctrine as a method of government within their territories.
Communism is a socioeconomic model of organization characterized by the absence of private property, classes, social and state. It is for theorists the antithesis of capitalism. It is a system based on utopian ideas and in many countries was implemented under a single party logic, which in many cases became dictatorships.
In this article we will see some examples of countries that attempted a communist state, including some that support it today.
You may also be interested in 31 most representative socialist countries .
31 countries that have represented communism
1- Albania
Mount Shpiragu, where inscribed the name of Enver Hoxha, communist leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985
It was proclaimed as an independent country in 1946 and adopted a communist form of government, with a socialist base.
After breaking relations with the powers of the sector (Russia and China) in the decade of the 80, began a turn to the capitalism that still is maintained.
2- Armenia
Propaganda Poster of the Soviets Liberating Armenia (1937)
Since the Armenian genocide at the hands of Turkey in the first decade of the twentieth century, Armenia has been in warlike conflicts with neighboring countries or for its independence from the Soviet Union.
From 1920 he alternated attempts of communist governments, that extended until 1990 with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
3- Bulgaria
Oval Skeleton of the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party
After World War II and until 1990 it was ruled by the Communist Party. With the fall of the Soviet Union he turned to a free market economy.
4- Czechoslovakia
Communist propaganda poster
His communist experiment began in 1968 with the Prague Spring, led by Alexander Dubček. But in 1992 the country dissolved in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, two countries whose government turned to a capitalist market economy.
5- Democratic Germany
The Trabant, one of the symbols of the communist bloc of the Democratic Republic of Germany
It is an emblematic case of history, having been in the middle of a bid for interests after World War II.
The territory was divided between the winning powers of the bloody war conflict of the history and the half of the country was under communist Soviet influence.
In 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, this experiment ended and today is one of the capitalist powers of the world.
6- Hungary
Statue dedicated to communism in Budapest
Hungary is a case similar to that of many other countries that after the Second World War opted for the communist socialist model.
However, with the fall of the Soviet Union as a power, began an opening period of its economy.
7- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Lenin, leading leader of the October Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union
It is the cradle of communism, being the country where the communist - socialist doctrine was most widespread, which influenced a lot of countries on this list.
It alternated moments of governments more linked to the communism, that began with the revolution in 1917, and others to the socialism. But after its dissolution in 1990, it turned to a capitalist economy.
8- Yugoslavia
Croatian woman in the struggle for National Liberation, (Zagreb 1955)
Another of the colossi of the communist powers of the world and perhaps one of the main partners of the Soviet Union. With Marshal Tito began a communist - socialist stage from 1963 until its dissolution in 1990.
9- China
Mao proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949
It is the main example of communism today, although its system of government is not entirely communist, as it shares socialist features.
Since 1949, the Chinese Communist Party has ruled China and is now one of the world's major economies, competing in terms of GDP with the United States.
10- Cuba
Ministry of the Interior adorned with a steel sculpture by Che Guevara
The other communist bastion of the world today. After the revolution of 1959, Fidel Castro assumed the power and imposed a communist - socialist regime that still is maintained in spite of the death of the leader in 2016.
11- Laos
Memorial Kaysone Phomvihane in Vientiane, (Laos)
The Lao People 's Democratic Republic is another example of 21st century communism that holds a communist - socialist doctrine but with a market economy.
12- Vietnam
Propaganda of the 14th Meeting of the Communist Party in the city of Ha Đông.
After its unification in 1976, Vietnam decided on a form of socioeconomic organization linked to communism. During this century it was one of the countries of greater economic growth but with a marked internal inequality.
13- North Korea
North Korean citizens paying homage to the statues of leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il
Currently under the command of Kim Jong-un, continuator of the dynasty that began his grandfathers Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, North Korea could be considered a communist regime.
It is the country where communist doctrine is most vigorously respected, not only in economic matters, but also in norms of social control and the exercise of politics.
14- Cambodia
It had an attempt of communist government with a ferocious dictatorship called"Kampuchea Democrática"that realized a slaughter that finished with a quarter of the population.
In 1991, the UN succeeded in ending the internal conflict and began a series of profound political and economic reforms aimed at capitalism.
15- Mongolia
The case of Mongolia has the peculiarity that it suffered many years to get its independence from China. Once he became a sovereign nation in 1946 he opted for a communist government.
In 1990, with the fall of the powers associated to the group of the East, a change of government put an end to these policies and established a capitalist economic system.
16- Ethiopia
Communism in Ethiopia began to take shape with the revolution in 1974. Under the control of Derg Mengistu Haile Mariam, the state took control of the means of production.
This period ended in 1991 when the Revolutionary Democratic Front won the elections and the country began a series of profound transformations in its form of government.
17- Mozambique
It got its independence from Portugal in 1975 and began a stage of internal wars under a communist government.
In 1992 a peace agreement was signed and the country introduced economic changes that led to a free market economy.
18- Poland
It is another of the European countries that after World War II had its own communist process that ended in 1989, when a period of political transformations began.
19- Romania
Romania went from one side to the other during World War II and when the conflict ended it opted for a communist - socialist model of government until the fall of the Eastern group.
20- Somalia
This African nation became independent in 1960 and, with the support of the Soviet Union, attempted a communist - socialist socio - economic model. But when the USSR supported Ethiopia, in war with Somalia, it turned to a Western form of government.
21- South Yemen
It is one of the Arab nations that implemented a communist - socialist form of government. In 1986 a social outburst forced some profound political and economic reforms.
22- People's Republic of Congo
From 1970 to 1991, this African republic was under the control of the Congolese Labor Party, of communist - socialist ideas.
This rehearsed ended with the fall of the government at the end of century XX and from there its turn to the capitalism was gradual but constant.
23- Angola
It was in civil war for much of the twentieth century, a period in which the country was ruled by the Communist Party until 1990, which carried out a profound political change with opening markets.
24- Benin
During the period of the People 's Republic of Benin, between 1975 and 1990, this country maintained a communist - socialist system of government.
At the beginning of the last decade of the twentieth century began a transformation towards capitalism, which was consolidated in the 21st century.
25- Cyprus
In 2008, Dimistris Christofias won the elections and thus, the Communist Party of Cyprus assumed the power of the island. This government lasted until 2013, when it could not validate its power in the polls.
26- Moldova
It is a particular case of Moldova, which since 1996 has in the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova the winner of all elections, but with the inability to form a government.
This leads to the country being always immersed in political problems that complicate governance and do not take a definitive economic course.
Historically it was an agricultural territory but in the last years began an accelerated and deep process of industrialization.
28- Nepal
It is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Their communist experience is not practical since the Communist Party of Nepal began a fierce fight against the monarchy.
In 2007, the king capitulated and formed the republic. In the elections of the following year, the PCN obtained the greater number of votes and is the dominant force in the Assembly.
29- Afghanistan
Complex situation is that of Afghanistan, with a history full of invasions, wars and internal conflicts. It is a country immersed in poverty by these situations, despite its great agricultural wealth.
The communist attempts began in 1978, when the socialist Nur Muhammad Taraki took the power. However, he was killed a year later and the process was suspended.
The Russian invasion in 1979 returned communist illusions, with Babrak Karmal at the head of the State. In 1986 the government fell and the internal bids ended the possibilities of a new communist attempt.
Since 2001, the United States has begun a military invasion that is still maintained with a coalition government and a complex and diffuse political situation.
30- Estonia
It is another case of eternal struggle for independence. It cost him almost a century until finally obtaining it in 1990. However, the communist attempts began in 1917 when the Bolsheviki tried to take the power by force after losing the elections.
During the twentieth century it was under the control of Russian communism, until its definitive independence in the last decade of the millennium.
31- Azerbaijan
It gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, while it was governed by communist ideas. It maintained armed conflicts with Armenia and its interior policy was affected for more of two decades by the constant coups d'etat.
Communism vs. Socialism
One of the most common problems of political analysis is the difference between communism and socialism. The latter is based on the socialization of goods, not the means of production directly.
Communism, as opposed to socialism, has as its main objective the common property of the means of production, a planning of the community economy and the collective power of the said means of production.
It was the ideas of Friedrich Engels Y Karl Marx Which promoted this model, but have their ancestors in the sixteenth century with the system of a collective agricultural sector that exposed Tomás Moro, one of the fundamental thinkers of communism.
However this form of socio-economic organization began to develop much earlier. According to some records, in the Classic Period and in the Middle Ages.
Plato in Republic "There is the best state, the best constitution and the best laws where this maxim applies: everything is common among friends."
With the leadership of Lenin , The Soviet Union was one of the countries that tried a communist system of government, that tried to divulge, with more or less success, after the Second World War.
"Communism does not deprive man of the freedom to appropriate the fruit of his labor; the only thing that deprives him of the freedom to enslave others by means of such appropriations,"wrote Karl Marx, one of the foremost advocates of This doctrine.
The criticisms explained that communism was authoritarian in its forms of imposition of power, to raise the idea of a single ruling party.
"There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the way of achieving the same ultimate goal: communism proposes to enslave man through force, socialism through voting. It's the same difference between murder and suicide,"said philosopher Ayn Rand.
Many of the nations that remained under the Soviet wing after World War II had a socialist - communist system of government and were mostly transformed after the Cold War.