Communist revolution

Source From Wikipedia English.

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 cases 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

Unsuccessful

Table of revolutions

Start date End date Duration Event(s) State Rebel group Revolutionary base area Deaths Result Notes
18 March 1871 28 May 1871 (72 days) Paris Commune   France Paris 7,544 killed overall Revolt suppressed
  • Disbanding the Second National Guard
    by the French government
1 October 1915 5 June 1920 (4 years, 249 days) Jangal Movement   Qajar Iran Jangal revolutionaries Gilan province Establishment of the Persian Socialist Soviet Republic
24 April 1916 29 April 1916 (6 days) Easter Rising   United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland   Irish rebel forces Dublin 485 killed Unconditional surrender of rebel forces, execution of most leaders.
7 November 1917 7 November 1917 (1 day) October Revolution   Russia   Bolsheviks
  Petrograd Soviet
  Left SRs
  Red Guards
  Anarchists
Petrograd Few wounded Red Guard soldiers Bolshevik victory
Start of the Russian Civil War
2 August 1918 11 June 1925 (6 years, 314 days) Canadian Labour Revolt   Canada Canada Failure of the revolt
28 October 1918 31 October 1918 (4 days) Aster Revolution   Austria-Hungary   Hungarian National Council Hungary Revolutionary victory
29 October 1918 11 August 1919 (287 days) German Revolution of 1918–19   German Empire (1918)
  German Republic (1918–1919)
  Communist revolutionaries:

Soviet Republics:

Various regions of Germany 150–196
9 November 1918 14 November 1918 (6 days) Red Week   Netherlands   Faction of the Social Democratic Workers' Party No revolution
10 November 1918 14 January 1919 (66 days) Luxembourg communist revolution   Luxembourg Assorted communists, socialists, and liberals French Army victory
28 November 1918 2 February 1920 (1 year, 67 days) Estonian War of Independence   Estonia   Estonian Worker's Commune
  RSFSR
  Red Latvian Riflemen
3,988+ killed Treaty of Tartu:
  • Independence of Estonia
  • Vidzeme gained by the Republic of Latvia
29 January 1919 24 May 1923 (4 years, 116 days) Irish soviets   United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1919–1921)
  Irish Free State (1921–1923)
  Irish soviets Ireland
  • Soviets shutdown
  • Majority of individuals involved arrested]
23 March 1919 1 August 1919 (132 days) Hungarian Soviet Republic   Hungarian Republic   Hungarian Soviet Republic Hungary 6,670 killed
27 May 1919 27 May 1919 (1 day) Bender Uprising   Romania   Red Guards
  Ukrainian SSR
Tighina 150 Romanian–French victory
2 May 1920 3 May 1920 (2 days) 1920 Georgian coup attempt   Democratic Republic of Georgia   Georgian Bolsheviks Georgia Several killed Government Victory
1 March 1921 11 July 1921 (133 days) Mongolian Revolution of 1921   Bogd Khanate of Mongolia
  Outer Mongolia
  Mongolian People's Party Outer Mongolia Mongolian communist victory:
2 February 1921 5 April 1921 (63 days) Proština rebellion   Italy Civilians led by Ante Ciliga Istria Unknown Government victory:
  • Civilians arrested
  • Village of Šegotići burned to the ground
3 March 1921 8 April 1921 (37 days) Labin mining strike and rebellion   Italy   Labin Republic Istria 5 Government victory:
  • Strike suppressed
  • Miners acquitted of crimes
14 September 1923 29 September 1923 (16 days) September Uprising   Bulgaria   BCP
BZNS
  Anarchists
841 killed Bulgarian government victory:
23 October 1923 24 October 1923 (2 days) Hamburg Uprising   Weimar Republic   Communist Party of Germany Hamburg 99 killed Government victory
15 September 1924 18 September 1924 (4 days) Tatarbunary Uprising   Romania   Tatarbunary Revolutionary Committee Tatarbunary 3,000 killed Revolt quelled by the Romanian government
1 December 1924 1 December 1924 (1 day) 1924 Estonian coup attempt   Estonia   Communist Party of Estonia 151 killed Estonian government victory
1 August 1927 1 October 1949 (22 years, 62 days)   China   Chinese Communist Party   Communist-controlled China cca. 8 million Communist victory:
22 January 1932 February 1932 (11 days) 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising   Republic of El Salvador   Communist Party of El Salvador
Pipil rebels
Western El Salvador: 10,000 – 40,000 Revolt suppressed, ethnocide of Pipil people
23 November 1935 27 November 1935 (5 days) Brazilian communist uprising of 1935   Brazil   National Liberation Alliance Natal, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro 150+ killed Government victory
19 July 1936 25 May 1937 (311 days) Spanish Revolution of 1936   Spain   CNT-FAI

  UGT

Various regions of Spain – primarily Madrid, Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, and parts of Levante, Spain. Suppressed after ten-month period.
22 June 1941 29 November 1945 (4 years, 161 days) Yugoslav People's Liberation War   Yugoslavia   Yugoslav Partisans 850,000–1,200,000 Yugoslav PartisanAllied victory:
29 March 1942 2 September 1945 (3 years, 158 days) Hukbalahap Rebellion
(First phase)
  Japan   Hukbalahap Central Luzon Huk victory:
16 September 1942 August 1945 (2 years, 320 days) National Liberation Movement   Albanian Kingdom   National Anti-Fascist Liberation Movement Albania Establishment of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania
9 September 1944 9 September 1944 (1 day) 1944 Bulgarian coup d'état   Bulgaria   Fatherland Front Fatherland Front victory:
16 August 1945 30 August 1945 (15 days) August Revolution   Empire of Vietnam   Việt Minh Northern, Central and Southern Vietnam Việt Minh victory:
6 September 1945 25 June 1950 (4 years, 293 days) Korean Revolution   Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea

May 1946 17 May 1954 (8 years, 17 days) Hukbalahap Rebellion
(Second phase)
  Republic of the Philippines   Communist Party of the Philippines Central Luzon Nearly 6,000 killed Philippine government victory:
  • End of the rebellion
  • Capture of Luis Taruc in 1954
  • Beginning of communist insurgency in the Philippines in the 1960s
4 July 1946 25 October 1951 (5 years, 114 days) Telangana Rebellion    Hyderabad State (1946–1948)

  Union of India (1948–1951)

  Telangana peasants
  Andhra Mahasabha
  Communist Party of India
Withdrawal of rebellion:
19 December 1946 1 August 1954 (7 years, 226 days) First Indochina War   French Indochina   DR Vietnam

  Lao Issara (1945–1949)
  Pathet Lao (1949–1954)   Khmer Issarak

400,000–842,707 total killed
[page needed]
[page needed]
DR Vietnam-allied victory:
21 February 1948 25 February 1948 (5 days) 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état   Czechoslovak Republic Appointment of a communist-dominated government
2 April 1948 16 April 1989 (41 years, 15 days) Communist insurgency in Burma   Shan State 3,000+ killed Burmese government victory
3 April 1948 13 May 1949 (1 year, 41 days) Jeju uprising
  Workers' Party of South Korea Jeju Island 30,000–100,000 killed Uprising suppressed
16 June 1948 31 July 1960 (12 years, 46 days) Malayan Emergency   Malayan Communist Party British Malaya 11,107 British-allied victory:
18 September 1948 19 December 1948 (93 days) Madiun Affair   Indonesia   People's Democratic Front: Madiun 1,920+ killed Rebellion suppressed
26 July 1953 1 January 1959 (5 years, 160 days) Cuban Revolution   Cuba   26th of July Movement
  Student Revolutionary Directorate
  Second National Front of Escambray
3,000 26 July Movement victory:
1 November 1955 30 April 1975 (19 years, 181 days) Vietnam War   South Vietnam   Viet Cong Memot District (1966–72)
Lộc Ninh (1972–75)
1,326,494–3,447,494 Communist victory
23 May 1959 2 December 1975 (16 years, 194 days) Laotian Civil War   Laos   Lao People's Party

  North Vietnam

Xam Neua 20,000–62,000 killed Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese victory:
13 November 1960 29 December 1996 (36 years, 47 days) Guatemalan Civil War   Guatemala   URNG (from 1982)
  •   PGT (until 1998)
  •   MR-13 (1960–1971)
  •   FAR (1960–1971)
  • EGP (1971–1996)
  • ORPA (1979–1996)
Guatemala Between 140,000–200,000 dead and missing (estimated)
Peace accord signed in 1996
4 February 1961 25 April 1974 (13 years, 81 days) Angolan War of Independence   Portuguese Angola   MPLA Province of Angola 12,990+ killed Angolan victory:
19 July 1961 17 July 1979 (17 years, 364 days) Nicaraguan Revolution   Nicaragua   FSLN

MAP-ML (1978–1979)

  Panama (1978–1979)

North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region 30,000+ killed FSLN military victory in 1979:
  • Overthrow of Somoza government in 1979
  • Insurgency of the Contras
  • FSLN junta led by Daniel Ortega take power of Nicaragua in 1981
  • Electoral victory of FSLN in 1984
c.December 1962 3 November 1990 (27 years, 338 days) Communist insurgency in Sarawak   Malaysia   North Kalimantan Communist Party
  • North Kalimantan People's Army
Sarawak 400–500 killed Government victory:
13 August 1963 15 August 1963 (3 days) Trois Glorieuses   Congo Congolese trade unions:Armed Forces of the Republic of the Congo Uprising successful:
27 May 1964 Present (59 years, 349 days) Colombian conflict   Colombia
Colombia with spillovers into Venezuela 220,000+ killed Ongoing:
1965 1983 (18 years, 1 day) Communist insurgency in Thailand   Thailand Nakhon Phanom Province 6,762+ killed Thai government victory:
  • Amnesty declared on 23 April 1980 by the Thai government
  • Order 66/2523 signed by Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda
  • Communist insurgency declines and ends in 1983
18 May 1967 Present (56 years, 358 days)   India   Communist Party of India (Maoist) Red corridor Since 1997: 13,060–14,552 Ongoing
17 June 1968 2 December 1989 (21 years, 169 days) Communist insurgency in Malaysia   Malaysia   Malayan Communist Party Malay Peninsula and Sarawak 367 Peace Agreement of Hat Yai signed:
17 January 1968 17 April 1975 (7 years, 91 days) Cambodian Civil War   Cambodia   Communist Party of Kampuchea Ratanakiri Province 275,000–310,000 killed Communist victory
29 March 1969 Present (55 years, 42 days) New People's Army rebellion   Philippines   Communist Party of the Philippines Samar 43,000+ killed (up to 2008) (63,973+ killed) Ongoing
22 June 1969 22 June 1969 (1 day) Corrective Move   South Yemen   Marxist faction of the NLF No deaths Coup successful:
21 October 1969 21 October 1969 (1 day) 1969 Somali coup d'état   Somali Republic   Supreme Revolutionary Council Mogadishu Supreme Revolutionary Council victory:
19 July 1970 1 November 1970 (106 days) Teoponte Guerrilla   Bolivia   Guerrilla de Teoponte (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) Teoponte Municipality Bolivian government victory
5 April 1971 June 1971 (62 days) 1971 JVP insurrection   Dominion of Ceylon   JVP
  •   State of Augestan
Southern Province and Sabaragamuwa Province Official: 1,200
Estimated: 4,000–5,000
Ceylonese government victory:
  • Rebel leaders were captured and the remaining members surrendered
  • Ceylonese government re-established control of the entire island
  • Expulsion of North Korean diplomats
19 July 1971 22 July 1971 (4 days) 1971 Sudanese coup d'état   Democratic Republic of Sudan Revolutionary Council Khartoum Coup attempt fails:
c.April 1972 c.October 1974 (2 years, 214 days) Araguaia Guerrilla War   Federative Republic of Brazil   Communist Party of Brazil Goiás and Tocantins 90+ killed Military dictatorship victory:
  • Successful counter-insurgency operation
  • Guerrillas failed to gain popular support
  • Guerrilla forces exterminated
24 April 1972 Present (52 years, 16 days) Maoist insurgency in Turkey   Turkey   Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist
  •   Liberation Army of the Workers and Peasants of Turkey

  MKP-HKO-PHG

Tunceli Province 500+ Maoists killed Ongoing
25 April 1974 25 April 1974 (1 day) Carnation Revolution   Estado Novo   Armed Forces Movement 5 killed Coup successful:
12 September 1974 12 September 1974 (1 day) 1974 Ethiopian coup d'état   Ethiopia   Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army Coup successful:
  • Emperor Haile Selassie is placed under arrest and is taken to the Fourth Division Army headquarters
  • Derg suspends constitution
  • Beginning of the civil war
7 November 1975 7 November 1975 (1 day) 7 November 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état (Bengali: সিপাই-জানাটা বিপ্লব (Sepoy-Janata Biplob))   Bangladesh   Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal
Biplobi Shainik Sangstha
Successful coup:
27 April 1978 28 April 1978 (2 days) Saur Revolution   Afghanistan   People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan Afghanistan 2,000 PDPA victory:
13 March 1979 13 March 1979 (1 day) New Jewel Movement   Grenada   New Jewel Movement Installation of the People's Revolutionary Government
15 October 1979 16 January 1992 (12 years, 94 days) Salvadoran Civil War   El Salvador   FMLN 87,795+ killed Chapultepec Peace Accords
17 May 1980 Present (43 years, 359 days) Internal conflict in Peru   Peru   Communist Party of Peru–Shining Path

  Militarized Communist Party of Peru


  Red Mantaro Base Committee


  Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (1982–1997)

Ayacucho Region 70,000+ killed Ongoing
25 January 1982 25 January 1982 (1 day) 1982 Amol uprising   Iran   Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran) Amol County 80–300 killed Iranian government victory
4 August 1983 4 August 1983 (1 day) Upper Voltan coup d'état   Upper Volta   Left-wing armed forces faction led by Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré 13 killed

15 April 1987 29 December 1987 (259 days) 1987–1989 JVP insurrection   Sri Lanka   Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 60,000–80,000 killed Sri Lankan Government victory:
  • Execution of Rohana Wijeweera
  • Emergency conditions in South-western and Central provinces lifted
  • Insurgency declined following the fall of the Eastern bloc
13 February 1996 21 November 2006 (10 years, 282 days) Nepalese Civil War   Nepal   Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Rapti Zone 17,800 killed overall Comprehensive Peace Accord
20 June 2021 Present (2 years, 325 days) 2021–2023 Eswatini protests   Eswatini
24+ Ongoing
August 2021 Present (2 years, 283 days) Myanmar civil war (2021–present)   Myanmar Myanmar 45,264+ killed Ongoing

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography