CHAPTER I
HISTORY OF COMMUNISM
HISTORY OF COMMUNISM
I. SOCIALISM & COMMUNISM
Philosophy
and religion always focus on the equal opportunities for everyone in
society . How to create an equal society, and how to help poor people?
Many songs, poems and stories were written to call charity for poor
people. That is the way of humanitarianism, or socialism.
The English word socialism (1839) derives from the French socialisme (1832), the mainstream introduction of which usage is attributed, in France, to Pierre Leroux, and to Marie Roch Louis Reybaud; and in Britain to Robert Owen in 1827, father of the cooperative movement.
Socialism refers to any one of various theories of economic organization advocating public or worker self-ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a more egalitarian method of compensation.(Wikipedia)
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the term socialist was first used in 1827 by the utopian socialist Robert Owen and socialism (in French) in 1832. The terms communist and communism were first used by the utopian communist Étienne Cabet (in French) in 1839.
The English word socialism (1839) derives from the French socialisme (1832), the mainstream introduction of which usage is attributed, in France, to Pierre Leroux, and to Marie Roch Louis Reybaud; and in Britain to Robert Owen in 1827, father of the cooperative movement.
Socialism refers to any one of various theories of economic organization advocating public or worker self-ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a more egalitarian method of compensation.(Wikipedia)
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the term socialist was first used in 1827 by the utopian socialist Robert Owen and socialism (in French) in 1832. The terms communist and communism were first used by the utopian communist Étienne Cabet (in French) in 1839.
The Wikipedia Encyclopedia defines Communism (from Latin: communis
= "common") as a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that
promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless
society based on common ownership and control of the means of production
and property in general. In political science, however, the term
"Communism", usually spelled with the capital letter C is often used to
refer to the Communist states, a form of government in which the state
operates under a one-party system and declares allegiance to
Marxism-Leninism or a derivative thereof, even if the party does not
actually claim that it has already reached communism.The
first reason is the difference between the socialist movements, each
movement has each philosophy.The second reason is the contradiction in
Marx, Engels and Lenin's works.
Socialism is man's positive self-consciousness, no longer mediated through the annulment of religion, just as real life is man's positive reality, no longer mediated through the annulment of private property, through communism. . . . Communism is the . . . actual phase necessary for the next stage of historical development in the process of human emancipation. [1]
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/ch05.htm
Both
communism and socialism have similar beliefs but still have their
differences. Their central goal is to establish an ideal state with
perfect equality. Anyways, the distinction between socialism and communism is not clear.
On
the one hand, at first, it seems that Marx and Engels disdained
socialism. In 1847, in Preface to the 1888 English Edition of the Communist Manifesto,Friedrich Engels said "socialism was respectable on the continent, while communism was not."
Engels wrote in 1894, in a preface to a pamphlet of his articles that
had been published in the organ of the Social Democratic Party of
Germany, Volksstaat: It
will be noted that in all these essays, and particularly in the
aforementioned one, I consistently do not call myself a Social Democrat,
but a Communist. Both Marx
and Engels consistently criticized the ideology and program of their
contemporary proponents of what is still called socialism. Marx's famous
Critique of the Gotha Program was a landmark in their campaign to replace socialist programs with communist ones. In Communist Manifesto, when praising Communism, Marx criticized the socialist movements such as Reactionary socialism, Bourgeois Socialism, Critical -Utopian Socialism.
As Marx put it in his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844:Socialism is man's positive self-consciousness, no longer mediated through the annulment of religion, just as real life is man's positive reality, no longer mediated through the annulment of private property, through communism. . . . Communism is the . . . actual phase necessary for the next stage of historical development in the process of human emancipation. [1]
On the other hand, Marx, Engels and Lenin tended to use the terms communism and socialism interchangeably. They
used the terms Communism and Socialism to mean precisely the same
thing. They used “Communism” in the early years up to about 1875, and
after that date mainly used the term “Socialism.” There was a reason for
this. In the early days, about 1847-1850, Marx and Engels chose the
name “Communism” in order to distinguish their ideas from Utopian,
reactionary or disreputable movements then in existence, which called
themselves “Socialist.” Later on, when these movements disappeared or
went into obscurity, and when, from 1870 onwards, parties were being
formed in many countries under the name Social-Democratic Party or
Socialist Party, Marx and Engels reverted to the words Socialist and
Socialism. For Marx, socialism is first stage, communism is second stage of the communist revolution . In Critique of the Gotha Program, when stating the right of the producers, he pointed out two phases of the communist revolution:
And
so, in the first phase of communist society (usually called socialism)
"bourgeois law" is not abolished in its entirety, but only in part, only
in proportion to the economic revolution so far attained, i.e., only in
respect of the means of production. "Bourgeois law" recognizes them as
the private property of individuals. Socialism converts them into common
property. To that extent--and to that extent alone--"bourgeois law"
disappears (.. . ).
But the scientific distinction between socialism and communism is
clear. What is usually called socialism was termed by Marx the “first”,
or lower, phase of communist society. Insofar as the means of production
becomes common property,
the word “communism” is also applicable here, providing we do not
forget that this is not complete communism. The great significance of
Marx's explanations is that here, too, he consistently applies
materialist dialectics, the theory of development, and regards communism
as something which develops out of capitalism. Instead of
scholastically invented, “concocted” definitions and fruitless disputes
over words (What is socialism? What is communism?), Marx gives an
analysis of what might be called the stages of the economic maturity of
communism.
It is difficult to discern the true differences between socialism and communism. Some general points distinguishing the two concepts, however, can still be identified.
One point is that socialism generally refers to an economic system, while communism generally refers to both an economic and a political system. As an economic system, socialism seeks to manage the economy through deliberate and collective social control. Another difference between socialism and communism
is that communists assert that both capitalism and private ownership of
means of production must be done away. Socialists, however, see
capitalism as a possible part of the ideal state and believe that socialism can exist in a capitalist society.
Socialism
as a theory of government and social reform may be said to have begun
with the ancient Indian, Chinese and Greek philosophers. Buddha (563
BC to 483 BC) opposed the cast system of his society. Confucius (551 BC
– 479 BC) dreamed of a wealthy country, an equal society and a peaceful
world:
A competent provision was secured for the aged till their death, employment for the able-bodied, and the means of growing up to the young. They showed kindness and compassion to widows, orphans, childless men, and those who were disabled by disease, so that they were all sufficiently maintained. Males had their proper work, and females had their homes. They accumulated articles of value, disliking that they should be thrown away upon the ground, but not wishing to keep them for their own gratification [2]
A competent provision was secured for the aged till their death, employment for the able-bodied, and the means of growing up to the young. They showed kindness and compassion to widows, orphans, childless men, and those who were disabled by disease, so that they were all sufficiently maintained. Males had their proper work, and females had their homes. They accumulated articles of value, disliking that they should be thrown away upon the ground, but not wishing to keep them for their own gratification [2]
Socialistic ideas can be traced back to Plato's Republic. Plato
(427-347 BC), a Greek philosopher, spoke of the inequality in the
world. When the oligarchy declines into a democracy, the poor people
killed some rich, and expelled the rest. They
set up a new constitution in which everyone remaining has an equal
share in ruling the city. They give out positions of power pretty much
by lot, with no notice of who is most fit for what role. In this city
the guiding priority is freedom. Everyone is free to say what they like
and to arrange their life as they please. (. . .). In
the perfect State wives and children are to be in common; and that all
education and the pursuits of war and peace are also to be common(..).
(houses) are common to all, and contain nothing private, or individual;
and about their property. [3]
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/Projects/digitexts/plato/the_republic/book08.html
In Plato's "Laws", he also dreamed of a peaceful society in which "the private and individual is altogether banished from life":
The first and highest form of the state and of the government and of the law is that in which there prevails most widely the ancient saying, that "Friends have all things in common." Whether there is anywhere now, or will ever be, this communion of women and children and of property, in which the private and individual is altogether banished from life, and things which are by nature private, such as eyes and ears and hands, have become common, and in some way see and hear and act in common, and all men express praise and blame and feel joy and sorrow on the same occasions, and whatever laws there are unite the city to the utmost-whether all this is possible or not, I say that no man, acting upon any other principle, will ever constitute a state which will be truer or better or more exalted in virtue.
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/laws.5.v.htmlhttp://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/Projects/digitexts/plato/the_republic/book08.html
The first and highest form of the state and of the government and of the law is that in which there prevails most widely the ancient saying, that "Friends have all things in common." Whether there is anywhere now, or will ever be, this communion of women and children and of property, in which the private and individual is altogether banished from life, and things which are by nature private, such as eyes and ears and hands, have become common, and in some way see and hear and act in common, and all men express praise and blame and feel joy and sorrow on the same occasions, and whatever laws there are unite the city to the utmost-whether all this is possible or not, I say that no man, acting upon any other principle, will ever constitute a state which will be truer or better or more exalted in virtue.
In the 16th century, in his Utopia,
Sir Thomas More proposed forms of communal property ownership. In
addition, some religious groups of the early modern period advocated
forms of communism, just as had certain of the early Christians. A lot
of the socialists around the world came to the USA to establish some
socialist communes such as the Mennonites (in Pennsylvania in 1683);
Jean de Labadie ( Maryland in 1683 ); Ann Lee in 1774, New York). Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright, (in 1787 in New Lebanon, NY.). Francois Emile Babeuf (1760-97), formed a Masonic-like association of disciples called Babouvistes. His group had about 2,000 members. In April, 1796, Babeuf wrote his Manifesto of the Equals, which was published under the title Analysis of the Doctrine of Babeuf.He wrote:
"No
more private property in land, the land belongs to no one ... the
fruits of the earth belong to everyone ... Vanish at last, revolting
distinctions of rich and poor, of great and small, of masters and
servants, of governors and governed. Let there be no difference between
men than that of age and sex. Since all have the same needs and the same
faculties, let there be only one education, one kind of food. They
content themselves with one sun and air for all; why should not the same
portion and the same quality of food suffice for each of them..."
Robert Owen (1771-1858) published his views in the Rational Quarterly Review. Many of his principles were derived from the writings of Weishaupt. For instance, Weishaupt wrote that the aim of the Illuminati, was "to make the human race, without any distinction of nation, condition or profession, one good and happy family."
Other
settlements like this were started in America and Scotland, and
communism was born. In 1817, a group of German separatists, led by
Joseph M. Bimeler, settled near the Tuscarawas River in Ohio. In 1819, they were incorporated as the Society of Separatists of Zoar. All property was held in common; factories and shops were managed by an elected Board of Trustees. After Bimeler's
death in 1853, interest declined, and the town dissolved in 1898. There
were other communistic settlements, such as Harmony, PA (1805); Nashoba, Tennessee (1825); the Cooperative Store at Toad Street (1844); and the Cooperative Society of Oldham (1850), set up by the Rochdale Pioneers, which also failed.
In his philosophy, known as the "New Christianity," Comte Henri de Saint-Simon
(1776-1825), French philosopher and socialist, advocated the placing of
all property and people under the State's control, to insure that the
exploitation of the poor would end.
In
1836, one of Simon's disciples, Philippe Joseph Benjamin Buchez,
attempted to combine Socialism with Catholicism, with something called
Christian Socialism. Francois Marie Charles Fourier (1772-1837), a
French philosopher, planned out model communities, in which people would
live in a pleasurable atmosphere, and work at their own pace, at jobs
they like. Everyone would know what to do and when to do it. There would
be no need for regulations. In 1832, he failed in an attempt to set up
such a commune at Versailles. However, his followers founded about 30
communal settlements in the United States, such as the Brook Farm
(1841-47).
In a word, before Marx, many thinkers pursuited the goal of communism. Jean de Labadie, Ann Lee, Joseph Meacham, Lucy Wright, Francois Emile Babeuf, Robert Owen, Joseph M. Bimeler, Saint-Simon, Francois Marie Charles Fourier,etc were the vanguards of the communist movements in the world. These communist movements are different from the Marxism because they followed the spirit of Christinity, and practised the peaceful revolution.During the period 1760-1850, the Industrial Revolution blazed out, and continued developing to the late 18th century and the early 19th century in England.
The Industrial Revolution also subsequently developed throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. It destroyed the old manner of doing things, and caused a lot of fundamental changes in agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England. Advances in agricultural techniques, changes in industrial organization and new technology , the increase in commerce, foreign and domestic, were all conditions which promoted the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The famous scientists of this era were Galileo, Bacon, Descartes and others.
Prior to industrialization in England, land was the primary source of wealth. The landed aristocracy held enormous powers the feudal system. However, a new source of great wealth grew from the Industrial Revolution, that which was derived from the ownership of factories and machinery. The owner of factories and those who invested in factories and machinery would be the capitalists.They were the capitalists who gave the necessary impetus to the speedy growth of the Industrial Revolution.
During the era of the Industrial Revolution, the capitalists built a number of factories and hired
a lot of workers. Therefore, society developed into two new social classes: capitalists and workers.
IV. THE COMMUNIST PHILOSOPHERS & LEADERS
In a word, before Marx, many thinkers pursuited the goal of communism. Jean de Labadie, Ann Lee, Joseph Meacham, Lucy Wright, Francois Emile Babeuf, Robert Owen, Joseph M. Bimeler, Saint-Simon, Francois Marie Charles Fourier,etc were the vanguards of the communist movements in the world. These communist movements are different from the Marxism because they followed the spirit of Christinity, and practised the peaceful revolution.During the period 1760-1850, the Industrial Revolution blazed out, and continued developing to the late 18th century and the early 19th century in England.
The Industrial Revolution also subsequently developed throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. It destroyed the old manner of doing things, and caused a lot of fundamental changes in agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England. Advances in agricultural techniques, changes in industrial organization and new technology , the increase in commerce, foreign and domestic, were all conditions which promoted the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The famous scientists of this era were Galileo, Bacon, Descartes and others.
III. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION & THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM
The Industrial Revolution caused a lot of changes in society. The
towns in Europe were crowded, dirty and unregulated. They grew so
rapidly that no one took the time to consider the consequence of such
conditions. In the areas of public sanitation and public health,
ignorance reigned. In the mid-1800s there were several outbreaks of
typhoid and cholera.Prior to industrialization in England, land was the primary source of wealth. The landed aristocracy held enormous powers the feudal system. However, a new source of great wealth grew from the Industrial Revolution, that which was derived from the ownership of factories and machinery. The owner of factories and those who invested in factories and machinery would be the capitalists.They were the capitalists who gave the necessary impetus to the speedy growth of the Industrial Revolution.
During the era of the Industrial Revolution, the capitalists built a number of factories and hired
a lot of workers. Therefore, society developed into two new social classes: capitalists and workers.
Marxism,
initially developed by German revolutionary philosophers Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels from 1840s into the 1890s, became the principal form of
socialist thought during this time, and with few exceptions, it
remained in this position well until the 1970s. Most influential leftist
and socially critical theories either develop Marxism further (e.g.,
social democracy, Leninism, Maoism and Trotskyism), or completely drop
Marxist ideology and do not set the creation of classless society as
their aim (e.g., the modern feminism, New Labour, environmentalism).
Therefore the words Marxism and communism are usually understood as
synonymous.
1.KARL MARX (1818-83)
Heinrich
Karl Marx (Moses Mordecai Marx Levy) was born of wealthy parents (his
father was a lawyer). When he was six, his family converted to
Christianity.He joined the Satanist Church .He received a Doctorate in
Philosophy in 1841, but was turned down for a teaching
position, because of his revolutionary activities. In 1843, he studied
Economics in Paris, where he learned about French communism. Again he
was expelled for revolutionary activities. In 1845, he moved to
Brussels, where, with German philosopher, Friedrich Engels (the son of a
wealthy textile manufacturer, 1820-95), who he met in Paris in 1844,
they reorganized the Communist League.
Works ( Selection)
2. FRIEDRICH ENGELS (1820-1895) 1.KARL MARX (1818-83)
Heinrich
Karl Marx (Moses Mordecai Marx Levy) was born of wealthy parents (his
father was a lawyer). When he was six, his family converted to
Christianity.He joined the Satanist Church .He received a Doctorate in
Philosophy in 1841, but was turned down for a teaching
position, because of his revolutionary activities. In 1843, he studied
Economics in Paris, where he learned about French communism. Again he
was expelled for revolutionary activities. In 1845, he moved to
Brussels, where, with German philosopher, Friedrich Engels (the son of a
wealthy textile manufacturer, 1820-95), who he met in Paris in 1844,
they reorganized the Communist League.
In 1848, Marx published his Communist Manifesto (which he was working on from 1830-47), from an Engel's draft (which was an extension of Engel's Confessions of a Communist), which also borrowed heavily from Clinton Roosevelt's book, The Science of Government Founded on Natural Law.
It had been commissioned by the Communist League in London. The League,
formerly known as the League of the Just (or the League of Just Men).
In 1867, Marx wrote the first volume of Das Kapital,
which became known as the "Bible of the Working Class." The second
volume appeared after Marx' death, edited by Engels from Marx' notes, in
1885; and volume three appeared in 1894.When
Marx died in March 14, 1883, only six people attended his funeral. He
never supported his family, which had produced six children. Three of
them died of starvation in infancy and two others committed suicide.
Actually, Engels supported Marx with income from his father's cotton
mills in England. Marx was buried in London, at Highgate Cemetery. Works ( Selection)
- The Philosophical Manifesto of the Historical School of Law (1842)
- The Holy Family, 1845
- Theses on Feuerbach, 1845
- The German Ideology, 1845
- The Poverty of Philosophy, 1847
- Wage-Labor and Capital, 1847
- Manifesto of the Communist Party, 1848
- The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, 1852
Friedrich
Engels was a German social scientist and philosopher. In 1842 he was
sent to England to manage the family's mill in Manchester. In 1844,
Engels returned to Germany, and he stopped in Paris to meet Karl Marx .
Engels ended up staying in Paris to help Marx write The Holy Family.
From 1845 to 1848, Engels and Marx lived in Brussels. They contacted
and joined the underground German Communist League and were commissioned
by the League to write a pamphlet explaining the principles of
communism.
This became The Manifesto of the Communist Party. It was first published on 21 February 1848. During February 1848, the revolution in France caused Engels & Marx to go back to their home country of Prussia. In 1849, he fled to Paris and then London. Engels stayed in Prussia and took part in an armed uprising in South Germany . When the uprising was crushed, Engels returned to London where he and Marx lived until Marx's death in 1883. After 1883, Engels devoted much of his remaining years to editing Marx's unfinished volumes of Capital.
Engels died of throat cancer in London in 1895. Following cremation at Brookwood Cemetery near Woking, his ashes were scattered off Beachy Head, near Eastbourne as he had requested.
Major works:
This became The Manifesto of the Communist Party. It was first published on 21 February 1848. During February 1848, the revolution in France caused Engels & Marx to go back to their home country of Prussia. In 1849, he fled to Paris and then London. Engels stayed in Prussia and took part in an armed uprising in South Germany . When the uprising was crushed, Engels returned to London where he and Marx lived until Marx's death in 1883. After 1883, Engels devoted much of his remaining years to editing Marx's unfinished volumes of Capital.
Engels died of throat cancer in London in 1895. Following cremation at Brookwood Cemetery near Woking, his ashes were scattered off Beachy Head, near Eastbourne as he had requested.
Major works:
- The Holy Family was a book written by Marx & Engels in November 1844.
- The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844
- Anti-Dühring, Herr Eugen Dühring's Revolution in Science (1878)
- Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (1880)
- The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884)
3. VLADIMIR LENIN (1870-1924)
Vladimir
Illich Ulyanov (later known as Lenin) was a Russian revolutionary,
communist politician, and the first head of the Soviet Union. He studied
law at Kazan University, and started practising law in Samara.He
founded the "League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working
Class" in 1895 on the basis of the unification of all Marxist circles in
St. Petersburg. Lenin was arrested many times by Russian authorities.
He fled to France, England, Switzerland, and Finland..
When World War I began in 1914, Nicholas II assumed supreme command of the Russian Army fighting on the Eastern Front, but he failed. During 1917, there was a strong decline support for his government. In October 1917, the Russian Revolution destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union with the Provisional government. Lenin returned to Petrograd in October, and directed the overthrow of the Provisional Government from the Smolny Institute between 6 and 8 November 1917. On 8 November 1917, Lenin was elected the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars by the Russian Congress of Soviets.The Russian Constituent Assembly was shut down during its first session 19 January and the Bolsheviks in alliance with the left Socialist Revolutionaries then relied on support from the soviets.
In 1918, the Russian Civil War broke between the White Movement and the revolutionary regime, the newly created Russian SFSR. It carried out mass arrests and summary executions that became known as the White Terror and the Red Terror.
After his first stroke, Lenin dictated to his wife several papers regarding the government. Most famous of these is Lenin's Testament, which was partially inspired by the 1922 Georgian Affair and among other things criticized top-ranking communists, including Joseph Stalin, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Nikolai Bukharin and Leon Trotsky. Of Stalin, Lenin said that he had "unlimited authority concentrated in his hands".
He suggested that "comrades think about a way of removing Stalin from that post" because his rudeness would become "intolerable in a Secretary-General". Upon Lenin's death, his wife mailed his Testament to the central committee, to be read at the 13th Party Congress in May 1924. However, the committee and especially the ruling "triumvirate" – Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev – didn't care about this Lenin's Testament. This Testament was first officially published in 1925 in the United States by Max Eastman. Lenin died at 18:50 Moscow time on 21 January 1924, aged 53, at his estate in Gorki Leninskiye.
4. JOSEPH STALIN (1922-1953)
Josef Stalin Stalin was born in Georgia to a family of limited financial means in a town plagued by gang warfare and street brawls. At sixteen, he received a scholarship to a Georgian Orthodox seminary but he was expelled shortly before
his final exams. After leaving the seminar, he began organizing strikes
in 1902 and joined the Bolsheviks in 1903. About 1913, he was arrested
along with many other Bolsheviks and condemned to four years
imprisonment in Siberia.After returning from exile to
Saint Petersburg, Stalin supportied Alexander Kerensky's provisional
government.
After Lenin prevailed at the April 1917 Party conference, Stalin and Pravda supported overthrowing the provisional government, then he was elected to the Bolshevik Central Committee and appointed People's Commissar for Nationalities' Affairs and a member of Politburo . In the years following Lenin's death in 1924, he rose to become the leader of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), known as the Soviet Union. Stalin launched a command economy, replacing the New Economic Policy of the 1920s with Five-Year Plans and launching a period of rapid industrialization and economic collectivization. The upheaval in the agricultural sector disrupted food production, resulting in widespread famine, such as the catastrophic Soviet famine of 1932-1933, known in Ukraine as the Holodomor.
During the late 1930s, Stalin launched the Great Purge (also known as the "Great Terror"), a campaign to purge the Communist Party of people accused of corruption, terrorism, or treachery; he extended it to the military and other sectors of Soviet society. In the years following, millions of ethnic minorities were also deported. Stalin died on 5 March 1953 at the age of 74, and was embalmed on 9 March. Officially, the cause of death was listed as a cerebral hemorrhage. His body was preserved in Lenin's Mausoleum until 31 October 1961, when his body was removed from the Mausoleum and buried next to the Kremlin walls as part of the process of de-Stalinization.
5. LEON TROTSKY (1879- 1940)
When World War I began in 1914, Nicholas II assumed supreme command of the Russian Army fighting on the Eastern Front, but he failed. During 1917, there was a strong decline support for his government. In October 1917, the Russian Revolution destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union with the Provisional government. Lenin returned to Petrograd in October, and directed the overthrow of the Provisional Government from the Smolny Institute between 6 and 8 November 1917. On 8 November 1917, Lenin was elected the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars by the Russian Congress of Soviets.The Russian Constituent Assembly was shut down during its first session 19 January and the Bolsheviks in alliance with the left Socialist Revolutionaries then relied on support from the soviets.
In 1918, the Russian Civil War broke between the White Movement and the revolutionary regime, the newly created Russian SFSR. It carried out mass arrests and summary executions that became known as the White Terror and the Red Terror.
After his first stroke, Lenin dictated to his wife several papers regarding the government. Most famous of these is Lenin's Testament, which was partially inspired by the 1922 Georgian Affair and among other things criticized top-ranking communists, including Joseph Stalin, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Nikolai Bukharin and Leon Trotsky. Of Stalin, Lenin said that he had "unlimited authority concentrated in his hands".
He suggested that "comrades think about a way of removing Stalin from that post" because his rudeness would become "intolerable in a Secretary-General". Upon Lenin's death, his wife mailed his Testament to the central committee, to be read at the 13th Party Congress in May 1924. However, the committee and especially the ruling "triumvirate" – Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev – didn't care about this Lenin's Testament. This Testament was first officially published in 1925 in the United States by Max Eastman. Lenin died at 18:50 Moscow time on 21 January 1924, aged 53, at his estate in Gorki Leninskiye.
4. JOSEPH STALIN (1922-1953)
Josef Stalin Stalin was born in Georgia to a family of limited financial means in a town plagued by gang warfare and street brawls. At sixteen, he received a scholarship to a Georgian Orthodox seminary but he was expelled shortly before
his final exams. After leaving the seminar, he began organizing strikes
in 1902 and joined the Bolsheviks in 1903. About 1913, he was arrested
along with many other Bolsheviks and condemned to four years
imprisonment in Siberia.After returning from exile to
Saint Petersburg, Stalin supportied Alexander Kerensky's provisional
government.After Lenin prevailed at the April 1917 Party conference, Stalin and Pravda supported overthrowing the provisional government, then he was elected to the Bolshevik Central Committee and appointed People's Commissar for Nationalities' Affairs and a member of Politburo . In the years following Lenin's death in 1924, he rose to become the leader of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), known as the Soviet Union. Stalin launched a command economy, replacing the New Economic Policy of the 1920s with Five-Year Plans and launching a period of rapid industrialization and economic collectivization. The upheaval in the agricultural sector disrupted food production, resulting in widespread famine, such as the catastrophic Soviet famine of 1932-1933, known in Ukraine as the Holodomor.
During the late 1930s, Stalin launched the Great Purge (also known as the "Great Terror"), a campaign to purge the Communist Party of people accused of corruption, terrorism, or treachery; he extended it to the military and other sectors of Soviet society. In the years following, millions of ethnic minorities were also deported. Stalin died on 5 March 1953 at the age of 74, and was embalmed on 9 March. Officially, the cause of death was listed as a cerebral hemorrhage. His body was preserved in Lenin's Mausoleum until 31 October 1961, when his body was removed from the Mausoleum and buried next to the Kremlin walls as part of the process of de-Stalinization.
5. LEON TROTSKY (1879- 1940)
After
their Civil War victory, Stalin played a decisive role in engineering
the 1921 Red Army invasion of Georgia. Lenin and Lev Kamenev helped to
have Stalin appointed as General Secretary in 1922 to help build a base
against Trotsky, who moved to formally impose the Party dictatorship
over the industrial sectors.
Leon
Trotsky was the fifth child of a well-to-do farmer. When Trotsky was
nine, his father sent him to Odessa to be educated and he was enrolled
in a historically German school .Trotsky became involved in
revolutionary activities in 1896 after moving to Nikolayev (now
Mykolaiv), and was introduced to Marxism, and became a Marxist. Instead
of pursuing a mathematics degree, Trotsky helped organize the South
Russian Workers' Union in Nikolayev in early 1897. Using the name
'Lvov', he wrote and printed leaflets and proclamations, distributed
revolutionary pamphlets and popularized socialist ideas among industrial
workers and revolutionary students.In January 1898, over 200 members of
the union, including Trotsky, were arrested, and he spent the next two
years in prison awaiting trial. In 1900 he was sentenced to four years
in exile in the Irkutsk region of Siberia.
He was a Marxist theorist, one of the leaders of the Russian October Revolution, second only to Lenin. During the early days of the Soviet Union, he served first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army and People's Commissar of War. He was also among the first members of the Politburo.
After
leading a failed struggle of the Left Opposition against the policies
and rise of Joseph Stalin in the 1920s and the increasing role of
bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, Trotsky was expelled from the Communist
Party and deported from the Soviet Union. As the head of the Fourth
International, Trotsky continued in exile to oppose the Stalinist
bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, and was eventually assassinated in
Mexico by Ramón Mercader, a Soviet agent. Trotsky's ideas form the basis
of Trotskyism, a term coined as early as 1905 by his opponents in order
to separate it from Marxism. Trotsky’s ideas remain a major school of
Marxist thought that is opposed to the theories of Stalinism.
6. MAO ZEDONG
Mao
Zedong 毛澤東 was born in Hunan province in China. After graduating from
the First Provincial Normal School of Hunan in 1918, Mao went to Beijing
with Professor Yang Changji, his college teacher and future
father-in-law. Professor Yang held a faculty position at Peking
University. Because of Yang's recommendation, Mao worked as an assistant
librarian at the University with Li Dazhao as curator. Mao registered
as a part-time student at Beijing University and engaged himself in
reading Communist theories.During this time, Mao joined the Kuomintang [
4]. In early 1927, Mao returned to Hunan where in an urgent meeting
held by the Communist Party. From 1931 to 1934, Mao helped establish the
Soviet Republic of China and was elected Chairman of this small
republic in the mountainous areas in Jiangxi.
Chiang
Kai-shek, chairman of the Kuomintang government, determined to
eliminate the Communists. By October 1934, he had them surrounded,
prompting them to engage in the "Long March," a retreat from Jiangxi in
the southeast to Shaanxi in the northwest of China. Mao entered the
Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China.Mao
led the Communist resistance against the Japanese and the Kuomintang. In
1945, the Japanese surrendered, and January 1949, Kuomintang forces
withdrew to Taiwan .
The People's Republic of China was established on October 1, 1949. In October 1950, Mao made the decision to send the People's Volunteer Army into Korea and fought against the United Nations forces led by the U.S. Along with land reform, there were also campaigns of mass repression and public executions targeting alleged counter-revolutionaries (Zhen Fan),The U.S. State department in 1976 estimated that there may have been a million killed in the land reform, 800,000 killed in the Zhen Fan campaign. Mao himself claimed that a total of 700,000 people were executed during the years 1949–53. However, because there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution", the number of deaths range between 2 million and 5 million.
V. THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONSThe People's Republic of China was established on October 1, 1949. In October 1950, Mao made the decision to send the People's Volunteer Army into Korea and fought against the United Nations forces led by the U.S. Along with land reform, there were also campaigns of mass repression and public executions targeting alleged counter-revolutionaries (Zhen Fan),The U.S. State department in 1976 estimated that there may have been a million killed in the land reform, 800,000 killed in the Zhen Fan campaign. Mao himself claimed that a total of 700,000 people were executed during the years 1949–53. However, because there was a policy to select "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution", the number of deaths range between 2 million and 5 million.
Following
the consolidation of power, Mao launched a phase of rapid
collectivization. Mao also launched the First Five-Year Plan (1953-8).
The plan aimed to end Chinese dependence upon agriculture in order to
become a world power. But his Second Five Year Plan, the Great Leap
Forward, between 1959 and 1962 caused 20 million deaths of starvation or
diseases related to starvation. Programs pursued during this time
include the Hundred Flowers Campaign. The Hundred Flowers movement led
to the condemnation, silencing, and death of many citizens, also linked
to Mao's Anti-Rightist Movement, with death tolls possibly in the
millions.
1. THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
The
first Marxist international organization was the Communist League. It
was founded originally as the League of the Just by German workers in
Paris in 1836. This was initially a utopian socialist and Christian
communist grouping devoted to the ideas of Gracchus Babeuf. The League
of the Just participated in the Blanquist uprising of May 1839 in Paris.
Hereafter expelled from France, the League of the Just moved to London
where by 1847 numbered about 1,000. Wilhelm Weitling's 1842 book,
Guarantees of Harmony and Freedom, which criticised private property and
bourgeois society, was one of the bases of its social theory.
The Communist League was created in London in June 1847 out of a merger of the League of the Just and of the fifteen-man Communist Correspondence Committee of Bruxelles, headed by Karl Marx.The birth conference was attended by Friedrich Engels, who convinced the League to change its motto from All men are brethren to Karl Marx's phrase, Working men of all countries, unite!. The Communist League held a second congress, also in London, in November and December 1847. Both Marx and Engels attended, and they were mandated to draw up a manifesto for the organisation. This became the famous The Communist Manifesto. The League was ended formally in 1852.
2. THE SECOND INTERNATIONALThe Communist League was created in London in June 1847 out of a merger of the League of the Just and of the fifteen-man Communist Correspondence Committee of Bruxelles, headed by Karl Marx.The birth conference was attended by Friedrich Engels, who convinced the League to change its motto from All men are brethren to Karl Marx's phrase, Working men of all countries, unite!. The Communist League held a second congress, also in London, in November and December 1847. Both Marx and Engels attended, and they were mandated to draw up a manifesto for the organisation. This became the famous The Communist Manifesto. The League was ended formally in 1852.
In
1864 in a workmen's meeting held in Saint Martin's Hall, London there
was founded the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), better
known as the First International. It was an international socialist
organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing
political groups and trade union organizations that were committed to
the working class and class struggle. At its founding, it was an
alliance of people from diverse groups, besides Marxists it included
French Mutualists, Blanquists, English Owenites, Italian republicans,
such American proponents of individualist anarchism as Stephen Pearl
Andrews and William B. Greene, followers of Mazzini, and other
socialists of various persuasions.
Due
to the wide variety of philosophies present in the First International,
there was conflict from the start. The first objections to Marx's came
from the Mutualists who opposed communism and statism. However, shortly
after Mikhail Bakunin and his followers (called Collectivists while in
the International) joined in 1868, the First International became
polarised into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective
figureheads. Perhaps the clearest differences between the groups emerged
over their proposed strategies for achieving their visions of
socialism.
In 1872, the conflict in the First International
climaxed with a final split between the two groups at the Hague
Congress. This clash is often cited as the origin of the long-running
conflict between anarchists and Marxists. From then on, the Marxist and
anarchist currents of socialism had distinct organisations, at various
points including rival 'internationals'. In 1872, the organization was
relocated to New York City. The First International disbanded four years
later, at the 1876 Philadelphia conference.The Socialist International better known as the Second International (1889–1916), a Marxist organisation of socialist and labour parties, was formed in Paris on July 14, 1889 with support of Engels (Marx was already dead at the time). At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated. The International continued the work of the dissolved First International, though this time excluding the anarcho-syndicalists, and was in existence until 1916.
Among
the Second International's most famous actions were its (1889)
declaration of May 1 as International Workers' Day and its 1910
declaration of March 8 as International Women's Day. It initiated the
international campaign for the 8-hour working day. The International's
permanent executive and information body was the International Socialist
Bureau (ISB), based in Brussels and formed after the International's
Paris Congress of 1900. Emile Vandervelde and Camille Huysmans of the
Belgian Labour Party were its chair and secretary. Lenin was a member of
the International from 1905. The Second International dissolved during
World War I, in 1916, as the separate national parties that composed it
did not maintain a unified internationalist front against the war,
instead generally supporting their respective nations' role.
3. THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL
Lenin
created the Third International (Comintern) in 1919, and sent in 1920
the Twenty-one Conditions, which included democratic centralism, to all
European socialist parties willing to adhere. In France, for example,
the majority of the SFIO socialist party split in 1921 to form the
French Communist Party (French Section of the Communist International).
Henceforth, the term "Communism" was applied to the objective of the
parties founded under the umbrella of the Comintern.In
March 1919, Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders met with revolutionary
socialists from around the world and formed the Communist International.
Members of the Communist International, including Lenin and the
Bolsheviks themselves, broke off from the broader socialist movement.
From that point onwards, they would become known as communists. In
Russia, the Bolshevik Party was renamed the "Russian Communist Party
(Bolsheviks)," which eventually became the CPSU.
4. THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL
After
leading a failed struggle of the Left Opposition against the policies
and rise of Joseph Stalin in the 1920s and the increasing role of
bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, Trotsky was expelled from the Communist
Party and deported from the Soviet Union. Trotsky also opposed Stalin's
peace agreements with Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. As the head of the
Fourth International, Trotsky continued in exile to oppose the Stalinist
bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, and was eventually assassinated in
Mexico by Ramón Mercader, a Soviet agent.Trotsky's ideas form the basis
of Trotskyism, a term coined as early as 1905 by his opponents in order
to separate it from Marxism. Trotsky’s ideas remain a major school of
Marxist thought that is opposed to the theories of Stalinism.
Communism had a theory, an international organization and the brutal leaders therefore they became the disaster for human kind.
1. The Russian Feudal Regime
4.The Communist Party of the Soviet Union
During the 1960s and 1970s, the CPC experienced a significant ideological breakdown with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev and their allies.
Like Stalin, Mao committed goenocide:
+ About 1934, in Jiangxi, Mao's authoritative domination, especially that of the military force, was challenged by the Jiangxi branch of the CPC and military officers. Mao's opponents, among whom the most prominent was Li Wenlin, the founder of the CPC's branch and Red Army in Jiangxi, were against Mao's land policies and proposals to reform the local party branch and army leadership. Mao reacted by killing Li Wenlin and his comrades. A confidential report found that a quarter of the entire Red Army under Mao at the time was slaughtered, often after being tortured.The estimated number of the victims amounted to 'tens of thousands' and could be as high as 186,000.Critics accuse Mao's authority in Jiangxi of being secured and reassured through the revolutionary terrorism, or red terrorism.
+Mao's troops invaded Tibet in 1950.
+Mao's Second Five Year Plan, and the Great Leap Forward, between 1959 and 1962 caused 20 million deaths of starvation or diseases related to starvation.
+The Hundred Flowers movement led to the condemnation, silencing, and death of many citizens, also linked to Mao's Anti-Rightist Movement, with death tolls possibly in the millions.
+The Cultural Revolution (1956-1976) caused in rural China some 36 million people were persecuted, of whom between 750,000 and 1.5 million were killed, with roughly the same number permanently injured. In Mao: The Unknown Story, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday claim that as many as 3 million people died in the violence of the Cultural Revolution.
That
movement was not a revolution, but a vengeance of a cruel king in order
to destroy his enemies who had criticized his policies on the Five-Year
Plan and the Great Leap. At the end of this tragedy, Liu Shaoqi was
sent to a detention camp, where he later died in 1969; Deng Xiaoping,
who was himself sent away for a period of re-education three times, was
eventually sent to work in an engine factory; Peng Dehuai was brought to
Beijing to be publicly displayed and ridiculed. At last, Lin Biao,
Mao's chosen successor, became the most prominent figure during the
Cultural Revolution following 1968, but in September 1971 was shocked
when a plane in which Lin Biao was believed to be traveling crashed in
Mongolia.
The most gruesome aspects of the campaign were the numerous incidents of torture and killing, and the suicides that were the final option of many who suffered beatings and humiliation. One of the most famous cases was communist leader Deng Xiaoping's son Deng Pufang who jumped/was thrown from a four-story building during that time. Instead of dying, he became a paraplegic.
During the Destruction of Four Olds campaign, religious affairs of all types were persecuted and discouraged by the Red Guards. Many religious buildings such as temples, churches, mosques, monasteries, and cemeteries were closed down and sometimes looted and destroyed.
3. Deng Xiaoping 鄧小平 (1904 – 1997)
Deng Xiaoping was a prominent Chinese politician, was born into a Hakka family in Guang An county in Sichuan province. He was educated in France, as were many notable Asian revolutionaries (such as Ho Chi Minh, Zhou Enlai, and Pol Pot), where he discovered Marxism-Leninism.
In 1928 Deng led the Baise Uprising in Guangxi province against the Kuomintang (KMT) government. The uprising soon failed and Deng went to the Central Soviet Area in Jiangxi province. He was a veteran of the Long March, during which Deng served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. In 1956, at the Party's Eighth National Congress, Deng made the report on the revision of the Party Constitution, and at the First Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee, he was elected member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and General Secretary of the Central Committee.
Thus, at the age of 52 he became one of the chief leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, together with Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and Chen Yun. For the next ten years Deng Xiaoping was General Secretary, directing the routine work of the Secretariat. In 1961, at the Guangzhou conference, Deng uttered what is perhaps his most famous quotation: "I don't care if it's a white cat or a black cat. It's a good cat so long as it catches mice".
Deng gradually emerged as the de-facto leader of China in the few years following Mao's death in 1976. Deng then repudiated the Cultural Revolution and, in 1977, launched the "Beijing Spring", which allowed open criticism of the excesses and suffering that had occurred during the period. Meanwhile, he was the impetus for the abolishment of the class background system. Under this system, the CCP put up employment barriers to Chinese deemed to be associated with the former landlord class; its removal therefore effectively allowed Chinese capitalists to join the Communist Party.The CPC under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping moved towards Socialism with Chinese characteristics and instituted Chinese economic reform.
In September 1982, following the initial successes in socialist modernization and in implementation of reform and the open policy, the Party held its Twelfth National Congress. At that Congress Deng summed up China's recent historical experience and drew a basic conclusion: the universal truth of Marxism must be integrated with the concrete realities of China, and China must blaze a trail of its own, building socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Like Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping committed crimes:
+Occupation of Vietnam in 1979.
+Massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989 .
Like the Soviet Communist party, the Chinese Communist party has followed the dictatorship , so the human rights were violated. And like Soviet Communism, Chinese communism is a kind of new imperialism.
Ho
Chi Minh 's given name was Nguyễn Sinh Cung[5] (1890 – 1969), born in
Nghê An province, Việt Nam. His father, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc, was a Confucian
scholar, small time teacher and later an imperial magistrate in a small
remote district Binh Khe (Qui Nhon). He was later demoted for abuse of
power after an influential local figure died several days after
receiving 100 canes as punishment. On 5 June 1911, Nguyễn Sinh Cung left
Vietnam on a French steamer, Amiral Latouche-Tréville, working
as a kitchen helper. Arriving in Marseille, France, he applied for the
French Colonial Administrative School but his application was rejected.
He participated in the French Communist Party and spent much of his time
in Moscow in 1924, and he became the Comintern's Asia hand.
In 1924, Phan Boi Chau help a meeting in Canton with political refugees among who was Lý Thụy (Hồ Chí Minh), a Komintern interpreter who had just arrived from Moscow. In May 1925, to replace Viet Nam Quang Phục Hội, Viet Nam Thanh Niên Đồng Chí hội (The Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association), or Thanh Niên for short, was found in Hongkong with Phan Bội Châu as president, Nguyễn Hải Thần as advisor, and Lý Thụy as general secretary.
In June 1925, Lý Thụy betrayed Phan Bội Châu, head of a rival revolutionary faction, by selling him to French police in Shanghai for 100,000 piastres. Thus Nguyễn Ái Quốc seized the control of Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association.[6]
In June 1931, he was arrested in Hong Kong. To reduce French pressure for extradition, it was announced in 1932 that Nguyễn Ái Quốc had died. But today, in a book entitled" Life of Ho Chi Minh ", Hồ Tuấn Hùng 胡俊熊, a Taiwan scholar revealed that Hồ Chí Minh was a Chinese.[7]
The second Vietnamese communist party, An Nam Cộng Sản đảng (Vietnamese Communist Party), was formed in July 1929. The first conference was help in August 1929 at N0 1 Philippini street (Nguyễn Trung Trực), Saigon. In November 1929, a temporary executive committee was founded with Châu Văn Liêm (Việt) as general secretary, and a temporary Central Committee including Châu Vǎn Liêm (Việt), Nguyễn Thiệu, Trần Não, Hồ Tùng Mậu, Lê Hồng Sơn, Nguyễn Sĩ Sách.
The third Vietnamese communist party was Đông Dương Cộng sản Liên đoàn (The Indochine Communist League ). At first, Tân Việt đảng ( New Vietnam Party), a nationalist party, was formed in 1925 -1928 in Huế, the Center of Vietnam. A lot intellectuals such as Đặng Thái Mai, Trần Huy Liệu, Đào Duy Anh partipated in Tân Việt Party.
Therefore, in the year of 30s, Vietnam had three Vietnamese Communist Parties following the Stalinism. They fighted each other violently such as Hà Huy Tập critized Nguyễn Ái Quốc (Ho Chi Minh) .
Konmintern decided to unify them. Therefore in February 1930, Ho Chi Minh formed The Vietnamese Communist Party at a conference in Hong Kong with the attending of two competing communist factions, Indochinese Communist Party (Đông Dương Đảng Cộng Sản) in Tonkin and the Communist Party of Annam (An Nam Đảng Cộng Sản) in Cochinchina. Although the third Vietnamese communist group, the Indochinese Communist League (Đông Dương Cộng Sản Liên Đoàn) in Annam, had not been invited to the Hong Kong conference because at that time, Communists did take control yet the Tân Việt party. The Hong Kong conference (held in Kowloon City) elected a nine-member Provisional Central Committee, consisting of 3 members from Tonkin, 2 from Annam, 2 from Cochinchina, and 2 from the overseas Chinese community. Soon thereafter, at its first plenum the party changed its name to the Indochinese Communist Party (Đảng Cộng Sản Đông Dương), on directions from Comintern. The First National Party Congress was held in secret in Macau in 1935.
At the same time, a Comintern congress in Moscow adopted a policy towards a popular front against fascism and directed Communist movements around the world to collaborate with anti-fascist forces regardless of their orientation towards socialism. So, the party was formally dissolved in 1945 in order to hide its Communist affiliation and its activities were folded into the Marxism Research Association and the Viet Minh, which had been founded four years earlier as a common front for national liberation.
The Party was refounded as the Vietnam Workers' Party (Đảng lao động Việt Nam) at the Second National Party Congress in Tuyen Quang in 1951. The Congress was held in territory in north Vietnam controlled by the Viet Minh during the First Indochina War. The Third National Congress, held in Hanoi in 1960 formalized the tasks of constructing socialism in what was by then North Vietnam, or the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and committed the party to carrying out the revolution of liberation in the South. At the Fourth National Party Congress held in 1976, the Worker Party's of North Vietnam was merged with the People's Revolutionary Party of South Vietnam to form the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Membership in the party doubled from 760,000 in 1966 to 1,553,500 in 1976, representing 3.1 percent of the total population of the country, and was close to two million by 1986. The title President of the Central Committee, existing during 1951 - 1969, was nominated for Ho Chi Minh. This position is considered to be that of the supreme leader of the Party.
The Communist Party of Vietnam is the currently ruling, as well as the only legal political party in Vietnam. The Party was founded by Hồ Chí Minh and other exiles living in China as the Vietnamese Communist Party (Việt Nam Đảng Cộng Sản) at a conference in Hong Kong February 1930. At the Hong Kong conference two competing communist factions, Indochinese Communist Party (Đông Dương Đảng Cộng Sản) in Tonkin and the Communist Party of Annam (An Nam Đảng Cộng Sản) in Cochinchina, merged. Although the third Vietnamese communist group, the Indochinese Communist League (Đông Dương Cộng Sản Liên Đoàn) in Annam, had not been invited to the Hong Kong conference its members were allowed to become members of the new united party.
The Hong Kong conference (held in Kowloon City) elected a nine-member Provisional Central Committee, consisting of 3 members from Tonkin, 2 from Annam, 2 from Cochinchina, and 2 from the overseas Chinese community. The latter group had previously been organized within the South Seas Communist Party.
Soon thereafter, at its first plenum the party changed its name to the Indochinese Communist Party (Đảng Cộng Sản Đông Dương), on directions from Comintern.
The First National Party Congress was held in secret in Macau in 1935. At the same time, a Comintern congress in Moscow adopted a policy towards a popular front against fascism and directed Communist movements around the world to collaborate with anti-fascist forces regardless of their orientation towards socialism. This required the ICP to regard all nationalist parties in Indochina as potential allies.
The party was formally dissolved in 1945 in order to hide its Communist affiliation and its activities were folded into the Marxism Research Association and the Viet Minh, which had been founded four years earlier as a common front for national liberation. The Party was refounded as the Vietnam Workers' Party (Đảng lao động Việt Nam) at the Second National Party Congress in Tuyen Quang in 1951. The Congress was held in territory in north Vietnam controlled by the Viet Minh during the First Indochina War. The Third National Congress, held in Hanoi in 1960 formalized the tasks of constructing socialism in what was by then North Vietnam, or the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and committed the party to carrying out the revolution of liberation in the South. At the Fourth National Party Congress held in 1976, the Worker Party's of North Vietnam was merged with the People's Revolutionary Party of South Vietnam to form the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The CPV is a Marxist-Leninist party run on democratic centralist lines. The supreme leading body is the Politburo (Political Bureau) headed by the Secretary-General. The Politburo is elected by the Central Committee, and the Central Committee is elected by the National Congress. In 1976, as a result of the unification of North and South Vietnam, the Central Committee was expanded to 133 members from 77 and the Politburo grew from 11 to 17 members while the Secretariat increased from seven to nine members.
Membership in the party doubled from 760,000 in 1966 to 1,553,500 in 1976, representing 3.1 percent of the total population of the country, and was close to two million by 1986.
The title President of the Central Committee, existing during 1951 - 1969, was nominated for Ho Chi Minh. This position is considered to be that of the supreme leader of the Party.
The National Congress of CPV is to be held every five years (since 1976). Due to the war footing during the wars against French and U.S. troops, the first 4 congresses were not fixed to the common time schedule. After the Foundation Conference, 10 national congresses of CPV have been held. Hồ Chí Minh is Chairman of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1951 to 1969. Ten people have held the First Secretary (1960-1976) and/or General Secretary (1930-1960 and 1976-Present) positions of the CPV, namely:
Like Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh was a crafty and brutal man. He and his communist party have been the origin of the sufferance of Vietnamese people.
In a word, Communism has been the disaster for human kind but more dangerous and cruel than Imperialism and Fascism.
Communism had a theory, an international organization and the brutal leaders therefore they became the disaster for human kind.
VI. HISTORIES OF THE COMMUNIST PARTIES
A .HISTORY OF THE SOVIET COMMUNIST PARTY
1. The Russian Feudal Regime
The
history of Russia began with that of the East Slavs. By the 18th
century, the Grand Duchy of Moscow had become the great Russian Empire.
By the time of Catherine the Great, the Russian Tsars enjoyed virtually
autocratic rule over their nobles. In 1861, Nicholas II abolished
serfdom, though the emancipation didn't in fact bring on any significant
change in the condition of the peasants. As the country became more
industrialized, its political system experienced even greater strain.
Attempts by the lower classes to gain more freedom provoked fears of
anarchy, and the government remained extremely conservative. In 1894
Nicholas II acceded to the throne. To make matters worse, the increasing
Russian presence in the far east provoked the hostility of Japan.
Nicholas was forced to grant concessions to the reformers, including
most notably a constitution and a parliament, or Duma. The power of the
reform movement was founded on a new and powerful force entered Russian
politics.
2. The Russian Revolution
At
the end of XIXth century, by the influence of French revolution, and
Marxism, a lot of intellects, and politicians attempted to overthrow the
feudal regime of Russia. The Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, or RSDLP also known as the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party and the Russian Social-Democratic Party,
was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in
Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party.
The
RSDLP program was based on the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels - that, despite Russia's agrarian nature, the true revolutionary
potential lay with the industrial working class. The RSDLP was illegal
for most of its existence; at the end of the first party congress in
March 1898, all nine delegates were arrested by the Imperial Russian
Police.
In
1903, the Second Congress of the party met in exile in Belgium to
attempt to create a united force. However, after unprecedented attention
from the Belgian authorities the venue for the congress was moved to
London. At the congress, the party split into two factions on November
17 because of the dispute between Lenin and Martov. Lenin argued
for a small party of professional revolutionaries with a large fringe
of non-party sympathizers and supporters, whereas Martov wanted to keep
party membership open to any Russian who supported Marxism. The Lenin's
faction played a relatively minor role in the 1905 Revolution, and were a
minority in the St. Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies led by
Trotsky. Neither Lenin nor Martov had a firm majority throughout the
Congress as delegates left or switched sides but Lenin labeled the group
the Mensheviks (members of the minority) and his own group the
Bolsheviks (members of the majority). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshevik
When World War I began in 1914, the large Social Democratic parties of Europe of the Second International supported their various countries' war efforts. This led Lenin to a final split with the Second International. Lenin opposed the war, believing that the peasants and workers were fighting the battle of the bourgeoisie for them. He adopted the stance that what he described as an "imperialist war" ought to be turned into a civil war between the classes.
In 1917 Russia went through two revolutions: February 24 - 29 and October 24 - 25. The first revolution overthrew the tsarist government and replaced it with a Provisional Government of Duma members (mostly members of the Cadet party). The Democrats participated in the Kerensky provisional government.At that time, Lenin was in Switzerland. The German government clearly hoped Lenin's return would create political unrest in Russia, which would help to end the war on the Eastern front, allowing Germany to concentrate on defeating the Western allies. Therefore, the German government permitted Lenin and his company traveling through Germany by rail. On 16 April 1917, Lenin arrived by train to a tumultuous reception at Finland Station, in Petrograd.
Leon Trotsky, the "famous leader of the bandits and the hooligans," caused a sensation at the pre-parliament. He openly accused the government and the bourgeoisie of encouraging the "bony hand of hunger," to strangle the revolution. Then he and all the Communists walked out of the meeting. Sukhanov thought that they were "now taking up arms against the entire old world."
Soldiers on the Eastern Front were dismayed at the news and regiments began to refuse to move to the front line. There was a rapid increase in the number of men deserting and by the autumn of 1917 an estimated 2 million men had unofficially left the army. Some of these soldiers returned to their homes and used their weapons to seize land from the nobility. Manor houses were burnt down and in some cases wealthy landowners were murdered. Essential to a successful Communists takeover was deception.
Lenin declared that Russia was ripe for an immediate socialist revolution. The Communists overthrew the government in the October Revolution. The Democrats opposed this coup and participated in the short-lived Constituent Assembly (Jan., 1918), but they generally refused to side with the anti-Bolshevik forces during the civil war. The The Democrats were suppressed by 1921. Meanwhile, in 1918, the Lenin's faction became the Russian Communist party.
3. The vanguards
(1). Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (1857-1918)
Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist theoretician. He was a founder of the Social-Democratic movement in Russia and was the first Russian Marxist.
Plekhanov contributed many ideas to Marxism in the area of philosophy and the roles of art and religion in society. He wrote extensively on historical materialism, on the history of materialist philosophy, on the role of the masses and of the individual in history, on the relationship between the base and superstructure, on the role of ideologies, on the revolutionary democrats such as Belinsky, Chernyshevsky, Herzen and Dobrolyubov. In his master work, The Development of the Monist View of History, Plekhanov wrote an outstanding book that remains a classic of Marxism to the present day. His efforts to popularize Marxist ideas in Russia during gloomy periods of reaction and repression earned him an honored place in the international working-class movement.
Plekhanov was one of the organizers of the first political demonstrations in Russia. After a fiery speech during the Kazan demonstration in 1876, indicting the tsarist autocracy and defending the ideas of Chernyshevsky, Plekhanov led an underground life. He was arrested twice, in 1877 and again in 1878, and faced with increasing persecution he emigrated in 1880. It would be 37 years before he returned to Russia.
Plekhanov used the pseudonym of N. Beltov in his most famous work, The Development of the Monist View of History, N. Kamensky or Utis in some articles. Plekhanov was originally a Narodnik, a leader of the organization "Land and Liberty". After emigrating from Russia in 1880, he established connections with the Social-Democratic movement of western Europe and began to study the works of Marx and Engels. This led him to renounce Narodism and become a Marxist. In 1883 in Switzerland, he co-founded with Lev Deutsch and Vera Zasulich, the "Emancipation of Labor" group, which popularized Marxism among Russian revolutionaries. At its dissolution, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and worked with Lenin. In 1903, at the second congress of the RSDLP, Plekhanov broke with Lenin and sided with the The Democrats.
During World War I, he took a "nationalist" position (as opposed to the Communists ), calling for the defeat of Germany. Lenin accused Plekhanov, along with his other critics, of "social chauvinism" in the April Theses. Despite his differences, Plekhanov was recognized, even in his own lifetime, as having made an outstanding contribution to Marxist philosophy and literature by Lenin. Plekhanov returned to Russia after the February Revolution and formed Yedinstvo. However, he left Russia again after the October Revolution because he was hostile toward the Communists. He died of tuberculosis in Terijoki, Finland (now Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg, Russia). He was buried in the Volkovo Cemetery near the graves of Belinsky and Dobrolyubov. Despite his disagreements with Lenin, the Soviet Communists cherished his memory and gave his name to the Soviet Academy of Economics and the G.V. Plekhanov Saint Petersburg State Mining Institute.
Major works
Works Socialism and the Political Struggle (1883) The Development of the Monist View of History (1895) Essays on the History of Materialism (1896) A. L. Volynsky: Russian Critics. Literary Essays (1897) N. G. Chernyshevsky's Aesthetic Theory (1897) The Materialist Conception of History (1891) On the Question of the Individual's Role in History (1898) Scientific Socialism and Religion (1904) The Proletarian Movement and Bourgeois Art (1905) Henrik Ibsen (1906) On the Psychology of the Workers' Movement (1907) Fundamental Problems of Marxism (1908) The Ideology of Our Present-Day Philistine (1908)
Karl Marx and Lev Tolstoy (1911) Art and Social Life (1912-1913)
(2). Julius Martov (1873-1920)
Julius
Martov was born in Constanipole in 1873 to a Jewish middle class
parents. Martov became a close friend of Vladimir Lenin and in October,
1895, formed the Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Classes.
Forced to leave Russia and with others living in exile, Martov joined
the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP).
Over the next few years he worked closely with George Plekhanov, Pavel
Axelrod, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky in publishing the party journal
Iskra. At the Second Congress
of the Social Democratic Labour Party in London in 1903, there was a
dispute between Martov and his long time friend, Vladimir Lenin. Lenin
argued for a small party of professional revolutionaries with a large
fringe of non-party sympathizers and supporters.
Martov disagreed believing it was better to have a large party of activists. At the end of the debate Martov won the vote 28-23 . Lenin was unwilling to accept the result and formed a faction and he called his faction the Bolshevik ( Russian for "majority"), and his component the Mensheviks - (Russian for "minority"). In fact, the Mensheviks were actually the larger faction. Lenin's faction later ended up in the minority and remained smaller than the Mensheviks until the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Seen as the leader of the The Democrats (Mensheviks), Martov edited the journal Iskra from November, 1903 to its closure in October, 1905. Along with George Plekhanov and Leon Trotsky, he used the journal to attack Vladimir Lenin and his supporters.
An opponent of the First World War, Martov worked with Vladimir Antonov and Leon Trotsky, to produce the internationalist newspaper, Our World. After the February Revolution Martov returned to Russia but was too late to stop some The Democrats joining the Provisional Government. Martov was not invited by the Communists to join the government after the October Revolution. Martov supported the Red Army against the White Army during the Russian Civil War, however, he continued to denounce the persecution of liberal newspapers, the nobility, the Cadets and the Socialist Revolutionaries. In 1920 Martov was forced into exile. He continued to criticize Vladimir Lenin and the Soviet government but refused to join other anti-communists exiles in calling for allied intervention in Russia. Julius Martov died in Schomberg, Germany, in 1920.
(.3).Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970)
Alexander Kerensky
was born in Simbirsk, Russia. He was the son of a headmaster, Kerensky
studied law at the University of St. Petersburg. In 1905 Kerensky joined
the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR) then joined the Russian Labour
Party and in 1912 was elected to the State Duma. In February, 1917,
Kerensky announced he had rejoined the Socialist Revolutionary Party and
called for the removal of Nicholas II. When the Tsar abdicated on 13th
March, a Provisional Government, headed by Prince George Lvov, was
formed. Kerensky was appointed as Minister of Justice in the new
government and immediately introduced a series of reforms including the
abolition of capital punishment.
He also announced basic civil liberties such as freedom of the press, the abolition of ethnic and religious discrimination and made plans for the introduction of universal suffrage. Lvov's resigned and was replaced by Kerensky.In November, the Red Guards stormed the Winter Palace and members of the Kerensky's cabinet were arrested. and his loyal troops was defeated by Communists forces at Pulkova. He remained underground in Finland until escaping to London in May 1918. He later moved to France. On the outbreak of the Second World War Kerensky moved to the United States. He worked at the Hoover Institution in California and wrote his autobiography, The Kerensky Memoirs: Russia and History's Turning Point (1967). Alexander Kerensky died of cancer in New York on 11th June, 1970.
Plekhanov
believed that Russia could not pass directly from its backward state to
a rule by the proletariat and that first an intermediary bourgeois
regime must be developed. Plekhanov' s vision was more of state similar to the Western Democracies, therefore we can call his faction the Democrats instead of Mensheviks, and Lenin Communists instead of Bolsheviks because Mensheviks and Bolsheviks are a misnomer and a deception caused by Lenin.
When World War I began in 1914, the large Social Democratic parties of Europe of the Second International supported their various countries' war efforts. This led Lenin to a final split with the Second International. Lenin opposed the war, believing that the peasants and workers were fighting the battle of the bourgeoisie for them. He adopted the stance that what he described as an "imperialist war" ought to be turned into a civil war between the classes.
In 1917 Russia went through two revolutions: February 24 - 29 and October 24 - 25. The first revolution overthrew the tsarist government and replaced it with a Provisional Government of Duma members (mostly members of the Cadet party). The Democrats participated in the Kerensky provisional government.At that time, Lenin was in Switzerland. The German government clearly hoped Lenin's return would create political unrest in Russia, which would help to end the war on the Eastern front, allowing Germany to concentrate on defeating the Western allies. Therefore, the German government permitted Lenin and his company traveling through Germany by rail. On 16 April 1917, Lenin arrived by train to a tumultuous reception at Finland Station, in Petrograd.
Leon Trotsky, the "famous leader of the bandits and the hooligans," caused a sensation at the pre-parliament. He openly accused the government and the bourgeoisie of encouraging the "bony hand of hunger," to strangle the revolution. Then he and all the Communists walked out of the meeting. Sukhanov thought that they were "now taking up arms against the entire old world."
Soldiers on the Eastern Front were dismayed at the news and regiments began to refuse to move to the front line. There was a rapid increase in the number of men deserting and by the autumn of 1917 an estimated 2 million men had unofficially left the army. Some of these soldiers returned to their homes and used their weapons to seize land from the nobility. Manor houses were burnt down and in some cases wealthy landowners were murdered. Essential to a successful Communists takeover was deception.
Lenin declared that Russia was ripe for an immediate socialist revolution. The Communists overthrew the government in the October Revolution. The Democrats opposed this coup and participated in the short-lived Constituent Assembly (Jan., 1918), but they generally refused to side with the anti-Bolshevik forces during the civil war. The The Democrats were suppressed by 1921. Meanwhile, in 1918, the Lenin's faction became the Russian Communist party.
3. The vanguards
(1). Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (1857-1918)
Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist theoretician. He was a founder of the Social-Democratic movement in Russia and was the first Russian Marxist.
Plekhanov contributed many ideas to Marxism in the area of philosophy and the roles of art and religion in society. He wrote extensively on historical materialism, on the history of materialist philosophy, on the role of the masses and of the individual in history, on the relationship between the base and superstructure, on the role of ideologies, on the revolutionary democrats such as Belinsky, Chernyshevsky, Herzen and Dobrolyubov. In his master work, The Development of the Monist View of History, Plekhanov wrote an outstanding book that remains a classic of Marxism to the present day. His efforts to popularize Marxist ideas in Russia during gloomy periods of reaction and repression earned him an honored place in the international working-class movement.
Plekhanov was one of the organizers of the first political demonstrations in Russia. After a fiery speech during the Kazan demonstration in 1876, indicting the tsarist autocracy and defending the ideas of Chernyshevsky, Plekhanov led an underground life. He was arrested twice, in 1877 and again in 1878, and faced with increasing persecution he emigrated in 1880. It would be 37 years before he returned to Russia.
Plekhanov used the pseudonym of N. Beltov in his most famous work, The Development of the Monist View of History, N. Kamensky or Utis in some articles. Plekhanov was originally a Narodnik, a leader of the organization "Land and Liberty". After emigrating from Russia in 1880, he established connections with the Social-Democratic movement of western Europe and began to study the works of Marx and Engels. This led him to renounce Narodism and become a Marxist. In 1883 in Switzerland, he co-founded with Lev Deutsch and Vera Zasulich, the "Emancipation of Labor" group, which popularized Marxism among Russian revolutionaries. At its dissolution, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and worked with Lenin. In 1903, at the second congress of the RSDLP, Plekhanov broke with Lenin and sided with the The Democrats.
During World War I, he took a "nationalist" position (as opposed to the Communists ), calling for the defeat of Germany. Lenin accused Plekhanov, along with his other critics, of "social chauvinism" in the April Theses. Despite his differences, Plekhanov was recognized, even in his own lifetime, as having made an outstanding contribution to Marxist philosophy and literature by Lenin. Plekhanov returned to Russia after the February Revolution and formed Yedinstvo. However, he left Russia again after the October Revolution because he was hostile toward the Communists. He died of tuberculosis in Terijoki, Finland (now Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg, Russia). He was buried in the Volkovo Cemetery near the graves of Belinsky and Dobrolyubov. Despite his disagreements with Lenin, the Soviet Communists cherished his memory and gave his name to the Soviet Academy of Economics and the G.V. Plekhanov Saint Petersburg State Mining Institute.
Major works
Works Socialism and the Political Struggle (1883) The Development of the Monist View of History (1895) Essays on the History of Materialism (1896) A. L. Volynsky: Russian Critics. Literary Essays (1897) N. G. Chernyshevsky's Aesthetic Theory (1897) The Materialist Conception of History (1891) On the Question of the Individual's Role in History (1898) Scientific Socialism and Religion (1904) The Proletarian Movement and Bourgeois Art (1905) Henrik Ibsen (1906) On the Psychology of the Workers' Movement (1907) Fundamental Problems of Marxism (1908) The Ideology of Our Present-Day Philistine (1908)
Karl Marx and Lev Tolstoy (1911) Art and Social Life (1912-1913)
(2). Julius Martov (1873-1920)
Julius
Martov was born in Constanipole in 1873 to a Jewish middle class
parents. Martov became a close friend of Vladimir Lenin and in October,
1895, formed the Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Classes.
Forced to leave Russia and with others living in exile, Martov joined
the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP).
Over the next few years he worked closely with George Plekhanov, Pavel
Axelrod, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky in publishing the party journal
Iskra. At the Second Congress
of the Social Democratic Labour Party in London in 1903, there was a
dispute between Martov and his long time friend, Vladimir Lenin. Lenin
argued for a small party of professional revolutionaries with a large
fringe of non-party sympathizers and supporters.Martov disagreed believing it was better to have a large party of activists. At the end of the debate Martov won the vote 28-23 . Lenin was unwilling to accept the result and formed a faction and he called his faction the Bolshevik ( Russian for "majority"), and his component the Mensheviks - (Russian for "minority"). In fact, the Mensheviks were actually the larger faction. Lenin's faction later ended up in the minority and remained smaller than the Mensheviks until the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Seen as the leader of the The Democrats (Mensheviks), Martov edited the journal Iskra from November, 1903 to its closure in October, 1905. Along with George Plekhanov and Leon Trotsky, he used the journal to attack Vladimir Lenin and his supporters.
An opponent of the First World War, Martov worked with Vladimir Antonov and Leon Trotsky, to produce the internationalist newspaper, Our World. After the February Revolution Martov returned to Russia but was too late to stop some The Democrats joining the Provisional Government. Martov was not invited by the Communists to join the government after the October Revolution. Martov supported the Red Army against the White Army during the Russian Civil War, however, he continued to denounce the persecution of liberal newspapers, the nobility, the Cadets and the Socialist Revolutionaries. In 1920 Martov was forced into exile. He continued to criticize Vladimir Lenin and the Soviet government but refused to join other anti-communists exiles in calling for allied intervention in Russia. Julius Martov died in Schomberg, Germany, in 1920.
(.3).Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970)
Alexander Kerensky
was born in Simbirsk, Russia. He was the son of a headmaster, Kerensky
studied law at the University of St. Petersburg. In 1905 Kerensky joined
the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR) then joined the Russian Labour
Party and in 1912 was elected to the State Duma. In February, 1917,
Kerensky announced he had rejoined the Socialist Revolutionary Party and
called for the removal of Nicholas II. When the Tsar abdicated on 13th
March, a Provisional Government, headed by Prince George Lvov, was
formed. Kerensky was appointed as Minister of Justice in the new
government and immediately introduced a series of reforms including the
abolition of capital punishment. He also announced basic civil liberties such as freedom of the press, the abolition of ethnic and religious discrimination and made plans for the introduction of universal suffrage. Lvov's resigned and was replaced by Kerensky.In November, the Red Guards stormed the Winter Palace and members of the Kerensky's cabinet were arrested. and his loyal troops was defeated by Communists forces at Pulkova. He remained underground in Finland until escaping to London in May 1918. He later moved to France. On the outbreak of the Second World War Kerensky moved to the United States. He worked at the Hoover Institution in California and wrote his autobiography, The Kerensky Memoirs: Russia and History's Turning Point (1967). Alexander Kerensky died of cancer in New York on 11th June, 1970.
4.The Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was the ruling and only
legal political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest
communist organizations in the world. It emerged from a faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party,
under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. The party led the 1917 October
Revolution that overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and
established the world's first socialist state. Given the central role
under the Constitution of the Soviet Union, the party controlled all
tiers of government in the Soviet Union and did not tolerate any
opposition.
Its organization was subdivided into communist parties of the constituent Soviet republics as well as the mass youth organization, Komsomol. The party was also the driving force of Comintern, maintained organizational links and supported communist movements in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. The party ceased to exist with the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt failure in 1991 and was succeeded by the Communist Party of the Russian federation in Russia and the communist parties of the now-independent former Soviet republic.In theory, supreme power in the party was invested in the Party Congress. However, in practice, all executive power was in the hands of the General Secretary.
The governing body of the CPSU was the Party Congress which was held once in 1-5 years, depending on the historical period, with an exception of a long break from 1939 to 1952. Party Congresses would elect a Central Committee which, in turn, would elect a Politburo. Under Stalin the most powerful position in the party became the General Secretary who was elected by the Politburo. In 1952 the title of General Secretary became First Secretary and the Politburo became the Presidium before reverting to their former names under Leonid Brezhnev in 1966.
Membership in the party ultimately became a privilege, with a small subset of the general population of Party becoming an elite class or nomenklatura in Soviet society. Nomenklatura enjoyed many perquisites denied to the average Soviet citizen. Among those perks were shopping at well-stocked stores, access to foreign merchandise, preference in obtaining housing, access to dachas and holiday resorts, being allowed to travel abroad, sending their children to prestigious universities, and obtaining prestigious jobs (as well as party membership itself) for their children. In 1918 it had a membership of approximately 200,000. In the late 1920s under Stalin, the party engaged in a heavy recruitment campaign (the "Lenin Levy") of new members from both the working class and rural areas.
This was both an attempt to "proletarianize" the party and an attempt by Stalin to strengthen his base by outnumbering the Old Bolsheviks and reducing their influence in the party. By 1933, the party had approximately 3.5 million members but as a result of the Great Purge party membership was cut down to 1.9 million by 1939. In 1986, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union had over 19 million members or approximately 10% of the USSR's adult population.
In 1989 Gorbachev allowed other political associations (de facto political parties) to coexist with the Communist Party and in 1990 obtained the repeal of Article Six of the USSR constitution which gave the party supremacy over all institutions in society, thus ending its vanguard status. The Communist Party's power over the state formally ended that same year with the newly-created Soviet Presidency, whose first and only President was Party General Secretary Gorbachev. The growing likelihood of the dissolution of the USSR itself led hardline elements in the CPSU to launch the August Coup in 1991 which temporarily removed Gorbachev from power.
On August 19, 1991, a day before the New Union Treaty was to be signed devolving power to the republics, a group calling itself the "State Emergency Committee" seized power in Moscow declaring that Gorbachev was ill and therefore relieved of his position as president. The coup dissolved because of large public demonstrations and the efforts of Boris Yeltsin who became the real power in Russia as a result. Gorbachev returned to Moscow as president but resigned as General Secretary and vowed to purge the party of hardliners. Yeltsin had the CPSU formally banned within the Russian SFSR on August 26.
The KGB was disbanded as were other CPSU-related agencies and organizations. Yeltsin's action was later declared unconstitutional but by this time the USSR had ceased to exist. Actual political power lay in the positions of President of the Soviet Union (held by Gorbachev) and President of the Russian SFSR (held by Yeltsin). Ivashko remained for five days as acting General Secretary until August 29 when the party's activity was suspended by the Supreme Soviet.
The CPSU had party organizations in fourteen of the USSR's 15 republics. In the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic itself there was no separate Communist Party until 1990 as affairs were controlled directly by the CPSU.In 1989 Gorbachev allowed other political associations (de facto political parties) to coexist with the Communist Party and in 1990 obtained the repeal of Article Six of the USSR constitution which gave the party supremacy over all institutions in society, thus ending its vanguard status. The Communist Party's power over the state formally ended that same year with the newly-created Soviet Presidency, whose first and only President was Party General Secretary Gorbachev.
Its organization was subdivided into communist parties of the constituent Soviet republics as well as the mass youth organization, Komsomol. The party was also the driving force of Comintern, maintained organizational links and supported communist movements in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. The party ceased to exist with the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt failure in 1991 and was succeeded by the Communist Party of the Russian federation in Russia and the communist parties of the now-independent former Soviet republic.In theory, supreme power in the party was invested in the Party Congress. However, in practice, all executive power was in the hands of the General Secretary.
The governing body of the CPSU was the Party Congress which was held once in 1-5 years, depending on the historical period, with an exception of a long break from 1939 to 1952. Party Congresses would elect a Central Committee which, in turn, would elect a Politburo. Under Stalin the most powerful position in the party became the General Secretary who was elected by the Politburo. In 1952 the title of General Secretary became First Secretary and the Politburo became the Presidium before reverting to their former names under Leonid Brezhnev in 1966.
Membership in the party ultimately became a privilege, with a small subset of the general population of Party becoming an elite class or nomenklatura in Soviet society. Nomenklatura enjoyed many perquisites denied to the average Soviet citizen. Among those perks were shopping at well-stocked stores, access to foreign merchandise, preference in obtaining housing, access to dachas and holiday resorts, being allowed to travel abroad, sending their children to prestigious universities, and obtaining prestigious jobs (as well as party membership itself) for their children. In 1918 it had a membership of approximately 200,000. In the late 1920s under Stalin, the party engaged in a heavy recruitment campaign (the "Lenin Levy") of new members from both the working class and rural areas.
This was both an attempt to "proletarianize" the party and an attempt by Stalin to strengthen his base by outnumbering the Old Bolsheviks and reducing their influence in the party. By 1933, the party had approximately 3.5 million members but as a result of the Great Purge party membership was cut down to 1.9 million by 1939. In 1986, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union had over 19 million members or approximately 10% of the USSR's adult population.
In 1989 Gorbachev allowed other political associations (de facto political parties) to coexist with the Communist Party and in 1990 obtained the repeal of Article Six of the USSR constitution which gave the party supremacy over all institutions in society, thus ending its vanguard status. The Communist Party's power over the state formally ended that same year with the newly-created Soviet Presidency, whose first and only President was Party General Secretary Gorbachev. The growing likelihood of the dissolution of the USSR itself led hardline elements in the CPSU to launch the August Coup in 1991 which temporarily removed Gorbachev from power.
On August 19, 1991, a day before the New Union Treaty was to be signed devolving power to the republics, a group calling itself the "State Emergency Committee" seized power in Moscow declaring that Gorbachev was ill and therefore relieved of his position as president. The coup dissolved because of large public demonstrations and the efforts of Boris Yeltsin who became the real power in Russia as a result. Gorbachev returned to Moscow as president but resigned as General Secretary and vowed to purge the party of hardliners. Yeltsin had the CPSU formally banned within the Russian SFSR on August 26.
The KGB was disbanded as were other CPSU-related agencies and organizations. Yeltsin's action was later declared unconstitutional but by this time the USSR had ceased to exist. Actual political power lay in the positions of President of the Soviet Union (held by Gorbachev) and President of the Russian SFSR (held by Yeltsin). Ivashko remained for five days as acting General Secretary until August 29 when the party's activity was suspended by the Supreme Soviet.
The CPSU had party organizations in fourteen of the USSR's 15 republics. In the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic itself there was no separate Communist Party until 1990 as affairs were controlled directly by the CPSU.In 1989 Gorbachev allowed other political associations (de facto political parties) to coexist with the Communist Party and in 1990 obtained the repeal of Article Six of the USSR constitution which gave the party supremacy over all institutions in society, thus ending its vanguard status. The Communist Party's power over the state formally ended that same year with the newly-created Soviet Presidency, whose first and only President was Party General Secretary Gorbachev.
B. HISTORY OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY
1. The vanguards
At the turn of the century, the Qing Dynasty (清朝) and Chinese people had suffered a series of humiliating military defeats against the colonial foreign powers, namely the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the war against the Alliance of Eight Nations in the 1901 Boxer Rebellion. Moreover, the French Revolution , Marxism and the Japanese Renovation influenced Chinese people. Therefore a lot of Chinese intellectuals such as Kang Youwei (康有為),Liang Qichao (梁啟超), Hu Shih (胡適) were strongly against feudalism, raised a strong sense of patriotism and instigated people to fight for their freedom. They also called for many institutional and ideological changes such as getting rid of corruption and remodeling the state examination system.
(1). Chen Duxiu 陳獨秀; (1879 – 1942)
Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were the first communist leaders in China.He was born in the city of Anqing (安慶) in Anhui (安徽) province. In 1898, he passed the entrance exam and became a student of Qiushi Academy (currently Zhejiang University) in Hangzhou. He
moved to Shanghai in
1900 and then to Japan in 1901. It was in Japan where Chen became
influenced by socialism and the growing Chinese dissident movement.
At the turn of the century, the Qing Dynasty (清朝) and Chinese people had suffered a series of humiliating military defeats against the colonial foreign powers, namely the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the war against the Alliance of Eight Nations in the 1901 Boxer Rebellion. Moreover, the French Revolution , Marxism and the Japanese Renovation influenced Chinese people. Therefore a lot of Chinese intellectuals such as Kang Youwei (康有為),Liang Qichao (梁啟超), Hu Shih (胡適) were strongly against feudalism, raised a strong sense of patriotism and instigated people to fight for their freedom. They also called for many institutional and ideological changes such as getting rid of corruption and remodeling the state examination system.
(1). Chen Duxiu 陳獨秀; (1879 – 1942)
Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were the first communist leaders in China.He was born in the city of Anqing (安慶) in Anhui (安徽) province. In 1898, he passed the entrance exam and became a student of Qiushi Academy (currently Zhejiang University) in Hangzhou. He
moved to Shanghai in
1900 and then to Japan in 1901. It was in Japan where Chen became
influenced by socialism and the growing Chinese dissident movement.
He
was a leading figure in the anti-imperial Xinhai Revolution and the May
Fourth Movement for Science and Democracy. Along with Li Dazhao, Chen
was a co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. He was its
first Chairman and first General Secretary. Chen was an educator,
philosopher, and politician. His ancestral home was in Anqing (安慶),
Anhui, where he established the influential vernacular Chinese
periodical La Jeunesse.Influenced by his time in Japan, Chen founded the
Anhui Patriotic Association (安徽愛
國會) in 1903 and the Yuewang Hui (岳王會) in 1905. He was an outspoken
writer and political leader by the time of the Wuchang Uprising (武昌起義)
of 1911, which led to the abdication of the last Qing emperor and the
collapse of the Qing Dynasty. Chen fled to Japan again in 1913 following
the short-lived "Second Revolution"of Yuan Shikai (袁世凱), but returned
to China in time to take part in the May Fourth Movement of 1919. In
1921, Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and other prominent revolutionary leaders
founded the Chinese Communist Party (中國共産黨).
愛
國會) in 1903 and the Yuewang Hui (岳王會) in 1905. He was an outspoken
writer and political leader by the time of the Wuchang Uprising (武昌起義)
of 1911, which led to the abdication of the last Qing emperor and the
collapse of the Qing Dynasty. Chen fled to Japan again in 1913 following
the short-lived "Second Revolution"of Yuan Shikai (袁世凱), but returned
to China in time to take part in the May Fourth Movement of 1919. In
1921, Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and other prominent revolutionary leaders
founded the Chinese Communist Party (中國共産黨).
At the First Congress of the Communist Party in Shanghai, Chen was elected (in absentia) as the party's first general-secretary, and with the assistance of Li Dazhao, he
developed what would become a crucial co-operative relationship with
the international communist movement, the Comintern. However, this
co-operation with the Comintern would prove to be a problem for the
fledgling CCP over the next decade, as aggressive foreign Comintern
advisors would try to force policy according to the wishes of Moscow and
against the will of many prominent CCP leaders. At the direction of the
Comintern, Chen and the Chinese Communists formed an alliance with Sun
Yat-sen and the Kuomintang in 1922; almost every prominent member of the
CCP was against this decision. Chen was forced to resign as
secretary-general in 1927 due to his dissatisfaction with the Comintern
order to disarm during the April 12 Incident, which had led to the
deaths of thousands of Communists, and his disagreement with the
Comintern's new focus on peasant rebellions.
Afterwards, Chen became associated with the International Left Opposition of Leon Trotsky. Like Chen, Trotsky opposed many of the policies of the Comintern. Chen eventually became the voice of the Trotskyists in China, which caused him to be forced out of the pro-Comintern CCP in 1929. Chen continued to oppose measures like "New Democracy" and the "Bloc of Four Classes" advocated by Mao Zedong. In 1932, Chen was arrested by the Nationalist-controlled government during the anti-Communist purges of President Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石. Chen was released in 1937, but his political organization had been shattered in interim. Both the supporters of Chen and the pro-Comintern leaders who opposed him had been either killed or fallen out of favor with the Communist membership. The Chinese Communist Party only managed to survive the purges by fleeing to the Northern frontier in the Long March of 1934, under the leadership of a new party chairman, Mao Zedong.
Afterwards, Chen became associated with the International Left Opposition of Leon Trotsky. Like Chen, Trotsky opposed many of the policies of the Comintern. Chen eventually became the voice of the Trotskyists in China, which caused him to be forced out of the pro-Comintern CCP in 1929. Chen continued to oppose measures like "New Democracy" and the "Bloc of Four Classes" advocated by Mao Zedong. In 1932, Chen was arrested by the Nationalist-controlled government during the anti-Communist purges of President Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石. Chen was released in 1937, but his political organization had been shattered in interim. Both the supporters of Chen and the pro-Comintern leaders who opposed him had been either killed or fallen out of favor with the Communist membership. The Chinese Communist Party only managed to survive the purges by fleeing to the Northern frontier in the Long March of 1934, under the leadership of a new party chairman, Mao Zedong.
For
the last decade of his life, he faded into obscurity. Chen Duxiu died
in 1942 at the age of 62 in Sichuan province, and is today buried at his
birthplace of Anqing.
(2). Li Dazhao ( 1888 - 1927)
Li was a Chinese intellectual who co-founded the Communist Party of China with Chen Duxiu in 1921.Li was born in Laoting (a county of Tangshan), Hebei province to a peasant family. From 1913 to 1917 Li studied political economy at Waseda University in Japan before returning to China in 1918. As head librarian at the Peking University Library, he was among the first of the Chinese intellectuals who supported the Bolshevik government in the Soviet Union. He also wrote in Chen's New Youth and his works had a major influence on other Chinese as well. Mao Zedong was an assistant librarian during Li's tenure at the library, and Li was one of Mao's earliest and most prominent influences. After the events of the May Fourth Movement and the failures of the anarchistic experiments of many intellectuals, like his compatriots, he turned more towards Marxism. Of course, the success of the Bolshevik Revolution was a major factor in the changing of his views.
Under the leadership of Li and Chen, the CPC developed a close relationship with the Soviet controlled Comintern. At the direction of the Comintern, Li and Chen were inducted into the Kuomintang in 1922. Li was elected to the KMT's Central Executive Committee in 1924. With the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War, Li was captured during a raid on the Soviet embassy in Peking (Beijing) and, with nineteen others, he was executed on the orders of the warlord Zhang Zuolin on April 28, 1927. In June 1920, Comintern agent Grigori Voitinsky was sent to China, and met Li Dazhao and other reformers. He financed the founding of the Socialist Youth Corps. The Communist Party of China was initially founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in the French concession of Shanghai in 1921 .
The official beginning was the 1st Congress held in Shanghai and attended by 53 men in July 1921, when the formal and unified name Zhōngguó Gòngchǎn Dǎng (Chinese Communist Party) was adopted . The key players were Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Chen Gongbo, Tan Pingshan, Zhang Guotao, He Mengxiong, Lou Zhanglong and Deng Zhongxia. Mao Zedong was present at the first congress as one of two delegates from a Hunan communist group. Other attendees included Dong Biwu, Li Hanjun, Li Da, Chen Tanqiu, Liu Renjing, Zhou Fohai, He Shuheng, Deng Enming, and two representatives from the Comintern, one of them being Henk Sneevliet (also known by the single name 'Maring'. Notably absent at this early point were future leaders Li Lisan, Zhou Enlai and Qu Qiubai.
2. Mao Zedong's regime
The
death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925 created great uncertainty. The Left
Kuomintang at Wuhan kept the allience with the Communists. Chiang
Kai-shek at Nanking grew increasingly hostile to them and launched a
campaign against them. Chiang Kai-shek launched a further campaign which
succeeded. The CPC had to give up their bases and started the Long
March (1934-1935) to search a new base. During the Long March, the
native Communists, such as Mao Zedong and Zhu De gained power. The
Comintern and Soviet Union lost control over the CPC. During the Second
Sino-Japanese war(1937-1945), the CPC and KMT were temporarily in
alliance to fight their common enemy. After the conclusion of WWII, the
civil war resumed between the Kuomintang and the Communists. Despite
initial gains by the KMT, they were eventually defeated and forced to
flee to off-shore islands, most notably Taiwan. Mao Zedong established
the People's Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 1949.(2). Li Dazhao ( 1888 - 1927)
Li was a Chinese intellectual who co-founded the Communist Party of China with Chen Duxiu in 1921.Li was born in Laoting (a county of Tangshan), Hebei province to a peasant family. From 1913 to 1917 Li studied political economy at Waseda University in Japan before returning to China in 1918. As head librarian at the Peking University Library, he was among the first of the Chinese intellectuals who supported the Bolshevik government in the Soviet Union. He also wrote in Chen's New Youth and his works had a major influence on other Chinese as well. Mao Zedong was an assistant librarian during Li's tenure at the library, and Li was one of Mao's earliest and most prominent influences. After the events of the May Fourth Movement and the failures of the anarchistic experiments of many intellectuals, like his compatriots, he turned more towards Marxism. Of course, the success of the Bolshevik Revolution was a major factor in the changing of his views.
Under the leadership of Li and Chen, the CPC developed a close relationship with the Soviet controlled Comintern. At the direction of the Comintern, Li and Chen were inducted into the Kuomintang in 1922. Li was elected to the KMT's Central Executive Committee in 1924. With the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War, Li was captured during a raid on the Soviet embassy in Peking (Beijing) and, with nineteen others, he was executed on the orders of the warlord Zhang Zuolin on April 28, 1927. In June 1920, Comintern agent Grigori Voitinsky was sent to China, and met Li Dazhao and other reformers. He financed the founding of the Socialist Youth Corps. The Communist Party of China was initially founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in the French concession of Shanghai in 1921 .
The official beginning was the 1st Congress held in Shanghai and attended by 53 men in July 1921, when the formal and unified name Zhōngguó Gòngchǎn Dǎng (Chinese Communist Party) was adopted . The key players were Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Chen Gongbo, Tan Pingshan, Zhang Guotao, He Mengxiong, Lou Zhanglong and Deng Zhongxia. Mao Zedong was present at the first congress as one of two delegates from a Hunan communist group. Other attendees included Dong Biwu, Li Hanjun, Li Da, Chen Tanqiu, Liu Renjing, Zhou Fohai, He Shuheng, Deng Enming, and two representatives from the Comintern, one of them being Henk Sneevliet (also known by the single name 'Maring'. Notably absent at this early point were future leaders Li Lisan, Zhou Enlai and Qu Qiubai.
2. Mao Zedong's regime
During the 1960s and 1970s, the CPC experienced a significant ideological breakdown with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev and their allies.
Like Stalin, Mao committed goenocide:
+ About 1934, in Jiangxi, Mao's authoritative domination, especially that of the military force, was challenged by the Jiangxi branch of the CPC and military officers. Mao's opponents, among whom the most prominent was Li Wenlin, the founder of the CPC's branch and Red Army in Jiangxi, were against Mao's land policies and proposals to reform the local party branch and army leadership. Mao reacted by killing Li Wenlin and his comrades. A confidential report found that a quarter of the entire Red Army under Mao at the time was slaughtered, often after being tortured.The estimated number of the victims amounted to 'tens of thousands' and could be as high as 186,000.Critics accuse Mao's authority in Jiangxi of being secured and reassured through the revolutionary terrorism, or red terrorism.
+Mao's troops invaded Tibet in 1950.
+Mao's Second Five Year Plan, and the Great Leap Forward, between 1959 and 1962 caused 20 million deaths of starvation or diseases related to starvation.
+The Hundred Flowers movement led to the condemnation, silencing, and death of many citizens, also linked to Mao's Anti-Rightist Movement, with death tolls possibly in the millions.
+The Cultural Revolution (1956-1976) caused in rural China some 36 million people were persecuted, of whom between 750,000 and 1.5 million were killed, with roughly the same number permanently injured. In Mao: The Unknown Story, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday claim that as many as 3 million people died in the violence of the Cultural Revolution.
That
movement was not a revolution, but a vengeance of a cruel king in order
to destroy his enemies who had criticized his policies on the Five-Year
Plan and the Great Leap. At the end of this tragedy, Liu Shaoqi was
sent to a detention camp, where he later died in 1969; Deng Xiaoping,
who was himself sent away for a period of re-education three times, was
eventually sent to work in an engine factory; Peng Dehuai was brought to
Beijing to be publicly displayed and ridiculed. At last, Lin Biao,
Mao's chosen successor, became the most prominent figure during the
Cultural Revolution following 1968, but in September 1971 was shocked
when a plane in which Lin Biao was believed to be traveling crashed in
Mongolia.The most gruesome aspects of the campaign were the numerous incidents of torture and killing, and the suicides that were the final option of many who suffered beatings and humiliation. One of the most famous cases was communist leader Deng Xiaoping's son Deng Pufang who jumped/was thrown from a four-story building during that time. Instead of dying, he became a paraplegic.
During the Destruction of Four Olds campaign, religious affairs of all types were persecuted and discouraged by the Red Guards. Many religious buildings such as temples, churches, mosques, monasteries, and cemeteries were closed down and sometimes looted and destroyed.
3. Deng Xiaoping 鄧小平 (1904 – 1997)
Deng Xiaoping was a prominent Chinese politician, was born into a Hakka family in Guang An county in Sichuan province. He was educated in France, as were many notable Asian revolutionaries (such as Ho Chi Minh, Zhou Enlai, and Pol Pot), where he discovered Marxism-Leninism.
In 1928 Deng led the Baise Uprising in Guangxi province against the Kuomintang (KMT) government. The uprising soon failed and Deng went to the Central Soviet Area in Jiangxi province. He was a veteran of the Long March, during which Deng served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. In 1956, at the Party's Eighth National Congress, Deng made the report on the revision of the Party Constitution, and at the First Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee, he was elected member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and General Secretary of the Central Committee.
Thus, at the age of 52 he became one of the chief leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, together with Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and Chen Yun. For the next ten years Deng Xiaoping was General Secretary, directing the routine work of the Secretariat. In 1961, at the Guangzhou conference, Deng uttered what is perhaps his most famous quotation: "I don't care if it's a white cat or a black cat. It's a good cat so long as it catches mice".
Deng gradually emerged as the de-facto leader of China in the few years following Mao's death in 1976. Deng then repudiated the Cultural Revolution and, in 1977, launched the "Beijing Spring", which allowed open criticism of the excesses and suffering that had occurred during the period. Meanwhile, he was the impetus for the abolishment of the class background system. Under this system, the CCP put up employment barriers to Chinese deemed to be associated with the former landlord class; its removal therefore effectively allowed Chinese capitalists to join the Communist Party.The CPC under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping moved towards Socialism with Chinese characteristics and instituted Chinese economic reform.
In September 1982, following the initial successes in socialist modernization and in implementation of reform and the open policy, the Party held its Twelfth National Congress. At that Congress Deng summed up China's recent historical experience and drew a basic conclusion: the universal truth of Marxism must be integrated with the concrete realities of China, and China must blaze a trail of its own, building socialism with Chinese characteristics.
As part of Jiang Zemin 's nominal legacy, the CPC ratified the Three Represents
into the 2003 revision of the Party Constitution as a "guiding
ideology", encouraging the Party to represent "advanced productive
forces, the progressive course of China's culture, and the fundamental
interests of the people."
Deng Xiaoping is generally credited with advancing China into becoming one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But Chinese people still have no freedom, and democracy, and the antagonism between the new class and poor people is more serious.
Like Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping committed crimes:
+Occupation of Vietnam in 1979.
+Massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989 .
Like the Soviet Communist party, the Chinese Communist party has followed the dictatorship , so the human rights were violated. And like Soviet Communism, Chinese communism is a kind of new imperialism.
C . HISTORY OF THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNIST PARTY
1.Vietnamese Revolution & The Nationalists
When French colonialists occupied Vietnam, Vietnamese people such as Phan Đình Phùng, Đinh Công Tráng, Trương Định, Nguyễn Thiện Thuật struggled against the invaders to protect their country, but at last they were defeated by their enemies.
Later, by the influence of French revolution, the Japanese Renovation and Marxism, a lot of Vietnamese intellectuals continued to revolt against French colonialists. They formed the politic organizations for freedom and independence of Vietnam. The first Vietnamese party was Việt Nam Duy Tân Hội (Vietnam Modernization Association) created by Phan Bội Châu in 1904. In 1912, after the Chinese revolution, Phan Bội Châu and Cường Để formed Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội (The Restoration League) in China.
(1). Phan Bội Châu 潘佩珠 ( 1867–1940)
He was a pioneer of Vietnamese twentieth century nationalism. Phan was born as Phan Văn San (潘文珊) in the village of Sa Nam, in Nam Dan district of the northern central province of Nghe An. His father Phan Văn Phổ descended from a poor family of scholars. In 1900, Phan passed the regional exams with the highest possible honors in Nghê An.In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called the Reformation Society (Duy Tân Hội).
From 1905 to 1908, he lived in Japan where he wrote political tracts calling for the liberation of Vietnam from the French colonial regime. After being forced to leave Japan, he moved to China where he was influenced by Sun Yat-Sen. He formed a new group called the Vietnamese Restoration League (Viet Nam Quang Phuc Hoi), modeled after Sun Yat-Sen's republican party. In 1925, Hồ Chí Minh betrayed him and sold him with the price of 100,000 piastres (Indochinese dong ) so French agents seized him in Shanghai. He was convicted of treason and spent the rest of his life under house arrest in Huế. He died on the 29th of October, in 1940 about a month after Japan invaded northern Vietnam.
(2).Nguyễn Thái Học (1902-1930)
He was born in the village of Thổ Tang , Vĩnh Tường district, Vĩnh Yên province. He was a student of the Colege of Business in Hanoi, and founded The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (The Vietnamese Nationalist Party) in 1927. He was captured and executed with his 12 comrades by the French colonial authorities after the failure of the Yen Bai mutiny in 1930.
2. The Trotkyists in Vietnam
(1). Tạ Thu Thâu (1906–1945)
Tạ
Thu Thâu a Vietnamese Trotskyist and the leader of the Fourth
International in Vietnam, was born in a small hamlet in Tan Binh, 17 km
south of Long Xuyen, the capital of An Giang Province in Southern
Vietnam. His family were poor and leading a semi-peasant lifestyle. He
was a brilliant student who went to France for university studies in
1927. Like many of his generation he lived a time when Vietnamese
revolutionary nationalism was passing over to Marxism and communism.
Arrested during a protest demonstration against the execution of the Yen Bay rebels in front of the Elysee Palace on 22 May 1930, he was arrested and expelled back to Vietnam. Several left opposition groups were formed - the Communist League in Western Saigon in May 1931, Left Opposition and Indochinese Communism. These groups united and Ta Thu Thau was acknowledged as the most notable leader of the Trotskyists in Vietnam. In 1932 the French Colonial authorities arrested many members of the Stalinist Indochinese Communist Party and the Trotskyists. All left-wing activity in Indochina was clandestine.
(2). Phan Văn Hùm
Phan Văn Hùm (1902 - 1946), pen name , Phù Dao, was a scholar as well a leader of Trotskyism in Vietnam. He was born in Binh Dương province, graduated from the College of Construction in Hanoi (1924-1925) and worked for the Construction Office in Hue but later he was fired because he participated in the protest agaisnt French colonialists. In 1929, he was arrested and imprisonedhe hit a policeman. In September 1929, he went to France, and continued his education at the Sorbonne Univercity.He graduated from this University , and received a MA. in Philosophy degree. He came back to Saigon in 1933, and corporated with Tạ Thu Thâu, Trần Văn Thạch, Lê Văn Thử, Hồ Hữu Tường to build the magazine La Lutte.
However, in 1933 the Saigon Trotskyists and Stalinists formed an electoral bloc for the elections to the Saigon Municipal Council. The joint 'workers slate' was successful and the Trotskyists Tran Van Thach and Stalinist Nguyen Van Tao scored the highest votes. Though struck down by the Colonial authorities, this success indicated the growing popularity of the revolutionary groups. The other main activity of the united front was the publication of the legal newspaper La Lutte. The united front split in 1937 over the issue of the 'popular front' policy of the Comintern and under pressure from the Stalinist Comintern via the French Communist Party.
La
Lutte became an openly Trotskyist paper and in 1939, the Trotskyist
candidates, Ta Thu Thau, Tran Van Thach and Phan Van Hum scored 80% of
the vote, defeating three constitutionalists, two Stalinists and
numerous independents. The Indochinese Communist Party vote in this
election was one per cent. The Saigon Stalinists split, and so did the
Trotskyists. When the Hitler-Stalin Pact was signed in the summer of
1939, the French authorities declared the Communist Party illegal and in
Indochina, all the Communists and the Trotskyists leaders were rounded
up. The revolutionary movement was decimated. The larger of the two
currents, the communists managed to continue their underground activity
and began rebuild. The Trotskyists were virtually eliminated as a
political force. Ta Thu Thau was arrested and incarcerated in
Poulo-Condore during the war.
After the end of World War II, Ta Thu Thau reconstituted the 'La Lutte' (The Struggle in English) group and became the foremost leader of Vietnamese Trotskyism, but in the events of the August Revolution of 1945, and under the impact of the re-establishment of French colonial rule and repression from the Communist led Viet Minh, the Trotskyists experienced a lot of dangers.
On 23 September 1945, a violent seizure of power by French imperialism, assisted actively by the British army and passively by the Japanese military police, the Central Committee of La Lutte was completely dispersed for several days. Among the Central Committee members present at headquarters were:
1. Tran Van Thach, a lawyer and former editor of the paper La Lutte.
2. Phan Van Hum, author and philosopher.
3. Phan Van Chanh, a university lecturer.
4. Ung Hoa, the group's General Secretary.
5. Nguyen Thi Loi, a schoolteacher.
6. Nguyen Van So.
7. Le Van Thu, a journalist.
These were seven out of the 11 members of the Central Committee of La Lutte
At last, Ta Thu Thau, and other prominent Trotskyists such as Phan Van Hum, Tran Van Thach, Huynh Van Phuong, Phan Van Chanh and nationalists as Huynh Phu So, Bui Quang Chieu, Phan Van Giao, Pham Quynh were assassinated by the Viet Minh ( Stalinists) in 1945.
In the year of 20s, many Vietnamese intellectuals, especially the intellectuals in Cochinchina followed Trotskyism. Vietnamese Trotskyists were involved in the earliest efforts to build a revolutionary movement in Indochina. During the 1930s in Saigon the Vietnamese Trotskyists were a strong rival movement to the Indochinese Communist Party.
3. The Stalinists in Vietnam
(1).Ngô Gia Tự (1908-1935)
He
was a prominent revolutionist in the 30s. He was born in Bắc Ninh
province to a Confucian family. According to Wikipedia, before 1929, he
attended a conference of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association held
in China, and he proposed the idea to create a communist party in
Vietnam, but his idea was not accepted. Ngô Gia Tự and his comrades said
goodbye to Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association.
Ngô Gia Tự and his comrades came home and decided to form a branch of
communist party in Tonkin in March 1929 at No 5D Hàm Long street, Hà
Nội, and Trần Văn Cung (Quốc Anh) became secretary
.It was the first conference of the Vietnamese communists including 7 members of The Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association. They were Ngô Gia Tự,Nguyễn Đức Cảnh,Trịnh Đình Cửu,Trần Văn Cung,Đỗ Ngọc Du,Dương Hạc Đính and Nguyễn Tuân (Kim Tôn). Their first conference was hold on Ngô Gia Tự was perhap the chairman of this party. In the second conference was help on 17th june 1929 at 312 Khâm Thiên, Hanoi , they decided to create The Indochinese Communist Party with its manifesto, rules, and magazine " Búa Liềm"
(Hammer and Sickle), and delegated an executive committee included Trịnh Đình Cửu, Nguyễn Đức Cảnh, Ngô Gia Tự, Trần Vǎn Cung, Nguyễn Phong Sắc, Trần Tư Chính, Nguyên Vǎn Tuân (Kim Tôn). After February 1930, Ho Chi Minh controled The Vietnamese Communist Party including The Indochinese Communist Party, Ngô Gia Tự became a secretary of Communist party in zone of Indochina. He was was arrested and incarcerated in Poulo-Condore by the French authotities. He tried to escape but he was drowned in 1935.
(Wikipedia)
(2). Châu Văn Liêm (1902 - 1930)
Châu
Văn Liêm was born in Cần Thơ province to a Confucian family. He
graduated from the College of Education in Hanoi in 1924, and became a
teacher at Long Xuyên School, then An Giang School. He was a teacher as
well a revolutionist. He founded An Nam Cộng Sản đảng (Vietnamese Communist Party) in July 1929 and he was general secretary of this party. In February 1930, Ho Chi Minh controled The Vietnamese Communist Party included his An Nam Cộng Sản đảng, then in May 1930, in a protest against French colonialists in Cho Lon, Saigon, he was shot by French policemen.
(3). Đào Duy Anh (1904 -1988)
He was born in Thanh Hóa province . He was a teacher as well a scholar. Đào Duy Anh was the general secretary of the New Vietnam party, and Đào Duy Anh's Quan Hải Tùng Thư - a book store
and publisher in Huế- became a secret center of Tân Việt party.
But later, the Vietnamese communists took control of this party, so New Vietnam party was changed into Đông Dương Cộng sản Liên đoàn (The Indochine Communist League ) in February 1930. The first members of the Indochine Communist League were Trần Hữu Chương, Nguyễn Khoa Vǎn ( Hải Triều), Nguyễn Xuân Thanh, Trần Đại Quả, Ngô Đức Đề, Ngô Đình Mãn, Lê Tiềm, Lê Tốn. But on the day of conference , the French policemen seized all the members, therefore this party had no the executive commitee.
(4). Hồ Chí Minh (1890-1969) and the Vietnamese Communist Party
When French colonialists occupied Vietnam, Vietnamese people such as Phan Đình Phùng, Đinh Công Tráng, Trương Định, Nguyễn Thiện Thuật struggled against the invaders to protect their country, but at last they were defeated by their enemies.
Later, by the influence of French revolution, the Japanese Renovation and Marxism, a lot of Vietnamese intellectuals continued to revolt against French colonialists. They formed the politic organizations for freedom and independence of Vietnam. The first Vietnamese party was Việt Nam Duy Tân Hội (Vietnam Modernization Association) created by Phan Bội Châu in 1904. In 1912, after the Chinese revolution, Phan Bội Châu and Cường Để formed Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội (The Restoration League) in China.
(1). Phan Bội Châu 潘佩珠 ( 1867–1940)
He was a pioneer of Vietnamese twentieth century nationalism. Phan was born as Phan Văn San (潘文珊) in the village of Sa Nam, in Nam Dan district of the northern central province of Nghe An. His father Phan Văn Phổ descended from a poor family of scholars. In 1900, Phan passed the regional exams with the highest possible honors in Nghê An.In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called the Reformation Society (Duy Tân Hội).
From 1905 to 1908, he lived in Japan where he wrote political tracts calling for the liberation of Vietnam from the French colonial regime. After being forced to leave Japan, he moved to China where he was influenced by Sun Yat-Sen. He formed a new group called the Vietnamese Restoration League (Viet Nam Quang Phuc Hoi), modeled after Sun Yat-Sen's republican party. In 1925, Hồ Chí Minh betrayed him and sold him with the price of 100,000 piastres (Indochinese dong ) so French agents seized him in Shanghai. He was convicted of treason and spent the rest of his life under house arrest in Huế. He died on the 29th of October, in 1940 about a month after Japan invaded northern Vietnam.
(2).Nguyễn Thái Học (1902-1930)
He was born in the village of Thổ Tang , Vĩnh Tường district, Vĩnh Yên province. He was a student of the Colege of Business in Hanoi, and founded The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (The Vietnamese Nationalist Party) in 1927. He was captured and executed with his 12 comrades by the French colonial authorities after the failure of the Yen Bai mutiny in 1930.
2. The Trotkyists in Vietnam
(1). Tạ Thu Thâu (1906–1945)
Tạ
Thu Thâu a Vietnamese Trotskyist and the leader of the Fourth
International in Vietnam, was born in a small hamlet in Tan Binh, 17 km
south of Long Xuyen, the capital of An Giang Province in Southern
Vietnam. His family were poor and leading a semi-peasant lifestyle. He
was a brilliant student who went to France for university studies in
1927. Like many of his generation he lived a time when Vietnamese
revolutionary nationalism was passing over to Marxism and communism.Arrested during a protest demonstration against the execution of the Yen Bay rebels in front of the Elysee Palace on 22 May 1930, he was arrested and expelled back to Vietnam. Several left opposition groups were formed - the Communist League in Western Saigon in May 1931, Left Opposition and Indochinese Communism. These groups united and Ta Thu Thau was acknowledged as the most notable leader of the Trotskyists in Vietnam. In 1932 the French Colonial authorities arrested many members of the Stalinist Indochinese Communist Party and the Trotskyists. All left-wing activity in Indochina was clandestine.
(2). Phan Văn Hùm
Phan Văn Hùm (1902 - 1946), pen name , Phù Dao, was a scholar as well a leader of Trotskyism in Vietnam. He was born in Binh Dương province, graduated from the College of Construction in Hanoi (1924-1925) and worked for the Construction Office in Hue but later he was fired because he participated in the protest agaisnt French colonialists. In 1929, he was arrested and imprisonedhe hit a policeman. In September 1929, he went to France, and continued his education at the Sorbonne Univercity.He graduated from this University , and received a MA. in Philosophy degree. He came back to Saigon in 1933, and corporated with Tạ Thu Thâu, Trần Văn Thạch, Lê Văn Thử, Hồ Hữu Tường to build the magazine La Lutte.
However, in 1933 the Saigon Trotskyists and Stalinists formed an electoral bloc for the elections to the Saigon Municipal Council. The joint 'workers slate' was successful and the Trotskyists Tran Van Thach and Stalinist Nguyen Van Tao scored the highest votes. Though struck down by the Colonial authorities, this success indicated the growing popularity of the revolutionary groups. The other main activity of the united front was the publication of the legal newspaper La Lutte. The united front split in 1937 over the issue of the 'popular front' policy of the Comintern and under pressure from the Stalinist Comintern via the French Communist Party.
La
Lutte became an openly Trotskyist paper and in 1939, the Trotskyist
candidates, Ta Thu Thau, Tran Van Thach and Phan Van Hum scored 80% of
the vote, defeating three constitutionalists, two Stalinists and
numerous independents. The Indochinese Communist Party vote in this
election was one per cent. The Saigon Stalinists split, and so did the
Trotskyists. When the Hitler-Stalin Pact was signed in the summer of
1939, the French authorities declared the Communist Party illegal and in
Indochina, all the Communists and the Trotskyists leaders were rounded
up. The revolutionary movement was decimated. The larger of the two
currents, the communists managed to continue their underground activity
and began rebuild. The Trotskyists were virtually eliminated as a
political force. Ta Thu Thau was arrested and incarcerated in
Poulo-Condore during the war.After the end of World War II, Ta Thu Thau reconstituted the 'La Lutte' (The Struggle in English) group and became the foremost leader of Vietnamese Trotskyism, but in the events of the August Revolution of 1945, and under the impact of the re-establishment of French colonial rule and repression from the Communist led Viet Minh, the Trotskyists experienced a lot of dangers.
On 23 September 1945, a violent seizure of power by French imperialism, assisted actively by the British army and passively by the Japanese military police, the Central Committee of La Lutte was completely dispersed for several days. Among the Central Committee members present at headquarters were:
1. Tran Van Thach, a lawyer and former editor of the paper La Lutte.
2. Phan Van Hum, author and philosopher.
3. Phan Van Chanh, a university lecturer.
4. Ung Hoa, the group's General Secretary.
5. Nguyen Thi Loi, a schoolteacher.
6. Nguyen Van So.
7. Le Van Thu, a journalist.
These were seven out of the 11 members of the Central Committee of La Lutte
At last, Ta Thu Thau, and other prominent Trotskyists such as Phan Van Hum, Tran Van Thach, Huynh Van Phuong, Phan Van Chanh and nationalists as Huynh Phu So, Bui Quang Chieu, Phan Van Giao, Pham Quynh were assassinated by the Viet Minh ( Stalinists) in 1945.
In the year of 20s, many Vietnamese intellectuals, especially the intellectuals in Cochinchina followed Trotskyism. Vietnamese Trotskyists were involved in the earliest efforts to build a revolutionary movement in Indochina. During the 1930s in Saigon the Vietnamese Trotskyists were a strong rival movement to the Indochinese Communist Party.
3. The Stalinists in Vietnam
(1).Ngô Gia Tự (1908-1935)
He
was a prominent revolutionist in the 30s. He was born in Bắc Ninh
province to a Confucian family. According to Wikipedia, before 1929, he
attended a conference of the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association held
in China, and he proposed the idea to create a communist party in
Vietnam, but his idea was not accepted. Ngô Gia Tự and his comrades said
goodbye to Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association.
Ngô Gia Tự and his comrades came home and decided to form a branch of
communist party in Tonkin in March 1929 at No 5D Hàm Long street, Hà
Nội, and Trần Văn Cung (Quốc Anh) became secretary.It was the first conference of the Vietnamese communists including 7 members of The Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association. They were Ngô Gia Tự,Nguyễn Đức Cảnh,Trịnh Đình Cửu,Trần Văn Cung,Đỗ Ngọc Du,Dương Hạc Đính and Nguyễn Tuân (Kim Tôn). Their first conference was hold on Ngô Gia Tự was perhap the chairman of this party. In the second conference was help on 17th june 1929 at 312 Khâm Thiên, Hanoi , they decided to create The Indochinese Communist Party with its manifesto, rules, and magazine " Búa Liềm"
(Hammer and Sickle), and delegated an executive committee included Trịnh Đình Cửu, Nguyễn Đức Cảnh, Ngô Gia Tự, Trần Vǎn Cung, Nguyễn Phong Sắc, Trần Tư Chính, Nguyên Vǎn Tuân (Kim Tôn). After February 1930, Ho Chi Minh controled The Vietnamese Communist Party including The Indochinese Communist Party, Ngô Gia Tự became a secretary of Communist party in zone of Indochina. He was was arrested and incarcerated in Poulo-Condore by the French authotities. He tried to escape but he was drowned in 1935.
(Wikipedia)
(2). Châu Văn Liêm (1902 - 1930)
Châu
Văn Liêm was born in Cần Thơ province to a Confucian family. He
graduated from the College of Education in Hanoi in 1924, and became a
teacher at Long Xuyên School, then An Giang School. He was a teacher as
well a revolutionist. He founded An Nam Cộng Sản đảng (Vietnamese Communist Party) in July 1929 and he was general secretary of this party. In February 1930, Ho Chi Minh controled The Vietnamese Communist Party included his An Nam Cộng Sản đảng, then in May 1930, in a protest against French colonialists in Cho Lon, Saigon, he was shot by French policemen.(3). Đào Duy Anh (1904 -1988)
He was born in Thanh Hóa province . He was a teacher as well a scholar. Đào Duy Anh was the general secretary of the New Vietnam party, and Đào Duy Anh's Quan Hải Tùng Thư - a book store
and publisher in Huế- became a secret center of Tân Việt party.But later, the Vietnamese communists took control of this party, so New Vietnam party was changed into Đông Dương Cộng sản Liên đoàn (The Indochine Communist League ) in February 1930. The first members of the Indochine Communist League were Trần Hữu Chương, Nguyễn Khoa Vǎn ( Hải Triều), Nguyễn Xuân Thanh, Trần Đại Quả, Ngô Đức Đề, Ngô Đình Mãn, Lê Tiềm, Lê Tốn. But on the day of conference , the French policemen seized all the members, therefore this party had no the executive commitee.
(4). Hồ Chí Minh (1890-1969) and the Vietnamese Communist Party
Ho
Chi Minh 's given name was Nguyễn Sinh Cung[5] (1890 – 1969), born in
Nghê An province, Việt Nam. His father, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc, was a Confucian
scholar, small time teacher and later an imperial magistrate in a small
remote district Binh Khe (Qui Nhon). He was later demoted for abuse of
power after an influential local figure died several days after
receiving 100 canes as punishment. On 5 June 1911, Nguyễn Sinh Cung left
Vietnam on a French steamer, Amiral Latouche-Tréville, working
as a kitchen helper. Arriving in Marseille, France, he applied for the
French Colonial Administrative School but his application was rejected.
He participated in the French Communist Party and spent much of his time
in Moscow in 1924, and he became the Comintern's Asia hand.In 1924, Phan Boi Chau help a meeting in Canton with political refugees among who was Lý Thụy (Hồ Chí Minh), a Komintern interpreter who had just arrived from Moscow. In May 1925, to replace Viet Nam Quang Phục Hội, Viet Nam Thanh Niên Đồng Chí hội (The Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association), or Thanh Niên for short, was found in Hongkong with Phan Bội Châu as president, Nguyễn Hải Thần as advisor, and Lý Thụy as general secretary.
In June 1925, Lý Thụy betrayed Phan Bội Châu, head of a rival revolutionary faction, by selling him to French police in Shanghai for 100,000 piastres. Thus Nguyễn Ái Quốc seized the control of Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association.[6]
In June 1931, he was arrested in Hong Kong. To reduce French pressure for extradition, it was announced in 1932 that Nguyễn Ái Quốc had died. But today, in a book entitled" Life of Ho Chi Minh ", Hồ Tuấn Hùng 胡俊熊, a Taiwan scholar revealed that Hồ Chí Minh was a Chinese.[7]
The second Vietnamese communist party, An Nam Cộng Sản đảng (Vietnamese Communist Party), was formed in July 1929. The first conference was help in August 1929 at N0 1 Philippini street (Nguyễn Trung Trực), Saigon. In November 1929, a temporary executive committee was founded with Châu Văn Liêm (Việt) as general secretary, and a temporary Central Committee including Châu Vǎn Liêm (Việt), Nguyễn Thiệu, Trần Não, Hồ Tùng Mậu, Lê Hồng Sơn, Nguyễn Sĩ Sách.
The third Vietnamese communist party was Đông Dương Cộng sản Liên đoàn (The Indochine Communist League ). At first, Tân Việt đảng ( New Vietnam Party), a nationalist party, was formed in 1925 -1928 in Huế, the Center of Vietnam. A lot intellectuals such as Đặng Thái Mai, Trần Huy Liệu, Đào Duy Anh partipated in Tân Việt Party.
Therefore, in the year of 30s, Vietnam had three Vietnamese Communist Parties following the Stalinism. They fighted each other violently such as Hà Huy Tập critized Nguyễn Ái Quốc (Ho Chi Minh) .
Konmintern decided to unify them. Therefore in February 1930, Ho Chi Minh formed The Vietnamese Communist Party at a conference in Hong Kong with the attending of two competing communist factions, Indochinese Communist Party (Đông Dương Đảng Cộng Sản) in Tonkin and the Communist Party of Annam (An Nam Đảng Cộng Sản) in Cochinchina. Although the third Vietnamese communist group, the Indochinese Communist League (Đông Dương Cộng Sản Liên Đoàn) in Annam, had not been invited to the Hong Kong conference because at that time, Communists did take control yet the Tân Việt party. The Hong Kong conference (held in Kowloon City) elected a nine-member Provisional Central Committee, consisting of 3 members from Tonkin, 2 from Annam, 2 from Cochinchina, and 2 from the overseas Chinese community. Soon thereafter, at its first plenum the party changed its name to the Indochinese Communist Party (Đảng Cộng Sản Đông Dương), on directions from Comintern. The First National Party Congress was held in secret in Macau in 1935.
At the same time, a Comintern congress in Moscow adopted a policy towards a popular front against fascism and directed Communist movements around the world to collaborate with anti-fascist forces regardless of their orientation towards socialism. So, the party was formally dissolved in 1945 in order to hide its Communist affiliation and its activities were folded into the Marxism Research Association and the Viet Minh, which had been founded four years earlier as a common front for national liberation.
The Party was refounded as the Vietnam Workers' Party (Đảng lao động Việt Nam) at the Second National Party Congress in Tuyen Quang in 1951. The Congress was held in territory in north Vietnam controlled by the Viet Minh during the First Indochina War. The Third National Congress, held in Hanoi in 1960 formalized the tasks of constructing socialism in what was by then North Vietnam, or the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and committed the party to carrying out the revolution of liberation in the South. At the Fourth National Party Congress held in 1976, the Worker Party's of North Vietnam was merged with the People's Revolutionary Party of South Vietnam to form the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Membership in the party doubled from 760,000 in 1966 to 1,553,500 in 1976, representing 3.1 percent of the total population of the country, and was close to two million by 1986. The title President of the Central Committee, existing during 1951 - 1969, was nominated for Ho Chi Minh. This position is considered to be that of the supreme leader of the Party.
The Communist Party of Vietnam is the currently ruling, as well as the only legal political party in Vietnam. The Party was founded by Hồ Chí Minh and other exiles living in China as the Vietnamese Communist Party (Việt Nam Đảng Cộng Sản) at a conference in Hong Kong February 1930. At the Hong Kong conference two competing communist factions, Indochinese Communist Party (Đông Dương Đảng Cộng Sản) in Tonkin and the Communist Party of Annam (An Nam Đảng Cộng Sản) in Cochinchina, merged. Although the third Vietnamese communist group, the Indochinese Communist League (Đông Dương Cộng Sản Liên Đoàn) in Annam, had not been invited to the Hong Kong conference its members were allowed to become members of the new united party.
The Hong Kong conference (held in Kowloon City) elected a nine-member Provisional Central Committee, consisting of 3 members from Tonkin, 2 from Annam, 2 from Cochinchina, and 2 from the overseas Chinese community. The latter group had previously been organized within the South Seas Communist Party.
Soon thereafter, at its first plenum the party changed its name to the Indochinese Communist Party (Đảng Cộng Sản Đông Dương), on directions from Comintern.
The First National Party Congress was held in secret in Macau in 1935. At the same time, a Comintern congress in Moscow adopted a policy towards a popular front against fascism and directed Communist movements around the world to collaborate with anti-fascist forces regardless of their orientation towards socialism. This required the ICP to regard all nationalist parties in Indochina as potential allies.
The party was formally dissolved in 1945 in order to hide its Communist affiliation and its activities were folded into the Marxism Research Association and the Viet Minh, which had been founded four years earlier as a common front for national liberation. The Party was refounded as the Vietnam Workers' Party (Đảng lao động Việt Nam) at the Second National Party Congress in Tuyen Quang in 1951. The Congress was held in territory in north Vietnam controlled by the Viet Minh during the First Indochina War. The Third National Congress, held in Hanoi in 1960 formalized the tasks of constructing socialism in what was by then North Vietnam, or the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and committed the party to carrying out the revolution of liberation in the South. At the Fourth National Party Congress held in 1976, the Worker Party's of North Vietnam was merged with the People's Revolutionary Party of South Vietnam to form the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The CPV is a Marxist-Leninist party run on democratic centralist lines. The supreme leading body is the Politburo (Political Bureau) headed by the Secretary-General. The Politburo is elected by the Central Committee, and the Central Committee is elected by the National Congress. In 1976, as a result of the unification of North and South Vietnam, the Central Committee was expanded to 133 members from 77 and the Politburo grew from 11 to 17 members while the Secretariat increased from seven to nine members.
Membership in the party doubled from 760,000 in 1966 to 1,553,500 in 1976, representing 3.1 percent of the total population of the country, and was close to two million by 1986.
The title President of the Central Committee, existing during 1951 - 1969, was nominated for Ho Chi Minh. This position is considered to be that of the supreme leader of the Party.
The National Congress of CPV is to be held every five years (since 1976). Due to the war footing during the wars against French and U.S. troops, the first 4 congresses were not fixed to the common time schedule. After the Foundation Conference, 10 national congresses of CPV have been held. Hồ Chí Minh is Chairman of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1951 to 1969. Ten people have held the First Secretary (1960-1976) and/or General Secretary (1930-1960 and 1976-Present) positions of the CPV, namely:
- Trần Phú (1930-1931)
- Lê Hồng Phong (1935-1936)
- Hà Huy Tập (1936-1938)
- Nguyễn Văn Cừ (1938-1940)
- Trường Chinh (1941-1956 and 1986)
- Lê Duẩn (1960-1986)
- Nguyễn Văn Linh (1986-1991)
- Đỗ Mười (1991-1997)
- Lê Khả Phiêu (1997-2001)
- Nông Đức Mạnh (2001- present).
Like Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh was a crafty and brutal man. He and his communist party have been the origin of the sufferance of Vietnamese people.
In a word, Communism has been the disaster for human kind but more dangerous and cruel than Imperialism and Fascism.
_____
[1] .Karl Marx. Collected Works. Vol.24, Section I.
[2].使老有所終，壯有所用，幼有所長， 寡孤獨廢疾者，皆有所養。男有分，女有歸。貨其棄於地也，不必藏於己.
(禮經, 禮運) . http//chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=9871&if=en
http://http//www.classicallibrary.org/plato/dialogues/republic/book4.htm(禮經, 禮運) . http//chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=9871&if=en
[3]. Republic, book IV, book VIII. Translated by Benjamin Jowett.http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html
[4].At the direction of the Comintern, a number of Chinese communists were inducted into the Kuomintang in 1922.
[5].
Hồ Chí Minh: Ho's given name at birth was Nguyen Tat Thanh or Nguyễn
Sinh Cung. He also had another name - Nguyen Van Ba. Ho used this name
when he worked as a steward in a ship, the La Touche Treville, on his
overseas trip from Saigon to Marseilles, France. He changed back to
Nguyen Tat Thanh after his arrival in France. Ho has been known by many
aliases. His first alias, second well-known after Ho Chi Minh, was
Nguyen Ai Quoc. This alias was picked by Phan Chu Trinh, a famous
patriot, and used as a joint pen-name of four others: Phan Van Truong a
lawyer; Nguyen The Truyen , an engineer who married to a princess of
Belgium; Nguyen An Ninh , a journalist, and Phan Chu Trinh. However, Ho
was the only one that publicly used the name Nguyen Ai Quoc.
Contradictory to his official biography, Ho could not write very well in
French (according to Nguyen The Truyen, to the owner of Khanh Ky Photo
Shop, Paris, and J. H Roy - an Indian communist, who was Ho's classmate
in Moscow). Ho dropped the name Nguyen Ai Quoc after betraying Phan Boi
Chau's whereabouts to the French authorities for Hong Kong $10,000.
(Phan Boi Chau was the most well-known Vietnamese activist at the early
half of 1900's who peacefully struggled for independence of Vietnam from
French). Ho also had around ten other aliases such as: Ly Thuy, Vuong,
Tran, etc. Those names however, were not very well-known. In fact, Ho
Chi Minh was a real name of an old Chinese man who was believed to be a
beggar.with unlocated relatives. When he died, he left nothing but his
identification card. Later, Nguyen Tat Thanh bought this document. Using
identification card of the dead was quite popular in Chinese outlaw
society at that time. When Ho was arrested by the Chinese Kuomintang, he
used this name - Ho Chi Minh.The patriot Nghiem Ke To broke the news of
Ho's incarceration to Nguyen Hai Than, a Vietnamese nationalst leader
who contributed great assistance to the Kuomintang government and won
deep respect from Chinese leaders, including the Generalissimo Chiang
Kai Shek. Nguyen Hai Than promptly requested Chang Kai Sheik to release
Ho. After the release, Ho still used the name Ho Chi Minh to work with
the American OSS (Office of Strategic Services) in Kunming, capital city
of Yunnan Province, China, according to Vu Hong Khanh, a Vietnamese
National Party leader who was put in re-ed camp after April 1975 and
later died in exile at his place of birth in 1992. While being the Party
leader and president of North Vietnam, Ho used another alias Tran Dan
Tien to extol himself through a biography in which Tran Dan Tien as a
writer, interviewed Ho Chi Minh . Thus Tran Dan Tien was intended for a
pen name but turned out to be an alias.
[6].Oscar Chapuis. The Last Emperors of Vietnam. From Tu Duc to Bao Dai.102.http://books.google.com/books?id=9RorGHF0fGIC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=an+nam+cong+san+dang&source=bl&ots=U7fLrHyhOm&sig=_dSX-7kHgXNvWk8qu3EgHbphiwo&hl=en&ei=mVJ7StLZFIr-M4a3kYMD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false
[7]..台版】胡志明生平考-胡俊熊-白象文化-平装352页 http://store.pchome.com.tw/elephantwhite/M03754204.htm
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