List of communist states

A communist state is a form of government that combines the state leadership of a communist party through the supreme state organ of power, Marxist–Leninist political philosophy, and an official commitment to the construction of a communist society. Communism in its modern form grew out of the socialist movement in 19th-century Europe and blamed capitalism for societal miseries. In the 20th century, several communist states were established, first in Russia with the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then in portions of Eastern Europe, Asia, and a few other regions after World War II. The institutions of these states were heavily influenced by the writings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and others. However, the political reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev known as Perestroika and socio-economic difficulties produced the revolutions of 1989, which brought down all the communist states of the Eastern Bloc bar the Soviet Union. The repercussions of the collapse of these states contributed to political transformations in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and several other non-European communist states. Presently, there are five communist states in the world: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam.

A map of current communist states

In accordance with Marx's theory of the state, communists believe all state formations are under the control of a ruling class. Communist states are no different, and the ruling communist party is defined as the vanguard party of the most class conscious section of the working class (this class is known as the proletariat in Marxist literature). Communist states usually affirm that the working class is the state's ruling class and that the most class-conscious workers lead the state through the communist party, establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat as its class system and, by extension, the socialist state. However, not all communist states chose to form this state form and class system, and some, such as Laos, have opted to establish a people's democratic state instead, in which the working class shares political power with other classes. According to this belief system, communist states need to establish an economic base to support the ruling class system (called "superstructure" by Marxists) by creating a socialist economy, or at the very least, some socialist property relations that are strong enough to support the communist class system. By ensuring these two features, the communist party seeks to make Marxism–Leninism the guiding ideology of the state. Normally, the constitution of a communist state defines the class system, economic system and guiding ideology of the state.

The political systems of these states are based on the principles of democratic centralism and unified power. Democratic centralism seeks to centralise powers in the highest leadership and reach political decisions through democratic processes. Unified power is the opposite of the separation of powers and seeks to turn the national representative organ elected through non-competitive, controlled elections into the state's single branch of government. This institution is commonly called the supreme state organ of power, and a ruling communist party normally holds at least two-thirds of the seats in this body. The supreme state organ of power has unlimited powers bar the limits it has itself set by adopting constitutional and legal documents. What would be considered executive or judicial branches in a liberal democratic system are in communist states deemed as bodies of the supreme state organ of power. The supreme state organ of power usually adopts a constitution that explicitly gives the ruling communist party leadership of the state.

The communist party controls the supreme state organ of power through the political discipline it exerts on its members and, through them, dominates the state. Ruling communist parties of these states are organised on Leninist lines, in which the party congress functions as its supreme decision-making body. In between two congresses, the central committee acts as the supreme organ. When neither the party congress nor the central committee is in session, the decision-making authorities of these organs are normally delegated to its politburo, which makes political decisions, and a secretariat, which executes the decisions made by the party congress, central committee and the politburo. These bodies are composed of leading figures from state and party organs. The leaders of these parties are often given the title of general secretary, but the power of this office varies from state to state. Some states are characterised by one-man dominance and the cult of personality, while others are run by a collective leadership, a system in which powers are more evenly distributed between leading officials and decision-making organs are more institutionalised.

These states seek to mobilise the public to participate in state affairs by implementing the transmission belt principle, meaning that the communist party seeks to maintain close contact with the masses through mass organisations and other institutions that try to encompass everyone and not only committed communists. Other methods are through coercion and political campaigns. Some have criticised these methods as dictatorial since the communist party remains the centre of power. Others emphasise that these are examples of communist states with functioning political participation processes (i.e. Soviet democracy) involving several other non-party organisations such as direct democratic participation, factory committees, and trade unions.

Overview

Socialist states

Main article: Socialist state (communism)

Overview of communist states that have self-described as socialist

State	Established	Dissolved	Duration	Leading party	Supreme state organ of power	Ref.
Albania	28 December 1976	29 April 1991	14 years, 122 days	Party of Labour[a]	People's Assembly	[1]
Bulgaria	18 May 1971	12 July 1991	20 years, 55 days	Communist Party	National Assembly	[2]
China	17 November 1975	—	49 years, 275 days	Communist Party	National People's Congress	[3]
Cuba	24 February 1976	—	49 years, 176 days	Communist Party[b]	National Assembly of People's Power	[4]
Czechoslovakia	11 July 1960	29 March 1990	29 years, 261 days	Communist Party	Federal Assembly	[5]
East Germany	8 April 1968	3 October 1990	22 years, 178 days	Socialist Unity Party	People's Chamber	[6]
Hungary	26 April 1972	23 October 1989	17 years, 180 days	Socialist Workers' Party[c]	National Assembly	[7]
Mongolia	6 July 1960	12 February 1990	29 years, 221 days	People's Revolutionary Party	Great People's Khural	[8]
North Korea	27 December 1972	—	52 years, 235 days	Workers' Party	Supreme People's Assembly	[9]
Poland	10 February 1976	9 December 1989	13 years, 302 days	United Workers' Party	Sejm	[10]
Romania	21 August 1965	30 December 1989	24 years, 131 days	Communist Party[d]	Great National Assembly	[11]
Somalia	21 October 1969	26 January 1991	21 years, 97 days	Revolutionary Socialist Party	People's Assembly	[12]
Soviet Union	30 December 1922[I]	26 December 1991	68 years, 361 days[II]	Communist Party	Supreme Soviet	[16]
Vietnam	2 July 1976	—	49 years, 48 days	Communist Party	National Assembly	[17]
Yugoslavia	7 April 1963	27 April 1992	29 years, 20 days	League of Communists[e]	Assembly	[18]

People's democratic states

Main article: People's democratic state

Overview of communist states that have self-described as people's democratic

State	Established	Dissolved	Duration	Leading party	Supreme state organ of power	Ref.
Afghanistan[III]	30 April 1978	27 December 1979	1 year, 241 days	People's Democratic Party	Revolutionary Council	[20]
Albania	11 January 1946	28 December 1976	30 years, 352 days	Party of Labour[a]	People's Assembly	[21]
Angola	10 December 1977	26 August 1992	14 years, 260 days	People's Movement for the Liberation	People's Assembly	[22]
Benin	23 May 1977	1 March 1990	12 years, 282 days	People's Revolutionary Party	National Revolutionary Assembly	[23]
Bulgaria	4 December 1947	18 May 1971	24 years, 245 days	Communist Party	National Assembly	[24]
Cambodia	7 January 1979	15 March 1992	13 years, 68 days	People's Revolutionary Party	National Assembly	[25]
China	1 October 1949	17 November 1975	26 years, 47 days	Communist Party	National People's Congress	[26]
Congo	31 December 1969	15 March 1992	22 years, 75 days	Party of Labour	National People's Assembly	[27]
Cuba	16 February 1959	24 February 1976	17 years, 8 days	Communist Party[b]	National Assembly of People's Power	[28]
Czechoslovakia	25 February 1948	11 July 1960	12 years, 137 days	Communist Party	National Assembly	[29]
East Germany	9 October 1949	8 April 1968	18 years, 182 days	Socialist Unity Party	People's Chamber	[30]
Ethiopia	22 February 1987	28 May 1991	4 years, 95 days	Workers' Party	National Shengo	[31]
Hungary	18 August 1949	26 April 1972	22 years, 250 days	Socialist Workers' Party[d]	National Assembly	[32]
Kampuchea	17 April 1975	7 January 1979	3 years, 2 days	Communist Party	Assembly of People's Representatives	[33]
Laos	2 December 1975	—	49 years, 260 days	People's Revolutionary Party	National Assembly	[34]
Mongolia	24 November 1924	6 July 1960	35 years, 225 days	People's Revolutionary Party	Great People's Khural	[35]
Mozambique	25 June 1975	30 November 1990	15 years, 158 days	Liberation Front	People's Assembly	[36]
North Korea	9 September 1948	27 December 1972	24 years, 109 days	Workers' Party	Supreme People's Assembly	[37]
North Vietnam	2 September 1945	2 July 1976	30 years, 304 days	Workers' Party	National Assembly	[38]
Poland	14 December 1948	10 February 1976	27 years, 58 days	United Workers' Party	Sejm	[39]
Romania	30 December 1947	21 August 1965	17 years, 234 days	Communist Party[d]	Great National Assembly	[40]
South Vietnam	30 April 1975[IV]	2 July 1976	1 year, 63 days[V]	People's Revolutionary Party	People's Assembly	[42]
South Yemen	30 November 1970	20 May 1990	19 years, 171 days	Socialist Party	Supreme People's Council	[43]
Tuva[VI]	14 August 1921	11 October 1944	23 years, 58 days	People's Revolutionary Party	People's Khural	[45]
Yugoslavia	20 November 1945	7 April 1963	17 years, 138 days	League of Communists[b]	Federal People's Assembly	[46]

National democratic states

Main article: National democratic state

Overview of communist states that have self-described as national democratic

State	Established	Dissolved	Duration	Leading party	Ref.
Afghanistan[VII]	27 December 1979	28 April 1992	12 years, 123 days	People's Democratic Party	[47]
Angola	11 November 1975	10 December 1977	2 years, 29 days	People's Movement for the Liberation	[48]
Congo	16 August 1963	31 December 1969	6 years, 137 days	National Movement of the Revolution	[49]
Ethiopia	12 September 1974	22 February 1987	12 years, 163 days	Workers' Party	[50]
Grenada	13 March 1979	29 October 1983	4 years, 230 days	New Jewel Movement	[51]

Communist predecessor states to the USSR

See also: October Revolution and Russian Civil War

Overview of communist predecessor states to the USSR

State	Established	Dissolved	Duration	Ref.
Armenia	29 November 1920	30 December 1922	2 years, 31 days	[52]
Azerbaijan	2 September 1920	27 October 1922	1 year, 318 days	[53]
Bukhara	8 October 1920	27 October 1924	4 years, 19 days	[54]
Byelorussia, 1st attempt	1 January 1919	27 February 1919	57 days	[55]
Byelorussia, 2nd attempt	31 July 1920	31 December 1922	2 years, 153 days	[56]
Crimea	12 May 1919	26 June 1919	45 days	[57]
Donetsk–Krivoy Rog	12 February 1918	20 March 1918	36 days	[58]
Estonia	29 November 1918	5 June 1919	188 days	[59]
Far Eastern Republic	6 April 1920	15 November 1922	2 years, 223 days	[60]
Galicia	8 July 1920	21 September 1920	75 days	[61]
Georgia	25 February 1921	30 December 1922	1 year, 308 days	[62]
Khorezm	26 April 1920	24 October 1924	4 years, 181 days	[63]
Latvia	17 December 1918	13 January 1920	1 year, 27 days	[64]
Lithuania	16 December 1918	27 February 1919	73 days	[65]
Lithuania and Belorussia	27 February 1919	31 July 1920	1 year, 155 days	[65]
Mughan	15 May 1919	25 June 1919	41 days	[66]
Odessa	1 March 1918	13 March 1918	12 days	[67]
Russia	7 November 1917	30 December 1922	5 years, 53 days	[68]
Ukraine, 1st attempt	25 December 1917	18 April 1918	114 days	[69]
Ukraine, 2nd attempt	10 March 1919	30 December 1922	3 years, 295 days	[70]

Ephemeral states

Overview of ephemeral communist states

State	Established	Dissolved	Duration	Ref.
Azerbaijan	20 November 1945	12 December 1946	1 year, 22 days	[71]
Bavaria	7 April 1919	2 May 1919	25 days	[72]
Bremen	10 January 1919	4 February 1919	21 days	[64]
Chile	4 June 1932	13 September 1932	101 days	[73]
China	7 November 1931	22 September 1937	5 years, 319 days	[74]
Fatsa	14 October 1979	11 June 1980	241 days	[75]
Finland, 1st attempt	29 January 1918	5 May 1918	96 days	[76]
Finland, 2nd attempt	1 December 1939	12 March 1940	102 days	[77]
Hungary	21 March 1919	3 August 1919	135 days	[78]
Mahabad	22 January 1946	15 December 1946	327 days	[79]
Persia	20 May 1920	20 September 1920	123 days	[80]
Slovakia	16 June 1919	7 July 1919	21 days	[64]
Turkestan	7 November 1944	1 October 1949[VIII]	4 years, 328 days	[81]

See also

• Liberal democratic constitutions with references to socialism
• List of non-communist socialist states

Explanatory notes

1. The Soviet Union was established on 30 December 1922, but was not declared a socialist state until 5 December 1936, when the second Soviet constitution was adopted.^[13] Vladimir Lenin, the first leader of the Soviet Union, was unsure how to categorise the Soviet state. He made it clear that he did not believe either the state or society of the Soviet Union to be socialist.^[14] Joseph Stalin, who eventually succeeded Lenin, initiated policies in the late 1920s to create socialism in the Soviet Union. His theory of the socialist state was formulated in the mid-1930s. He claimed that the Soviet Union had become a socialist state in the 1930s, and the constitution formalised it in 1936.^[15]
2. If one only counts the period the Soviet Union self-designated as a socialist state, the USSR was socialist for 55 years, 21 days.^[13]
3. The first communist leaders of communist Afghanistan, Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin, believed they had created a people's democratic state. An internal party faction, the Parcham, believed they had created a national democratic state. The Soviets agreed with the former.^[19]
4. The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam was formally established on 8 June 1969, but did not capture state power until the fall of the US-backed Republic of Vietnam on 30 April 1975.^[41]
5. If one counts days from the formal establishment of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam in June 1969, it existed for 7 years, 24 days.^[41]
6. The Tuvan People's Republic did not claim to have reached socialism or to have created a socialist state. The Soviet Union believed its material base, meaning its socio-economic level, was too low to establish socialism, and it was believed it was on the path of non-capitalist development. It was termed a people's republic, but at this time, the Soviets had not created a cohesive theoretical framework to explain what the Tuvan People's Republic was. The first such attempt came later in the form of people's democracy.^[44]
7. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan produced a new Afghan state leadership headed by Babrak Karmal. This leadership believed the Saur Revolution had produced a national democratic state: the Soviets concurred.^[19]
8. Turkestan was annexed by the People's Republic of China.

1. Named the Communist Party of Albania from 1941 until 1948.
2. From 1962 to 1965 the United Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba
3. From 1948-1956 the Hungarian Working People's Party
4. From 1948-1965 the Romanian Workers' Party
5. From 1919 to 1952 known as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia