10 Historical Communism Facts

Learn more about one of the most influential economic and social theories in human history with our list of fascinating historical Communism facts and trivia.

10 Historical Communism Facts

1. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the fathers of modern Communism, viewed history as a series of necessary events dictated by economic and class struggles. They saw Communism as not merely a desirable outcome but as an inevitable one.

2. In the mid-20th century, over one-third of the world's population lived under a Communist government.

3. Currently, the only Communist nations in the world are Laos, Cuba, China, North Korea, and Vietnam.

4. In 2008, Communist philosopher Karl Marx's book Capital became a surprise bestseller in the US due to the economic recession that year.

5. As Mao Zedong's Communist Party grew in power in the mid 20th-century, they established Cultural Takeover Committees in important cities, whose job it was to regulate, censor, and distribute cultural materials in accordance with Communist ideals.

6. The Cambodian Communist Party, or Khmer Rouge, killed roughly two million Cambodian citizens in a genocidal campaign lasting from 1975 to 1979.

7. Socialist ideas date back to ancient times; they can be found in the writings of Plato and in the communes of early Christians. Most forms of modern Communism, however, are rooted in the materialist philosophy of Karl Marx.

8. Until its collapse, the USSR provided millions of dollars in subsidies to Communist Cuba to help the regime stay afloat.

9. The Communist regime in Soviet Russia was responsible for inaugurating the Space Age when it launched Sputnik 1, the first satellite to orbit Earth, in 1957.

10. Roughly two million people are believed to have died during the latter half of the 20th century while incarcerated in the Gulag, the Soviet Union's labor camps.

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