Communism is a political and economic theory of total equality in a futuristic society. This is
based on the holding of all property in common, either by the community as a whole or by the
state. Communism originated from problems of working class poverty created by the Industrial
Revolution. In 1848, philosopher Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto, signaling the birth
of Communism. The Communist Manifesto was based off Marxism/Scientific Socialism. This was
a system of thought developed by Marx and Friedrich Engels that formed the basis of modern
communism, including political and economic doctrines of dialectic and historic materialism,
class struggle, and surplus value. Another known communist was a Russian revolutionary and
Marxist theoretician, leader of the 1917 Bolshevik “October Revolution,” architect, first head of
the Soviet Union, and founder of the Communist International and Leninism. He was regarded
as the foremost communist thinker and most important revolutionary figure of 20th-century
Europe. Lastly we have Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung, 1893-1976) who was a Chinese communist
revolutionary and statesman, founder of the Chinese Communist Party (1921), and first
president of People’s Republic of China (1949). He is also known for Maoism, a peasant-based,
highly nationalistic version of communism. All three have a different version of communism,
Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism, but each all focus on the general factor and meaning of
communism.