Communism

Social system in which property is the common possession of all the people in accordance with the principle: “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his need.” During a large part of the nineteenth century c. was synonymous with socialism, but following “The Communist Manifesto” of 1848 and other works by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, these two terms gradually diverged. In Marx’s theory, socialism represents a stage that will be succeeded by the communist society. Marxism interpreted as Marxism-Leninism posits a strong distinction between socialist and communist parties.