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World Communist Movement

The World Communist Movement is an informal community of certain parties around the world. It evolved out of the Communist International, which was dissolved in 1943. The WCM does not consist of all parties claiming to be communist, and it excludes Trotskyist parties as well as the anti-revisonist Marxist-Leninist organizations (the latter generally refer to themselves as belonging to an uncentered International Communist Movement).

Broadly, the components of the WCM come out of the pro-Soviet Communist tradition. The general principle has been that one country hosts only one WCM member party. Exceptions from this rule were West Germany and Spain, which had separated regional CPs in West Berlin and Catalonia respectively.

However, the WCM has not been devoid of internal strife. Under the leadership of the Italian Communist Party, a eurocommunist countercurrent emerged. The eurocommunists did not however break away entirely from the WCM, but remained as a faction within. In some countries (such as Sweden, United Kingdom, Australia, Finland, Spain, etc.) where eurocommunists at some point emerged victorious in the internal debates within the national parties, orthodox pro-Soviet forces organized separate communist parties, leading to situations when more than one party from one country was being represented in the WCM.

The downfall of the Soviet Union caused a severe political crisis to most pro-Soviet communist parties around the world. There were, however, clear national and regional differences in how the movement developed in the post-1989 situation.

A series of international and regional conferences and the international magazine World Marxist Review can be seen as gathering points of the WCM. Today, the role of gathering the movement has to some extent been taken over by the Communist Party of Greece, which hosts an annual meeting of communist parties.

Contents

1 Western Europe

2 Eastern Europe

3 Middle East

4 East & South-East Asia

Western Europe

During the Cold War years, CPs existed in all European countries, except for the ministates Andorra, Lichtenstein and the Vatican. In Iceland, communists had opted for participation in a broader party, the Alþýðubandalagið.

In Southern Europe, CPs emerged as major political forces during these years. In Italy, San Marino and France CPs competed for government power in the electoral processes. In Spain, Portugal and Greece CPs formed the backbone of resistance to the repressive right-wing dictatorships, and after the downfall of these regimes the CPs became an important part of the electoral politics of each country.

In northern Europe CPs did not develop into mass parties like in the Mediterranean countries, with the exception of Finland. CPs were however represented in most national parliaments during 1970´s-1980´s.

In Western Europe the position of the eurocommunists was the strongest. Practically all parties had either eurocommunist majorities or minorities. Some parties such as the French Communist Party and the Communist Party of Spain switched between eurocommunist and more ortodox positions. The Communist Party of Greece was divided in two factions.

The following parties could be identified as eurocommunist during the 1980s:

The following parties could be identified as belonging to the ortodox tendency:

German Communist Party
Communist Party of Denmark
Communist Party of Greece ("KKE External")
Communist Party of Norway
Portuguese Communist Party

The following parties were ortodox break-away groups from parties were eurocommunists had gained the upper hand:

New Communist Party of Britain
Communist Party of Britain
Arbetarpartiet Kommunisterna (Sweden)
Communist Party of Finland (unity)
Partit dels Comunistes de Catalunya
Partido Comunista de los Pueblos de España

After 1989, some of the Western European CPs changed the character of their parties, towards a non-communist direction. Others maintained their communist character. The parties that abandonned communism did however evolve in very different directions, with some moving towards social democracy (like in Italy), left socialist positions (like in Sweden, Finland) and some even turned into Greens (like in the Netherlands).

CPs turned social democrats:

Italian Communist Party became Left Democrats
Partito Comunista Sammarinese became the PPDS, later Partito dei Democratici.

The above mentioned processes gave birth to two new parties, who retained the communist identity:

CPs turned general left parties/movements:

Vänsterpartiet Kommunisterna (Sweden) became Vänsterpartiet
Communist Party of Finland became the Left Alliance
Communist Party of Great Britain became the Democratic Left

CPs fused into broader coalitions:

"KKE Internal" fused into Synaspismos
Communist Party of the Netherlands fused into GroenLinks
Communist Party of Denmark fused into Enhedslisten (though maintaining some sort of separate party structure)
Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia fused into Iniciativa per Catalunya - els Verds

CPs that maintained their communist character:

German Communist Party
Parti Communiste (Belgium) , Kommunistiche Partij (Belgium)
Communist Party of Ireland
Communist Party of Spain
Communist Party of Greece
Portuguese Communist Party
AKEL (Cyprus)
Arbetarpartiet Kommunisterna, resurrected as Communist Party of Sweden
Communist Party of Norway
Communist Party of Austria
Communist Party of Britain

Eastern Europe

In all Eastern European states, the governing CPs lost their position as leading parties in the post-1989 process, even though some were able to return to government after having transformed themselves.

In Albania, the Party of Labour of Albania had distanced themselves from the WCM much earlier on. The League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ) had a peculiar role, but was for most of the time excluded from the WCM. Some eurocommunist parties maintained contacts with SKJ.

The different Eastern European CPs evolved in different ways in the post-1989 situation. Only in one country, the Czech Republic, did the CP remain as a communist party. In Eastern Germany the SED evolved into the Party of Democratic Socialism, a strongly leftist socialist party. In other countries the CPs turned into social democratic parties. In response to this, new communist parties were formed which took the place of the old CPs in the WCM.

Transformations:

New groups taking part in the WCM after 1989:

several Bulgarian groups, including the Marxist Platform of the BSP
Workers Party (Hungary)
Partidul Socialist al Muncii (Socialist Party of Labour, Romania), which later split and one section fused with the social democrats. The group that maintained their marxist identity and continued to be a referrent of the WCM is today known as Partidul Alianta Socialista (Socialist Alliance Party)
Communist Party of Slovakia

Middle East

Communist parties exist or have existed in practically all countries in the region, except Libya and some small Gulf countries. In countries like Syria, Iraq, Iran and Bahrain, the communists played a major part in national politics, and were at various times contenders for state power. In most countries, however, (including some of the ones mentioned above, such as Iraq) communists have suffered under severe government repression. Another problem for the Middle Eastern communists were the tight connections between the Soviet Union and various Arab governments, which often put local communists in awkward positions. In general the communists in the region have been severely weakened.

In several countries, the referrents of the WCM grew out of the Arab Nationalist Movement rather than the ComIntern. This is the case of the Yemeni Socialist Party (no longer a Marxist party today however), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (today largely defunct) and the Communist Party of Saudi Arabia (today defunct).

Remaining WCM components are:

National Liberation Front of Bahrain , today working within the Progressive Democratic Tribune of Bahrain
Communist Party of Egypt
Tudeh Party of Iran (based in exile)
Lebanese Communist Party
Two separate communist parties in Syria, Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash) and Syrian Communist Party (Faisal) (SCP split in 1986, SCP(B) is more orthodox and dominated by Kurds whereas SCP(F) is more eurocommunist and dominated by Christians)
Communist Party of Sudan
Communist Party of Israel which is considered an "Arab party" in Israeli politics, a minority of its members are Jews though. The party dominates Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality).

The Palestine Communist Party has transformed itself into the Palestian Peoples Party , but a minority left the party and retook the name PCP.

In the Maghreb countries, the CPs distanced themselves from their ideological origins. Parti de l'Avant-Garde Socialiste of Algeria became the Mouvement Démocratique et Social and the Tunisian Communist Party became the Mouvement de la Rénovation-Ettajdid. The Party of Progress and Socialism of Morocco has retained its name but is no longer a marxist-leninist party.

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) fused with the Turkish Workers Party (TIP) to form the United Communist Party of Turkey (TBKP). TBKP made an attempt to register itself as a legal party, which failed. The people around TBKP later merged with the Freedom and Solidarity Party. The Party of Socialist Power (SIP) was renamed as TKP and has been granted the legal right to that name. This TKP today represents Turkey in the WCM. There are however several contenders to the name TKP, such as the Ürün (Harvest) group (which was formed out of elements of the original TKP).

East & South-East Asia

Communist parties have been established throughout the Far East region, and played an important role in most countries. In 1918, the revolution was victorious in Mongolia. The Communist Party of China was established in 1921, and both the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) and the Communist Party of Japan (later Japanese Communist Party) were established in 1922. The Comintern delegated the Indonesian communist Tan Malaka to build up the Comintern sections in the South-East Asian region, but this work gave little fruit. In 1925 the South Seas Communist Party was formed out of CPC exile units in South-East Asia. SSCP functioned as a preliminary organization before national CPs were formed. In 1930 the Indochina Communist Party was formed under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, and CPs were also formed in the Philippines, Siam, Malaya and Burma.

During the Second World War, communists were engaged in anti-fascist resistance struggles against Japanese occupations. This gave Asian communists military experiences and an expanding political base. At the end of the War, communists were in a much stronger position than before. Revolutions were victorious in China, North Korea and North Vietnam. Armed struggles began in Malayasia and Burma. In Indonesia, the PKI became a mass party, with a membership of around two million.

After the Sino-Soviet split, a large number of South-East Asian CPs followed the Communist Party of China. Several parties, such as in Mongolia, Vietnam and North Korea took an ambiguous stand toward the split in the beginning. These countries did however identify themselves more clearly with the Soviet side as the Sino-Soviet conflict developed, especially in the case of the Vietnamese party. The Communist Party of Japan distanced themselves from the Soviet Union and developed a close relationship with the eurocommunist parties. CPJ was the only major non-Western CP to follow eurocommunism.

South Asia

The Indian communist movement was born at a meeting in Tashkent in 1920. However, the Communist Party of India today considers December 26 1925 as the founding date of the party. CPI was allowed full membership of the Communist International in 1934. Out of CPI, the Communist Party of Pakistan was born in 1948. CPP in its turn would later be divided and give birth to the Communist Party of East Pakistan (today Communist Party of Bangladesh). The Communist Party of Nepal was founded in Calcutta, India in 1949. The Communist Party of Sri Lanka was born in 1943, formed out of the pro-Soviet wing of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.

CPI was divided in 1964 when its left-wing created a separate party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist). CPI(M) was initially perceived as somewhat pro-Chinese, but is was never a full-fledged maoist party. In 1967, the maoists broke away from CPI(M), later forming the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). These splits in the Indian communist movement gave reprecussions in the neighbouring countries, especially Nepal and Bangladesh.

Latin America

The oldest CP in the region is Partido Comunista de Chile , which was founded as Partido Obrero Socialista in 1912. The first group to be organized as a modern communist party was Partido Comunista de Mexico , founded by the Indian revolutionary M.N. Roy. During the Cold War years, CPs existed in all countries in the region.

In Central America, the CPs of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras united with guevarist and other revolutionary organizations to form united revolutionary fronts. When these guerilla organizations turned political parties during the 1990´s, the CPs fused with the new parties.

In Spanish-speaking South America, CPs remain active in all countries. In Ecuador the CP had fused with the Socialist Party, but a group later resurrected the PCE.

In Brazil the Partido Comunista Brasiliero became the Partido Popular Socialista and moved towards a more center-left position. The role of the PCB as the Brazilian referent has been taken over by a breakaway group from 1956, Partido Comunista do Brasil, and to a minor extent by a group that resurrected a party with the name Partido Comunista Brasiliero when the old one became PPS.

The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) plays an important role in the WCM. PCC amalgated the earlier CP and WCM referent in Cuba, the Partido Socialista Popular . However, in its international relations in Latin America and the Caribbean, PCC often gives priority to broader leftist or guevarist national liberation movements rather than traditional pro-Soviet CPs.

North America

The Communist Party USA suffered a split in 1992 after moderates established the Committees of Correspondence as a non-Leninist democratic socialist caucus following the 1991 CPUSA convention's failure to change the party's direction away from the Soviet model following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The group soon left the party and, in 2000, changed its name to the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. The CPUSA continues to exist as a Communist Party, and is actively maintaining links to the WCM.

The Communist Party of Canada voted to dissolve itself 1991 but a minority faction refused to do so and relaunched itself as the Communist Party of Canada in 1992 when the majority transformed itself into the Cecil-Ross Society (which was to be a progressive political foundation). The majority took most of the old party's assets and the minority party struggled to survive and was decertified by Elections Canada when it was unable to run a sufficient number of candiates in the 1993 Canadian election. The party fought the decertification and had it overturned in court and has re-established itself as a functioning organization though much smaller than the old CPC.

Oceania

The Communist Party of Australia took a eurocommunist position, which led to the formation of an orthodox break-away party, the Socialist Party of Australia. When the old CPA dissolved, SPA took the name CPA.

The Communist Party of New Zealand was the only one of the old "western" CPs that took the side of China in the Sino-Soviet split. This led to the formation of a pro-Soviet group, the Socialist Unity Party. The SUP has since dissolved and been replaced by the Socialist Party of Aotearoa (a group that broke away from SUP in 1990) in the WCM.

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