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[[Image:Captive-nations-01b----07-19-06.jpg|thumbnail|180px|right|A monument to the Captive Nations stands at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.]]

[[Image:Captive-nations-01b----07-19-06.jpg|thumbnail|180px|right|A monument to the Captive Nations stands at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.]]

'''Communism''' refers to the proposed establishment of a "classless society" by means of eliminating [[private property]]. This concept dates back to the age of [[Plato]]<ref>[http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/CLI_COM/COMMUNISM.html Communism] 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.</ref>  While the concept of communism dates back to antiquity, the word itself was dates to the [[industrial revolution]] and was popularized by the publication of [[The Communist Manifesto]] by [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] in 1848.

'''Communism''' is a [[political]] system based on [[Karl Marx]]'s proposed establishment of a "classless society" by means of eliminating [[private property]]. However, no communist society has ever been classless; each has been dominated by a self appointed ''[[Nomenklatura]]''. According to some sources, in less than the past 100 years, governments under the banner of communism have claimed between 65 million and 110 million lives.<ref>[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref><ref>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm]</ref><ref>[http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365 Memory and Ideology]</ref><ref>[http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526 The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]</ref> Today, it continues to rule over one-fifth of the world's people.<ref>[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation], Documenting Communism's Crimes Against Humanity.</ref>  

However, no nation described as communist has ever been classless; what we commonly refer to as communist countries are countries run by a communist party such as the USSR, China, Cuba and Vietnam.  No country has yet claimed to have achieved communism, and those that have attempted to implement it have been dominated by a self appointed ''[[Nomenklatura]]''. According to some sources, in less than the past 100 years, governments under the banner of communism have claimed between 65 million and 110 million lives.<ref>[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref><ref>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm]</ref><ref>[http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365 Memory and Ideology]</ref><ref>[http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526 The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]</ref> Today, it continues to rule over one-fifth of the world's people.<ref>[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation], Documenting Communism's Crimes Against Humanity.</ref>  

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Apologists for communism like to say that the atrocities of communism were not really because of communism.  

Apologists for communism like to say that the atrocities of communism were not really because of communism.  

They say that Communist ideals were internally contradicted, so no government ever met the official definition of "communist".

They say that Communist ideals were internally contradicted, so no government ever met the official definition of "communist".

Many states have, however, proclaimed themselves as communist.

==Notable communists==

==Notable communists==