document_title: History of communism

question_text: during the 1900s the term soviet was initially the name for

question_tokens: during the 1900s the term soviet was initially the name for

text: History of communism

text: History of the word communism[edit]

text: "Communism" derives from the French communisme which developed out of the Latin roots communis and the suffix isme – and was in use as a word designating various social situations before it came to be associated with more modern conceptions of an economic and political organization. Semantically, communis can be translated to "of or for the community" while isme is a suffix that indicates the abstraction into a state, condition, action or doctrine, so "communism" may be interpreted as "the state of being of or for the community". This semantic constitution has led to various usages of the word in its evolution, but ultimately came to be most closely associated with Marxism, most specifically embodied in The Communist Manifesto, which proposed a particular type of communism.

text: The term was first created in its modern definition by the French philosopher Victor d'Hupy. In his 1777 book Projet de communauté philosophe, d'Hupay pushes the legacy of the Enlightenments to principles which he lived up to during most of his life in his bastide of Fuveau, Provence.[7] His book can be seen as a backbone of communist philosophy as d'Hupay attempts a definition of this lifestyle which he calls a "commune" and advises to "share all economic and material products between inhabitants of the commune, so that all may benefit from each other's work".[8] His friend and contemporary author Restif de la Bretonne also describes him as a "communist" in one of his books.[9]

text: Early development (1840–1916)[edit]

text: Pre-Marxist communism[edit]

text: Many historical groups have been considered as following forms of communism. Karl Marx and other early communist theorists believed that hunter-gatherer societies as were found in the Paleolithic were essentially egalitarian and he therefore termed their ideology to be "primitive communism". Early Christianity supported a form of common ownership based on the teachings in the New Testament which emphasised sharing amongst everyone. Other ancient Jewish sects, like the Essenes, also supported egalitarianism and communal living.[10]

text: In Europe, during the early modern period various groups supporting communist ideas appeared. Tommaso Campanella's 1601 work The City of the Sun propagated the concept of a society where the products of society should be shared equally.[11] Within a few centuries, during the English Civil War various groups on the side of the Roundheads propagated the redistribution of wealth on an egalitarian basis, namely the Levellers and the Diggers.[12] In the 18th century, the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau in his hugely influential The Social Contract (1762) outlined the basis for a political order based on popular sovereignty rather than the rule of monarchs.[13] His views proved influential during the French Revolution of 1789 in which various anti-monarchists, particularly the Jacobins, supported the idea of redistributing wealth equally among the people, including Jean-Paul Marat and Gracchus Babeuf. The latter was involved in the Conspiracy of the Equals of 1796 intending to establish a revolutionary regime based on communal ownership, egalitarianism and the redistribution of property.[14] However, the plot was detected and he and several others involved were arrested and executed. Despite this setback, the example of the French Revolutionary regime and Babeuf's doomed insurrection was an inspiration for radical French thinkers such as Compte Henri de Saint Simon, Louis Blanc, Charles Fourier and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who declared that "Property is theft!".[15]  By the 1830s and 1840s the egalitarian concepts of communism and the related ideas of socialism had become widely popular in French revolutionary circles thanks to the writings of social critics and philosophers such as Pierre Leroux and Théodore Dézamy whose critiques of bourgeoisie liberalism led to a widespread intellectual rejection of laissez-faire capitalism on both economic, philosophical, and moral grounds.[16]

text: Importantly one of Babeuf's co-conspirators, Philippe Buonarroti, survived the crackdown on the Conspiracy of the Equals, and went on to write the influential book "Babuef's Conspiracy for Equality" first published in 1828.[16]  Buonarroti's works and teachings went on to inspire early Babouvist communist groups such as the Christian Communist League of the Just in 1836 led by Wilhelm Weitling which would later be merged with the Communist Correspondence Committee in Brussels.[17] This merger of the two groups in 1847 formed the Communist League, headed by German socialist labour leader Karl Schapper who then that same year tasked two founding members, Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels to write a manifesto laying out the principles of the new political party.[18]

text: Karl Marx[edit]

text: Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution.

text: In the 1840s, a German philosopher and sociologist named Karl Marx (1818–1883), who was living in England after fleeing the authorities in the German states, where he was considered a political threat, began publishing books in which he outlined his theories for a variety of communism now known as Marxism. Marx was financially aided and supported by another German émigré, Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), who like Marx had fled from the German authorities in 1849.[20] Marx and Engels took on many influences from earlier philosophers and politically they were influenced by Maximilien Robespierre and several other radical figures of the French Revolution, whilst economically they were influenced by David Ricardo and philosophically they were influenced by Hegel.[21] Engels regularly met Marx at Chetham's Library in Manchester, England from 1845 and the alcove where they met remains identical to this day.[22][23] It was here that Engels relayed his experiences of industrial Manchester, chronicled in the Condition of the Working Class in England, highlighting the struggles of the working class.

text: Marx stated that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles", something that he believed was happening between the bourgeoisie (the select few upper class and upper middle class) who then controlled society and the proletariat (the working class masses) who toiled to produce everything but who had no political control. He purported the idea that human society moved through a series of progressive stages from primitive communism through to slavery, feudalism and then capitalism – and that this in turn would be replaced by communism. Therefore, for Marx communism was seen as inevitable, as well as desirable.

text: Marx founded the Communist Correspondence Committee in 1846 through which the various communists, socialists and other leftists across Europe could  keep in contact with one another in the face of political repression. He then published The Communist Manifesto in 1848, which would prove to be one of the most influential communist texts ever written. He subsequently began work on a multi-volume epic that would examine and criticise the capitalist economy and the effect that it had upon politics, society and philosophy—the first volume of the work, which was known as Capital: Critique of Political Economy, was published in 1869. However, Marx and Engels were not only interested in writing about communism, as they were also active in supporting revolutionary activity that would lead to the creation of communist governments across Europe. They helped to found the International Workingmen's Association, which would later become known as the First International, to unite various communists and socialists – and Marx was elected to the Association's General Council.[24]

text: Early development of Marxism[edit]

text: During the latter half of the 19th century, various left-wing organisations across Europe continued to campaign against the many autocratic right-wing regimes that were then in power. In France in 1871, socialists set up a government known as the Paris Commune after the fall of Napoleon III, but they were soon overthrown and many of their members executed by counter-revolutionaries.[25] Meanwhile, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels joined the German Social-Democratic Party, which had been created in 1875, but which was outlawed in 1879 by the German government, then led by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who deemed it to be a political threat due to its revolutionary nature and increasing number of supporters.[26] In 1890, the party was re-legalised and by this time it had fully adopted Marxist principles. It subsequently achieved a fifth of the vote in the German elections and some of its leaders, such as August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht, became well-known public figures.[27]

text: At the time, Marxism took off not only in Germany, but it also gained popularity in Hungary, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Netherlands, although it did not achieve such success in other European nations like the United Kingdom, where Marx and Engels had been based.[28] Nonetheless, the new political ideology had gained sufficient support that an organisation was founded known as the Second International to unite the various Marxist groups around the world.[29]

text:
The communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.
—Karl Marx, 1848[30]

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text: However, as Marxism took off it also began to come under criticism from other European intellectuals, including fellow socialists and leftists. For instance, the Russian collectivist anarchist Mikhail Bakunin criticised what he believed were the flaws in the Marxian theory that the state would eventually dissolve under a Marxist government, instead he believed that the state would gain in power and become authoritarian. Criticism also came from other sociologists, such as the German Max Weber, who whilst admiring Marx disagreed with many of his assumptions on the nature of society. Some Marxists tried to adapt to these criticisms and the changing nature of capitalism and Eduard Bernstein emphasised the idea of Marxists bringing legal challenges against the current administrations over the treatment of the working classes rather than simply emphasising violent revolution as more orthodox Marxists did. Other Marxists opposed Bernstein and other revisionists, with many including Karl Kautsky, Otto Bauer, Rudolf Hilferding, Rosa Luxemburg, Vladimir Lenin and Georgi Plekhanov sticking steadfast to the concept of violently overthrowing what they saw as the bourgeoisie-controlled government and instead establishing a "dictatorship of the proletariat".

text: International communism: periodization[edit]

text: The Comintern's historical existence is divided among periods, regarding changes in the general policy it followed.[31][32][33]

text:
The War Communism period (1919–1923) which saw the forming of the International, the Russian Civil War, a general revolutionary upheaval after the October Revolution resulting in the formation of the first communist parties across the world and the defeat of workers' revolutionary movements in Germany, Hungary, Finland and Poland.
The New Economic Policy period (1923–1929) which marked the end of the civil war in Russia and new economic measures taken by the Bolshevik government, the toning down of the revolutionary wave in Europe and internal struggles within the Bolshevik Party and the Comintern after Lenin's death and before Stalin's absolute consolidation of power.
The Third Period (1929–1934), an ultra-left turn which saw rapid industrialization and collectivization in the Soviet Union under Stalin's rule, the refusal by communists to cooperate with social democrats in other countries (labeling them "social fascists") and the ultimate rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, which led to the abandonment of the hard-line policy of this period. These years also saw the complete subordination of all communist parties across the world to the directives of the Soviet Party, making the Comintern more or less an organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
The Popular Front period (1934–1939) which marked the call by Comintern to all popular and democratic forces (not just communist) to unite in popular fronts against fascism. Products of this period were the popular front governments in France and Spain. However, this period was also marked by widespread purges of anyone suspected as an enemy of the Stalinist regime, both in the Soviet Union and abroad. These mass purges resulted in the breaking up of the popular front in Spain amidst the Spanish Civil War and the fall of Spain to Francisco Franco.
The period of "advocating peace" (1939–1941), a result of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact which resulted in the Soviet invasion of Poland. In this period, communists were advocating non-participation in World War II, labeling the war as "imperialist". A new term, "revolutionary defeatism", was coined by Comintern in this period, referring to anti-war propaganda by communists in the Western Europe against their national governments.
The Eastern Front (World War II) period, sometimes called the Second Popular Front (1941–1943), was the last period of the Comintern, starting immediately after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, with Stalin's 3 July 1941 call to the entire free world to unite and fight Nazism by all means. This was a period of militant anti-fascism, the emergence of national liberation movements all across occupied Europe and ultimately the dissolution of the Comintern in 1943.
The Early Cold War (1947–1960) in which the Soviet Union and the Red Army installed the communist regime's in most of Eastern Europe (except for Yugoslavia and Albania, which had independent communist regimes). A major effort to support communist party activity in Western democracies, especially Italy and France, fell short of gaining positions in the government.
The Late Cold War (1960–1970s) in which China turned against the Soviet Union and organized alternative communist parties in many countries. Intense attention was given to revolutionary movements in the Third World, which were successful in some places such as Cuba and Vietnam. Communism was decisively defeated in other states, including Malaya and Indonesia. In 1972–1979, there was détente between the Soviet Union and the United States.
The end of communism in Europe (1980–1992) in which Soviet client states were heavily on the defensive, as in Afghanistan and Nicaragua. The United States escalated the conflict with very heavy military spending. After a series of short-lived leaders, Michael Gorbachev came to power in the Kremlin and began a policy of glasnost and perestroika, designed to revive the stagnating Soviet economy. European satellites led by Poland grew increasingly independent and in 1989 they all expelled the communist leadership. East Germany merged into West Germany with Moscow's approval. At the end of 1991, the Soviet Union itself was dissolved into non-communist independent states. Many communist parties around the world either collapsed, or became independent non-communist entities. However, China, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam and Cuba maintained communist regimes. After 1980, China adopted a market oriented economy that welcomed large-scale trade and friendly relations with United States.

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text: The early Communist states (1917–1944)[edit]

text: The Russian Revolution and the formation of the Soviet Union[edit]

text: At the start of the 20th century, the Russian Empire was an autocracy controlled by Tsar Nicholas II, with millions of the country's largely agrarian population living in abject poverty and the anti-communist historian Robert Service noted that "poverty and oppression constituted the best soil for Marxism to grow in".[34] The man responsible for largely introducing the ideology into the country was Georgi Plekhanov, although the movement itself was largely organised by a man known as Vladimir Lenin, who had for a time been exiled to a prison camp in Siberia by the Tsarist government for his beliefs.[35] A Marxist group known as the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was formed in the country, although it soon divided into two main factions: the Bolsheviks led by Lenin and the Mensheviks led by Julius Martov. In 1905, there was a revolution against the Tsar's rule, in which workers' councils known as "soviets" were formed in many parts of the country and the Tsar was forced to implement democratic reform, introducing an elected government, the Duma.[36]

text: In 1917, with further social unrest against the Duma and its part in involving Russia in the First World War, the Bolsheviks took power in the October Revolution. They subsequently began remodelling the country based upon communist principles, nationalising various industries and confiscating land from wealthy aristocrats and redistributing it amongst the peasants. They subsequently pulled out of the war against Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which was unpopular amongst many in Russia for it gave away large areas of land to Germany. From the outset, the new government faced resistance from a myriad of forces with differing perspectives, including anarchists, social democrats, who took power in the Democratic Republic of Georgia, Socialist-Revolutionaries, who formed the Komuch in Samara, Russia, scattered tsarist resistance forces known as the White Guard, as well as Western powers. This led to the events of the Russian civil war, which the Bolsheviks won and subsequently consolidated their power over the entire country, centralising power from the Kremlin in the capital city of Moscow. In 1922, the Russian SFS Republic was officially redesignated to be the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, whilst in 1924 Lenin resigned as leader of the Soviet Union due to poor health and soon died, with Joseph Stalin subsequently taking over control.

text: Comintern, Mongolia and the communist uprisings in Europe[edit]

text: In 1919, the Bolshevik government in Russia organised the creation of an international communist organisation that would act as the Third International after the collapse of the Second International in 1916 – this was known as the Communist International, although was commonly abbreviated as Comintern. Throughout its existence, Comintern would be dominated by the Kremlin despite its internationalist stance. Meanwhile, in 1921 the Soviet Union invaded its neighboring Mongolia to aid a popular uprising against the Chinese who then controlled the country, instituting a Marxist government, which declared the nation to be the Mongolian People's Republic in 1924.[37]

text: Comintern and other such Soviet-backed communist groups soon spread across much of the world, though particularly in Europe, where the influence of the recent Russian Revolution was still strong. In Germany, the Spartacist uprising took place in 1919, when armed communists supported rioting workers, but the government put the rebellion down violently with the use of a right-wing paramilitary group, the Freikorps, with many noted German communists, such as Rosa Luxemburg, being killed.[38] Within a few months, a group of communists seized power amongst public unrest in the German region of Bavaria, forming the Bavarian Soviet Republic, although once more this was put down violently by the Freikorps, who historians believe killed around 1200 communists and their sympathisers.[39]

text: That same year, political turmoil in Hungary following their defeat in the First World War led to a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party taking control. The communists, led by Bela Kun, soon became dominant and instituted various communist reforms in the country, but the country was subsequently invaded by its neighbouring Romania within a matter of months who overthrew the government, with the communist leaders either escaping abroad or being executed.[40] In 1921, a communist revolt against the government occurred whilst supportive factory workers were on strike in Turin and Milan in northern Italy, but the government acted swiftly and put down the rebellion.[41] That same year, a further communist rebellion took place in Germany only to be crushed, but another occurred in 1923 which once again was also defeated by the government.[42] The communists of Bulgaria had also attempted an uprising in 1923, but like most of their counterparts across Europe they were defeated.[43]

text: Front organisations[edit]

text: Communist parties were tight knit organizations that exerted tight control over the members. To reach sympathisers unwilling to join the party, front organizations were created that advocated party-approved positions. The Comintern, under the leadership of Grigory Zinoviev in the Kremlin, established fronts in many countries in the 1920s and after. To coordinate their activities, the Comintern set up various international umbrella organizations (linking groups across national borders), such as the Young Communist International (youth), Profintern (trade unions),[44] Krestintern (peasants), International Red Aid (humanitarian aid), Sportintern (organized sports), etc. In Europe, front organizations were especially influential in Italy[45] and France, which in 1933 became the base for Communist front organizer Willi Münzenberg.[46] These organizations were dissolved the late 1930s or early 1940s.

text: The Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat (PPTUS) was set up in 1927 by the Profintern (the Comintern's trade union arm) with the mission of promoting communist trade unions in China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and other nations in the western Pacific.[47] Trapeznik (2009) says the PPTUS was a "Communist-front organization" and "engaged in overt and covert political agitation in addition to a number of clandestine activities".[48]

text: There were numerous Communist front organizations in Asia, many oriented to students and youth.[49] In Japan in the labor union movement of the 1920s, according to one historian, "The Hyogikai never called itself a communist front but in effect, this was what it was." He points out it was repressed by the government "along with other communist front groups".[50] In the 1950s, Scalapino argues, "The primary Communist-front organization was the Japan Peace Committee". It was founded in 1949.[51]

text: Stalinism in the Soviet Union[edit]

text: In 1924, Joseph Stalin, a key Bolshevik follower of Lenin, took power in the Soviet Union.[52] He was supported in his leadership by Nikolai Bukharin, but had various important opponents in the government, most notably Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev. Stalin initiated his own process of building a communist society, creating a variant of communism known as Stalinism and as a part of this he abandoned some of the capitalist, free market policies that had been allowed to continue under Lenin, such as the New Economic Policy. He radically altered much of the Soviet Union's agricultural production, modernising it by introducing tractors and other machinery, by forced collectivisation of the farms, by forced collection of grains from the peasants in accordance with predecided targets. There was food available for industrial workers, but those peasants who refused to move starved especially in the Ukraine. The Communist Party targeted "Kulaks", who owned a little land.

text: Stalin took control of the Comintern, and introduced a policy in the international organisation of opposing all leftists who were not Marxists, labelling them to be "social-fascists", although many communists, such as Jules Humbert-Droz, disagreed with him on this policy, believing that the left should unite against the rise of right wing movements like fascism across Europe.[53] In the early 1930s, Stalin reversed course and promoted "popular front" movements whereby communist parties would collaborate with Socialists and other political forces. A high priority was mobilizing wide support for the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War.[54]

text: The Great Terror[edit]

text: The "Great Terror" mainly operated from December 1936 to November 1938, although the features of arrest and summary trial followed by execution were well entrenched in the Soviet system since the days of Lenin, as Stalin systematically destroyed the older generation of pre-1918 leaders, usually on the grounds they were enemy spies or simply because they were "enemies of the people". In the Red Army, a majority of generals were executed and hundreds of thousands of other "enemies" were sent to the gulag,[55] where terrible conditions in Siberia led quickly to death.[56]

text: Pre-war dissident communisms[edit]

text: The International Right Opposition and Trotskyism are examples of dissidents who still claim communism today, but they are not the only ones. In Germany, the split in the SPD had initially led to a variety of Communist unions and parties forming, which included the councilist tendencies of the AAU-D, AAU-E and KAPD. Councilism had a limited impact outside of Germany, but a number of international organisations formed. In Spain, a fusion of Left and Right dissidents led to the formation of the POUM. Additionally, in Spain the CNT was associated with the development of the FAI political party, a non-Marxist party which stood for revolutionary communism.

text: Spreading communism (1945–1957)[edit]

text: As the Cold War took effect around 1947, the Kremlin set up new international coordination bodies including the World Federation of Democratic Youth, the International Union of Students, the World Federation of Trade Unions, the Women's International Democratic Federation and the World Peace Council. Kennedy says the, "Communist 'front' system included such international organizations as the WFTU, WFDY, IUS, WIDF and WPC, besides a host of lesser bodies bringing journalists, lawyers, scientists, doctors and others into the widespread net".[57]

text: The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) was established in 1945 to unite trade union confederations across the world; it was based in Prague. While it had non-communist unions it was largely dominated by the Soviets. In 1949 the British, American and other non-Communist unions broke away to form the rival International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. The labor movement in Europe became so polarized between the communists unions and social democratic and Christian labor unions, whereas front operations could no longer hide the sponsorship and they became less important.[58]

text: Soviet Union[edit]

text: The devastation of the war resulted in a massive recovery program involving the rebuilding of industrial plants, housing and transportation, as well as the demobilization and migration of millions of soldiers and civilians. In the midst of this turmoil during the winter of 1946–1947, the Soviet Union experienced the worst natural famine in the 20th century.[59] There was no serious opposition to Stalin, as the secret police continued to send possible suspects to the gulag.

text: Relations with the United States and Britain went from friendly to hostile, as they denounced Stalin's political controls over eastern Europe and his blockade of Berlin. By 1947, the Cold War had begun. Stalin himself believed that capitalism was a hollow shell and would crumble under increased non-military pressure exerted through proxies in countries like Italy. He greatly underestimated the economic strength of the West and instead of triumph saw the West build up alliances that were designed to permanently stop or "contain" Soviet expansion. In early 1950, Stalin gave the go-ahead for North Korea's invasion of South Korea, expecting a short war. He was stunned when the Americans entered and defeated the North Koreans, putting them almost on the Soviet border. Stalin supported China's entry into the Korean war, which drove the Americans back to the prewar boundaries, but which escalated tensions. The United States decided to mobilize its economy for a long contest with the Soviets, built the hydrogen bomb and strengthened the NATO alliance that covered Western Europe.[60]

text: According to Gorlizki and Khlevniuk (2004), Stalin's consistent and overriding goal after 1945 was to consolidate the nation's superpower status and in the face of his growing physical decrepitude to maintain his own hold on total power. Stalin created a leadership system that reflected historic czarist styles of paternalism and repression, yet was also quite modern. At the top, personal loyalty to Stalin counted for everything. However, Stalin also created powerful committees, elevated younger specialists and began major institutional innovations. In the teeth of persecution, Stalin's deputies cultivated informal norms and mutual understandings which provided the foundations for collective rule after his death.[61]

text: Eastern Europe[edit]

text: The military success of the Red Army in Central and Eastern Europe led to a consolidation of power in communist hands. In some cases, such as Czechoslovakia, this led to an enthusiastic support for socialism inspired by the Communist Party and a Social Democratic Party willing to fuse. In other cases, such as Poland or Hungary, the fusion of the Communist Party with the Social Democratic party was forcible and accomplished through undemocratic means. In many cases, the communist parties of Central Europe were faced with a population initially quite willing to reign in market forces, institute limited nationalisation of industry and supporting the development of intensive social welfare states, whereas broadly the population largely supported socialism. However, the purges of non-communist parties which supported socialism, combined with forced collectivisation of agriculture and a Soviet-bloc wide recession in 1953 led to deep unrest. This unrest first surfaced in Berlin in 1953, where Brecht ironically suggested that the Party ought to elect a new People.  However, Khrushchev's Secret Speech of 1956 opened up internal debate, even if members were unaware, in both the Polish and Hungarian Communist Parties. This led to the Polish Crisis of 1956 which was resolved through change in Polish leadership and a negotiation between the Soviet and Polish parties over the direction of the Polish economy.

text: Hungarian Revolution of 1956[edit]

text: The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a major challenge to Moscow's control of Eastern Europe.[62] This revolution saw general strikes, the formation of independent workers councils, the restoration of the Social Democratic Party as a party for revolutionary communism of a non-Soviet variety and the formation of two underground independent communist parties. The mainstream Communist Party was controlled for a period of about a week by non-Soviet aligned leaders. Two non-communist parties which supported the maintenance of socialism also regained their independence. This flowering of dissenting communism was crushed by a combination of a military invasion supported by heavy artillery and airstrikes; mass arrests, at least a thousand juridical executions and an uncounted number of summary executions; the crushing of the Central Workers Council of Greater Budapest; mass refugee flight; and a worldwide propaganda campaign. The effect of the Hungarian Revolution on other communist parties varied significantly, resulting in large membership losses in Anglophone communist parties.[63]

text: Prague Spring 1968[edit]

text: The Czechoslovak Communist Party began an ambitious reform agenda under Alexander Dubček. The plan to limit central control and make the economy more independent of the party threatened bedrock beliefs. On 20 August 1968, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev ordered a massive military invasion by Warsaw Pact forces that destroyed the threat of internal liberalization.[64] At the same time, the Soviets threatened retaliation against the British-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt. The upshot was a collapse of any tendency toward détente, and the resignations of more intellectuals from Parties in the West.[65]

text: West Germany[edit]

text: West Germany (and West Berlin) were centers of East-West conflict during the Cold War and numerous communist fronts were established. For example, the Society for German–Soviet Friendship (GfDSF) had 13,000 members in West Germany, but it was banned in 1953 by some Länder as a communist front.[66] The Democratic Cultural League of Germany started off as a series of genuinely pluralistic bodies, but in 1950–1951 came under the control of communists. By 1952, the U.S. Embassy counted 54 "infiltrated organizations", which started independently, as well as 155 "front organizations", which had been Communist inspired from their start.[67]

text: The Association of the Victims of the Nazi Regime was set up to rally West Germans under the antifascist banner, but had to be dissolved when Moscow discovered it had been infiltrated by "Zionist agents".[68]

text: China's Great Leap Forward[edit]

text: Mao Zedong  and the Communist Party came to power in China in 1949, as the Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan. In 1950–1953, China engaged in a large-scale but undeclared war with the United States, South Korea and United Nations forces in the Korean War.  It ended in a military stalemate, but it gave Mao the opportunity to identify and purge elements in China that seemed supportive of capitalism. At first there was close cooperation with Stalin, who sent in technical experts to aid the industrialization process along the line of the Soviet model of the 1930s.[69] After Stalin's death in 1953, relations with Moscow soured—Mao thought Stalin's successors had betrayed the Communist ideal. Mao charged that Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of a "revisionist clique" which had turned against Marxism and Leninism was now setting the stage for the restoration of capitalism.[70] The two nations were at sword's point by 1960. Both began forging alliances with communist supporters around the globe, thereby splitting the worldwide movement into two hostile camps.[71]

text: Rejecting the Soviet model of rapid urbanization, Mao Zedong and his top aide Deng Xiaoping launched the "Great Leap Forward" in 1957–1961 with the goal of industrializing China overnight, using the peasant villages as the base rather than large cities.[72] Private ownership of land ended and the peasants worked in large collective farms that were now ordered to start up heavy industry operations, such as steel mills. Plants were built in remote locations, despite the lack of technical experts, managers, transportation or needed facilities. Industrialization failed, but the main result was a sharp unexpected decline in agricultural output, which led to mass famine and millions of deaths.  The years of the Great Leap Forward in fact saw economic regression, with 1958 through 1961 being the only years between 1953 and 1983 in which China's economy saw negative growth. Political economist Dwight Perkins argues, "Enormous amounts of investment produced only modest increases in production or none at all. […] In short, the Great Leap was a very expensive disaster".[73] Deng, put in charge of rescuing the economy, adopted pragmatic policies that the idealistic Mao disliked. Mao for a while was in the shadows, but he returned to center stage and purged Deng and his allies in the "cultural revolution" (1966–1969).[74]

text: Early post-war dissident communisms[edit]

text: Following the Second World War, Trotskyism was wracked by increasing internal divisions over analysis and strategy. This was combined with an industrial impotence that was widely recognised. Additionally, the success of Soviet-aligned parties in Europe and Asia led to the persecution of Trotskyite intellectuals, such as the infamous purge of Vietnamese Trotskyists. The war had also strained social democratic parties in the West. In some cases, such as Italy, significant bodies of membership of the Social Democratic Party were inspired by the possibility of achieving advanced socialism. In Italy this group, combined with dissenting communists, began to discuss theory centred on the experience of work in modern factories, leading to Autonomist Marxism. In the United States, this theoretical development was paralleled by the Johnston-Forrest tendency, whereas in France a similar impulse occurred.

text: The Cold War and revisionism (1958–1979)[edit]

text: Maoism and the Cultural Revolution in China[edit]

text: The Cultural Revolution was an upheaval that targeted intellectuals and party leaders from 1966 through 1976. Mao's goal was to purify communism by removing pro-capitalists and traditionalists by imposing Maoist orthodoxy within the Communist Party. The movement paralyzed China politically and weakened the country economically, culturally and intellectually for years. Millions of people were accused, humiliated, stripped of power and either imprisoned, killed or most often sent to work as farm laborers. Mao insisted that these "revisionists" be removed through violent class struggle. The two most prominent militants were Marshall Lin Biao of the army and Mao's wife Jiang Qing. China's youth responded to Mao's appeal by forming Red Guard groups around the country. The movement spread into the military, urban workers and the Communist Party leadership itself. It resulted in widespread factional struggles in all walks of life. In the top leadership, it led to a mass purge of senior officials who were accused of taking a "capitalist road", most notably Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. During the same period, Mao's personality cult grew to immense proportions. After Mao's death in 1976, the survivors were rehabilitated and many returned to power.[75]

text: The Cuban Revolution[edit]

text: The Cuban Revolution was a successful armed revolt led by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. It ousted Batista on 1 January 1959, replacing his regime with Castro's revolutionary government. Castro's government later reformed along communist lines, becoming the present Communist Party of Cuba in October 1965.[76] The United States response was highly negative, leading to a failed invasion attempt in 1961. The Soviets decided to protect its ally by stationing nuclear weapons in Cuba in 1962. In the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States vehemently opposed the Soviet Union move. There was serious fear of nuclear war for a few days, but a compromise was reached by which Moscow publicly removed its weapons and the United States secretly removed its from bases in Turkey and promised never to invade.[77]

text: African Communism[edit]

text: During the Decolonization of Africa, the Soviet Union took a keen interest in that continent's independence movements and initially hoped that the cultivation of communist client states there would deny their economic and strategic resources to the West.[78] Soviet foreign policy with regards to Africa assumed that newly independent African governments would be receptive to Marxist ideology and that the Soviets would have the resources to make them attractive as development partners.[78] During the 1970s, the ruling parties of several sub-Saharan African states formally embraced communism, including Burkina Faso, the People's Republic of Benin, the People's Republic of Mozambique, the People's Republic of the Congo, the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the People's Republic of Angola.[79] Most of these regimes ensured the selective adoption and flexible application of Marxist theory set against a broad ideological commitment to Marxism or Leninism.[79] The adoption of communism was often seen as a means to an end and used to justify the extreme centralization of power.[79]

text: Angola was perhaps the only African state which made a longstanding commitment to orthodox Marxism,[80] but this was severely hampered by its own war-burdened economy, rampant corruption and practical realities which allowed a few foreign companies to wield considerable influence despite the elimination of the domestic Angolan private sector and a substantial degree of central economic planning.[81][82] Both Angola and Ethiopia built new social and political communist institutions modeled closely after those in the Soviet Union and Cuba.[5] However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union their regimes either dissolved due to civil conflict or voluntarily repudiated communism in favour of social democracy.[5]

text: Eurocommunism[edit]

text: An important trend in several countries in Western Europe from the late 1960s into the 1980s was "Eurocommunism". It was strongest in Spain's PCE, Finland's party and especially in Italy's PCI, where it drew on the ideas of Antonio Gramsci. It was developed by members of the Communist Party who were disillusioned with both the Soviet Union and China and sought an independent program. They accepted liberal parliamentary democracy and free speech, as well as with some conditions accepted a capitalist market economy. They did not speak of the destruction of capitalism, but sought to win the support of the masses and by a gradual transformation of the bureaucracies. In 1978, Spain's PCE replaced the historic "Marxist–Leninist" catchphrase with the new slogan, "Marxist, democratic and revolutionary". The movement faded in the 1980s and collapsed with the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989.[83]

text: The collapse of the Communist Powers (1980–1992)[edit]

text: Contemporary communism (1993–present)[edit]

text: With the fall of the communist governments in the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc, the power that the state-based Marxist ideologies held on the world was weakened, but there are still many communist movements of various types and sizes around the world. Three other communist nations, particularly those in eastern Asia, the People's Republic of China, Vietnam and Laos, all moved toward market economies, but without major privatization of the state sector during the 1980s and 1990s (see Socialism with Chinese characteristics and doi moi for more details).[citation needed] Spain, France, Portugal and Greece have very publicly strong communist movements that play an open and active leading role in the vast majority of their labor marches and strikes, as well as also anti-austerity protests, all of which are large, pronounced events with much visibility. Also, worldwide marches on International Workers Day sometimes give a clearer picture of the size and influence of current communist movements, particularly within Europe.

text: Cuba has recently emerged from the crisis sparked by the fall of the Soviet Union given the growth in its volume of trade with its new allies Venezuela and China (the former of whom has recently adopted a "socialism of the 21st century" according to Hugo Chavez). Various other countries throughout South and Latin America have also taken similar shifts to more clearly socialistic policies and rhetoric in a phenomenon academics are calling the "pink tide".

text: North Korea has had less success in coping with the collapse of the Soviet bloc than its counterparts, which led that government to "supersede" its original Marxism–Leninism with an ideology called Juche. However, Cuba does apparently have an ambassador to North Korea and China still protects North Korean territorial integrity even as it simultaneously refuses to supply the state with material goods or other significant assistance.

text: In Nepal, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) leader Man Mohan Adhikari briefly became Prime Minister and national leader from 1994 to 1995 and the Maoist guerrilla leader Prachanda was elected Prime Minister by the Constituent Assembly of Nepal in 2008. Prachanda has since been deposed as Prime Minister, leading the Maoists to abandon their legalistic approach and return to their typical street actions and militancy and to lead sporadic general strikes using their quite substantial influence on the Nepalese labor movement. These actions have oscillated between mild and intense, only the latter of which tends to make world news. They consider Prachanda's removal to be unjust.

text: The previous national government of India depended on the parliamentary support of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and CPI(M) leads the state governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.  The armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) is fighting a war against the government of India and is active in half the country, but the Indian government has recently declared[when?] the Maoists its chief objective to eliminate.

text: In Cyprus, the veteran communist Dimitris Christofias of AKEL won the 2008 presidential election.

text: In Moldova, the communist party won the 2001, 2005 and 2009 parliamentary elections. However, the April 2009 Moldovan elections results, in which the communists supposedly won a third time, were massively protested (including an attack on the Parliament and Presidency buildings by angry crowds) and another round was held on July 29 in which three opposition parties (the Liberals, Liberal-Democrats and Democrats) won and formed the Alliance for European Integration. However, failing to elect the president, new parliamentary elections were held in November 2010 which resulted in roughly the same representation in the Parliament. According to Ion Marandici, a Moldovan political scientist, the Moldovan communists differ from those in other countries because they managed to appeal to the ethnic minorities and the anti-Romanian Moldovans. After tracing the adaptation strategy of the Party of Communists from Moldova, he finds confirming evidence for five of the factors contributing to the electoral success, already mentioned in the theoretical literature on former communist parties: the economic situation, the weakness of the opponents, the electoral laws, the fragmentation of the political spectrum and the legacy of the old regime. However, Marandici identified seven additional explanatory factors at work in the Moldovan case: the foreign support for certain political parties, separatism, the appeal to the ethnic minorities, the alliance-building capacity, the reliance on the Soviet notion of the Moldovan identity, the state-building process and the control over a significant portion of the media. It is due to these seven additional factors that the successor party in Moldova managed to consolidate and expand its constituency. According to Marandici, in the post-Soviet area the Moldovan communists are the only ones who have been in power for so long and did not change the name of the party.[84]

text: In Ukraine and Russia, the communists came second in the 2002 and 2003 elections, respectively. The party remains strong in Russia, but in Ukraine following the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation the Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2014 resulted in the loss of its 32 members and no parliamentary representation by the Communist Party of Ukraine.[85]

text: In the Czech Republic, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia came third in the 2002 elections, as did the Communist Party of Portugal in 2005.

text: In South Africa, the South African Communist Party (SACP) is a member of the Tripartite alliance alongside the African National Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. Sri Lanka has communist ministers in their national governments.

text: In Zimbabwe, former President Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, the country's longstanding leader, is a professed Marxist.[86][87]

text: Colombia is in the midst of a civil war which has been waged since 1966 between the Colombian government and aligned rightwing paramilitaries against two communist guerrilla groups: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People's Army (FARC–EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN).

text: The Philippines is still experiencing a low scale guerrilla insurgency by the New People's Army.

text: Sources[edit]

text:
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Lansford, Thomas (2007). Communism. New York: Cavendish Square Publishing. pp. 9–24, 36–44. ISBN 978-0761426288.

^ Jump up to: a b c Leopold, David (2015).  Freeden, Michael; Stears, Marc; Sargent, Lyman Tower, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 20–38. ISBN 978-0198744337.

^ Jump up to: a b c Schwarzmantle, John (2017).  Breuilly, John, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 643–651. ISBN 978-0198768203.

^ Jump up to: a b c MacFarlane, S. Neil (1990).  Katz, Mark, ed. The USSR and Marxist Revolutions in the Third World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 6–11. ISBN 978-0812216202.

^ Jump up to: a b c Dunn, Dennis (2016). A History of Orthodox, Islamic, and Western Christian Political Values. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. pp. 126–131. ISBN 978-3319325668.

Jump up ^ Stephen Kotkin (3 November 2017). "Communism's Bloody Century". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.

Jump up ^ "Vie d'Hupay"

Jump up ^ Cassely, 2016: Aix insolite et secrète JonGlez p. 192-193 (références Bibliothèque nationale de France)

Jump up ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:14-15)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:15)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:16)

Jump up ^ David Priestland (2010) The Red Flag: Communism and the Making of the Modern World. Penguin: 5–7

Jump up ^ David Priestland (2010) The Red Flag: Communism and the Making of the Modern World. Penguin: 18-19

Jump up ^ Service (2007:16-17)

^ Jump up to: a b Paul E Corcoran; Christian Fuchs (25 August 1983). Before Marx: Socialism and Communism in France, 1830–48. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 3-5,22. ISBN 978-1-349-17146-0.

Jump up ^ Franz Mehring, Karl Marx: The Story of His Life. Edward Fitzgerald, trans. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1936; pg. 139.

Jump up ^ Christian Fuchs (23 October 2015). Reading Marx in the Information Age: A Media and Communication Studies Perspective on Capital. Routledge. p. 357. ISBN 978-1-317-36449-8.

Jump up ^ Private Property and Communism by Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844

Jump up ^ Service (2007:24-25)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:13)

Jump up ^ "101 Treasures of Chetham's". Chetham's Library. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011. Philosophers Karl Marx and Frederich Engels met to research their Communist theory in Chetham's Library

Jump up ^ "War and cotton lent Chetham's its name in Manchester". BBC News. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.

Jump up ^ Service (2007:27-28)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:28)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:29)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:36)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:39-41)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:36-37)

Jump up ^ Chapter IV. Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties by Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto

Jump up ^ Richard Pipes, Communism: A History (2003)

Jump up ^ David Priestland, The Red Flag: A History of Communism (2010)

Jump up ^ Robert Service,  Comrades: Communism: A World History (2011)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:46)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:48-49)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:50-51)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:115-116)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:86)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:90-92)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:86-90)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:92-94)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:95-96)

Jump up ^ Service (2007:117-118)

Jump up ^ Ian Birchall, "Profintern: Die Rote Gewerkschaftsinternationale 1920–1937," Historical Materialism, 2009, Vol. 17 Issue 4, pp 164-176, review (in English) of a German language study by Reiner Tosstorff.

Jump up ^ Joan Urban, Moscow and the Italian Communist Party: from Togliatti to Berlinguer (1986) p. 157

Jump up ^ Julian Jackson, The Popular Front in France (1990) p. x

Jump up ^ Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Fridrikh Igorevich Firsov, The Secret World of American Communism (1996) p 42

Jump up ^ Alexander Trapeznik, "'Agents of Moscow' at the Dawn of the Cold War: The Comintern and the Communist Party of New Zealand," Journal of Cold War Studies Volume 11, Number 1, Winter 2009 pp. 124-49 quote on p 144

Jump up ^ For listings of front organizations in East Asia see Malcolm Kennedy, History of Communism in East Asia (Praeger Publishers, 1957) pp 118, 127-8, 130, 277, 334, 355, 361-7, 374, 415, 421, 424, 429, 439, 444, 457-8, 470, 482

Jump up ^ Stephen S. Large, Organized Workers and Socialist Politics in Interwar Japan (2010) p. 85

Jump up ^ Robert A. Scalapino, The Japanese Communist Movement 1920-1967 (1967) p 117

Jump up ^ Archie Brown, The Rise & Fall of Communism (2010) pp62-77.

Jump up ^ Service (2007:167)

Jump up ^ Brown, The Rise and Fall of Communism, pp 88-90

Jump up ^ Anne Applebaum, Gulag: A History. 2003. 736 pp.  excerpt and text search

Jump up ^ The exact number of victims is unknown by a factor of 10, from several million upwards to 20 million. Service says 1.5 million were arrested and 200,000 were eventually released. Service ch 31 esp p.356. The lowest estimates by Getty give more than 300,000 executions in each of the years 1937 and 1938. J. Arch Getty and Roberta T. Manning, eds., Stalinist Terror: New Perspectives (1993)

Jump up ^ Malcolm Kennedy, History of Communism in East Asia (Praeger Publishers, 1957) p 126

Jump up ^ Anthony Carew, "The Schism within the World Federation of Trade Unions: Government and Trade-Union Diplomacy," International Review of Social History, Dec 1984, Vol. 29 Issue 3, pp 297-335

Jump up ^ Yoram Gorlizki and Oleg Khlevniuk, Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953 (2004) pp 3ff

Jump up ^ John Lewis Gaddis, A New History of the Cold War (2006)

Jump up ^ Yoram Gorlizki, and Oleg Khlevniuk. Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953 (2004) online edition

Jump up ^ Erwin Schmidl, et al. The Hungarian Revolution 1956 (2006)

Jump up ^ Brown, The Rise and Fall of Communism pp 278-92

Jump up ^ Günter Bischof et al., eds. (2010). The Prague Spring and the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Rowman & Littlefield.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)

Jump up ^ Maude Bracke, Which Socialism, Whose Détente? West European Communism and the Czechoslovak Crisis of 1968 (2009)

Jump up ^ Patrick Major, The Death of the KPD: Communism and Anti-Communism in West Germany, 1945-1956 (Oxford University Press, 1997) p. 215

Jump up ^ Major, The Death of the KPD: Communism and Anti-Communism in West Germany, 1945-1956 pp 217–18

Jump up ^ Vojtech Mastny, The Cold War and Soviet Insecurity: The Stalin Years (Oxford U.P., 1998) p. 162

Jump up ^ Brown, Archie. The Rise and Fall of Communism. pp. 179–93. ISBN 0-0618-8548-7.

Jump up ^ John Gittings (2006). The Changing Face of China:From Mao to Market. Oxford U.P. p. 40.

Jump up ^ Lorenz M. Luthi (2010). The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World. Princeton U.P.

Jump up ^ Brown, Archie. The Rise and Fall of Communism. pp. 316–32. ISBN 0-0618-8548-7.

Jump up ^ Dwight Heald Perkins (1984). China's economic policy and performance during the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath. Harvard Institute for International Development,. p. 12.

Jump up ^ Ezra F. Vogel (2011). Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. Harvard University Press. pp. 40–42.

Jump up ^ Brown, The Rise & Fall of Communism, pp 324-32

Jump up ^ Marifeli Perez-Stable, The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy (3rd  ed. 2011)

Jump up ^ Brown, The Rise and fall of Communism, pp 293-312

^ Jump up to: a b Magyar, Karl; Danopoulos, Constantine (2002) [1994]. Prolonged Wars: A Post Nuclear Challenge. Honolulu: University Press of the Pacific. pp. 260–271. ISBN 978-0898758344.

^ Jump up to: a b c Markakis, John; Waller, Michael (1986). Military Marxist Regimes in Africa. New York: Routledge Books. pp. 131–134. ISBN 978-0714632957.

Jump up ^ Johnson, Elliott; Walker, David; Gray, Daniel (2014). Historical Dictionary of Marxism. Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements (2nd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 294. ISBN 978-1-4422-3798-8.

Jump up ^ Ferreira, Manuel (2002).  Brauer, Jurgen; Dunne, J. Paul, eds. Arming the South: The Economics of Military Expenditure, Arms Production and Arms Trade in Developing Countries. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. pp. 251–255. ISBN 978-0-230-50125-6.

Jump up ^ Akongdit, Addis Ababa Othow (2013). Impact of Political Stability on Economic Development: Case of South Sudan. Bloomington: AuthorHouse Ltd, Publishers. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-1491876442.

Jump up ^ David Priestland (2009). The Red Flag: A History of Communism. Grove Press. pp. 497–99.

Jump up ^ Marandici, Ion, The Factors Leading to the Electoral Success, Consolidation and Decline of the Moldovan Communists' Party During the Transition Period (23 April 2010). Presented at the Midwestern Political Science Association Convention from April 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1809029

Jump up ^ People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC Archived 12 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine., Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014)

Jump up ^ Lunch with the Mugabes

Jump up ^ From Liberator to Tyrant: Recollections of Mugabe

tag: ol

text: Further reading[edit]

text:
Brown, Archie. The Rise & Fall of Communism. Vintage, London, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84595-067-5
Davin, Delia (2013). Mao: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP.
Pathak, Rakesh,  and Yvonne Berliner. Communism in Crisis 1976-89 (2012), textbook
Pipes, Richard. Communism: A History (2003)
Pons, Silvio and Robert Service, eds.  A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism (Princeton University Press, 2010). 944 pp. ISBN 978-0-691-13585-4 online review
Priestland, David. The Red Flag: A History of Communism (2010)
Service, Robert. Comrades: Communism: A World History (Pan MacMillan, 2008) 571 pages; ISBN 0-330-43968-5
Sandle, Mark. Communism (2nd ed. 2011), short introduction
Service, Robert. Lenin: A Biography (2000) excerpt and text search
Taubman, William. Khrushchev: The Man and His Era (2004) excerpt and text search
Tucker, Robert C. Stalin as Revolutionary, 1879-1929 (1973); Stalin in Power: The Revolution from Above, 1929-1941. (1990) online edition a standard biography; online at ACLS e-books

text: These

text: Primary sources[edit]

text: Daniels, Robert V., ed.  A Documentary History of Communism in Russia: From Lenin to Gorbachev (1993)


document_title: Board of education

question_text: what is the purpose of the board of education

root

text: Board of education

text:
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The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (August 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

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tag: table

text: A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level.

tag: p

text: The elected council helps determine educational policy in a small regional area, such as a city, county, state or province. It usually shares power with a larger institution, such as the government's department of education. The name of the board is also often used to refer to the school system under the board's control.

text: The government department that administered education in the United Kingdom before the foundation of the Ministry of Education was also called the Board of Education.

text: History[edit]

text: The American board of education traces its origins back to 1647 with the formation of the American public school system, the Massachusetts Bay Colony mandated that every town within its jurisdiction establish a public school. Committees sprang up to run the institutions, and in the 1820s the state of Massachusetts made the committees independent of local governments, establishing the model for the autonomous school districts that exist throughout the country today. The U.S. Constitution left authority over education in the hands of the states under the Tenth Amendment, which reserved to them all powers not explicitly given to the federal government, and the states passed that authority on to local school boards. For more than a century, local boards were solely responsible for public educations funding, standards, instruction, and results. At their height in the 1930s there were as many as 127,500 boards. Some sparsely populated states had more school board members than teachers. For much of their history, the boards presided over school systems serving agrarian and industrial economies.[1]


document_title: Bone

question_text: part of a bone that forms an angle with the main body of the bone

question_tokens: part of a bone that forms an angle with the main body of the bone

text: Bone

text: Structure[edit]

text: Bone is not uniformly solid, but includes a tough matrix. This matrix makes up about 30% of the bone and the other 70% is of salts that give strength to it. The matrix is made up of between 90 and 95% collagen fibers, and the remainder is ground substance.[3] The primary tissue of bone, bone tissue (osseous tissue), is relatively hard and lightweight. Its matrix is mostly made up of a composite material incorporating the inorganic mineral calcium phosphate in the chemical arrangement termed calcium hydroxylapatite (this is the bone mineral that gives bones their rigidity) and collagen, an elastic protein which improves fracture resistance.[4] The collagen of bone is known as ossein.[5] Bone is formed by the hardening of this matrix around entrapped cells. When these cells become entrapped from osteoblasts they become osteocytes.[citation needed]

text: Cortical bone[edit]

text: The hard outer layer of bones is composed of cortical bone also called compact bone being much denser than cancellous bone. It forms the hard exterior (cortex) of bones. The cortical bone gives bone its smooth, white, and solid appearance, and accounts for 80% of the total bone mass of an adult human skeleton.[citation needed] It facilitates bone's main functions: to support the whole body, protect organs, provide levers for movement, and store and release chemical elements, mainly calcium. It consists of multiple microscopic columns, each called an osteon. Each column is multiple layers of osteoblasts and osteocytes around a central canal called the haversian canal. Volkmann's canals at right angles connect the osteons together. The columns are metabolically active, and as bone is reabsorbed and created the nature and location of the cells within the osteon will change. Cortical bone is covered by a periosteum on its outer surface, and an endosteum on its inner surface. The endosteum is the boundary between the cortical bone and the cancellous bone.[6] The primary anatomical and functional unit of cortical bone is the osteon.

text: Cancellous bone[edit]

text: Cancellous bone also known as trabecular or spongy bone tissue [6] is the internal tissue of the skeletal bone and is an open cell porous network. Cancellous bone has a higher surface-area-to-volume ratio than cortical bone because it is less dense. This makes it softer, and weaker but more flexible. The greater surface area also makes it suitable for metabolic activities such as the exchange of calcium ions. Cancellous bone is typically found at the ends of long bones, near to joints and within the interior of vertebrae. Cancellous bone is highly vascular and frequently contains red bone marrow where haematopoiesis, the production of blood cells, occurs. The primary anatomical and functional unit of cancellous bone is the trabecula. The trabeculae are aligned towards the mechanical load distribution that a bone experiences within long bones such as the femur. As far as short bones are concerned, trabecular alignment has been studied in the vertebral pedicle.[7] Thin formations of osteoblasts covered in endosteum create an irregular network of spaces,[8] known as trabeculae. Within these spaces are bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells.[8] Trabecular marrow is composed of a network of rod- and plate-like elements that make the overall organ lighter and allow room for blood vessels and marrow. Trabecular bone accounts for the remaining 20% of total bone mass but has nearly ten times the surface area of compact bone.[9]

text: The words cancellous and trabecular refer to the tiny lattice-shaped units (trabeculae) that form the tissue. It was first illustrated accurately in the engravings of Crisóstomo Martinez.[10]

text: Bone marrow[edit]

text: Bone marrow, also known as myeloid tissue in red bone marrow, can be found in almost any bone that holds cancellous tissue. In newborns, all such bones are filled exclusively with red marrow or hematopoietic marrow, but as the child ages the hematopoietic fraction decreases in quantity and the fatty/ yellow fraction called marrow adipose tissue (MAT) increases in quantity. In adults, red marrow is mostly found in the bone marrow of the femur, the ribs, the vertebrae and pelvic bones.[11]

text: Bone tissue[edit]

text: Bone is a metabolically active tissue composed of several types of cells. These cells include osteoblasts, which are involved in the creation and mineralization of bone tissue, osteocytes, and osteoclasts, which are involved in the reabsorption of bone tissue. Osteoblasts and osteocytes are derived from osteoprogenitor cells, but osteoclasts are derived from the same cells that differentiate to form macrophages and monocytes.[12] Within the marrow of the bone there are also hematopoietic stem cells. These cells give rise to other cells, including white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.[13]

text: Osteoblast[edit]

text: Osteoblasts are mononucleate bone-forming cells. They are located on the surface of osteon seams and make a protein mixture known as osteoid, which mineralizes to become bone.[14] The osteoid seam is a narrow region of newly formed organic matrix, not yet mineralized, located on the surface of a bone. Osteoid is primarily composed of Type I collagen. Osteoblasts also manufacture hormones, such as prostaglandins, to act on the bone itself. The osteoblast creates and repairs new bone by actually building around itself. First, the osteoblast puts up collagen fibers. These collagen fibers are used as a framework for the osteoblasts' work. The osteoblast then deposits calcium phosphate which is hardened by hydroxide and bicarbonate ions. The brand new bone created by the osteoblast is called osteoid.[15] Once the osteoblast is finished working it is actually trapped inside of the bone once it hardens. When the osteoblast becomes trapped, it becomes known as an osteocyte.[16] Other osteoblasts remain on the top of the new bone and are used to protect the underlying bone, these become known as lining cells.

text: Osteocyte[edit]

text: Osteocytes are mostly inactive osteoblasts.[12] Osteocytes originate from osteoblasts that have migrated into and become trapped and surrounded by bone matrix that they themselves produced.[6] The spaces they occupy are known as lacunae. Osteocytes have many processes that reach out to meet osteoblasts and other osteocytes probably for the purposes of communication.[citation needed] Osteocytes remain in contact with other cells in the bone through gap junctions—coupled cell processes—which pass through small channels in the bone matrix called the canaliculi.

text: Osteoclast[edit]

text: Osteoclasts are very large multinucleate cells that are responsible for the breakdown of bones by the process of bone resorption. New bone is then formed by the osteoblasts. Bone is constantly remodelled by the resorption of osteoclasts and created by osteoblasts.[12] Osteoclasts are large cells with multiple nuclei located on bone surfaces in what are called Howship's lacunae (or resorption pits). These lacunae are the result of surrounding bone tissue that has been reabsorbed.[17] Because the osteoclasts are derived from a monocyte stem-cell lineage, they are equipped with phagocytic-like mechanisms similar to circulating macrophages.[12] Osteoclasts mature and/or migrate to discrete bone surfaces. Upon arrival, active enzymes, such as tartrate resistant acid phosphatase, are secreted against the mineral substrate.[citation needed] The reabsorption of bone by osteoclasts also plays a role in calcium homeostasis.[17]

text: Extracellular matrix[edit]

text: Bones consist of living cells embedded in a mineralized organic matrix. This matrix consists of organic components, mainly Type I collagen – "organic" referring to materials produced as a result of the human body – and inorganic components, primarily hydroxyapatite and other salts of calcium and phosphate. Above 30% of the acellular part of bone consists of the organic components, and 70% of salts.[18] The collagen fibers give bone its tensile strength, and the interspersed crystals of hydroxyapatite give bone its compressive strength. These effects are synergistic.[18]

text: The inorganic composition of bone (bone mineral) is primarily formed from salts of calcium and phosphate, the major salt being hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2).[18] The exact composition of the matrix may change over time and with nutrition, with the ratio of calcium to phosphate varying between 1.3 and 2.0 (per weight), and trace minerals such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and carbonate also being found.[18]

text: Type I collagen composes 90–95% of the organic matrix, with remainder of the matrix being a homogenous liquid called ground substance consisting of proteoglycans such as hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate ,[18] as well as non-collagenous proteins such as osteocalcin, osteopontin or bone sialoprotein . Collagen consists of strands of repeating units, which give bone tensile strength, and are arranged in an overlapping fashion that prevents shear stress. The function of ground substance is not fully known.[18] Two types of bone can be identified microscopically according to the arrangement of collagen: woven and lamellar.

text:
Woven bone, (also known as fibrous bone) which is characterized by a haphazard organization of collagen fibers and is mechanically weak[19]
Lamellar bone, which has a regular parallel alignment of collagen into sheets ("lamellae") and is mechanically strong[19]

text: Woven bone is produced when osteoblasts produce osteoid rapidly, which occurs initially in all fetal bones, but is later replaced by more resilient lamellar bone. In adults woven bone is created after fractures or in Paget's disease. Woven bone is weaker, with a smaller number of randomly oriented collagen fibers, but forms quickly; it is for this appearance of the fibrous matrix that the bone is termed woven. It is soon replaced by lamellar bone, which is highly organized in concentric sheets with a much lower proportion of osteocytes to surrounding tissue. Lamellar bone, which makes its first appearance in humans in the fetus during the third trimester,[20] is stronger and filled with many collagen fibers parallel to other fibers in the same layer (these parallel columns are called osteons). In cross-section, the fibers run in opposite directions in alternating layers, much like in plywood, assisting in the bone's ability to resist torsion forces. After a fracture, woven bone forms initially and is gradually replaced by lamellar bone during a process known as "bony substitution." Compared to woven bone, lamellar bone formation takes place more slowly. The orderly deposition of collagen fibers restricts the formation of osteoid to about 1 to 2 µm per day. Lamellar bone also requires a relatively flat surface to lay the collagen fibers in parallel or concentric layers.[citation needed]

text: Deposition[edit]

text: The extracellular matrix of bone is laid down by osteoblasts, which secrete both collagen and ground substance. These synthesise collagen within the cell, and then secrete collagen fibrils. The collagen fibres rapidly polymerise to form collagen strands. At this stage they are not yet mineralised, and are called "osteoid". Around the strands calcium and phosphate precipitate on the surface of these strands, within a days to weeks becoming crystals of hydroxyapatite.[18]

text: In order to mineralise the bone, the osteoblasts secrete vesicles containing alkaline phosphatase. This cleaves the phosphate groups and acts as the foci for calcium and phosphate deposition. The vesicles then rupture and act as a centre for crystals to grow on. More particularly, bone mineral is formed from globular and plate structures.[21][22]

text: Types[edit]

text: There are five types of bones in the human body: long, short, flat, irregular, and sesamoid.[23]

text:
Long bones are characterized by a shaft, the diaphysis, that is much longer than its width; and by an epiphysis, a rounded head at each end of the shaft. They are made up mostly of compact bone, with lesser amounts of marrow, located within the medullary cavity, and areas of spongy, cancellous bone at the ends of the bones.[24] Most bones of the limbs, including those of the fingers and toes, are long bones. The exceptions are the eight carpal bones of the wrist, the seven articulating tarsal bones of the ankle and the sesamoid bone of the kneecap. Long bones such as the clavicle, that have a differently shaped shaft or ends are also called modified long bones.
Short bones are roughly cube-shaped, and have only a thin layer of compact bone surrounding a spongy interior. The bones of the wrist and ankle are short bones.
Flat bones are thin and generally curved, with two parallel layers of compact bones sandwiching a layer of spongy bone. Most of the bones of the skull are flat bones, as is the sternum.[25]
Sesamoid bones are bones embedded in tendons. Since they act to hold the tendon further away from the joint, the angle of the tendon is increased and thus the leverage of the muscle is increased. Examples of sesamoid bones are the patella and the pisiform.[26]
Irregular bones do not fit into the above categories. They consist of thin layers of compact bone surrounding a spongy interior. As implied by the name, their shapes are irregular and complicated. Often this irregular shape is due to their many centers of ossification or because they contain bony sinuses. The bones of the spine, pelvis, and some bones of the skull are irregular bones. Examples include the ethmoid and sphenoid bones.[27]

text: Terminology[edit]

text: In the study of anatomy, anatomists use a number of anatomical terms to describe the appearance, shape and function of bones. Other anatomical terms are also used to describe the location of bones. Like other anatomical terms, many of these derive from Latin and Greek. Some anatomists still use Latin to refer to bones. The term "osseous", and the prefix "osteo-", referring to things related to bone, are still used commonly today.

text: Some examples of terms used to describe bones include the term "foramen" to describe a hole through which something passes, and a "canal" or "meatus" to describe a tunnel-like structure. A protrusion from a bone can be called a number of terms, including a "condyle", "crest", "spine", "eminence", "tubercle" or "tuberosity", depending on the protrusion's shape and location. In general, long bones are said to have a "head", "neck", and "body".

text: When two bones join together, they are said to "articulate". If the two bones have a fibrous connection and are relatively immobile, then the joint is called a "suture".

text: Development[edit]

text: The formation of bone is called ossification. During the fetal stage of development this occurs by two processes: intramembranous ossification and endochondral ossification.[citation needed] Intramembranous ossification involves the formation of bone from connective tissue whereas endochondral ossification involves the formation of bone from cartilage.

text: Intramembranous ossification mainly occurs during formation of the flat bones of the skull but also the mandible, maxilla, and clavicles; the bone is formed from connective tissue such as mesenchyme tissue rather than from cartilage. The process includes: the development of the ossification center, calcification, trabeculae formation and the development of the periosteum.[citation needed]

text: Endochondral ossification occurs in long bones and most other bones in the body; it involves the development of bone from cartilage. This process includes the development of a cartilage model, its growth and development, development of the primary and secondary ossification centers, and the formation of articular cartilage and the epiphyseal plates.[citation needed]

text: Endochondral ossification begins with points in the cartilage called "primary ossification centers." They mostly appear during fetal development, though a few short bones begin their primary ossification after birth. They are responsible for the formation of the diaphyses of long bones, short bones and certain parts of irregular bones. Secondary ossification occurs after birth, and forms the epiphyses of long bones and the extremities of irregular and flat bones. The diaphysis and both epiphyses of a long bone are separated by a growing zone of cartilage (the epiphyseal plate). At skeletal maturity (18 to 25 years of age), all of the cartilage is replaced by bone, fusing the diaphysis and both epiphyses together (epiphyseal closure).[citation needed] In the upper limbs, only the diaphyses of the long bones and scapula are ossified. The epiphyses, carpal bones, coracoid process, medial border of the scapula, and acromion are still cartilaginous.[28]

text: The following steps are followed in the conversion of cartilage to bone:

text:
Zone of reserve cartilage. This region, farthest from the marrow cavity, consists of typical hyaline cartilage that as yet shows no sign of transforming into bone.[29]
Zone of cell proliferation. A little closer to the marrow cavity, chondrocytes multiply and arrange themselves into longitudinal columns of flattened lacunae.[29]
Zone of cell hypertrophy. Next, the chondrocytes cease to divide and begin to hypertrophy (enlarge), much like they do in the primary ossification center of the fetus. The walls of the matrix between lacunae become very thin.[29]
Zone of calcification. Minerals are deposited in the matrix between the columns of lacunae and calcify the cartilage. These are not the permanent mineral deposits of bone, but only a temporary support for the cartilage that would otherwise soon be weakened by the breakdown of the enlarged lacunae.[29]
Zone of bone deposition. Within each column, the walls between the lacunae break down and the chondrocytes die. This converts each column into a longitudinal channel, which is immediately invaded by blood vessels and marrow from the marrow cavity. Osteoblasts line up along the walls of these channels and begin depositing concentric lamellae of matrix, while osteoclasts dissolve the temporarily calcified cartilage.[29]

text: Function[edit]

text:
Functions of Bone

Mechanical

Protection
Gives structure
Facilitates movement
Facilitates hearing

Synthetic

Contains bone marrow

Metabolic

Stores calcium
Helps regulate the acid-base balance

text: Bones have a variety of functions:

text: Mechanical[edit]

text: Bones serve a variety of mechanical functions. Together the bones in the body form the skeleton. They provide a frame to keep the body supported, and an attachment point for skeletal muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints, which function together to generate and transfer forces so that individual body parts or the whole body can be manipulated in three-dimensional space (the interaction between bone and muscle is studied in biomechanics).

text: Bones protect internal organs, such as the skull protecting the brain or the ribs protecting the heart and lungs. Because of the way that bone is formed, bone has a high compressive strength of about 170 MPa (1800 kgf/cm²),[4] poor tensile strength of 104–121 MPa, and a very low shear stress strength (51.6 MPa).[30][31] This means that bone resists pushing(compressional) stress well, resist pulling(tensional) stress less well, but only poorly resists shear stress (such as due to torsional loads). While bone is essentially brittle, bone does have a significant degree of elasticity, contributed chiefly by collagen. The macroscopic yield strength of cancellous bone has been investigated using high resolution computer models.[32]

text: Mechanically, bones also have a special role in hearing. The ossicles are three small bones in the middle ear which are involved in sound transduction.

text: Synthetic[edit]

text: The cancellous part of bones contain bone marrow. Bone marrow produces blood cells in a process called hematopoiesis.[33] Blood cells that are created in bone marrow include red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells.[34] Progenitor cells such as the hematopoietic stem cell divide in a process called mitosis to produce precursor cells. These include precursors which eventually give rise to white blood cells, and erythroblasts which give rise to red blood cells.[35] Unlike red and white blood cells, created by mitosis, platelets are shed from very large cells called megakaryocytes.[36] This process of progressive differentiation occurs within the bone marrow. After the cells are matured, they enter the circulation.[37] Every day, over 2.5 billion red blood cells and platelets, and 50–100 billion granulocytes are produced in this way.[13]

text: As well as creating cells, bone marrow is also one of the major sites where defective or aged red blood cells are destroyed.[13]

text: Metabolic[edit]

text: Mineral storage — bones act as reserves of minerals important for the body, most notably calcium and phosphorus.[38][citation needed][39]

text: °Determined by the species, age, and the type of bone, bone cells make up to 15 percent of the bone. Growth factor storage — mineralized bone matrix stores important growth factors such as insulin-like growth factors, transforming growth factor, bone morphogenetic proteins and others.[citation needed]

text:
Fat storage —marrow adipose tissue (MAT) acts as a storage reserve of fatty acids.[40]
Acid-base balance — bone buffers the blood against excessive pH changes by absorbing or releasing alkaline salts.[citation needed]
Detoxification — bone tissues can also store heavy metals and other foreign elements, removing them from the blood and reducing their effects on other tissues. These can later be gradually released for excretion.[citation needed]
Endocrine organ — bone controls phosphate metabolism by releasing fibroblast growth factor – 23 (FGF-23), which acts on kidneys to reduce phosphate reabsorption. Bone cells also release a hormone called osteocalcin, which contributes to the regulation of blood sugar (glucose) and fat deposition. Osteocalcin increases both the insulin secretion and sensitivity, in addition to boosting the number of insulin-producing cells and reducing stores of fat.[41]
Calcium balance—The process of bone resorption by the osteoclasts releases stored calcium into the systemic circulation and is an important process in regulating calcium balance. As bone formation actively fixes circulating calcium in its mineral form, removing it from the bloodstream, resorption actively unfixes it thereby increasing circulating calcium levels. These processes occur in tandem at site-specific locations.[citation needed]

text: Remodeling[edit]

text: Bone is constantly being created and replaced in a process known as remodeling. This ongoing turnover of bone is a process of resorption followed by replacement of bone with little change in shape. This is accomplished through osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Cells are stimulated by a variety of signals, and together referred to as a remodeling unit. Approximately 10% of the skeletal mass of an adult is remodelled each year.[42] The purpose of remodeling is to regulate calcium homeostasis, repair microdamaged bones from everyday stress, and to shape the skeleton during growth.[citation needed]. Repeated stress, such as weight-bearing exercise or bone healing, results in the bone thickening at the points of maximum stress (Wolff's law). It has been hypothesized that this is a result of bone's piezoelectric properties, which cause bone to generate small electrical potentials under stress.[43]

text: The action of osteoblasts and osteoclasts are controlled by a number of chemical enzymes that either promote or inhibit the activity of the bone remodeling cells, controlling the rate at which bone is made, destroyed, or changed in shape. The cells also use paracrine signalling to control the activity of each other.[citation needed] For example, the rate at which osteoclasts resorb bone is inhibited by calcitonin and osteoprotegerin. Calcitonin is produced by parafollicular cells in the thyroid gland, and can bind to receptors on osteoclasts to directly inhibit osteoclast activity. Osteoprotegerin is secreted by osteoblasts and is able to bind RANK-L, inhibiting osteoclast stimulation.[44]

text: Osteoblasts can also be stimulated to increase bone mass through increased secretion of osteoid and by inhibiting the ability of osteoclasts to break down osseous tissue.[citation needed] Increased secretion of osteoid is stimulated by the secretion of growth hormone by the pituitary, thyroid hormone and the sex hormones (estrogens and androgens). These hormones also promote increased secretion of osteoprotegerin.[44] Osteoblasts can also be induced to secrete a number of cytokines that promote reabsorbtion of bone by stimulating osteoclast activity and differentiation from progenitor cells. Vitamin D, parathyroid hormone and stimulation from osteocytes induce osteoblasts to increase secretion of RANK-ligand and interleukin 6, which cytokines then stimulate increased reabsorption of bone by osteoclasts. These same compounds also increase secretion of macrophage colony-stimulating factor by osteoblasts, which promotes the differentiation of progenitor cells into osteoclasts, and decrease secretion of osteoprotegerin.[citation needed]

text: Bone volume[edit]

text: Bone volume is determined by the rates of bone formation and bone resorption. Recent research has suggested that certain growth factors may work to locally alter bone formation by increasing osteoblast activity. Numerous bone-derived growth factors have been isolated and classified via bone cultures. These factors include insulin-like growth factors I and II, transforming growth factor-beta, fibroblast growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and bone morphogenetic proteins.[45] Evidence suggests that bone cells produce growth factors for extracellular storage in the bone matrix. The release of these growth factors from the bone matrix could cause the proliferation of osteoblast precursors. Essentially, bone growth factors may act as potential determinants of local bone formation.[45] Research has suggested that cancellous bone volume in postemenopausal osteoporosis may be determined by the relationship between the total bone forming surface and the percent of surface resorption.[46]

text: Clinical significance[edit]

text: A number of diseases can affect bone, including arthritis, fractures, infections, osteoporosis and tumours. Conditions relating to bone can be managed by a variety of doctors, including rheumatologists for joints, and orthopedic surgeons, who may conduct surgery to fix broken bones. Other doctors, such as rehabilitation specialists may be involved in recovery, radiologists in interpreting the findings on imaging, and pathologists in investigating the cause of the disease, and family doctors may play a role in preventing complications of bone disease such as osteoporosis.

text: When a doctor sees a patient, a history and exam will be taken. Bones are then often imaged, called radiography. This might include ultrasound X-ray, CT scan, MRI scan and other imaging such as a Bone scan, which may be used to investigate cancer.[47] Other tests such as a blood test for autoimmune markers may be taken, or a synovial fluid aspirate may be taken.[47]

text: Fractures[edit]

text: In normal bone, fractures occur when there is significant force applied, or repetitive trauma over a long time. Fractures can also occur when a bone is weakened, such as with osteoporosis, or when there is a structural problem, such as when the bone remodels excessively (such as Paget's disease) or is the site of the growth of cancer.[48] Common fractures include wrist fractures and hip fractures, associated with osteoporosis, vertebral fractures associated with high-energy trauma and cancer, and fractures of long-bones. Not all fractures are painful.[48] When serious, depending on the fractures type and location, complications may include flail chest, compartment syndromes or fat embolism. Compound fractures involve the bone's penetration through the skin. Some complex fractures can be treated by the use of bone grafting procedures that replace missing bone portions.

text: Fractures and their underlying causes can be investigated by X-rays, CT scans and MRIs.[48] Fractures are described by their location and shape, and several classification systems exist, depending on the location of the fracture. A common long bone fracture in children is a Salter–Harris fracture.[49] When fractures are managed, pain relief is often given, and the fractured area is often immobilised. This is to promote bone healing. In addition, surgical measures such as internal fixation may be used. Because of the immobilisation, people with fractures are often advised to undergo rehabilitation.[48]

text: Tumors[edit]

text: There are several types of tumour that can affect bone; examples of benign bone tumours include osteoma, osteoid osteoma, osteochondroma, osteoblastoma, enchondroma, giant cell tumor of bone, and aneurysmal bone cyst.[50]

text: Cancer[edit]

text: Cancer can arise in bone tissue, and bones are also a common site for other cancers to spread (metastasise) to.[51] Cancers that arise in bone are called "primary" cancers, although such cancers are rare.[51] Metastases within bone are "secondary" cancers, with the most common being breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, and kidney cancer.[51] Secondary cancers that affect bone can either destroy bone (called a "lytic" cancer) or create bone (a "sclerotic" cancer). Cancers of the bone marrow inside the bone can also affect bone tissue, examples including leukemia and multiple myeloma. Bone may also be affected by cancers in other parts of the body. Cancers in other parts of the body may release parathyroid hormone or parathyroid hormone-related peptide. This increases bone reabsorption, and can lead to bone fractures.

text: Bone tissue that is destroyed or altered as a result of cancers is distorted, weakened, and more prone to fracture. This may lead to compression of the spinal cord, destruction of the marrow resulting in bruising, bleeding and immunosuppression, and is one cause of bone pain. If the cancer is metastatic, then there might be other symptoms depending on the site of the original cancer. Some bone cancers can also be felt.

text: Cancers of the bone are managed according to their type, their stage, prognosis, and what symptoms they cause. Many primary cancers of bone are treated with radiotherapy. Cancers of bone marrow may be treated with chemotherapy, and other forms of targeted therapy such as immunotherapy may be used.[52] Palliative care, which focuses on maximising a person's quality of life, may play a role in management, particularly if the likelihood of survival within five years is poor.

text: Painful conditions[edit]

text:
Osteomyelitis is inflammation of the bone or bone marrow due to bacterial infection.
Osteogenesis imperfecta
Osteochondritis dissecans
Arthritis
Ankylosing spondylitis
Skeletal fluorosis is a bone disease caused by an excessive accumulation of fluoride in the bones. In advanced cases, skeletal fluorosis damages bones and joints and is painful.

text: Osteoporosis[edit]

text: Osteoporosis is a disease of bone where there is reduced bone mineral density, increasing the likelihood of fractures.[53] Osteoporosis is defined in women by the World Health Organization as a bone mineral density of 2.5 standard deviations below peak bone mass, relative to the age and sex-matched average. This density is measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), with the term "established osteoporosis" including the presence of a fragility fracture.[54] Osteoporosis is most common in women after menopause, when it is called "postmenopausal osteoporosis", but may develop in men and premenopausal women in the presence of particular hormonal disorders and other chronic diseases or as a result of smoking and medications, specifically glucocorticoids.[53] Osteoporosis usually has no symptoms until a fracture occurs.[53] For this reason, DEXA scans are often done in people with one or more risk factors, who have developed osteoporosis and be at risk of fracture.[53]

text: Osteoporosis treatment includes advice to stop smoking, decrease alcohol consumption, exercise regularly, and have a healthy diet. Calcium supplements may also be advised, as may Vitamin D. When medication is used, it may include bisphosphonates, Strontium ranelate, and hormone replacement therapy.[55]

text: Osteopathy[edit]

text: Osteopathic medicine is a school of medical thought originally developed based on the idea of the link between the musculoskeletal system and overall health, but now very similar to mainstream medicine. As of 2012[update], over 77,000 physicians in the United States are trained in Osteopathic medicine colleges.[56]

text: Osteology[edit]

text: The study of bones and teeth is referred to as osteology. It is frequently used in anthropology, archeology and forensic science for a variety of tasks. This can include determining the nutritional, health, age or injury status of the individual the bones were taken from. Preparing fleshed bones for these types of studies can involve the process of maceration.

text: Typically anthropologists and archeologists study bone tools made by Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. Bones can serve a number of uses such as projectile points or artistic pigments, and can also be made from external bones such as antlers.

text: Other animals[edit]

text: Bird skeletons are very lightweight. Their bones are smaller and thinner, to aid flight. Among mammals, bats come closest to birds in terms of bone density, suggesting that small dense bones are a flight adaptation. Many bird bones have little marrow due to their being hollow.[57]

text: A bird's beak is primarily made of bone as projections of the mandibles which are covered in keratin.

text: A deer's antlers are composed of bone which is an unusual example of bone being outside the skin of the animal once the velvet is shed.[58]

text: The extinct predatory fish Dunkleosteus had sharp edges of hard exposed bone along its jaws.[citation needed]

text: Many animals possess an exoskeleton that is not made of bone. These include insects and crustaceans.

text: The proportion of cortical bone that is 80% in the human skeleton may be much lower in other animals, especially in marine mammals and marine turtles, or in various Mesozoic marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs,[59] among others.[60]

text: Many animals particularly herbivores practice osteophagy – the eating of bones. This is presumably carried out in order to replenish lacking phosphate.

text: Many bone diseases that affect humans also affect other vertebrates – an example of one disorder is skeletal flurosis.

text: Society and culture[edit]

text: Bones from slaughtered animals have a number of uses. In prehistoric times, they have been used for making bone tools.[citation needed] They have further been used in bone carving, already important in prehistoric art, and also in modern time as crafting materials for buttons, beads, handles, bobbins, calculation aids, head nuts, dice, poker chips, pick-up sticks, ornaments, etc. A special genre is scrimshaw.[citation needed]

text: Bone glue can be made by prolonged boiling of ground or cracked bones, followed by filtering and evaporation to thicken the resulting fluid. Historically once important, bone glue and other animal glues today have only a few specialized uses, such as in antiques restoration. Essentially the same process, with further refinement, thickening and drying, is used to make gelatin.

text: Broth is made by simmering several ingredients for a long time, traditionally including bones.

text: Ground bones are used as an organic phosphorus-nitrogen fertilizer and as additive in animal feed. Bones, in particular after calcination to bone ash, are used as source of calcium phosphate for the production of bone china and previously also phosphorus chemicals.[citation needed]

text: Bone char, a porous, black, granular material primarily used for filtration and also as a black pigment, is produced by charring mammal bones.

text: Oracle bone script was a writing system used in Ancient china based on inscriptions in bones.

text: To point the bone at someone is considered bad luck in some cultures, such as Australian aborigines, such as by the Kurdaitcha.

text: The wishbones of fowl have been used for divination, and are still customarily used in a tradition to determine which one of two people pulling on either prong of the bone may make a wish.

text: Various cultures throughout history have adopted the custom of shaping an infant's head by the practice of artificial cranial deformation. A widely practised custom in China was that of foot binding to limit the normal growth of the foot.