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Criticism of the idea of private property continued into the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, through such thinkers as Jean Jacques Rousseau in France. Later, following the upheaval of the French Revolution, communism emerged as a political doctrine.[6] Gracchus Babeuf, in particular, espoused the goals of common ownership of land and total economic and political equality among citizens.
 
Criticism of the idea of private property continued into the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, through such thinkers as Jean Jacques Rousseau in France. Later, following the upheaval of the French Revolution, communism emerged as a political doctrine.[6] Gracchus Babeuf, in particular, espoused the goals of common ownership of land and total economic and political equality among citizens.
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During the early development of the political Left in the first decades of 19th century, the germs of communism – together with those of socialism, Christian utopianism, anarchism, trade-unionism and feminism – differentiated and were theoretically examined. The term "communism" was probably coined by the French utopist Étienne Cabet for his communitarian [[social movement]] in 1839. In the following year 1840 the British leftist John Goodwyn Barmby used this word for Babeuf's teachings. Also the word "socialism" came in use about 1840 and both words were largely interchangeable in this time; the difference between the two terms was rather regional and cultural: In continental Europe "communism" was thought to be more [[radical]] and [[atheist]] than socialist while British atheists preferred the word "socialism".[7]
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During the early development of the political Left in the first decades of 19th century, the germs of communism – together with those of [[socialism]], Christian utopianism, anarchism, trade-unionism and feminism – differentiated and were theoretically examined. The term "communism" was probably coined by the French utopist Étienne Cabet for his communitarian [[social movement]] in 1839. In the following year 1840 the British leftist John Goodwyn Barmby used this word for Babeuf's teachings. Also the word "socialism" came in use about 1840 and both words were largely interchangeable in this time; the difference between the two terms was rather regional and cultural: In continental Europe "communism" was thought to be more [[radical]] and [[atheist]] than socialist while British atheists preferred the word "[[socialism]]".[7]
    
The Left, rather undifferentiated in the time, concentrated in the most industrialized European countries. In France with its revolutionary [[tradition]] lived for example [[Henri de Saint-Simon]], whose circle coined the term "exploitation of man by man"; [[Charles Fourier]], the inventor of the word "feminism" and a propagator of communist communities; Louis Auguste Blanqui, [[author]] of the term "dictatorship of the proletariat", who spent most of his life in prisons for his revolutionary actions. France saw also activities of fathers of anarchism [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]], who asserted that "Property is theft!", and the Russian nobleman  
 
The Left, rather undifferentiated in the time, concentrated in the most industrialized European countries. In France with its revolutionary [[tradition]] lived for example [[Henri de Saint-Simon]], whose circle coined the term "exploitation of man by man"; [[Charles Fourier]], the inventor of the word "feminism" and a propagator of communist communities; Louis Auguste Blanqui, [[author]] of the term "dictatorship of the proletariat", who spent most of his life in prisons for his revolutionary actions. France saw also activities of fathers of anarchism [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]], who asserted that "Property is theft!", and the Russian nobleman  
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<blockquote>"In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic."[13]</blockquote>
 
<blockquote>"In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic."[13]</blockquote>
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In the late 19th century, the terms "socialism" and "communism" were often used interchangeably. However, Marx and Engels argued that communism would not emerge from [[capitalism]] in a fully developed [[state]], but would pass through a lower [[phase]] in which productive property was owned in common but people would be allowed to take from the social wealth only to the extent of their contribution to the production of that wealth. The "lower phase" would eventually evolve into a "higher phase" in which the antithesis between mental and physical labor has disappeared, people enjoy their work, and goods are produced in abundance, allowing people to freely take according to their needs. Lenin frequently used the term "socialism" to refer to Marx and Engels' "lower phase" of communism and used the term "communism" interchangeably with Marx and Engels' "higher phase" of communism.
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In the late 19th century, the terms "[[socialism]]" and "communism" were often used interchangeably. However, Marx and Engels argued that communism would not emerge from [[capitalism]] in a fully developed [[state]], but would pass through a lower [[phase]] in which productive property was owned in common but people would be allowed to take from the social wealth only to the extent of their contribution to the production of that wealth. The "lower phase" would eventually evolve into a "higher phase" in which the antithesis between mental and physical labor has disappeared, people enjoy their work, and goods are produced in abundance, allowing people to freely take according to their needs. Lenin frequently used the term "socialism" to refer to Marx and Engels' "lower phase" of communism and used the term "communism" interchangeably with Marx and Engels' "higher phase" of communism.
 
===First international organizations===
 
===First international organizations===
 
The first Marxist international organization was the Communist League. It was founded originally as the League of the Just by German workers in Paris in 1836. This was initially a utopian socialist and Christian communist grouping devoted to the [[ideas]] of [[Gracchus Babeuf]]. The League of the Just participated in the Blanquist uprising of May 1839 in Paris[14]. Hereafter expelled from France, the League of the Just moved to London where by 1847 numbered about 1,000. Wilhelm Weitling's 1842 book, Guarantees of [[Harmony]] and Freedom, which criticized [[private]] property and bourgeois society, was one of the bases of its social theory. The Communist League was created in London in June 1847 out of a merger of the League of the Just and of the fifteen-man Communist Correspondence Committee of Bruxelles, headed by Karl Marx[15]. The birth conference was attended by Friedrich Engels, who convinced the League to change its motto from All men are brethren[16] to Karl Marx's phrase, Working men of all countries, unite!. The Communist League held a second congress, also in London, in November and December 1847. Both Marx and Engels attended, and they were mandated to draw up a manifesto for the organisation. This became The Communist Manifesto. The League was ended formally in 1852.
 
The first Marxist international organization was the Communist League. It was founded originally as the League of the Just by German workers in Paris in 1836. This was initially a utopian socialist and Christian communist grouping devoted to the [[ideas]] of [[Gracchus Babeuf]]. The League of the Just participated in the Blanquist uprising of May 1839 in Paris[14]. Hereafter expelled from France, the League of the Just moved to London where by 1847 numbered about 1,000. Wilhelm Weitling's 1842 book, Guarantees of [[Harmony]] and Freedom, which criticized [[private]] property and bourgeois society, was one of the bases of its social theory. The Communist League was created in London in June 1847 out of a merger of the League of the Just and of the fifteen-man Communist Correspondence Committee of Bruxelles, headed by Karl Marx[15]. The birth conference was attended by Friedrich Engels, who convinced the League to change its motto from All men are brethren[16] to Karl Marx's phrase, Working men of all countries, unite!. The Communist League held a second congress, also in London, in November and December 1847. Both Marx and Engels attended, and they were mandated to draw up a manifesto for the organisation. This became The Communist Manifesto. The League was ended formally in 1852.
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In 1864 in a workmen's meeting held in Saint Martin's Hall, London there was founded the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), better known as the First International. It was an international socialist organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing [[political]] groups and trade union organizations that were based on the working class and class struggle. At its founding, it was an alliance of [[people]] from diverse groups, besides Marxists it included French Mutualists, Blanquists, English Owenites, Italian republicans, such American proponents of individualist anarchism as Stephen Pearl Andrews and William B. Greene, followers of Mazzini, and other socialists of various persuasions. Due to the wide variety of philosophies present in the First International, there was conflict from the start. The first objections to Marx's came from the Mutualists who opposed communism and statism. However, shortly after [[Mikhail Bakunin]] and his followers (called Collectivists while in the International) joined in 1868, the First International became polarised into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective figureheads. Perhaps the clearest differences between the groups emerged over their proposed strategies for achieving their [[vision]]s of socialism. The anarchists grouped around Bakunin favoured (in Kropotkin's [[words]]) "direct economical struggle against capitalism, without interfering in the political parliamentary agitation." Marxist thinking, at that time, [[focus]]ed on parliamentary activity. For example, when the new German Empire of 1871 introduced manhood suffrage, many German socialists became active in the Marxist Social Democratic Party of Germany.
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In 1864 in a workmen's meeting held in Saint Martin's Hall, London there was founded the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), better known as the First International. It was an international socialist organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing [[political]] groups and trade union organizations that were based on the working class and class struggle. At its founding, it was an alliance of [[people]] from diverse groups, besides Marxists it included French Mutualists, Blanquists, English Owenites, Italian republicans, such American proponents of individualist anarchism as Stephen Pearl Andrews and William B. Greene, followers of Mazzini, and other socialists of various persuasions. Due to the wide variety of philosophies present in the First International, there was conflict from the start. The first objections to Marx's came from the Mutualists who opposed communism and statism. However, shortly after [[Mikhail Bakunin]] and his followers (called Collectivists while in the International) joined in 1868, the First International became polarised into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective figureheads. Perhaps the clearest differences between the groups emerged over their proposed strategies for achieving their [[vision]]s of [[socialism]]. The anarchists grouped around Bakunin favoured (in Kropotkin's [[words]]) "direct economical struggle against capitalism, without interfering in the political parliamentary agitation." Marxist thinking, at that time, [[focus]]ed on parliamentary activity. For example, when the new German Empire of 1871 introduced manhood suffrage, many German socialists became active in the Marxist Social Democratic Party of Germany.
    
In 1872, the conflict in the First International climaxed with a final split between the two groups at the Hague Congress. This clash is often cited as the origin of the long-running conflict between anarchists and Marxists. From then on, the Marxist and anarchist currents of socialism had distinct organisations, at various points including rival 'internationals'. In 1872, the organization was relocated to [[New York City]]. The First International disbanded four years later, at the 1876 Philadelphia conference.
 
In 1872, the conflict in the First International climaxed with a final split between the two groups at the Hague Congress. This clash is often cited as the origin of the long-running conflict between anarchists and Marxists. From then on, the Marxist and anarchist currents of socialism had distinct organisations, at various points including rival 'internationals'. In 1872, the organization was relocated to [[New York City]]. The First International disbanded four years later, at the 1876 Philadelphia conference.

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