Akademik

   In the wake of Vladimir Lenin’s departure from active politics, the term “Marxism-Leninism” came to describe the ideological orientation of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the Soviet state. The ideology combines social and economic aspects of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel’s theories put forth in The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, combined with the political and revolutionary prescriptions of Lenin (particularly in his works What Is to Be Done?; Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism; and The April Theses). Marxism-Leninism remains a popular ideology among certain Russians in the post-Soviet period, particularly members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) and other leftist political parties. The ideology, in an adapted form, also serves as the governing force in Vietnam, North Korea, and the People’s Republic of China.