Social:Crypto-communism

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Short description: Secret support or admiration for communism

Crypto-communism (or cryptocommunism) is a secret support for, or admiration of, communism. Individuals and groups have been labelled as crypto-communists, often as a result of being associated with, or influenced by communists.[1] Crypto-communism among political leaders aided the sovietization of the Baltic states.[2]

Historical use of the term

In 1947, Winston Churchill described a crypto-communist as, "one who has not the moral courage to explain the destination for which he is making".[3] In 1949, shortly before his death, George Orwell compiled a list for the Information Research Department of the British Foreign Office of thirty-eight journalists and writers who in his opinion were crypto-communists or fellow travellers.[4][5][6]

In 1960, Bruce Hutchison described what he viewed as a crypto-communist threat from the left wing of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan under Nobusuke Kishi.[7] In West Germany, some accused the Social Democratic Party under the leadership of Willy Brandt of being a crypto-communist front.[8]

The Black Book of Communism referred to some individuals as crypto-communist, namely Damyan Velchev and Ludvík Svoboda.[9]

See also

References

  1. The Palgrave Handbook of Anti-Communist Persecutions. Springer International Publishing. 2020. p. 9. ISBN 9783030549633. https://books.google.com/books?id=q2cNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9. 
  2. Shtromas, Alexander (2003). Totalitarianism and the Prospects for World Order, Closing the Door on the Twentieth Century. Lexington Books. pp. 257–258. ISBN 9780739105344. https://books.google.com/books?id=fTt6lJOEEFcC&pg=PA257. 
  3. "Crypto-Communist Charges By Mr. Churchill". The Sydney Morning Herald: p. 3. 19 April 1947. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18022262. 
  4. Garton Ash, Timothy (25 September 2003). "Orwell's List". The New York Review of Books. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2003/09/25/orwells-list/. 
  5. Celia Kirwan (21 June 2003). "Blair's babe, Did love turn Orwell into a government stooge?". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jun/21/books.artsandhumanities. 
  6. Defty, Andrew (2004-03-01) (in en). Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda 1945-53: The Information Research Department. Routledge. pp. 3. ISBN 978-1-135-76014-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=r46RAgAAQBAJ. 
  7. Hutchinson, Bruce (27 February 1960). "Can we keep the Japanese on our side?". Maclean's. https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1960/2/27/can-we-keep-the-japanese-on-our-side. 
  8. Times, Craig R. Whitney; Special to The New York (1974-03-10). "A Postage Stamp Raises West German Tempers" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/10/archives/a-postage-stamp-raises-west-german-tempers-a-communist-executed-in.html. 
  9. Albert, G. Peter; Courtois, Stéphane; Werth, Nicolas; Paczkowski, Andrzej; Panne, Jean-Louis; Bartosek, Karel; Margolin, Jean-Louis (1999) (in en). The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Harvard University Press. pp. 398. ISBN 978-0-674-07608-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC.