People of the Revolution and the USSR

Benin state institutions Marxism and communism 1933–2015

Benin’s people’s republic and transition

Asked in 2005 to change the constitution for a third term, he answered, "If you don't leave power, power will leave you."

Beninese leader who took power in the 1972 coup. He declared Marxism-Leninism in 1974 and established a people’s republic the following year. Amid economic crisis he accepted the 1990 National Conference’s transition and transferred power after losing to Soglo in 1991.

Hungary state institutions Communism 1933–2016 ○ Died

The reformist Politburo member who called 1956 a 'popular uprising' and dismantled his own party's orthodoxy

In West Berlin he said the East German 'anti-fascist protective rampart' was a 'disgrace' that had to come down.

A reformist member of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) Politburo and the ideological patron of the reformers. On 28 January 1989 he told radio listeners that the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was a 'popular uprising,' demolishing the party's foundational lie; in May that year, in West Berlin, he called the Berlin Wall a 'disgrace.' Together with Otto von Habsburg he sponsored the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989, opening the first crack in the Iron Curtain, and later stood as the Socialist Party's presidential candidate but was defeated.

Marxism and communism 1934–

Cambodian reconstruction after 1979

At the December 1978 Kratie congress he proclaimed the overthrow of the Pol Pot regime and an independence moving toward socialism, and was elected president of the National Salvation Front.

A Cambodian leader who broke with the Khmer Rouge and cooperated with Vietnam. He led the People’s Republic of Kampuchea after the 1979 regime change. Reconstruction combined state, cooperative and household activity while war and international disputes over representation continued.

People’s Republic of Kampuchea state institutions Communism 1936–2016

First prime minister of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party

Removed and arrested on 2 December 1981, he formally held the posts of prime minister and party general secretary until 5 December, when Heng Samrin became general secretary and Chan Sy acting prime minister.

A Cambodian politician who broke with the Khmer Rouge and cooperated with Vietnam. One of the founding leaders of the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation in 1978, he led the building of party and administrative structures as the People's Revolutionary Party's general secretary after the 1979 regime change. He became prime minister in June 1981 but was removed and arrested under Vietnamese pressure that December and was held until 1992.

Madagascar state institutions Communism 1936–2021

Madagascar’s socialist charter

“The socialist revolution is the only choice possible for us in order to achieve rapid economic and cultural development in an autonomous, humane, and harmonious manner.”

Madagascar’s leader from 1975. His socialist charter and Second Republic promoted nationalization, planned investment and economic decolonization. Debt and weak production led to market-oriented adjustments in the 1980s amid political opposition.

South Yemen state institutions Communism 1937–1986 ✕ Shot dead

Vice president who twice remade the leadership, killed by a comrade's guards

On the morning before the meeting, he told Lebanese Communist leader George Hawi, "Today we intend to make specific proposals, and if Ali Nasir rejects them, I'll pull out my gun and shoot myself."

A guerrilla of the National Liberation Front who became a soldier and politician, serving as minister of defense and vice president of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. He reorganized the army along Soviet lines and led the 1978 ouster of Salim Rubai Ali and the 1980 removal of Abd al-Fattah Ismail, reaching the core of power. He later opposed Ali Nasir Muhammad's economic liberalization and became a center of the opposition until, shot dead by presidential guards at the Politburo meeting of January 13, 1986, his killing prompted the officer corps to desert the president and ignited the South Yemen civil war.

East Germany state institutions Communism 1937–

The last communist leader of East Germany, who succeeded Honecker, opened the Wall, and fell in 50 days

On 9 November 1989, Krenz read the travel regulation draft to the Central Committee, handed the note to Schabowski saying "Here, explain this to the journalists," and hours later the Berlin Wall was open.

Designated as Erich Honecker's successor, Egon Krenz was the last communist leader of East Germany, becoming SED General Secretary after Honecker was ousted in October 1989. Just three weeks into his tenure, he approved the draft travel regulations, read them to the Central Committee on 9 November, and handed the note to Günter Schabowski for announcement at a press conference; that night the Berlin Wall was opened. He promised reforms but never gained public trust, and resigned all his posts by early December. After reunification, he was convicted of manslaughter for the border deaths and served nearly four years of a six-and-a-half-year sentence.

Ethiopia state institutions Communism 1937–

Consolidation of Derg rule

At a Derg meeting he vowed of the aristocrats who called dark-skinned, kinky-haired people slave "Barias": "I shall soon make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!"

A leader of Ethiopia’s Derg, the military committee emerging from the 1974 revolution. He consolidated predominance after the 1977 power struggle and led military and party-state institutions. Land reform and state-led development proceeded amid political repression and prolonged war.

Republic of the Congo state institutions Communism 1938–1977 ✕ Assassinated

Founding of the Congolese people’s republic

At his January 1970 swearing-in, Ngouabi vowed "fidelity to the Congolese people, to the revolution, and the Congolese Labour Party."

A military and political leader of Congo-Brazzaville. He led the establishment of the Congolese Labour Party and people’s republic in 1969, organizing Marxist-Leninist one-party institutions. His assassination in 1977 was followed by military-party succession struggles.

South Yemen state institutions Communism 1939–1986

Leader of South Yemen’s Socialist Party

Founder and chief ideologue of the Yemeni Socialist Party, he was South Yemen's de facto leader from 1978 to 1980 and died in the 1986 civil war.

A South Yemeni revolutionary leader central to the Yemeni Socialist Party’s formation in 1978. He left power in 1980 and stayed in the USSR, then returned and opposed Ali Nasir Muhammad. He died during the armed party conflict in 1986.