Communism vs Socialism - the difference - Usefull for 20th century histroy students

Communism and Socialism:

Important distinction: both are phases in Karl Marx’s theory of social evolution, but both terms are also used to describe economic or political systems.

In Marx’s theory:

All states are capitalist, ruled by a higher class of profit makers who exploit the lower class of workers. Goods are produced so that the capitalists can make a profit. This system is unsustainable, and eventually the workers will rebel and overthrow the higher class.

After this revolution, the second phase, socialism, begins. According to Marx, in a socialist state, workers have much greater power and there is no clear ruling class. Goods in a socialist state would not be produced to make profit for capitalists, but would be produced to satisfy the needs of the workers. Because of this, industry would be based on providing essentials to everyone rather than on making a profit for small numbers of people.

After many generations, according to Marx, a socialist state will become communist; a system where there are no power-holders, no classes, no inequalities and where there is no ruling hierarchy. This, according to Marx, is the highest phase of social development, with all people being equal and having access to sufficient quantities of goods to satisfy all of their needs. 

Despite this, the terms socialism and communism are often used in a completely different context:

Outside of Marx’s theory, socialism is a term used to describe a certain economic system, whereby industry is state owned, with production of goods based on eliminating over-production and providing for the needs of the population. It is very similar to socialism as described by Karl Marx, but does not necessarily involve a worker’s revolution.

The term communist is often used to describe the Soviet Union and its satellite states, however, these states were not stateless or classless and they did contain clear ruling hierarchies, so they cannot have been communist in a purely Marxist sense. In this context, communism is a political system, introduced by the Bolshevik party. Communism as defined by the Bolsheviks involved a small party of elites leading a worker’s revolution, then holding all political power ‘in the name of the workers’ and with their co-operation after the revolution.

The system implemented in the USSR was called ‘communism’ by the Bolsheviks, but actually involved socialist economic reforms, like the centralization of industry, and led to a small ruling class governing a large, disadvantaged, working class, which would probably have been considered essentially capitalist in many ways by Marx.