Tankie

Tankie is a pejorative label generally applied to authoritarian communists, especially those who support acts of repression by such regimes or their allies. More specifically, the term has been applied to those who express support for one-party Marxist–Leninist socialist republics, whether contemporary or historical. It is commonly used by anti-authoritarian leftists, including anarchists, libertarian socialists, left communists, democratic socialists, and reformists to criticise Leninism, although the term has seen increasing use by liberal and right‐wing factions as well.^[5]^[6]

The term "tankie" was originally used by dissident Marxist–Leninists to describe members of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who followed the party line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Specifically, it was used to distinguish party members who spoke out in defense of the Soviet use of tanks to suppress the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the 1968 Prague Spring, or who more broadly adhered to pro-Soviet positions.^[7]^[8] In UK English, especially within the left, it can be used to mean someone with traditional statist left wing views, compared to more moderate centrist politics.

The term is now extended to describe people who endorse, defend, or deny the crimes committed by communist leaders such as Vladimir Lenin,^[9]^[10] Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. In recent times, the term has been used across the political spectrum and in a geopolitical context to describe those who have a bias in favour of anti-Western states, authoritarian states or states with a socialist legacy, such as Belarus, Cuba, China,^[4] Syria,^[11] North Korea, and Russia. Additionally, the term pejoratively describes political activists who are said to have a tendency to be favorable towards non-socialist states and political groupings with no affiliation to socialism if they are opposed to the United States, regardless of their ideology, such as Iran or Hezbollah.

^ "The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A History in Documents". National Security Archive. 4 November 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
^ Kohn, George Childs, ed. (2007). "Hungarian Revolt of 1956". Dictionary of Wars (Third ed.). pp. 237–238.
^ Niessen, James P. (11 October 2016). "Hungarian Refugees of 1956: From the Border to Austria, Camp Kilmer, and Elsewhere". Hungarian Cultural Studies. 9: 122–136. doi:10.5195/AHEA.2016.261. ISSN 2471-965X.
^ ^a ^b Dutkiewicz, Stecuła; Jan, Dominik (4 July 2022). "Why America's Far Right and Far Left Have Aligned Against Helping Ukraine". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 26 January 2023.
^ Watt, Nicholas (5 October 2015). "Boris Johnson: Jeremy Corbyn and Labour left are 'tankies and trots'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
^ Stecuła, Jan Dutkiewicz, Dominik (4 July 2022). "Why America's Far Right and Far Left Have Aligned Against Helping Ukraine". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 21 June 2023.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Driver, Stephen (16 May 2011). Understanding British Party Politics. Polity Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0745640785.
^ New Statesman 2016.
^ Blakemore, Erin (2 September 2020). "How the Red Terror set a macabre course for the Soviet Union". National Geographic. National Geographic. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021. The poet was just one of many victims of the Red Terror, a state-sponsored wave of violence that was decreed in Russia on September 5, 1918, and lasted until 1922.
^ Melgunoff, Sergei (November 1927). "The Record of the Red Terror". Current History. 27 (2): 202. doi:10.1525/curh.1927.27.2.198. JSTOR 45332605. S2CID 207926889. Such was the Red Terror in its first period, within which we include the years 1918-1921.
^ Douthat, Ross (18 October 2021). "James Bond Has No Time for China". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.

[1] "The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A History in Documents". National Security Archive. 4 November 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2023.

[2] Kohn, George Childs, ed. (2007). "Hungarian Revolt of 1956". Dictionary of Wars (Third ed.). pp. 237–238.

[3] Niessen, James P. (11 October 2016). "Hungarian Refugees of 1956: From the Border to Austria, Camp Kilmer, and Elsewhere". Hungarian Cultural Studies. 9: 122–136. doi:10.5195/AHEA.2016.261. ISSN 2471-965X.

[Dutkiewicz_&_Jan-4] Dutkiewicz, Stecuła; Jan, Dominik (4 July 2022). "Why America's Far Right and Far Left Have Aligned Against Helping Ukraine". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 26 January 2023.

[5] Watt, Nicholas (5 October 2015). "Boris Johnson: Jeremy Corbyn and Labour left are 'tankies and trots'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 June 2023.

[6] Stecuła, Jan Dutkiewicz, Dominik (4 July 2022). "Why America's Far Right and Far Left Have Aligned Against Helping Ukraine". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 21 June 2023.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[driver-7] Driver, Stephen (16 May 2011). Understanding British Party Politics. Polity Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0745640785.

[FOOTNOTENew_Statesman2016-8] New Statesman 2016.

[9] Blakemore, Erin (2 September 2020). "How the Red Terror set a macabre course for the Soviet Union". National Geographic. National Geographic. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021. The poet was just one of many victims of the Red Terror, a state-sponsored wave of violence that was decreed in Russia on September 5, 1918, and lasted until 1922.

[10] Melgunoff, Sergei (November 1927). "The Record of the Red Terror". Current History. 27 (2): 202. doi:10.1525/curh.1927.27.2.198. JSTOR 45332605. S2CID 207926889. Such was the Red Terror in its first period, within which we include the years 1918-1921.

[Douthat_2021-11] Douthat, Ross (18 October 2021). "James Bond Has No Time for China". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.

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