Communist revolution

Karl Marx saw revolution as a necessity for communism, where the revolution would be based on class struggle led by the organised proletariat to overthrow capitalism and the bourgeoisie, followed by the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat.^[1]

Leninism argues^[6][7] that a communist revolution must be led by a vanguard of "professional revolutionaries", men and women who are fully dedicated to the communist cause and who can then form the nucleus of the revolutionary movement.^[8] Thus meaning that under Lenin's framework a communist revolution is not necessarily a proletarian revolution.^[9] Some Marxists, such as Rosa Luxemburg,^[10][8] disagree with the idea of a vanguard as put forth by Lenin, especially left communists.^[11][12][13] Another line of criticisms insist that the entire working class—or at least a large part of it—must be deeply involved and equally committed to the socialist or communist cause in order for a proletarian revolution to be successful. To this end, they seek to build massive communist parties with very large memberships.

The following is a list of successful and unsuccessful communist revolutions and coups throughout history. Among the lesser-known revolutions, a number of borderline cases have been included which may or may not have been communist revolutions. The nature of unsuccessful revolutions is particularly contentious since one can only speculate as to the kinds of policies that would have been implemented by the revolutionaries had they achieved victory.

• 1917–1923: The October Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War led to the establishment of the Soviet Union.
• 1921: Mongolian Revolution of 1921
• 1927–1949: The Chinese Communist Revolution led to the establishment of the People's Republic of China and fleeing of the Republic of China to Taiwan.
• 1941–1945: Yugoslav People's Liberation War
• 1942–1945: National Liberation Movement (Albania)
• 1944: Bulgarian coup d'état.
• 1945: August Revolution
• 1946–1954: First Indochina War
• 1948: Czechoslovak coup d'état.
• 1953–1959: The Cuban Revolution.
• 1955–1975: Vietnam War
• 1959–1975: Laotian Civil War
• 1961–1974: Angolan War of Independence
• 1961–1979: The Nicaraguan Revolution sees the Sandinistas oust the Somoza government.
• 1963: Les Trois Glorieuses in Congo-Brazzaville.
• 1968–1975: Cambodian Civil War
• 1969: The Corrective Move in South Yemen.
• 1969: The Somali coup d'état led to the formation of the Somali Democratic Republic.
• 1972: Mathieu Kérékou leads a military coup in Benin, leading to the creation of the People's Republic of Benin.
• 1974: Carnation Revolution (while the revolution overthrew the Estado Novo, the demands for a workers' democracy were quashed by the center-left Socialist Party)
• 1974: The 1974 Ethiopian coup d'état.
• 1978: The Saur Revolution leads to the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the start of the Afghan conflict.
• 1979: The New Jewel Movement overthrow's Eric Gairy's government in Grenada, creating the People's Revolutionary Government.
• 1983: The Upper Voltan coup d'état led by Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré. Upper Volta was renamed Burkina Faso. Blaise Compaoré led the 1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état, which killed Thomas Sankara and reversed his far-left policies.
• 1996–2006: Nepalese Civil War.

• 1871: Paris Commune
• 1915–1920: Jungle Movement of Gilan
• 1916: Easter Rising
• 1918: Finnish Civil War
• 1918–1925: Canadian Labour Revolt
• 1918: Aster Revolution
• 1918–1919: German Revolution of 1918–19
• 1918: Red Week
• 1918: Luxembourg communist revolution
• 1918–1920: Estonian War of Independence
• 1919–1923: Irish soviets
• 1919: Hungarian Soviet Republic
• 1919: Bender Uprising
• 1920: Georgian coup attempt
• 1921: Proština rebellion
• 1923: September Uprising
• 1923: Hamburg Uprising
• 1924: Tatarbunary Uprising
• 1924: Estonian coup d'état attempt
• 1932: 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising
• 1935: Brazilian communist uprising
• 1936–1937: Spanish Revolution of 1936
• 1942–1954: Hukbalahap Rebellion
• 1946–1949: Greek Civil War
• 1946–1951: Telangana Rebellion
• 1948–1949: Jeju uprising
• 1948–1989: Communist insurgency in Burma
• 1948–1960: Malayan Emergency
• 1948: Madiun Affair
• 1960–1996: Guatemalan Civil War
• 1962–1990: Communist insurgency in Sarawak
• 1964–present: Colombian conflict
• 1965–1983: Communist insurgency in Thailand
• 1967–present: Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
• 1968–1989: Communist insurgency in Malaysia
• 1969–present: New People's Army rebellion
• 1970: Teoponte Guerrilla
• 1971: JVP insurrection
• 1971: Sudanese coup d'état
• 1972–1974: Araguaia Guerrilla War
• 1972–present: Maoist insurgency in Turkey
• 1975: 7 November 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état
• 1979–1992: Salvadoran Civil War
• 1980–present: Internal conflict in Peru
• 1982: Amol uprising
• 1987–1989: JVP insurrection
• 2021–2023: Eswatini protests
• 2021–: Myanmar civil war (2021–present)

Start date	End date	Duration	Event(s)	State	Rebel group	Revolutionary base area	Deaths	Result	Notes
18 March 1871	28 May 1871	(72 days)[14]	Paris Commune[14][15]	France	Communards National Guards	Paris	7,544 killed overall[16][17]	Revolt suppressed[18] Disbanding the Second National Guard by the French government
1 October 1915[19]	5 June 1920[20]	(4 years, 249 days)	Jangal Movement	Qajar Iran	Jangal revolutionaries[21][22]	Gilan province		Establishment of the Persian Socialist Soviet Republic[19]	[a]
24 April 1916	29 April 1916	(6 days)	Easter Rising	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	Irish rebel forces Irish Citizen Army[24]	Dublin	485 killed[25][26][27]	Unconditional surrender of rebel forces,[28] execution of most leaders.[29]	[b]
7 November 1917	7 November 1917	(1 day)[30]	October Revolution	Russia	Bolsheviks Petrograd Soviet Left SRs Red Guards Anarchists[31]	Petrograd	Few wounded Red Guard soldiers[32]	Bolshevik victory Start of the Russian Civil War[33]
27 January 1918	15 May 1918	(109 days)	Finnish Civil War[34]	Finland	Finnish Reds[35] Soviet Russia[36]	Finland	38,300 killed[37]	Finnish Whites victory
2 August 1918	11 June 1925	(6 years, 314 days)	Canadian Labour Revolt	Canada	One Big Union[38] Communist Party of Canada	Canada		Failure of the revolt
28 October 1918	31 October 1918	(4 days)	Aster Revolution	Austria-Hungary Kingdom of Hungary	Hungarian National Council Hungarian Social Democratic Party Soldiers' Councils	Hungary		Revolutionary victory Hungary terminated Austria-Hungary End of the First World War in Hungary Establishment of First Hungarian People's Republic[39][40]
29 October 1918	11 August 1919	(287 days)	German Revolution of 1918–19[41][42]	German Empire (1918)  German Republic (1918–1919)	Communist revolutionaries: SPD (until 9 Nov. 1918) USPD (from 9 Nov. 1918)[41] Spartacus League [43] KPD IKD[44] Revolutionary Stewards[45] FVdG Soviet Republics: People's State of Bavaria (until March 1919) Bavarian Soviet Republic[46][47][48] Bremen Soviet Republic[49] Saxon Soviet Republic[50] Würzburg Soviet Republic Alsace-Lorraine Soviet Republic	Various regions of Germany	150–196[51]	Fall of the German Empire Suppression of leftist uprisings, including the Spartacist uprising End of the First World War Establishment of the Weimar Republic
9 November 1918	14 November 1918	(6 days)	Red Week	Netherlands	Faction of the Social Democratic Workers' Party[52]			No revolution
10 November 1918[53]	14 January 1919	(66 days)	Luxembourg communist revolution	Luxembourg	Assorted communists, socialists, and liberals			French Army victory[53] Abdication of Marie-Adélaïde 1919 Luxembourg referendum
28 November 1918	2 February 1920[54]	(1 year, 67 days)	Estonian War of Independence	Estonia	Estonian Worker's Commune[55]  RSFSR Red Latvian Riflemen		3,988+ killed[56][57][58]	Treaty of Tartu:[54] Independence of Estonia[54] Vidzeme gained by the Republic of Latvia
29 January 1919[59]	24 May 1923	(4 years, 116 days)	Irish soviets[60][61][62]	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1919–1921) Irish Free State (1921–1923)	Irish soviets	Ireland		Soviets shutdown Majority of individuals involved arrested]	[c]
23 March 1919	1 August 1919	(132 days)	Hungarian Soviet Republic[d][42]	Hungarian Republic	Hungarian Soviet Republic[63]	Hungary	6,670 killed[64]	Collapse of the Hungarian Soviet Republic Romanian occupation of most of Hungary Treaty of Trianon Miklós Horthy takes power as Regent of Hungary	[e]
27 May 1919	27 May 1919	(1 day)	Bender Uprising	Romania	Red Guards  Ukrainian SSR	Tighina	150[66]	Romanian–French victory
2 May 1920	3 May 1920	(2 days)	1920 Georgian coup attempt	Democratic Republic of Georgia	Georgian Bolsheviks	Georgia	Several killed	Government Victory [67][68][69] Treaty of Moscow signed[70]
1 March 1921	11 July 1921	(133 days)	Mongolian Revolution of 1921	Bogd Khanate of Mongolia Outer Mongolia	Mongolian People's Party[71]	Outer Mongolia		Mongolian communist victory:[72][73] Collapse of the Bogd Khanate End of Chinese control over Mongolia Creation of the Mongolian People's Republic
2 February 1921	5 April 1921	(63 days)	Proština rebellion	Italy	Civilians led by Ante Ciliga[74] Communist Party of Italy	Istria	Unknown	Government victory: Civilians arrested Village of Šegotići burned to the ground	[f]
3 March 1921[76]	8 April 1921[77]	(37 days)	Labin mining strike and rebellion	Italy	Labin Republic	Istria	5[78]	Government victory: Strike suppressed Miners acquitted of crimes[79]	[g]
14 September 1923	29 September 1923	(16 days)	September Uprising	Bulgaria	BCP BZNS Anarchists		841 killed[80]	Bulgarian government victory: Rebellion crushed; rebels withdraw to the Balkan Mountains
23 October 1923[81]	24 October 1923	(2 days)	Hamburg Uprising	Weimar Republic	Communist Party of Germany	Hamburg	99 killed[81]	Government victory
15 September 1924[82]	18 September 1924[83]	(4 days)	Tatarbunary Uprising	Romania	Tatarbunary Revolutionary Committee[84]	Tatarbunary	3,000 killed[83]	Revolt quelled by the Romanian government
1 December 1924	1 December 1924	(1 day)[85]	1924 Estonian coup attempt	Estonia	Communist Party of Estonia[86][87]		151 killed	Estonian government victory
1 August 1927[88][89]	1 October 1949[90][91]	(22 years, 62 days)	Chinese Civil War Chinese Communist Revolution[90]	China	Chinese Communist Party Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (1927–1937)[88] People's Liberation Army (1946–1950)[92]	Communist-controlled China	cca. 8 million	Communist victory: Beginning of the Cross-Strait conflict	[h]
22 January 1932[94]	February 1932	(11 days)	1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising	Republic of El Salvador	Communist Party of El Salvador Pipil rebels	Western El Salvador: Ahuachapán La Libertad Santa Ana Sonsonate	10,000 – 40,000[95]	Revolt suppressed, ethnocide of Pipil people[96]	[i]
23 November 1935	27 November 1935	(5 days)	Brazilian communist uprising of 1935	Brazil	National Liberation Alliance Brazilian Communist Party[97]	Natal, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro	150+ killed	Government victory
19 July 1936	25 May 1937	(311 days)[98]	Spanish Revolution of 1936	Spain	CNT-FAI[99][100] UGT[101]	Various regions of Spain – primarily Madrid, Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, and parts of Levante, Spain.		Suppressed after ten-month period.
22 June 1941[102]	29 November 1945	(4 years, 161 days)	Yugoslav People's Liberation War	Yugoslavia	Yugoslav Partisans		850,000–1,200,000[103]	Yugoslav Partisan–Allied victory: Defeat of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in the Balkans Defeat and overthrow of the Independent State of Croatia, Government of National Salvation, Chetniks, and other Axis collaborators[104] Communist-led Partisans abolish the Yugoslav Serb monarchy[105] Establishment of Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia under the rule of Josip Broz Tito
29 March 1942[106]	2 September 1945	(3 years, 158 days)	Hukbalahap Rebellion (First phase)	Japan  Philippines	Hukbalahap[107]	Central Luzon		Huk victory: End of the Japanese occupation in 1945 Tension rises between the U.S-backed government and the Huks[108] Rebellion resumes in 1946
16 September 1942[109]	August 1945	(2 years, 320 days)	National Liberation Movement[109]	Albanian Kingdom	National Anti-Fascist Liberation Movement[110]	Albania		Establishment of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania
9 September 1944	9 September 1944	(1 day)	1944 Bulgarian coup d'état	Bulgaria	Fatherland Front BCP NOVA BZNS			Fatherland Front victory: Abolishment of the monarchy on 8 September 1946 Establishment of the People's Republic of Bulgaria on 15 September 1946.
16 August 1945	30 August 1945	(15 days)	August Revolution[111]	Empire of Vietnam	Việt Minh	Northern, Central and Southern Vietnam		Việt Minh victory: Abdication of Emperor Bảo Đại[112] Abolishment of the Vietnamese monarchy[113] Establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
6 September 1945[114]	25 June 1950	(4 years, 293 days)	Korean Revolution[j]	Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea	Communist Party of Korea (1945–1946)[116] New People's Party of Korea (1946–1946)[116] Workers' Party of South Korea (1946–1949)[117] Workers' Party of North Korea (1946–1949)[118] Workers' Party of Korea (from 1949)[119]			Proclamation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1948[120] Start of the Korean War	[k]
May 1946	17 May 1954[123]	(8 years, 17 days)	Hukbalahap Rebellion (Second phase)	Republic of the Philippines	Communist Party of the Philippines[124] People's Liberation Army	Central Luzon	Nearly 6,000 killed	Philippine government victory: End of the rebellion Capture of Luis Taruc in 1954 Beginning of communist insurgency in the Philippines in the 1960s
4 July 1946[125]	25 October 1951[126]	(5 years, 114 days)	Telangana Rebellion	Hyderabad State (1946–1948) Union of India (1948–1951)[127][128]	Telangana peasants Andhra Mahasabha Communist Party of India			Withdrawal of rebellion: Dissolution of Hyderabad State[129] Dissolution of communes and guerrilla squads Land reforms are enacted Ban on the Communist Party of India lifted[130]
19 December 1946	1 August 1954	(7 years, 226 days)	First Indochina War	French Indochina	DR Vietnam Việt Minh Lao Issara (1945–1949) Pathet Lao (1949–1954)[131] Khmer Issarak[131] United Issarak Front (1950–1954)[132]		400,000–842,707 total killed [133][page needed] [134][page needed] [135]	DR Vietnam-allied victory:[136] 1954 Geneva Conference Departure of the French from Indochina State of Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Kingdom of Laos and Kingdom of Cambodia achieve independence Vietnam was partitioned between North (controlled by the Việt Minh) and South (controlled by the State of Vietnam) Start of the Vietnam War	[l]
21 February 1948[137]	25 February 1948[138]	(5 days)	1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état	Czechoslovak Republic	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia pro-communist faction of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers' Party			Appointment of a communist-dominated government[138]
2 April 1948[139]	16 April 1989[140]	(41 years, 15 days)	Communist insurgency in Burma	Union of Burma (1948–1962) Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma (1962–1988) Union of Burma (1988–1989)	Communist Party of Burma (1948–1989) Communist Party (Burma) (1948–1978) Shan State Communist Party (1956–1958)[141] Communist Party of Arakan (1962–1986)	Shan State	3,000+ killed	Burmese government victory[140]
3 April 1948[142][143]	13 May 1949[144]	(1 year, 41 days)	Jeju uprising[145]	United States Army Military Government in Korea (until August 1948) South Korea (from August 1948)	Workers' Party of South Korea	Jeju Island	30,000–100,000 killed[146][144][147]	Uprising suppressed[144]	[m]
16 June 1948	31 July 1960	(12 years, 46 days)	Malayan Emergency	Federation of Malaya  Federated Malay States	Malayan Communist Party Malayan National Liberation Army	British Malaya	11,107[150][151]	British-allied victory: Independence of the Federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957 Insurgency continues
18 September 1948[152]	19 December 1948[153]	(93 days)	Madiun Affair	Indonesia	People's Democratic Front:[154] PKI PS PBI SOBSI Pesindo	Madiun	1,920+ killed[155][156]	Rebellion suppressed
26 July 1953[157][158]	1 January 1959[159][158]	(5 years, 160 days)	Cuban Revolution[160]	Cuba	26th of July Movement[161] Student Revolutionary Directorate Second National Front of Escambray		3,000[162]	26 July Movement victory: Overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's government Establishment of a government led by Fidel Castro Escambray rebellion[163][164]	[n]
1 November 1955	30 April 1975[167]	(19 years, 181 days)	Vietnam War	South Vietnam	Viet Cong People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam	Memot District (1966–72) Lộc Ninh (1972–75)	1,326,494–3,447,494[168]	Communist victory
23 May 1959	2 December 1975	(16 years, 194 days)	Laotian Civil War	Laos	Lao People's Party Pathet Lao  North Vietnam	Xam Neua	20,000–62,000 killed[169]	Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese victory: Establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic End of the Kingdom of Laos Small scale insurgency by anti-Pathet Lao factions	[o]
13 November 1960	29 December 1996[170]	(36 years, 47 days)	Guatemalan Civil War	Guatemala	URNG[p] (from 1982) PGT[171] (until 1998) MR-13[171] (1960–1971) FAR (1960–1971) EGP (1971–1996) ORPA[172] (1979–1996)	Guatemala	Between 140,000–200,000 dead and missing (estimated) [173][174][175]	Peace accord signed in 1996
4 February 1961	25 April 1974	(13 years, 81 days)	Angolan War of Independence	Portuguese Angola	MPLA	Province of Angola	12,990+ killed[176][177]	Angolan victory:[178][179] Military stalemate[180] MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA political victory Carnation Revolution Alvor Agreement and Angolan independence in 1975
19 July 1961	17 July 1979	(17 years, 364 days)	Nicaraguan Revolution	Nicaragua	FSLN EPS MAP-ML (1978–1979) MILPAS  Panama (1978–1979)[181][182]	North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region	30,000+ killed	FSLN military victory in 1979: Overthrow of Somoza government in 1979 Insurgency of the Contras FSLN junta led by Daniel Ortega take power of Nicaragua in 1981[183] Electoral victory of FSLN in 1984	[q]
c. December 1962	3 November 1990[184][185]	(27 years, 338 days)	Communist insurgency in Sarawak	Malaysia	North Kalimantan Communist Party[185] North Kalimantan People's Army	Sarawak	400–500 killed	Government victory: Peace Declaration of Sri Aman in 1973[186][187] Dissolution of the Sarawak Communist Organisation/North Kalimantan Communist Party (SCO/NKCP).[184]
13 August 1963[188]	15 August 1963	(3 days)	Trois Glorieuses	Congo	Congolese trade unions:[189] Congolese Youth Union Confédération générale aéfienne du travail Armed Forces of the Republic of the Congo[189]			Uprising successful: Fulbert Toulou ousted from power[190] Alphonse Massamba-Débat chosen as prime minister[191] National Revolution Movement formed as the single ruling party[192]	[r]
27 May 1964[195]	Present	(60 years, 47 days)	Colombian conflict[196][197]	Colombia	ELN (1964–)[198][199][200] FARC dissidents (2016–)[201] EPL/Los Pelusos (1967–)[202][203][204] FARIP (?–)[205] FARC (1964–2017)[206] ERP (1985–2007)[207][208] CGSB (1987–1990)[209][210][211] M-19 (1974–1990)[212] MOEC (1964–1995)[213] MAQL (1984–1991)[214][215] ERC (1964–1992)[216] ERG (1964–2008)[217][218] PRT (1964–1991)[219][220]	Colombia with spillovers into Venezuela	220,000+ killed[221][222][223]	Ongoing: Colombia–FARC peace deal in 2016 Start of Catatumbo campaign in 2018
1965	1983	(18 years, 1 day)	Communist insurgency in Thailand	Thailand	Communist Party of Thailand Malayan Communist Party[224] Pathet Lao[225][226] Khmer Rouge (until 1978, 1979–1983)[225][226]	Nakhon Phanom Province	6,762+ killed[227][228]	Thai government victory: Amnesty declared on 23 April 1980 by the Thai government Order 66/2523 signed by Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda[229] Communist insurgency declines and ends in 1983
18 May 1967	Present	(57 years, 56 days)	Naxalbari uprising Naxalite–Maoist insurgency	India	Communist Party of India (Maoist) People's Liberation Guerrilla Army	Red corridor	Since 1997: 13,060–14,552[230][231]	Ongoing	[s]
17 June 1968	2 December 1989	(21 years, 169 days)[232][233]	Communist insurgency in Malaysia	Malaysia	Malayan Communist Party Malayan National Liberation Army	Malay Peninsula and Sarawak[234]	367	Peace Agreement of Hat Yai signed: Dissolution of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP)[235][236] Insurgency continues in Sarawak until 1990[237][184]
17 January 1968	17 April 1975	(7 years, 91 days)	Cambodian Civil War	Cambodia	Communist Party of Kampuchea Khmer Rouge	Ratanakiri Province	275,000–310,000 killed	Communist victory	[t]
29 March 1969	Present[238]	(55 years, 106 days)	New People's Army rebellion	Philippines	Communist Party of the Philippines[239] New People's Army	Samar	43,000+ killed (up to 2008)[240] (63,973+ killed)	Ongoing[241]	[u]
22 June 1969[243]	22 June 1969	(1 day)	Corrective Move	South Yemen	Marxist faction of the NLF		No deaths[244]	Coup successful:[245] Overthrow of Al-Shaabi and his allies Nasserists purged from the National Liberation Front South Yemen becomes a socialist state, with Salim Rubai Ali as president.[244]
21 October 1969	21 October 1969	(1 day)	1969 Somali coup d'état	Somali Republic	Supreme Revolutionary Council	Mogadishu		Supreme Revolutionary Council victory:[246] Somali Republic deposed Somali Democratic Republic established
19 July 1970[247]	1 November 1970	(106 days)	Teoponte Guerrilla	Bolivia	Guerrilla de Teoponte (Ejército de Liberación Nacional)[247]	Teoponte Municipality		Bolivian government victory
5 April 1971	June 1971	(62 days)	1971 JVP insurrection	Dominion of Ceylon	JVP State of Augestan	Southern Province and Sabaragamuwa Province	Official: 1,200 Estimated: 4,000–5,000[248][249]	Ceylonese government victory:[250][251] Rebel leaders were captured and the remaining members surrendered Ceylonese government re-established control of the entire island Expulsion of North Korean diplomats
19 July 1971	22 July 1971	(4 days)[252]	1971 Sudanese coup d'état	Democratic Republic of Sudan	Revolutionary Council Sudanese Communist Party Rebel military units	Khartoum		Coup attempt fails: Nimeiry government restored Anti-communist purges by government forces Execution of rebelling officers Execution of several Sudanese Communist Party leaders Consolidation of Nimeiry's control
April 1972	October 1974	(2 years, 214 days)[253]	Araguaia Guerrilla War	Federative Republic of Brazil	Communist Party of Brazil[253]	Goiás and Tocantins[253]	90+ killed[254]	Military dictatorship victory: Successful counter-insurgency operation Guerrillas failed to gain popular support Guerrilla forces exterminated
24 April 1972	Present	(52 years, 80 days)	Maoist insurgency in Turkey	Turkey	Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist Liberation Army of the Workers and Peasants of Turkey MKP-HKO-PHG	Tunceli Province[255]	500+ Maoists killed	Ongoing
25 April 1974	25 April 1974	(1 day)[256]	Carnation Revolution	Estado Novo	Armed Forces Movement		5 killed	Coup successful: Dissolution of the Estado Novo Beginning of the Portuguese transition to democracy[257] End of the Portuguese Colonial War and independence of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe Indonesian invasion of East Timor Far-left demands latterly quashed by the Socialist Party[258]
12 September 1974	12 September 1974	(1 day)	1974 Ethiopian coup d'état	Ethiopia	Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army[259]			Coup successful:[260] Emperor Haile Selassie is placed under arrest and is taken to the Fourth Division Army headquarters[261][262] Derg suspends constitution Beginning of the civil war	[v]
7 November 1975[266]	7 November 1975	(1 day)	7 November 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état (Bengali: সিপাই-জানাটা বিপ্লব (Sepoy-Janata Biplob))	Bangladesh	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal[267] Biplobi Shainik Sangstha[268]			Successful coup: Death of Khaled Mosharraf	[w]
27 April 1978[270]	28 April 1978	(2 days)	Saur Revolution	Afghanistan	People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan	Afghanistan	2,000[271]	PDPA victory: Overthrow and execution of Mohammed Daoud Khan and his family[270] Purging and killing of Daoud's supporters[272] Establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan[273] Eventual Soviet military intervention	[x]
13 March 1979[275]	13 March 1979	(1 day)[276][277]	New Jewel Movement	Grenada	New Jewel Movement[275]			Installation of the People's Revolutionary Government[276]
15 October 1979	16 January 1992	(12 years, 94 days)	Salvadoran Civil War	El Salvador	FMLN FPL (BLP, LP-28) ERP RN (FAPU) PRTC (MLP) PCES		87,795+ killed[278]	Chapultepec Peace Accords[279]	[y]
17 May 1980[282][283]	Present[284]	(44 years, 57 days)	Internal conflict in Peru	Peru	Communist Party of Peru–Shining Path[285] People's Guerrilla Army Militarized Communist Party of Peru[286] Red Mantaro Base Committee Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement[287] (1982–1997)	Ayacucho Region	70,000+ killed[288][289][290]	Ongoing	[z]
25 January 1982	25 January 1982	(1 day)	1982 Amol uprising	Iran	Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran)	Amol County	80–300 killed	Iranian government victory
4 August 1983	4 August 1983	(1 day)	Upper Voltan coup d'état[291][292]	Upper Volta	Left-wing armed forces faction led by Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré		13 killed	Thomas Sankara installed as the President of Upper Volta Formation of Burkina Faso	[aa]
15 April 1987	29 December 1987	(259 days)	1987–1989 JVP insurrection	Sri Lanka	Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya Patriotic People's Armed Troops		60,000–80,000 killed[296][297]	Sri Lankan Government victory: Execution of Rohana Wijeweera Emergency conditions in South-western and Central provinces lifted Insurgency declined following the fall of the Eastern bloc
13 February 1996	21 November 2006	(10 years, 282 days)	Nepalese Civil War	Nepal	Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)[298] People's Liberation Army, Nepal	Rapti Zone	17,800 killed overall[299]	Comprehensive Peace Accord[300]	[ab]
20 June 2021	June 2023	(2 years, 1 day)	2021–2023 Eswatini protests	Eswatini	Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS)[301] People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) Swazi Democratic Party (SWADEPA)[302] Economic Freedom Fighters of Swaziland (EFFSWA)[302] African United Democratic Party (AUDP) Mass Democratic Movement (MDM)[303] Swaziland International Solidarity Forces[304]		24+[305][306]	Ongoing
August 2021[307][308]	Present	(2 years, 347 days)	Myanmar civil war (2021–present)	Myanmar	People's Liberation Army (Myanmar) National Unity Government[309][310][311] Brotherhood Alliance	Myanmar	45,264+ killed[312]	Ongoing

Wikiquote has quotations related to Communist revolution.

• Class conflict
• Communist state
• Communist society