The Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Greece ( el, Μαρξιστικό-Λενινιστικό Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Marxistiko-Leninistiko Kommounistiko Komma Elladas''), better known by its acronym M-L KKE (Μ-Λ ΚΚΕ), is an

anti-revisionist Anti-revisionism is a position within Marxism–Leninism which emerged in the 1950s in opposition to the reforms of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Where Khrushchev pursued an interpretation that differed from his predecessor Joseph Stalin, ...

Marxist–Leninist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

History

M-L KKE originates in the Organisation of Marxists-Leninists of Greece (OMLE) that split away from the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...

(KKE) in 1964, opposing

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

De-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...

and supporting

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

and his political beliefs in the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Len ...

. After Mao's death in 1976, OMLE split in two major factions: the M-L KKE and the rival

Communist Party of Greece (Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Greece (Marxist–Leninist) ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας (μαρξιστικό-λενινιστικό), ΚΚΕ (μ-λ), ''Kommounistiko Komma Elladas (marxistiko-leninistiko)'', KKE (m-l)), is a ...

(KKE M-L), as well as further smaller groupings. M-L KKE and KKE M-L have remained the two largest

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

parties in Greece since. Historically, M-L KKE has had a significant presence among teachers and education workers, and is most active in

West Macedonia Western Macedonia ( el, Δυτική Μακεδονία, translit=Ditikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the regional unit ...

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

, and

Ikaria Icaria, also spelled Ikaria ( el, Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was b ...

. The group, which has published its own journal ''Laikos Dromos'', was led from its foundation by Isaac Jordanidis, who had been a functionary within the KKE.Robert Jackson Alexander, ''Maoism in the Developed World'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, p. 100 Jordanidis was a strong supporter of the

Three Worlds Theory In the field of international relations, the Three Worlds Theory ( zh, s=三个世界的理论, p=Sān gè Shìjiè de Lǐlùn) by Mao Zedong proposed to the visiting Algerian President Houari Boumédiène in February 1974 that the internationa ...

and the group took a

line as a result. A delegation from the party travelled to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in 1977 where they held a meeting with

Li Xiannian Li Xiannian (pronounced ; 23 June 1909 – 21 June 1992) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, President of the People's Republic of China (''de jure'' head of state) from 1983 to 1988 under Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping and ...

. In the legislative election of 2000, M-L KKE and

A/synechia The Communist Organization of Greece (, ''Kommounistikí Orgánosi Elládas'', KOE) is a Greek political party. The KOE's ideology is revolutionary Marxism and Maoism, supporting Marxist ideology with all the historical experience of the commun ...

participated together, receiving 5,866 votes. In the legislative election of 2004, M-L KKE participated alone, receiving 4,846 votes. In the legislative election of 2007, M-L KKE received 8,088 votes (0.11%). On 16 March 2012, spurred by the ongoing

Greek financial crisis Greece faced a sovereign debt crisis in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Widely known in the country as The Crisis (Greek: Η Κρίση), it reached the populace as a series of sudden reforms and austerity measures that l ...

, M-L KKE and KKE M-L announced that they would jointly contest elections as part of the Popular Resistance – Left Anti-Imperialist Cooperation (Λαϊκή Αντίσταση – Αριστερή Αντιμπεριαλιστική Συνεργασία), distancing themselves both from the traditional

(KKE) and the leftist

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

coalition.

Newspaper

M-L KKE publishes the ''Laikos Dromos'' (Λαϊκός Δρόμος, "People's Path")

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, founded in December 1967 as OMLE's newspaper.

Electoral results

:¹ Participated in a coalition called Aristera! - M-LKKE with

:² In a coalition with the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Greece 1976 establishments in Greece Communist parties in Greece Anti-revisionist organizations Stalinist parties Maoist parties Far-left politics in Greece Maoist organizations in Greece Political parties established in 1976

History

Newspaper

Electoral results

See also

References

External links