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Tankie is apejorative label generally applied toauthoritarian communists, especially those who support acts of repression by such regimes, their allies, or deny the occurrence of the events thereof. More specifically, the term has been applied to those who express support for one-partyMarxist–Leninistsocialist republics, whether contemporary or historical. It is commonly used byanti-authoritarian leftists, includinganarchists,libertarian socialists,left communists,democratic socialists, andreformists to criticiseLeninism, although the term has seen increasing use byliberal andright‐wing factions as well.[5][4]
The term "tankie" was originally used by dissident Marxist–Leninists to describe members of theCommunist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who followed theparty line of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Specifically, it was used to distinguish party members who spoke out in defence of the Soviet use oftanks to suppress theHungarian Revolution of 1956 and the1968 Prague Spring, or who more broadly adhered to pro-Soviet positions.[6][7] The term has extended to describe people who endorse, defend, or deny the actions of communist leaders such asVladimir Lenin,Joseph Stalin, andMao Zedong. In recent times, the term has been used across thepolitical spectrum and in a geopolitical context to describe those who have a bias in favour ofanti-Western states,authoritarian states, or states with a socialist legacy, such asBelarus,Cuba,China,[8]Syria,[9]North Korea,Russia, andVenezuela.
Tankie originated in the UK as a term for hardline members of theCommunist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).[11] This Stalinist or "tankie" wing of the CPGB was associated with the views of the strong CPGB presence inBritish trade unions.[12][13] Journalist Peter Paterson asked theAmalgamated Engineering Union officialReg Birch about his election to the CPGB Executive after theSoviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. Paterson recalled:
When I asked him how he could possibly have sided with the tankies, so called because of the use of Russian tanks to quell the revolt, he said "They wanted a trade unionist who could stomach Hungary, and I fitted the bill."[14][a]
The support for the invasion of Hungary was disastrous for the party's reputation in Britain.[6][15][16] The CPGB made mild criticisms of theSoviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, which they justified as a necessary intervention,[17] although a hardline faction supported it, including theAppeal Group who left the party in response.[18] These events then led to much of the subsequent internal politics of the CPGB to be viewed along the lines of "tankies versusEuros".[19][12]
After thePrague Spring, the term was used to describe Communist party members of Western countries who had supported the invasion of Czechoslovakia byWarsaw Pact states, of whichCzechoslovakia was a member.[20][21] It was also used in the 1980s to describe the uncritical support theMorning Star gave to theSoviet intervention in Afghanistan.[22][23][24] According to Christina Petterson, "Politically speaking, tankies regard past and current socialist systems as legitimate attempts at creating communism, and thus have not distanced themselves from Stalin, China, etc."[25]
The term continued to be used into the 1980s, especially in relation to the split between the reform-mindedeurocommunist wing of the CPGB and the traditionalist, pro-Soviet group, the latter continuing to be labelled tankies. The term is sometimes used within theLabour Party as slang for a politically old-fashioned leftist.Alastair Campbell reported a conversation about modernising education, in whichTony Blair said: "I'm withGeorge Walden on selection." Campbell recalled: "DM [David Miliband] looked aghast ... [Blair] said when it came to education, DM and I were just a couple of old tankies."[26] In 2015,Boris Johnson referred toJeremy Corbyn and the left wing of the Labour Party as "tankies and trots", the latter referring toTrotskyism.[27][b]
By 2017,tankie had re-emerged asinternet slang forauthoritarian socialists,[28] and it became particularly popular among youngdemocratic socialists.[29] Left-wing writer Carl Beijer argued that there are two distinct uses of the termtankie. The original was "exemplified in the sending of tanks intoHungary to crush resistance toSoviet communism". More generally, a tankie is someone who tends to support "militant opposition to capitalism" and a more modern online variation, which means "something like 'a self-proclaimed communist who indulges inconspiracy theories and whose rhetoric is largely performative.'" He was critical of both uses.[30]The Intercept journalist Roane Carey identified the "key element in the tankie mindset [as] the simple-minded assumption that only the United States can beimperialist, and thus any country that opposes the U.S. must be supported."[31]
While generally used pejoratively, some Marxist–Leninists havere-appropriated it and used the term as a badge of honour.[32] TheTaiwanese left-wing magazineNew Bloom alleges that many modern tankies are members of the Asian diasporas of English-speaking countries. In particular, members of theChinese diaspora searching for radical responses to social ills such asxenophobia against Asians are drawn to tankie discourse. This modern conception of tankie has also been described as "diasporicChinese nationalism".[33] An instance of the modern usage is the description of those "who instinctively defend China based on the idea that it is an example ofactually existing socialism resistingWestern imperialism", in discussions around thepersecution of Uyghurs in China and justify the "anti-terrorism" operations of theChinese government.[34]
In 2022,New York magazine reported that in the U.S. "So-called tankies don't make up the majority ofDemocratic Socialists of America (DSA) membership or wield much power within the broader left, but they do exist", and that "leftists from other countries have been contending with the American tankie for years", quoting activists from Hong Kong and Poland.[35][36] The termtankie has also been used in contemporary times to describe the defenders of anti-American leaders like former Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad or those who propagate pro-Russian narratives in the context of theRusso-Ukrainian War.[4] It has been applied to "elements within the self-identified [American] left that have soft-pedalled Russia's aggressive foreign policy andhistory of human rights abuses", according toSarah Jones ofNew York.[35]
[John Gollan] said 'we completely understand the concern of the Soviet Union about the security of the socialist camp ... we speak as true friends of the Soviet Union'.
