title: Hunky Dory

text: "Song for Bob Dylan" is a tribute song to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was described by Bowie at the time as "how some see BD", and its title is a parody of Dylan's 1962 tribute to folk singer Woody Guthrie, "Song to Woody". Throughout the song, Bowie addresses Dylan by his real name "Robert Zimmerman". Pegg and Doggett believe the song highlights Bowie's struggle with identity, from his real name David Jones, to his stage name David Bowie and, very shortly, to Ziggy Stardust. The lyrics specifically present Dylan as no longer being a hero figure for rock music, and demand that he return to his roots and come to the rescue for the unfaithful. According to Doggett, Bowie initially wrote it for his friend George Underwood. The music contains Dylanesque chord changes and the chorus is derived from the titles of two Velvet Underground songs, "Here She Comes Now" and "There She Goes Again". Buckley writes that the song is "probably the weakest" on the album and Pegg considers it "little-regarded".


title: Hunky Dory

text: The final tribute song on the album, "Queen Bitch" is largely inspired by the rock band the Velvet Underground, specifically their lead singer Lou Reed. The handwritten sleeve notes on the back cover read: "some V.U. White Light returned with thanks". The song is described by Jon Savage of "The Guardian" as glam rock and by Joe Lynch of "Billboard" as proto-punk. Unlike the majority of the album's tracks, "Queen Bitch" is primarily driven by guitar rather than piano. The chorus sings about Bowie mincing his "satin and tat" as a reference to dancer Lindsay Kemp. Pegg states: "Part of the genius of 'Queen Bitch' is that it filters the archness of Marc Bolan and Kemp through the streetwise attitude of Reed: this is a song that succeeds in making the phrase 'bipperty-bopperty hat' sound raunchy and cool." Daryl Easlea of BBC Music writes that the song's glam rock sound foreshadowed the direction Bowie was going to take on "Ziggy Stardust".


title: Hunky Dory

text: The album closer, "The Bewlay Brothers", was a late addition and the only track that was not demoed. The instrumentation echoes the music of "The Man Who Sold the World", featuring "sinister" sound effects and Bowie's vocal accompanied by Ronson's acoustic guitar. The song's obscure lyrics have caused confusion among Bowie biographers and fans. Immediately before the vocal take, Bowie told Scott, "Don't listen to the words, they don't mean anything." Pegg describes it as "probably the most cryptic, mysterious, unfathomable and downright frightening Bowie recording in existence", and Buckley considers it "one of Bowie's most disquieting moments on tape, an encapsulation of some distant, indefinable quality of expressionistic terror". Many reviewers have perceived the track to have homoerotic undertones; others believed it to be about Bowie's relationship with his schizophrenic half-brother Terry Burns, which Bowie confirmed in 1977. Buckley is unsure of whether this account is fictionalised or real. Some of the lyrics refer to other tracks on "Hunky Dory", including "Song for Bob Dylan", "Oh! You Pretty Things" and "Changes". Bowie also uses the word "chameleon" in the song, which became an oft-used term to describe him.


title: Hunky Dory

text: The cover photograph was taken by Brian Ward, who was introduced to Bowie by Bob Grace at Ward's studio in Heddon Street. An early idea was for Bowie to dress as a pharaoh, partly inspired by the media's infatuation with the British Museum's new Tutankhamun exhibit. According to Pegg, photos of Bowie posing "as a sphinx and in a lotus position" were taken – one was released as part of the 1990 "Space Oddity" reissue – but the idea was ultimately abandoned. Bowie recalled: "We didn't run with it, as they say. Probably a good idea." Bowie opted for a more minimalist image reflecting the album's "preoccupation with the silver screen". He later said: "I was into Oxford bags, and there are a pair, indeed, on the back of the album. [I was attempting] what I presumed was kind of an Evelyn Waugh Oxbridge look." The final image is a close-up of Bowie looking past the camera while he pulls back his hair. Pegg writes that his pose was influenced by actresses Lauren Bacall and Greta Garbo. Originally shot in monochrome, the image was recoloured by illustrator Terry Pastor, a partner at Covent Garden's recently initiated Main Artery design studio with George Underwood; Pastor later designed the cover and sleeve for "Ziggy Stardust". Pegg writes: "Bowie's decision to use a re-coloured photo suggests a hand-tinted lobby-card from the days of the silent cinema and, simultaneously, Warhol's famous "Marilyn Diptych" screen-prints." Dimery writes that Bowie took a photo book that contained multiple Marlene Dietrich prints with him to the photoshoot.


title: Hunky Dory

text: Although Bowie normally waited to name his albums until the last possible moment, the title "Hunky Dory" was announced at the John Peel session. Grace got the idea from an Esher pub landlord. He told Peter and Leni Gillman, the authors of "Alias David Bowie", that the landlord had an unusual vocabulary that was infused with "upper-crust jargon" such as "prang" and "whizzo" and "everything's hunky-dory". Grace told Bowie, who loved it. Pegg notes that there was a song from 1957 by American doo-wop band the Guytones also titled "Hunky Dory" that may also have played a part. Spitz states that "hunky-dory" is an English slang term that means everything is right in the world. The original UK cover featured Bowie's name and the album title; in the US the title was instead printed on a sticker and placed onto the translucent wrapping. According to Cann, initial UK pressings were laminated, which enhanced the colour to create a "superior finish"; these pressings are now collector's items. The back cover featured Bowie's handwritten notes about each song from the album. It also bore the credit "Produced by Ken Scott (assisted by the actor)" – the "actor" being Bowie himself, whose "pet conceit", in the words of "NME" critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray, was "to think of himself as an actor".


title: Hunky Dory

text: A few months after he had terminated Bowie's contract with Mercury, Defries showcased the newly recorded "Hunky Dory" to multiple labels in the US, including New York City's RCA Records. Defries told RCA that they "had nothing since the fifties" but they could "own the seventies" if they hired Bowie. "Because David Bowie is going to remake the decade, just like the Beatles did in the sixties." Its head Dennis Katz had never heard of Bowie but recognised the potential of the piano-based songs that Defries played for him and signed the artist to a three-record deal on 9September 1971; RCA would be Bowie's label for the rest of the decade.


title: Hunky Dory

text: "Hunky Dory" was released on 17December 1971 through RCA. By this time, the sessions for "Ziggy Stardust" were underway. The album release was supported by the single "Changes" on 7January 1972. The album received little promotion from RCA due to its unusual cover image and a warning that Bowie would be changing his image for his next album. Pegg writes that there were disagreements over how much money was put into the album and whether Bowie was an "unproven one-hit-wonder". Marketing manager Geoff Hannington recalled in 1986: "We soon knew we were in a situation where the artist was going to change like a chameleon from time to time." Because of this, the album initially sold poorly and failed to break the UK Albums Chart. According to Sandford, the album barely sold 5,000 copies in the first quarter.


title: Hunky Dory

text: It was only after the breakthrough of "Ziggy Stardust" in mid-1972 that "Hunky Dory" became a commercial success. It climbed to number three in the UK (two places higher than "Ziggy Stardust"), and remained on the chart for 69 weeks. "Hunky Dory" also peaked at number 39 on the Kent Music Report in Australia. Gallucci writes that although the album did not make Bowie a star, it "got him noticed", and the success of "Ziggy Stardust" helped "Hunky Dory" garner a larger audience. RCA released "Life on Mars?" as a single on 22June 1973, which also made number three in Britain. A reissue returned the album to the UK chart in January 1981, where it remained for 51 weeks.


title: Hunky Dory

text: "Hunky Dory" was met with very positive reviews from several British and American publications. "Melody Maker" called it "the most inventive piece of song-writing to have appeared on record in a considerable time", while Danny Holloway of the "NME" described it as Bowie "at his brilliant best". Holloway added that "["Hunky Dory" is] a breath of fresh air compared to the usual mainstream rock LP of [1972]. It's very possible that this will be the most important album from an emerging artist in 1972, because he's not following trends – he's setting them". In the US, John Mendelsohn of "Rolling Stone" called the album Bowie's "most engaging album musically" up to that point and praised his songwriting, particularly his ability to convey ideas without employing "a barrage of seemingly impregnable verbiage". "Billboard" gave the album a positive review, praising it as "a heavy debut for RCA, loaded with the kind of Top 40 and FM appeal that should break him through big on the charts. Strong material, his own, for programming includes 'Changes', 'Oh! You Pretty Things', and 'Life on Mars?'".


title: Hunky Dory

text: Several reviewers praised Bowie as an artist. "The New York Times" wrote that with "Hunky Dory", Bowie became "the most intellectually brilliant man yet to choose the long-playing album as his medium of expression", while "Rock" magazine called him "the most singularly gifted artist making music today. He has the genius to be to the '70s what Lennon, McCartney, Jagger and Dylan were to the '60s." In "The Village Voice", Robert Christgau hailed Bowie as "a singer-composer with brains, imagination, and a good idea of how to use a recording console", and the album "a quick change tour de force that is both catchy and deeply felt".


title: Hunky Dory

text: Retrospectively, "Hunky Dory" has received critical acclaim and is regarded as one of Bowie's best works. Many reviewers have praised the songwriting, with a writer for "Blender" calling the songs some of the best Bowie has ever written. Others, including Bryan Wawzenek of "Ultimate Classic Rock", have commended the wide array of genres present in the songs and their ability to blend together throughout. Erlewine wrote: "On the surface, [having] such a wide range of styles and sounds would make an album incoherent, but Bowie's improved songwriting and determined sense of style instead made "Hunky Dory" a touchstone for reinterpreting pop's traditions into fresh, postmodern pop music". Similarly, Greg Kot of the "Chicago Tribune" described the album as "the first taste of Bowie's multifaceted genius".


title: Hunky Dory

text: In a 2013 readers' poll for "Rolling Stone", "Hunky Dory" was voted Bowie's second greatest album, behind "Ziggy Stardust". Douglas Wolk of "Pitchfork" reviewed the album's remaster for the 2015 box set "Five Years 1969–1973" and gave it a 10-out-of-10 rating, believing the songs to be "scattered but splendid" and finding Bowie's songwriting a "huge leap" from his previous works. Another "Pitchfork" writer, Ryan Schrieber, stated: "The album is by no means his most cohesive release, but it remains one of his most charming, and unquestionably, one of his best." Following Bowie's death in 2016, Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" listed it as one of Bowie's essential albums, writing, ""Hunky Dory" was the album where he staked his claim as the most altered ego in rock & roll."


title: Hunky Dory

text: Many biographers and reviewers have agreed that "Hunky Dory" marked the beginning of Bowie's artistic success. Pegg writes: ""Hunky Dory" stands at the first great crossroads in Bowie's career. It was his last album until "Low" to be presented purely as a sonic artefact rather than a vehicle for the dramatic visual element with which he was soon to make his name as a performer". Buckley notes that 1971 was a pivotal year for Bowie, the year in which he became "something of a pop-art agent provocateur". In a time when rock musicians looked to traditions and established standards, Bowie looked to be radically different and challenge tradition, reinventing himself again and again, thereby creating new standards and conventions. Buckley further said: "Its almost easy-listening status and conventional musical sensibility has detracted from the fact that, lyrically, this record lays down the blueprint for Bowie's future career". Spitz writes that many artists have their "it all came together on this one" record. "For David Bowie, it's "Hunky Dory"". Biographer Paul Trynka states that the record marked a "new beginning" for the artist and that has a "freshness" to it that all of Bowie's previous studio albums lacked, primarily because when making his previous albums, Bowie was working to satisfy record executives. When making "Hunky Dory", Bowie was working to satisfy himself, which is reflected in the record.


title: Hunky Dory

text: BBC Music's Daryl Easlea wrote that the album saw Bowie finding his own voice after "scrabbling around stylistically" for almost a decade and "finally demonstrated [his] enormous potential to the listening public". Schrieber stated: ""Hunky Dory" marked the true start of what would be one of the most successful careers in rock music, spawning millions of scarily obsessive fans." Similarly, Michael Gallucci of "Ultimate Classic Rock" contended that "Hunky Dory" is "where Bowie starts to become Bowie", featuring lyrical and stylistic themes he would replicate on future releases. He concludes that all Bowie's future guises begin to find their voices with "Hunky Dory". "NME"s Emily Barker called it Bowie's "most time-tested album" and wrote, "it was [his] incredible song-writing gifts on [the record] that convinced us he was beamed from the stars." Writer Colin Larkin called it his most "eclectic" album and served as the preparation for Bowie's subsequent changes in musical direction. In 2016, "Billboard"s Joe Lynch argued that "Hunky Dory" provided the "blueprint" for lo-fi indie pop records for the next 25 years, citing Ariel Pink as an artist influenced by the album.


title: Hunky Dory

text: Many musicians have acknowledged the album's influence. In 1999, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics said: ""Hunky Dory" – I love the sound of it. I still kind of use it as a sort of reference-point." In 2002, Culture Club's Boy George cited "Hunky Dory" as the record that changed his life, saying: "The album as a whole is so unusual, so far removed from anything you heard on the radio. It's so complete, it all fits together." In an interview with "Mojo" in 2007, KT Tunstall declared "Hunky Dory" her favorite album, saying: "It's the only record where I've experienced total jaw-dropping awe for the whole of it because that feeling of being lost and being taken somewhere else is so strong." In an interview with "NME" the following year, Guy Garvey of Elbow recognised "Hunky Dory" as the album that had influenced him the most.


title: Hunky Dory

text: The album has been reissued multiple times. Following its release on compact disc in the mid-1980s, "Hunky Dory" was rereleased by Rykodisc/EMI with bonus tracks in 1990, including the outtake "Bombers". In 1999, the original album was reissued through Virgin/EMI with 24-bit digitally remastered sound. This edition was re-pressed in 2014 by Parlophone, having acquired the Virgin-owned Bowie catalogue. In 2015, the album was remastered for the "Five Years (1969–1973)" box set. It was released in CD, vinyl, and digital formats, both as part of this compilation and separately. In 2021, Parlophone announced a new reissue of the album as a picture disc on vinyl to celebrate the record's 50th anniversary, which was released on 7January 2022—what would have been Bowie's 75th anniversary. The announcement coincided with a new mix of "Changes" by Scott.


title: Hunky Dory

text: "Hunky Dory" has frequently appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time by multiple publications. In 1998, "Q" magazine readers voted it the 43rd greatest album of all time; in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 16 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album ranked number 16 and number 23 in the 1998 and 2000 editions of Colin Larkin's book "All Time Top 1000 Albums", respectively. In their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, "Rolling Stone" ranked it number 107 in 2003, number 108 in the 2012 revised list, and number 88 in the 2020 revised list. In 2004, "Pitchfork" ranked the album 80th on their list of the 100 Best Albums of the 1970s, one place above "Ziggy Stardust". In the same year, VH1 placed it 47th in their list of the 100 greatest albums. A year later, in a listing of the "coolest" albums by "GQ", ranked it 45th. The French retailer Fnac's 2008 list named "Hunky Dory" the 86th greatest album of all time. In 2010, "Time" magazine chose it as one of the 100 best albums of all time, with journalist Josh Tyrangiel praising Bowie's "earthbound ambition to be a boho poet with prodigal style". The same year, "Consequence of Sound" ranked the album number 18 on their list of the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2013, "NME" ranked the album third in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, behind the Beatles' "Revolver" and the Smiths' "The Queen Is Dead". In 2015, "Ultimate Classic Rock" included it in their list of the 100 best rock albums from the 1970s.


title: Hunky Dory

text: Robert Dimery included the album in his 2005 book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Based on "Hunky Dory"s appearances in professional rankings and listings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists it as the 8th most acclaimed album of 1971, the 23rd most acclaimed album of the 1970s and the 75th most acclaimed album in history.


title: Hunky Dory

text: All tracks are written by David Bowie, except "Fill Your Heart", written by Biff Rose and Paul Williams.


title: Urinary system

text: The urinary system, also known as the urinary tract or renal system, consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and the urethra. The purpose of the urinary system is to eliminate waste from the body, regulate blood volume and blood pressure, control levels of electrolytes and metabolites, and regulate blood pH. The urinary tract is the body's drainage system for the eventual removal of urine. The kidneys have an extensive blood supply via the renal arteries which leave the kidneys via the renal vein. Each kidney consists of functional units called nephrons. Following filtration of blood and further processing, wastes (in the form of urine) exit the kidney via the ureters, tubes made of smooth muscle fibres that propel urine towards the urinary bladder, where it is stored and subsequently expelled from the body by urination (voiding). The female and male urinary system are very similar, differing only in the length of the urethra.


title: Urinary system

text: Urine is formed in the kidneys through a filtration of blood. The urine is then passed through the ureters to the bladder, where it is stored. During urination, the urine is passed from the bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body.


title: Urinary system

text: 8002,000 milliliters (mL) of urine are normally produced every day in a healthy human. This amount varies according to fluid intake and kidney function.


title: Urinary system

text: The urinary system, refers to the structures that produce and transport urine to the point of excretion. In the human urinary system there are two kidneys that are located between the dorsal body wall and parietal peritoneum on both the left and right sides.


title: Urinary system

text: The formation of urine begins within the functional unit of the kidney, the nephrons. Urine then flows through the nephrons, through a system of converging tubules called collecting ducts. These collecting ducts then join together to form the minor calyces, followed by the major calyces that ultimately join the renal pelvis. From here, urine continues its flow from the renal pelvis into the ureter, transporting urine into the urinary bladder. The anatomy of the human urinary system differs between males and females at the level of the urinary bladder. In males, the urethra begins at the internal urethral orifice in the trigone of the bladder, continues through the external urethral orifice, and then becomes the prostatic, membranous, bulbar, and penile urethra. Urine exits through the external urethral meatus. The female urethra is much shorter, beginning at the bladder neck and terminating in the vaginal vestibule.


title: Urinary system

text: Under microscopy, the urinary system is covered in a unique lining called urothelium, a type of transitional epithelium. Unlike the epithelial lining of most organs, transitional epithelium can flatten and distend. Urothelium covers most of the urinary system, including the renal pelvis, ureters, and bladder.


title: Urinary system

text: Average urine production in adult humans is about 12 litres (L) per day, depending on state of hydration, activity level, environmental factors, weight, and the individual's health. Producing too much or too little urine requires medical attention. Polyuria is a condition of excessive urine production (> 2.5 L/day). Oliguria when < 400 mL (millilitres) are produced, and anuria one of < 100 mL per day.


title: Urinary system

text: The first step in urine formation is the filtration of blood in the kidneys. In a healthy human the kidney receives between 12 and 30% of cardiac output, but it averages about 20% or about 1.25 L/min.


title: Urinary system

text: The basic structural and functional unit of the kidney is the nephron. Its chief function is to regulate the concentration of water and soluble substances like sodium by filtering the blood, reabsorbing what is needed and excreting the rest as urine.


title: Urinary system

text: In the first part of the nephron, Bowman's capsule filters blood from the circulatory system into the tubules. Hydrostatic and osmotic pressure gradients facilitate filtration across a semipermeable membrane. The filtrate includes water, small molecules, and ions that easily pass through the filtration membrane. However larger molecules such as proteins and blood cells are prevented from passing through the filtration membrane. The amount of filtrate produced every minute is called the glomerular filtration rate or GFR and amounts to 180 litres per day. About 99% of this filtrate is reabsorbed as it passes through the nephron and the remaining 1% becomes urine.


title: Urinary system

text: The urinary system is regulated by the endocrine system by hormones such as antidiuretic hormone, aldosterone, and parathyroid hormone.


title: Urinary system

text: The urinary system is under influence of the circulatory system, nervous system, and endocrine system.


title: Urinary system

text: Aldosterone plays a central role in regulating blood pressure through its effects on the kidney. It acts on the distal tubules and collecting ducts of the nephron and increases reabsorption of sodium from the glomerular filtrate. Reabsorption of sodium results in retention of water, which increases blood pressure and blood volume. Antidiuretic hormone (ADH), is a neurohypophysial hormone found in most mammals. Its two primary functions are to retain water in the body and vasoconstriction. Vasopressin regulates the body's retention of water by increasing water reabsorption in the collecting ducts of the kidney nephron. Vasopressin increases water permeability of the kidney's collecting duct and distal convoluted tubule by inducing translocation of aquaporin-CD water channels in the kidney nephron collecting duct plasma membrane.


title: Urinary system

text: Urination, also sometimes referred to as micturition, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans (and many other animals), the process of urination is under voluntary control. In infants, some elderly individuals, and those with neurological injury, urination may occur as an involuntary reflex. Physiologically, micturition involves coordination between the central, autonomic, and somatic nervous systems. Brain centers that regulate urination include the pontine micturition center, periaqueductal gray, and the cerebral cortex. In placental mammals the male ejects urine through the penis, and the female through the vulva.


title: Urinary system

text: Urologic disease can involve congenital or acquired dysfunction of the urinary system. As an example, urinary tract obstruction is a urologic disease that can cause urinary retention.


title: Urinary system

text: Diseases of the kidney tissue are normally treated by nephrologists, while diseases of the urinary tract are treated by urologists. Gynecologists may also treat female urinary incontinence.


title: Urinary system

text: Diseases of other bodily systems also have a direct effect on urogenital function. For instance, it has been shown that protein released by the kidneys in diabetes mellitus sensitizes the kidney to the damaging effects of hypertension.


title: Urinary system

text: Diabetes also can have a direct effect in urination due to peripheral neuropathies, which occur in some individuals with poorly controlled blood sugar levels.


title: Urinary system

text: Urinary incontinence can result from a weakening of the pelvic floor muscles caused by factors such as pregnancy, childbirth, aging, and being overweight. Findings recent systematic reviews demonstrate that behavioral therapy generally results in improved urinary incontinence outcomes, especially for stress and urge UI, than medications alone. Pelvic floor exercises known as Kegel exercises can help in this condition by strengthening the pelvic floor. There can also be underlying medical reasons for urinary incontinence which are often treatable. In children, the condition is called enuresis.


title: Urinary system

text: Some cancers also target the urinary system, including bladder cancer, kidney cancer, ureteral cancer, and urethral cancer. Due to the role and location of these organs, treatment is often complicated.


title: Urinary system

text: Kidney stones have been identified and recorded about as long as written historical records exist. The urinary tract including the ureters, as well as their function to drain urine from the kidneys, has been described by Galen in the second century AD.


title: Urinary system

text: The first to examine the ureter through an internal approach, called ureteroscopy, rather than surgery was Hampton Young in 1929. This was improved on by VF Marshall who is the first published use of a flexible endoscope based on fiber optics, which occurred in 1964. The insertion of a drainage tube into the renal pelvis, bypassing the ureters and urinary tract, called nephrostomy, was first described in 1941. Such an approach differed greatly from the open surgical approaches within the urinary system employed during the preceding two millennia.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective helicopter divisions. Airbus Helicopters designates it as the EC665. In France and Spain, the Tiger is known as the Tigre (which is French and Spanish for Tiger), while in Germany it is referred to as the Tiger.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: Development of the Tiger started during the Cold War, and it was initially intended as an anti-tank helicopter platform to be used against a Soviet ground invasion of Western Europe. During its prolonged development period the Soviet Union collapsed, changing the European security situation. France and Germany chose to proceed with the Tiger, developing it instead as a multirole attack helicopter. It achieved operational readiness in 2008.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Tiger has the distinction of being the first all-composite helicopter developed in Europe; even the earliest models also incorporate other advanced features such as a glass cockpit, stealth technology, and high agility to increase its survivability. Improved variants have since entered service, outfitted with more powerful engines and compatible with a wider range of weapons. Since entering service, Tigers have been used in combat in Afghanistan, Libya, and Mali.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In 1984, the French and West German governments issued a requirement for an advanced antitank helicopter, with one variant desired by the French dedicated to the escort and antihelicopter role.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: As originally planned, both countries would procure a total of 427 helicopters. The West Germans planned on acquiring 212 models of the anti-tank variant named PAH-2 ("Panzerabwehrhubschrauber" or "Anti-tank helicopter"), with deliveries starting at the end of 1992. The French wanted 75 HAPs ("Hélicoptère d'Appui Protection" or "Support and Escort Helicopter") and 140 HACs ("Hélicoptère Anti Char" or "Anti Tank Helicopter"), with deliveries starting at the end of 1991 and 1995, respectively.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: A joint venture consisting of Aérospatiale and MBB was subsequently chosen as the preferred supplier. In 1986, the development programme was effectively canceled due to spiraling costs; it had been officially calculated that supplying the German forces with an equivalent number of US-produced McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache attack helicopters would have been a considerably cheaper alternative to proceeding with the development of the Tiger. According to statements by the French Defence Minister André Giraud in April 1986, the collaborative effort had become more expensive than an individual national programme and was also forecast to take longer to complete. In July 1986, a government report into the project alleged that development had become distanced from the requirements and preferences of its military customers.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: France and Germany reorganised the programme, including steps such as the adoption of fixed-term contracts which placed greater financial risk upon the private firms involved. Thomson CSF also took over the majority of Tiger's electronic development work, such as the visual systems and sensors. Despite the early development problems and the political uncertainty between 1984 and 1986, the program was formally relaunched in November 1987; it was at this point that a greater emphasis on the attack helicopter's anti-tank capabilities came about. Much of the project's organisational framework was rapidly redeveloped between 1987 and 1989; such as the installation of a Franco-German Helicopter Office to act as a program executive agency in May 1989.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In November 1989, Eurocopter signed an agreement that financially secured the majority of the helicopter's development through to serial production, including arrangements for two assembly lines to be built at Aerospatiale's Marignane plant and MBB's Donauwörth facility. This same arrangement also included the manufacture of five Tiger prototypes. Three were to operate as unarmed testbeds and the other two as armed combat prototypes with one for the French escort helicopter variant and the other for the German anti-tank variant. The first prototype took the Tiger's maiden flight on 27 April 1991 that lasted for 30 minutes.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: Due to the end of the Cold War and subsequent defence budgets decreases in the 1990s, financial pressures led to further questions regarding the necessity for the entire program; in 1992 there was speculation that the German Defence Ministry might not continue with the project due to the requirement to make fiscal cutbacks. However, Germany was also increasingly keen for the Tiger to perform a wider assortment of missions; beyond being an excellent anti-tank platform, the specifications for the German platform were modified to include armed battlefield reconnaissance, close air support of ground troops, and escorting other helicopters.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In 1992, Aérospatiale and MBB, among other companies, merged to form the Eurocopter Group; this led to considerable consolidation of the aerospace industry and the Tiger project itself. A major agreement was struck in December 1996 between France and Germany that cemented the Tiger's prospects and committed the development of supporting elements, such as a series of new generation missile designs for use by the new helicopter. National political issues continued to affect the prospects of the Tiger, however. A proposed sale of up to 145 Tigers to Turkey proved a source of controversy; Turkey selected the Tiger as the preferred option, but conflicting attitudes between Eurocopter, France, and Germany in regards to military exports led to Turkey withdrawing its interest.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: On 18 June 1999, Germany and France publicly placed orders for an initial batch of 160 Tiger helicopters, 80 for each nation, valued at €3.3 billion. On 22 March 2002, the first production Tiger was rolled out in a large ceremony held at Eurocopter's Donauwörth factory; although production models began initial acceptance trials in 2003, the first official delivery to the French Army took place on 18 March 2005; the first official Tiger delivery to Germany followed on 6 April 2005. Germany reduced its order to 57 in March 2013. In 2008 OCCAR estimated the project cost at . France's FY2013 budget put their share of the project at €6.4bn (~US$8.7bn), implying a programme cost of €14.7bn (~US$20.1bn) to the three main partners. The 2013 French White Paper changed the mix to 60 HAP and 20 of the more expensive HAD; at FY2013 prices, their HAP cost €27.4m/unit (~US$37m) and their HAD €36.1m/unit (~US$49m), including development costs the French Tigers cost €80m (~US$109m) each. In December 2015, France placed an additional order for 7 HAD helicopters, with the plan to upgrade the entire fleet to the HAD standard by 2025 for a total of 67 helicopters.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: During the 1990s, export prospects for the Tiger had been invigorated by two large bids for orders from Britain and the Netherlands. Discreet talks between Britain and France regarding an association with the Tiger had been continuing since the late 1980s and, although Britain had initially dismissed industrial participation in the project, it was known by the mid 1990s that Britain was prepared to purchase modern attack helicopters from abroad. Eurocopter's management was keen to press production of the Tiger into action as soon as possible, as uncertainty over the date at which production, and therefore availability, would start was viewed as negatively impacting potential export deals. In both the Netherlands and Britain, a considerable amount of lobbying pressure was applied in the hopes of the Tiger's selection. However, neither country would order the Tiger.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: On 21 December 2001, Eurocopter was awarded the contract to meet the Australian Army's "AIR 87 requirement" for 22 Tiger helicopters of the ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) version. Modifications from the standard Tiger included new communications and avionics systems, as well as compatibility with Australian safety requirements. Per the contract's terms, 18 of the 22 aircraft were assembled at Australian Aerospace's Brisbane facility, a subsidiary of Eurocopter. On 1 July 2007, because of delays in attaining operational capability, Australia's Defence Materiel Organisation stopped all payments in regards to the procurement. According to Australia's Department of Defence, by 2008 the main issues had been addressed and payments resumed accordingly. In October 2010, it was revealed that the helicopters will not be fully operational for another two years. In December 2011, the final Tiger ARH was delivered to the Australian Army. In August 2019, Australia announced LAND 4503, the Tiger ARH replacement program.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In September 2003, Spain selected a variant of the Tiger HAP combat support helicopter – the Tiger HAD – for its army. The 24 helicopters of this type would be armed with the PARS 3 LR and Mistral missile systems, and feature uprated Enhanced MTR390 engines capable of lifting heavier payloads. Deliveries of the HAD variant began in 2007. The September 2003 arrangements not only involved a procurement deal but the induction of Spain into the Tiger program itself, leading to the greater integration of parts of Spain's aeronautics industry with the new multinational Eurocopter organisation. Shortly following Spain's order, France chose to not proceed with the pure anti-tank Tiger HAC variant, instead electing to procure the multirole-oriented Tiger HAD being procured by Spain.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In July 2006, the Saudi government signed a €6.9 billion contract for the sale of 142 helicopters, including 12 Tiger attack helicopters. However, in late 2007, the deal was cancelled for unknown reasons.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In May 2007, in response to an issued tender for 22 attack helicopters for the Indian Air Force, the Tiger was entered into a competition against multiple Russian and American helicopters. In late 2009, it was reported that the Tiger would not be able to participate in the Indian field trials as it was to undergo upgrades. In 2011, several Tigers participated in firing trials of the PARS 3 LR missile as part of a sales effort targeted at the Indian armed forces.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In 2012, the Tiger competed for a ₩1.8 trillion contract to provide up to 20 attack helicopters for South Korea, along with the Boeing AH-64 Apache and the TAI/AgustaWestland T-129; South Korea selected the AH-64 in April 2013. In January 2013, Eurocopter was reportedly in active discussions over potential Tiger procurements with Brazil, Malaysia, and Qatar. As of December 2015, the Tiger was reportedly contending for a Polish requirement for a new attack helicopter as a replacement for the Mil Mi-24 fleet.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Tiger is capable of undertaking a wide range of combat missions, including armed reconnaissance and surveillance, anti-tank and close air support, escort and protection of friendly assets; and can operate during day or night in all weather conditions, and has been designed to include operations in the aftermath of nuclear, biological, or chemical warfare. The Tiger can also be used in the maritime environment, able to operate from the decks of ships including frigates, and during extreme weather conditions. Amongst the Tiger's notable qualities, it possesses very high levels of agility, much of which is attributed to the design of its 13-meter four-bladed hingeless main rotor; the Tiger can perform full loops and negative "g" manoeuvres. Power is provided by a pair of FADEC-controlled MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce MTR390 turboshaft engines.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Tiger has a tandem-seat 'glass cockpit' and is operated by a two-man crew; the pilot is placed in the forward position, with the gunner seated behind. Either of the crew members can manage the weapon systems or the primary flight controls, switching roles if necessitated; in addition to flying the aircraft, the Tiger's pilot would typically be in control of the self-defence systems and communications, as well as some secondary weapons functions. While some of the weapons use dedicated control interfaces, such as the anti-tank Trigat missile, air-to-air weapons can be managed via controls on both sets of collective and cyclic sticks.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: Crew new to the Tiger have to undergo substantial retraining due to the differences from older platforms, particularly in higher workload management and the additional capabilities afforded by the type; one major change from preceding attack helicopters is a far greater degree of operational autonomy. According to Andrew Warner, chief test pilot during the Tiger's development, it is "the easiest-handling aircraft I have ever flown".


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The system cost (helicopter, armament, support) and unit cost vary between variants; Australia's Tiger ARH has a price per unit of A$ 68 million, the latest Tiger HAD variant is estimated to cost US$ 44–48 million.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The protection systems employed on the Tiger includes stealth; aspects such as the visual, radar, infrared and acoustic signatures have been minimised to better evade threats that may be present upon the battlefield. According to Andrew Warner, the Tiger's survivability "relies on stealth and agility". The use of composite materials on the airframe has resulted in reductions in radar cross-section (RCS), infrared and acoustic signatures to improve battlefield survivability. The fuselage is armoured and was developed to withstand small arms fire and cannon rounds. The helicopter has various radar/laser warning and missile approach detection systems, including EADS's AN/AAR-60 MILDS (Missile Launch Detection System), as well as flares and chaff dispensers.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Tiger is the first all-composite helicopter developed in Europe. The fuselage of the Tiger is made from 80% carbon fibre reinforced polymer and kevlar, 11% aluminium, and 6% titanium. The entire tail section is made of composites, including the single section tail boom. The rotors are composed of a fibre plastic composite material able to withstand combat damage and bird strikes. The structure of the Tiger also incorporates protection against lightning strikes and electromagnetic pulses via an embedded copper/bronze grid and copper bonding foil.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The design of the Tiger includes a high degree of crash worthiness; many of the onboard systems have redundancies and are segregated to minimise the effect of damage. Components of the propulsion system, such as the rotors and drive shaft, were deliberately designed for greater ballistic tolerance than traditional designs; the gearbox is rated for a 60-minute dry run capability if lubrication is lost. Fuel is contained in two main internal fuel tanks, and an additional two smaller tanks are housed inside the stub wings. Fuel tanks have self-sealing capability to decrease the vulnerability. In the inhospitable conditions of the Afghanistan theatre, the Tiger had a reported operational availability of 90%.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: Amongst the key avionics features of the aircraft are the EUROGRID battlefield management and map display systems, integrated communications (HF/VHF/FM radio and satellite) and data transfer links, a high-authority digital automatic flight control system, and redundant MIL 1553 data buses. Two redundant mission computers control the weapons, sensors, and targeting functions. The Tiger's navigational suite includes GPS, dual redundant inertial referencing, Doppler radar, separated air data units, radio altimeter and distributed air speed sensors. A dedicated nose-mounted forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor is used by the pilot for night time flying.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: Each crew member has a pair of multifunction liquid crystal data displays at their control station, typically used to display internal systems information and sensory data, and to interact with the aircraft's higher systems. An additional display system is available to both crew in the form of the helmet-mounted display (HMD). The HMD is used by the flying pilot to display basic flight data with digitally enhanced optics, such as night vision or infrared imagery from the sensors, superimposed against; the gunner can use the HMD to interact with and control onboard weapon systems and view targeting data.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: Perhaps the most significant single avionics system fitted upon the Tiger is the mast-mounted Osiris sight/sensor; this incorporates optical TV and thermal cameras, a laser range finder/tracker/designator, and multiple gyroscopes for stabilisation. Osiris performs as the main sensor for target observation and acquisition, providing firing and targeting data via the weapons computer; Osiris also enables entirely passive target acquisition to be undertaken and was developed to maximise the capabilities of the Trigat anti-tank missile developed in parallel to the Tiger itself. An alternative optical system to Osiris is mounted on the aircraft's roof upon some variants.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Tiger can be fitted with various armaments including rockets, cannons, and a range of air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, controlled via a dedicated weapons control computer. Munitions for anti-ground warfare include the nose-mounted 30 mm Nexter turret; an assortment of external gun pods, anti-tank missiles, and up to four launchers for 70 and 68 mm rockets can be mounted on the Tiger's stub wings. When deploying missiles such as the Mistral, the Tiger is capable of taking advantage of the munition's off-boresight capabilities. A guided 70 mm rocket will be developed for the Tiger based on the Roketsan Cirit.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In December 2008, final qualification of the HAP and UHT variants of the Tiger was completed, marking the platform's readiness for operational duties overseas. In May 2009, the Tiger participated in readiness trials off the coast of Toulon to clear the type for active shipboard deployments. By November 2009, nearly 50 Tigers had been delivered to customers and the worldwide fleet had accumulated more than 13,000 flight hours.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In July 2009, three French Tiger HAP helicopters of the 5th Helicopter Regiment arrived at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan, marking the first active deployment of the Tiger into an active combat zone. The helicopters performed armed reconnaissance and fire support missions, acting in support of coalition ground troops fighting a Taliban insurgency. The Tigers had their operational certification in Afghanistan in early August 2009; one French officer described the Tiger's role in the theatre as "find, attack, suppress, seize, raid, and support". By July 2010, it was reported that the Tiger detachment had totalled 1,000 operational hours in Afghanistan. On 4 February 2011, a French Tiger crashed during a night time operation about 30 miles east of Kabul and both crew members suffered light injuries.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In August 2009, the German magazine "Der Spiegel" reported that the ten operational Tigers in the German Army were only suitable for pilot training, while others had not been accepted due to defects. In May 2010, Germany suspended deliveries over "serious defects particularly with wiring"; in response Eurocopter stated that "Corrective measures related to wiring problems have been developed, agreed by the customer and are being implemented", and that two corrected helicopters would soon be handed over to the German military.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: During the 2011 military intervention in Libya, France deployed the amphibious assault helicopter carrier, carrying a number of Tiger attack helicopters aboard, to the Libyan coast to conduct military operations upon military targets within the country. On 4 June 2011, French Tigers, alongside British Army Apache helicopters, began conducting combat operations in Libya.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In December 2012, a four-ship flight of German Tiger UHTs was deployed Afghanistan. Operating from Mazar-i-Sharif, they performed reconnaissance, ground support, and convoy protection missions. All had previously undergone upgrades under the ASGARD programme; the modifications include the addition of new defensive systems, sand filters for the MTR390 engines, and enhancements to the communications suite. Between 30 January 2013 and 30 June 2014, the German Tigers flew 1,860 hours and 260 sorties supporting NATO ground troops, Afghan security forces, and humanitarian relief efforts after floods. The model fired its first shots in anger in German service on 4 May 2013, providing armed overwatch to special forces troops with unguided rockets and machine gun fire. The German Army received its last ASGARD-upgraded Tigers in March 2014.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In March 2013, Spain also deployed three Tiger HADs to the region to provide support to the Spanish ground forces.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In January 2013, as part of France's intervention in the Northern Mali conflict, a small number of Tigers were deployed for combat operations to that theatre. Early production HADs (Block 1) followed in November 2014 after having been declared combat capable. In March 2017, German Tigers were rotated into the same country in support of MINUSMA, relieving Apaches of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. On the 26th of July, one of the aircraft in question crashed in the desert 700 kilometres north of Gao, killing both pilots. A subsequent investigation discovered that mistakes by improperly trained civilian maintenance contractors had caused a fatal malfunction.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The UHT (from "Unterstützungshubschrauber Tiger" German for "Support Helicopter Tiger") is a medium-weight multi-role fire support helicopter built for the "Bundeswehr" (German Armed Forces). Under an agreement between the German government and Eurocopter made in March 2013, a total of 51 Tiger UHs will enter service. The UHT can carry PARS 3 LR "fire and forget" and/or HOT3 anti-tank missiles as well as Hydra 70 air-to-ground fire support rockets from Belgium manufacturer Forges de Zeebrugge. Four AIM-92 Stinger missiles (two on each side) are mounted for air-to-air combat. Unlike the HAP/HCP version it has no integrated gun turret, but a gunpod can be fitted if needed. The weapon configuration was designed to be multirole and easily convertible to cover the whole spectrum of possible mission scenarios and to be effective against a broad range of targets. Another difference is the use of a mast-mounted sight, which has second-generation infrared and CCD TV cameras (range 18 km).


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Tiger HAP/HCP ("Hélicoptère d'Appui Protection", French for "Support and Escort Helicopter" / "Hélicoptère de Combat Polyvalent" French for "Multipurpose Combat Helicopter") is a medium-weight air-to-air combat and fire support helicopter built for the French Army. It is fitted with a chin-mounted GIAT 30 mm gun turret and can carry 68 mm SNEB unguided rockets or 20 mm machine cannons for the fire support role as well as Mistral air-to-air missiles. France's 40 HAP were delivered by 2012 at a cost of €27m/unit (~US$36m) in 2012 prices. In December 2015, France decided to upgrade its entire existing Tiger fleet to the HAD standard by 2025.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Tiger HAD ("Hélicoptère d'Appui Destruction", in French or "Helicoptero de Apoyo y Destrucción" in Spanish for "Support and Destruction Helicopter") version is essentially identical to the HAP version but better suited for operations in hot environments, with 14% more engine power available due to the upgraded Enhanced MTR390 engines (1,092 kW / 1,464 shp during normal operation; 1,322 kW / 1,774 shp in contingency power mode), maximum take-off weight is increased to 6,600 kg, communication suite is expanded with Up Link and Down Link satellite antenna and better ballistic protection as a result of the specific requests made by the Spanish Army. It is equipped with the Hellfire II and the Spike ER anti-armour missiles. It is suited for attack, escort, ground fire support, armed reconnaissance and air-to-air combat roles.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: It was selected by the Spanish Army and the French Army Light Aviation (ALAT) decided to upgrade most of their HAP helicopters to the HAD variant. In December 2004, Spain ordered 24 of the HAD variant and France ordered 40 HADs. France's 40 HAD will cost €35.6m/unit (~US$48m) in 2012 prices.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In January 2016, it was announced that France was working with Australia, Germany, and Spain to define a proposed further upgrade to its Tiger fleet, referred to as "Tiger Mk3" upgrade. A key aspect of this upgrade, being scheduled to take place around 2023, is to be the adoption of a common anti-tank missile, as well as further improvements to the communication system.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In March 2022 Airbus announced that it had reached agreement with France and Spain to proceed with the MkIII programme, 42 French helicopters will be upgraded with deliveries beginning 2029 and 18 Spanish beginning 2030, the prototype MkIII is expected to first fly in 2025. Each country's MkIII will be slightly different reflecting national requirements, the upgrades include improvements to the mast-mounted electro-optical system; the helmet-mounted sight system; the enhanced vision system; radios; datalinks for manned-unmanned teaming; new air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles, guns, and rockets; improved countermeasures; a new navigation system synchronised to the Galileo satellite navigation system; as well as an updated avionics suite that includes a new tactical data management system and battlefield management system.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Tiger ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) is the version ordered by the Australian Army to replace its OH-58 Kiowas and UH-1 Iroquois-based 'Bushranger' gunships. The Tiger ARH is a modified and upgraded version of the Tiger HAP with upgraded MTR390 engines as well as a laser designator incorporated in the Strix sight for the firing of Hellfire II air-to-ground missiles. Instead of SNEB unguided rockets, the ARH will use 70 mm (2.75 in) rockets from Belgian developer, Forges de Zeebrugge (FZ). Twenty-two of the variant were ordered in December 2001. Most of the helicopters will be operated by the 1st Aviation Regiment based at Robertson Barracks in Darwin. The helicopter was shipped to Australia in part form and locally assembled at Brisbane Airport by Australia Aerospace.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The first two ARH helicopters were delivered to Australia on 15 December 2004. ARH deliveries were to be completed by June 2010 with Full operating capability planned for December 2011.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In 2012 after three incidents with cockpit fumes that endangered aircrew, pilots voted to not fly until all safety concerns were addressed.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In August 2014, the Australian Defence Force and BAE Systems Australia successfully trialled the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System laser guidance kit for use with the ARH's 70mm FZ unguided rockets.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The 2016 Australian Defence White Paper stated that the Tiger helicopters will be replaced with other armed reconnaissance aircraft in the mid 2020s. Issues cited include lack of commonality with the other Tiger variants, high maintenance cost of the engines and the shipping time of sending parts to Europe for repair and reconditioning.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Australian Army's Tiger ARHs reached their final operating capability on 18 April 2016. In April 2019, the Australian Army renewed Airbus Helicopters maintenance contract for a further 5 years running through to 2025.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: In July 2019, Australia's Capability, Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) issued a request for information to replace their Tiger helicopters. This request surprised many experts, as the issues mentioned in the 2016 White Paper appeared to have been mostly resolved. The aim is to procure a "proven and mature, manned, off-the-shelf armed helicopter" that can also operate from Australia's growing fleet of helicopter-capable landing ships. The RFI's deadlines are very strict: Initial Operational Capability should be attained by 2026 and all 29 aircraft and training system should be delivered by 2029 at the latest.


title: Eurocopter Tiger

text: The Australian Government announced in January 2021 that it would purchase 29 AH-64E Apache Guardians to replace the Tigers.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, "ancom" or "ancomm") is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains respect for personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and services. It supports social ownership of property and direct democracy among other horizontal networks for the allocation of production and consumption based on the guiding principle "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". Some forms of anarcho-communism, such as insurrectionary anarchism, are strongly influenced by egoism and radical individualism, believing anarcho-communism to be the best social system for realizing individual freedom. Most anarcho-communists view anarcho-communism as a way of reconciling the opposition between the individual and society.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Anarcho-communism developed out of radical socialist currents after the French Revolution, but it was first formulated as such in the Italian section of the First International. The theoretical work of Peter Kropotkin took importance later as it expanded and developed pro-organizationalist and insurrectionary anti-organizationalist sections. To date, the best-known examples of anarcho-communist societies (i.e., established around the ideas as they exist today and achieving worldwide attention and knowledge in the historical canon) are the anarchist territories during the Spanish Revolution and the Makhnovshchina during the Russian Revolution, where anarchists such as Nestor Makhno worked to create and defend anarcho-communism through the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In 1929, anarcho-communism was implemented in Korea by the Korean Anarchist Federation in Manchuria (KAFM) and the Korean Anarcho-Communist Federation (KACF), with help from anarchist general and independence activist Kim Chwa-chin, lasting until 1931, when Imperial Japan assassinated Kim and invaded from the south, while the Chinese Nationalists invaded from the north, resulting in the creation of Manchukuo, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan. Through the efforts and influence of the Spanish anarchists during the Spanish Revolution within the Spanish Civil War starting in 1936, anarcho-communism existed in most of Aragon, parts of the Levante and Andalusia, as well as in the stronghold of anarchist Catalonia. In 1939, these anarcho-communists were crushed by the combined forces of the Francoist Nationalists (the regime that won the war), Nationalist allies such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and even Spanish Communist Party repression (backed by the Soviet Union), as well as economic and armaments blockades from the capitalist states and the Spanish Republic itself governed by the Republicans.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Early Christian communities have also been described as having anarcho-communist characteristics. Frank Seaver Billings described "Jesusism" as a combination of anarchism and communism. Examples of later Christian egalitarian communities include the Diggers in England. Gerrard Winstanley, who was part of the Diggers movement, wrote in his 1649 pamphlet "The New Law of Righteousness" that there "shall be no buying or selling, no fairs nor markets, but the whole earth shall be a common treasury for every man" and "there shall be none Lord over others, but every one shall be a Lord of himself".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The Diggers resisted the tyranny of the ruling class and kings, instead operating cooperatively to get work done, manage supplies, and increase economic productivity. Due to the communes established by the Diggers being free from private property, along with economic exchange (all items, goods, and services were held collectively), their communes could be called early, functioning communist societies, spread out across the rural lands of England. Before the Industrial Revolution, common ownership of land and property was much more prevalent across the European continent, but the Diggers were set apart by their struggle against monarchical rule. They sprung up using workers' self-management after the fall of Charles I.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In 1703, Louis Armand, Baron de Lahontan, wrote the novel "New Voyages to North America," where he outlined how indigenous communities of the North American continent cooperated and organized. The author found the agrarian societies and communities of pre-colonial North America to be nothing like the monarchical, unequal states of Europe, both in their economic structure and lack of any state. He wrote that the life natives lived was "anarchy", this being the first usage of the term to mean something other than chaos. He wrote that there were no priests, courts, laws, police, ministers of state, and no distinction of property, no way to differentiate rich from poor, as they were all equal and thriving cooperatively.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: During the French Revolution, Sylvain Maréchal, in his "Manifesto of the Equals" (1796), demanded "the communal enjoyment of the fruits of the earth" and looked forward to the disappearance of "the revolting distinction of rich and poor, of great and small, of masters and valets, of governors and governed".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Joseph Déjacque, unlike Proudhon, argued that "it is not the product of his or her labor that the worker has a right to, but to the satisfaction of his or her needs, whatever may be their nature". According to the anarchist historian Max Nettlau, the first use of the term libertarian communism was in November 1880, when a French anarchist congress employed it to identify its doctrines more clearly. The French anarchist journalist Sébastien Faure, later founder and editor of the four-volume "Anarchist Encyclopedia," started the weekly paper ("The Libertarian") in 1895.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: As a coherent, modern economic-political philosophy, anarcho-communism was first formulated in the Italian section of the First International by Carlo Cafiero, Emilio Covelli, Errico Malatesta, Andrea Costa, and other ex-Mazzinian republicans. Collectivist anarchists advocated remuneration for the type and amount of labor adhering to the principle "to each according to deeds" but held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist distribution system according to need. As Mikhail Bakunin's associate James Guillaume put it in his essay "Ideas on Social Organization" (1876): "When [...] production comes to outstrip consumption [...] everyone will draw what he needs from the abundant social reserve of commodities, without fear of depletion; and the moral sentiment which will be more highly developed among free and equal workers will prevent, or greatly reduce, abuse and waste".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The collectivist anarchists sought to collectivize ownership of the means of production while retaining payment proportional to the amount and kind of labor of each individual, but the anarcho-communists sought to extend the concept of collective ownership to the products of labor as well. While both groups argued against capitalism, the anarchist communists departed from Proudhon and Bakunin, who maintained that individuals have a right to the product of their labor and to be remunerated for their particular contribution to production. However, Errico Malatesta stated, "instead of running the risk of making a confusion in trying to distinguish what you and I each do, let us all work and put everything in common. In this way each will give to society all that his strength permits until enough is produced for every one; and each will take all that he needs, limiting his needs only in those things of which there is not yet plenty for every one".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In "Anarchy and Communism" (1880), Carlo Cafiero explains that private property in the product of labor will lead to unequal accumulation of capital and, therefore, the reappearance of social classes and their antagonisms; and thus the resurrection of the state: "If we preserve the individual appropriation of the products of labour, we would be forced to preserve money, leaving more or less accumulation of wealth according to more or less merit rather than need of individuals". At the Florence Conference of the Italian Federation of the International in 1876, held in a forest outside Florence due to police activity, they declared the principles of anarcho-communism as follows:


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The above report was made in an article by Malatesta and Cafiero in the Swiss Jura Federation's bulletin later that year.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921), often seen as the most important theorist of anarchist communism, outlined his economic ideas in "The Conquest of Bread" and "Fields, Factories and Workshops". Kropotkin felt that cooperation is more beneficial than competition, arguing in his major scientific work "" that this was well-illustrated in nature. He advocated the abolition of private property (while retaining respect for personal property) through the "expropriation of the whole of social wealth" by the people themselves and for the economy to be co-ordinated through a horizontal network of voluntary associations where goods are distributed according to the physical needs of the individual, rather than according to labor. He further argued that these "needs," as society progressed, would not merely be physical but "[a]s soon as his material wants are satisfied, other needs, of an artistic character, will thrust themselves forward the more ardently. Aims of life vary with each and every individual; and the more society is civilized, the more will individuality be developed, and the more will desires be varied." He maintained that in anarcho-communism, "houses, fields, and factories will no longer be private property, and that they will belong to the commune or the nation and money, wages, and trade would be abolished".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Individuals and groups would use and control whatever resources they needed, as the aim of anarchist communism was to place "the product reaped or manufactured at the disposal of all, leaving to each the liberty to consume them as he pleases in his own home". He supported the expropriation of private property into the commons or public goods (while retaining respect for personal property) to ensure that everyone would have access to what they needed without being forced to sell their labor to get it, arguing:


title: Anarcho-communism

text: He said that a "peasant who is in possession of just the amount of land he can cultivate" and "a family inhabiting a house which affords them just enough space [...] considered necessary for that number of people" and the artisan "working with their own tools or handloom" would not be interfered with, arguing that "[t]he landlord owes his riches to the poverty of the peasants, and the wealth of the capitalist comes from the same source".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: At the Berne conference of the International Workingmen's Association in 1876, the Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta argued that the revolution "consists more of deeds than words" and that action was the most effective form of propaganda. In the bulletin of the Jura Federation, he declared, "the Italian federation believes that the insurrectional fact, destined to affirm socialist principles by deed, is the most efficacious means of propaganda".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: As anarcho-communism emerged in the mid-19th century, it had an intense debate with Bakuninist collectivism and, within the anarchist movement, over participation in syndicalism and the workers' movement, as well as on other issues. So in "the theory of the revolution" of anarcho-communism as elaborated by Peter Kropotkin and others, "it is the risen people who are the real agent and not the working class organised in the enterprise (the cells of the capitalist mode of production) and seeking to assert itself as labour power, as a more 'rational' industrial body or social brain (manager) than the employers".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Between 1880 and 1890, with the "perspective of an immanent revolution", who was "opposed to the official workers' movement, which was then in the process of formation (general Social Democratisation). They were opposed not only to political (statist) struggles but also to strikes which put forward wage or other claims, or which were organised by trade unions." However, "[w]hile they were not opposed to strikes as such, they were opposed to trade unions and the struggle for the eight-hour day. This anti-reformist tendency was accompanied by an anti-organisational tendency, and its partisans declared themselves in favor of agitation amongst the unemployed for the expropriation of foodstuffs and other articles, for the expropriatory strike and, in some cases, for 'individual recuperation' or acts of terrorism."


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Even after Peter Kropotkin and others overcame their initial reservations and decided to enter labor unions, there remained "the anti-syndicalist anarchist-communists, who in France were grouped around Sébastien Faure's "Le Libertaire". From 1905 onwards, the Russian counterparts of these anti-syndicalist anarchist-communists become partisans of economic terrorism and illegal 'expropriations'." Illegalism as a practice emerged, and within it, "[t]he acts of the anarchist bombers and assassins ("propaganda by the deed") and the anarchist burglars ("individual reappropriation") expressed their desperation and their personal, violent rejection of an intolerable society. Moreover, they were clearly meant to be exemplary, invitations to revolt."


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Proponents and activists of these tactics, among others, included Johann Most, Luigi Galleani, Victor Serge, Giuseppe Ciancabilla, and Severino Di Giovanni. The Italian Giuseppe Ciancabilla (1872–1904) wrote in "Against organization" that "we don't want tactical programs, and consequently we don't want organization. Having established the aim, the goal to which we hold, we leave every anarchist free to choose from the means that his sense, his education, his temperament, his fighting spirit suggest to him as best. We don't form fixed programs and we don't form small or great parties. But we come together spontaneously, and not with permanent criteria, according to momentary affinities for a specific purpose, and we constantly change these groups as soon as the purpose for which we had associated ceases to be, and other aims and needs arise and develop in us and push us to seek new collaborators, people who think as we do in the specific circumstance."


title: Anarcho-communism

text: By the 1880s, anarcho-communism was already present in the United States, as seen in the journal "Freedom: A Revolutionary Anarchist-Communist Monthly" by Lucy Parsons and Lizzy Holmes. Lucy Parsons debated in her time in the United States with fellow anarcho-communist Emma Goldman over free love and feminism issues. Another anarcho-communist journal later appeared in the United States called "The Firebrand". Most anarchist publications in the United States were in Yiddish, German, or Russian, but "Free Society" was published in English, permitting the dissemination of anarchist communist thought to English-speaking populations in the United States. Around that time, these American anarcho-communist sectors debated with the individualist anarchist group around Benjamin Tucker. In February 1888, Berkman left for the United States from his native Russia. Soon after he arrived in New York City, Berkman became an anarchist through his involvement with groups that had formed to campaign to free the men convicted of the 1886 Haymarket bombing. He, as well as Emma Goldman, soon came under the influence of Johann Most, the best-known anarchist in the United States; and an advocate of propaganda of the deed—"attentat", or violence carried out to encourage the masses to revolt. Berkman became a typesetter for Most's newspaper .


title: Anarcho-communism

text: According to anarchist historian Max Nettlau, the first use of the term "libertarian communism" was in November 1880, when a French anarchist congress employed it to identify its doctrines more clearly. The French anarchist journalist Sébastien Faure started the weekly paper ("The Libertarian") in 1895.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In Ukraine, the anarcho-communist guerrilla leader Nestor Makhno led an independent anarchist army during the Russian Civil War. A commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, Makhno led a guerrilla campaign opposing both the Bolshevik "Reds" and monarchist "Whites". The Makhnovist movement made various tactical military pacts while fighting various reaction forces and organizing an anarchist society committed to resisting state authority, whether capitalist or Bolshevik. After successfully repelling Austro-Hungarian, White, and Ukrainian Nationalist forces, the Makhnovists militia and anarchist communist territories in Ukraine were eventually crushed by Bolshevik military forces.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In the Mexican Revolution, the Mexican Liberal Party was established. During the early 1910s, it led a series of military offensives leading to the conquest and occupation of certain towns and districts in Baja California, with the leadership of anarcho-communist Ricardo Flores Magón. Kropotkin's "The Conquest of Bread", which Flores Magón considered a kind of anarchist bible, served as the basis for the short-lived revolutionary communes in Baja California during the Magónista Revolt of 1911. Emiliano Zapata and his army and allies, including Pancho Villa, fought for agrarian reform in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. Specifically, they wanted to establish communal land rights for Mexico's indigenous population, which had mostly lost its land to the wealthy elite of European descent. Zapata was partly influenced by Ricardo Flores Magón. The influence of Flores Magón on Zapata can be seen in the Zapatistas' Plan de Ayala, but even more noticeably in their slogan (Zapata never used this slogan) "Tierra y libertad" or "land and liberty", the title and maxim of Flores Magón's most famous work. Zapata's introduction to anarchism came via a local schoolteacher, Otilio Montaño Sánchez, later a general in Zapata's army, executed on 17 May 1917, who exposed Zapata to the works of Peter Kropotkin and Flores Magón at the same time as Zapata was observing and beginning to participate in the struggles of the peasants for the land.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: A group of exiled Russian anarchists attempted to address and explain the anarchist movement's failures during the Russian Revolution. They wrote the "Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists," which was written in 1926 by "Dielo Truda" ("Workers' Cause"). The pamphlet analyzes the fundamental anarchist beliefs, a vision of an anarchist society, and recommendations on how an anarchist organization should be structured. According to the "Platform", the four main principles by which an anarchist organization should operate are ideological unity, tactical unity, collective action, and federalism. The Platform argues, "We have vital need of an organization which, having attracted most of the participants in the anarchist movement, would establish a common tactical and political line for anarchism and thereby serve as a guide for the whole movement".


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The Platform attracted strong criticism from many sectors of the anarchist movement of the time, including some of the most influential anarchists such as Volin, Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Camillo Berneri, Max Nettlau, Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman, and Grigorii Maksimov. Malatesta, after initially opposing the Platform, later agreed with the Platform, confirming that the original difference of opinion was due to linguistic confusion: "I find myself more or less in agreement with their way of conceiving the anarchist organisation (being very far from the authoritarian spirit which the "Platform" seemed to reveal) and I confirm my belief that behind the linguistic differences really lie identical positions."


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Two texts made by the anarchist communists Sébastien Faure and Volin as responses to the Platform, each proposing different models, are the basis for what became known as the organization of synthesis, or simply synthesism. Volin published in 1924 a paper calling for "the anarchist synthesis" and was also the author of the article in Sébastien Faure's on the same topic. The primary purpose behind the synthesis was that the anarchist movement in most countries was divided into three main tendencies: communist anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism, and individualist anarchism, and so such an organization could contain anarchists of these three tendencies very well. Faure, in his text "Anarchist synthesis", has the view that "these currents were not contradictory but complementary, each having a role within anarchism: anarcho-syndicalism as the strength of the mass organizations and the best way for the practice of anarchism; libertarian communism as a proposed future society based on the distribution of the fruits of labor according to the needs of each one; anarcho-individualism as a negation of oppression and affirming the individual right to development of the individual, seeking to please them in every way. The Dielo Truda platform in Spain also met with strong criticism. Miguel Jimenez, a founding member of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), summarized this as follows: too much influence in it of Marxism, it erroneously divided and reduced anarchists between individualist anarchists and anarcho-communist sections, and it wanted to unify the anarchist movement along the lines of the anarcho-communists. He saw anarchism as more complex than that, that anarchist tendencies are not mutually exclusive as the platformists saw it and that both individualist and communist views could accommodate anarchosyndicalism. Sébastian Faure had strong contacts in Spain, so his proposal had more impact on Spanish anarchists than the Dielo Truda platform, even though individualist anarchist influence in Spain was less intense than it was in France. The main goal there was reconciling anarcho-communism with anarcho-syndicalism.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Gruppo Comunista Anarchico di Firenze pointed out that during the early twentieth century, the terms "libertarian communism" and "anarchist communism" became synonymous within the international anarchist movement as a result of the close connection they had in Spain (see Anarchism in Spain) (with "libertarian communism" becoming the prevalent term).


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The Korean Anarchist Movement in Korea, led by Kim Chwa-chin, briefly brought anarcho-communism to Korea. The success was short-lived and much less widespread than the anarchism in Spain. The Korean People's Association in Manchuria had established a stateless, classless society where all means of production were run and operated by the workers, and all possessions were held in common by the community.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The most extensive application of anarcho-communist ideas (i.e., established around the ideas as they exist today and achieving worldwide attention and knowledge in the historical canon) happened in the anarchist territories during the Spanish Revolution.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In Spain, the national anarcho-syndicalist trade union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo initially refused to join a popular front electoral alliance, and abstention by CNT supporters led to a right-wing election victory. In 1936, the CNT changed its policy, and anarchist votes helped bring the popular front back to power. Months later, the former ruling class responded with an attempted coup causing the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). In response to the army rebellion, an anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of Barcelona and large areas of rural Spain, where they collectivized the land. However, even before the fascist victory in 1939, the anarchists were losing ground in a bitter struggle with the Stalinists, who controlled the distribution of military aid to the Republican cause from the Soviet Union. The events known as the Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and, more broadly, libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to three years, primarily Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, and parts of the Levante. Much of Spain's economy was put under worker control; in anarchist strongholds like Catalonia, the figure was as high as 75%, but lower in areas with heavy Communist Party of Spain influence, as the Soviet-allied party actively resisted attempts at collectivization enactment. Factories were run through worker committees, and agrarian areas became collectivized and ran as libertarian communes. Anarchist historian Sam Dolgoff estimated that about eight million people participated directly or at least indirectly in the Spanish Revolution, which he claimed "came closer to realizing the ideal of the free stateless society on a vast scale than any other revolution in history". Stalinist-led troops suppressed the collectives and persecuted both dissident Marxists and anarchists.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Although every sector of the stateless parts of Spain had undergone workers' self-management, collectivization of agricultural and industrial production, and in parts using money or some degree of private property, heavy regulation of markets by democratic communities, other areas throughout Spain used no money at all, and followed principles in accordance with "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". One such example was the libertarian communist village of Alcora in the Valencian Community, where money was absent, and the distribution of properties and services was done based upon needs, not who could afford them.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Anarcho-communism entered into internal debates over the organization issue in the post-World War II era. Founded in October 1935, the Anarcho-Communist Federation of Argentina (FACA, Federación Anarco-Comunista Argentina) in 1955 renamed itself the Argentine Libertarian Federation. The Fédération Anarchiste (FA) was founded in Paris on 2 December 1945 and elected the platformist anarcho-communist George Fontenis as its first secretary the following year. It was composed of a majority of activists from the former FA (which supported Volin's Synthesis) and some members of the former Union Anarchiste, which supported the CNT-FAI support to the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War, as well as some young Resistants. In 1950 a clandestine group formed within the FA called Organisation Pensée Bataille (OPB), led by George Fontenis. The "Manifesto of Libertarian Communism" was written in 1953 by Georges Fontenis for the "Federation Communiste Libertaire" of France. It is one of the key texts of the anarchist-communist current known as platformism. The OPB pushed for a move that saw the FA change its name to the (FCL) after the 1953 Congress in Paris, while an article in indicated the end of the cooperation with the French Surrealist Group led by André Breton.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The new decision-making process was founded on unanimity: each person has a right of veto on the orientations of the federation. The FCL published the same year . Several groups quit the FCL in December 1955, disagreeing with the decision to present "revolutionary candidates" to the legislative elections. On 15–20 August 1954, the Ve intercontinental plenum of the CNT took place. A group called appeared, which was formed of militants who did not like the new ideological orientation that the OPB was giving the FCL seeing it was authoritarian and almost Marxist. The FCL lasted until 1956, just after participating in state legislative elections with ten candidates. This move alienated some members of the FCL and thus produced the end of the organization. A group of militants who disagreed with the FA turning into FCL reorganized a new Federation Anarchiste established in December 1953. This included those who formed "L'Entente anarchiste," who joined the new FA and then dissolved L'Entente. The new base principles of the FA were written by the individualist anarchist Charles-Auguste Bontemps and the non-platformist anarcho-communist Maurice Joyeux which established an organization with a plurality of tendencies and autonomy of groups organized around synthesist principles. According to historian Cédric Guérin, "the unconditional rejection of Marxism became from that moment onwards an identity element of the new Federation Anarchiste". This was motivated in a significant part by the previous conflict with George Fontenis and his OPB.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In Italy, the Italian Anarchist Federation was founded in 1945 in Carrara. It adopted an "Associative Pact" and the "Anarchist Program" of Errico Malatesta. It decided to publish the weekly "Umanità Nova," retaking the name of the journal published by Errico Malatesta. Inside the FAI, the Anarchist Groups of Proletarian Action (GAAP) was founded, led by Pier Carlo Masini, which "proposed a Libertarian Party with an anarchist theory and practice adapted to the new economic, political and social reality of post-war Italy, with an internationalist outlook and effective presence in the workplaces [...] The GAAP allied themselves with the similar development within the French Anarchist movement", as led by George Fontenis. Another tendency that did not identify either with the more classical FAI or with the GAAP started to emerge as local groups. These groups emphasized direct action, informal affinity groups, and expropriation for financing anarchist activity. From within these groups, the influential insurrectionary anarchist Alfredo Maria Bonanno will emerge influenced by the practice of the Spanish exiled anarchist José Lluis Facerías. In the early seventies, a platformist tendency emerged within the Italian Anarchist Federation, which argued for more strategic coherence and social insertion in the workers' movement while rejecting the synthesist "Associative Pact" of Malatesta, which the FAI adhered to. These groups started organizing themselves outside the FAI in organizations such as O.R.A. from Liguria, which organized a Congress attended by 250 delegates of groups from 60 locations. This movement was influential in the movements of the seventies. They published in Bologna and from Modena. The Federation of Anarchist Communists (), or FdCA, was established in 1985 in Italy from the fusion of the ("Revolutionary Anarchist Organisation") and the ("Tuscan Union of Anarchist Communists").


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The International of Anarchist Federations (IAF/IFA) was founded during an international anarchist conference in Carrara in 1968 by the three existing European anarchist federations of France (), Italy (), and Spain () as well as the Bulgarian federation in French exile. These organizations were also inspired by synthesist principles.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: "Libertarian Communism" was a socialist journal founded in 1974 and partly produced by members of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. The synthesist Italian Anarchist Federation and the platformist Federation of Anarchist Communists continue to exist today in Italy, but insurrectionary anarchism continues to be relevant, as the recent establishment of the Informal Anarchist Federation shows.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In the 1970s, the French Fédération Anarchiste evolved into a joining of the principles of synthesis anarchism and platformism. Later the platformist organizations Libertarian Communist Organization (France) in 1976 and Alternative libertaire in 1991 appeared, with this last one existing until today alongside the synthesist Fédération Anarchiste. Recently, platformist organizations founded the now-defunct International Libertarian Solidarity network and its successor, the Anarkismo network, which is run collaboratively by roughly 30 platformist organizations worldwide.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: On the other hand, contemporary insurrectionary anarchism inherits the views and tactics of anti-organizational anarcho-communism and illegalism. The Informal Anarchist Federation (not to be confused with the synthesist Italian Anarchist Federation, also FAI) is an Italian insurrectionary anarchist organization. Italian intelligence sources have described it as a "horizontal" structure of various anarchist terrorist groups, united in their beliefs in revolutionary armed action. In 2003, the group claimed responsibility for a bombing campaign targeting several European Union institutions.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Currently, alongside the previously mentioned federations, the International of Anarchist Federations includes the Argentine Libertarian Federation, the Anarchist Federation of Belarus, the Federation of Anarchists in Bulgaria, the Czech-Slovak Anarchist Federation, the Federation of German-speaking Anarchists in Germany and Switzerland, and the Anarchist Federation in the United Kingdom.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The abolition of money, prices, and wage labor are central to anarchist communism. With the distribution of wealth being based on self-determined needs, people would be free to engage in whatever activities they found most fulfilling and would no longer have to engage in work for which they have neither the temperament nor the aptitude.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Anarcho-communists argue that there is no good way of measuring the value of any person's economic contributions because all wealth is a common product of current and preceding generations. For instance, one could not measure the value of a factory worker's daily production without considering how transportation, food, water, shelter, relaxation, machine efficiency, emotional mood, etc., contributed to their production. To honestly give numerical economic value to anything, an overwhelming amount of externalities and contributing factors would need to be considered—especially current or past labor contributing to the ability to utilize future labor. As Kropotkin put it: "No distinction can be drawn between the work of each man. Measuring the work by its results leads us to absurdity; dividing and measuring them by hours spent on the work also leads us to absurdity. One thing remains: put the needs above the works, and first of all recognize the right to live, and later on, to the comforts of life, for all those who take their share in production.."


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Communist anarchism shares many traits with collectivist anarchism, but the two are distinct. Collectivist anarchism believes in collective ownership, while communist anarchism negates the entire concept of ownership in favor of the concept of usage. Crucially, the abstract relationship of "landlord" and "tenant" would no longer exist, as such titles are held to occur under conditional legal coercion and are not necessary to occupy buildings or spaces (intellectual property rights would also cease since they are a form of private property). In addition to believing rent and other fees are exploitative, anarcho-communists feel these are arbitrary pressures inducing people to carry out unrelated functions. For example, they question why one should have to work for 'X hours' a day to merely live somewhere. So instead of working conditionally for the wage earned, they believe in working directly for the objective.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: In anthropology and the social sciences, a gift economy (or gift culture) is a mode of exchange where valuable goods and services are regularly given without explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards (i.e., no formal "quid pro quo" exists). Ideally, voluntary and recurring gift exchange circulates and redistributes wealth throughout a community and serves to build societal ties and obligations. In contrast to a barter or market economy, social norms and customs govern gift exchange rather than an explicit exchange of goods or services for money or some other commodity.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Traditional societies dominated by gift exchange were small in scale and geographically remote from each other. Market exchange dominated as states formed to regulate trade and commerce within their boundaries. Nonetheless, gift exchange continues to play an essential role in modern society. One prominent example is scientific research, which can be described as a gift economy. Contrary to popular conception, there is no evidence that societies relied only on barter before using money for trade. Instead, non-monetary societies operated primarily along the principles of gift economics, and in more complex economies, on debt. When barter occurred, it was usually between strangers or would-be enemies.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The expansion of the Internet has witnessed a resurgence of the gift economy, especially in the technology sector. Engineers, scientists, and software developers create open-source software projects. The Linux kernel and the GNU operating system are prototypical examples of the gift economy's prominence in the technology sector and its active role in using permissive free software and copyleft licenses, which allow free reuse of software and knowledge. Other examples include file-sharing, the commons, and open access. Anarchist scholar Uri Gordon has argued:


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The interest in such economic forms goes back to Peter Kropotkin, who saw in the hunter-gatherer tribes he had visited the paradigm of "mutual aid". Anarchist anthropologist David Graeber in his 2011 book "" argues that with the advent of the great Axial Age civilizations, the nexus between coinage and the calculability of economic values was concomitant with the disruption of what Graeber calls "human economies," as found among the Iroquois, Celts, Inuit, Tiv, Nuer, and the Malagasy people of Madagascar among other groups which, according to Graeber, held a radically different conception of debt and social relations, based on the radical incalculability of human life and the constant creation and recreation of social bonds through gifts, marriages, and general sociability. The author postulates the growth of a "military-coinage-slave complex" around this time, through which mercenary armies looted cities and human beings were cut from their social context to work as slaves in Greece, Rome, and elsewhere in the Eurasian continent. The extreme violence of the period marked by the rise of great empires in China, India, and the Mediterranean was, in this way, connected with the advent of large-scale slavery and the use of coins to pay soldiers, together with the obligation enforced by the State for its subjects to pay its taxes in currency. This was also the same time that the great religions spread and the general questions of philosophical inquiry emerged in world history—many of those directly related, as in Plato's Republic, to the nature of debt and its relation to ethics.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: The 1960s countercultural group The Diggers opened free stores which gave away their stock, provided free food, distributed free drugs, gave away money, organized free music concerts, and performed works of political art. The Diggers took their name from the original English Diggers led by Gerrard Winstanley and sought to create a mini-society free of money and capitalism.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Anarchist communists reject the belief that wage labor is necessary because people are selfish by human nature. Most would point to examples of humans being willing to sacrifice time or resources for others and believe that systems of wage labor and state taxation serve more to restrict that instinct to help others rather than ensuring a society continues to function. Anarcho-communists generally do not agree with the belief in a pre-set "human nature", arguing that human culture and behavior are primarily determined by socialization and the mode of production. Many anarchist communists, like Peter Kropotkin, also believe that the human evolutionary tendency is for humans to cooperate for mutual benefit and survival instead of existing as lone competitors, a position that Kropotkin argued for at length.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: While anarchist communists such as Peter Kropotkin and Murray Bookchin believed that the members of such a society would voluntarily perform all necessary labor because they would recognize the benefits of communal enterprise and mutual aid, other anarchist communists such as Nestor Makhno and Ricardo Flores Magón argue that all those able to work in an anarchist communist society should be obligated to do so, excepting groups like children, the elderly, the sick, or the infirm. Kropotkin did not think laziness or sabotage would be a significant problem in an authentically anarchist-communist society. However, he did agree that a freely associated anarchist commune could, and probably should, deliberately disassociate from those not fulfilling their communal agreement to do their share of work. Peter Gelderloos, based on the Kibbutz, argues that motivation in a moneyless society would be found in the satisfaction of work, concern for the community, competition for prestige, and praise from other community members.


title: Anarcho-communism

text: Anarchist communists support communism as a means for ensuring the greatest freedom and well-being for everyone, rather than only the wealthy and powerful. In this sense, anarchist communism is a profoundly egalitarian philosophy.