173-548: Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1945–1949) Ministries Elections [REDACTED] The Chifley government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley . It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1945 to 1949. When Labor Prime Minister John Curtin died towards the end of
346-517: A communiste , the French form of the word "communist", in a 1782 letter, the first recorded instance of that term. Restif himself wrote many novels centered around the idea of eliminating private property, first using the term "community of goods" in 1783 and then the term "communism" in 1793, rendered in French as communisme . These currents of thought in French philosophy proved influential during
519-628: A Bolshevik-style council republic, but the government put the rebellion down violently with the use of right-wing paramilitary groups, the Freikorps . The noted German communists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were killed extrajudicially three days later. Within a few months, a group of communists seized power amongst public unrest in the German region of Bavaria , forming the Bavarian Soviet Republic , although once more this
692-513: A Marxist government, instead he believed that the state would gain in power and become authoritarian . Criticism also came from other sociologists such as the German Max Weber , who whilst admiring Marx disagreed with many of his assumptions on the nature of society. Some Marxists tried to adapt to these criticisms and the changing nature of capitalism and Eduard Bernstein emphasised the idea of Marxists bringing legal challenges against
865-551: A bill to ban the Communist Party of Australia in 1950. He expected Chifley to reject it and give him an excuse to call a double dissolution election. Menzies apparently hoped to repeat his "soft-on-Communism" theme to win a majority in both chambers. However, Chifley let the bill pass after a redraft (it was ultimately thrown out by the High Court). However, when Chifley rejected Menzies' Commonwealth Banking Bill
1038-526: A blacksmith, was born in Bathurst to Irish immigrants from County Tipperary , while his mother was born in County Fermanagh , in present-day Northern Ireland . At the age of five, Chifley was sent to live with his widowed grandfather, Patrick Chifley I, who had a small farm at Limekilns, New South Wales , while his aunt, Mary Bridget Chifley, kept house for them. Chifley began his education at
1211-807: A campaign that focused on the Bruce government 's unpopular labour policies. He accused the government of endangering the White Australia policy by allowing Southern European migrant workers into the country, claiming it had "allowed so many dagoes and aliens in Australia that today they are all over the country taking work which rightly belongs to all Australians". The Labor Party recorded a 6.2-point swing in Macquarie, with Chifley becoming one of three candidates in New South Wales to win seats from
1384-657: A coming split in the ALP over the growing influence of the Movement. At the conference of the New South Wales Labor Party in June 1949, Chifley sought to define the labour movement as having: [A] great objective – the light on the hill – which we aim to reach by working for the betterment of mankind... [Labor would] bring something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to
1557-546: A communist society, creating a variant of communism known as Marxism–Leninism . As a part of this, he abandoned some of the capitalist, market policies that had been allowed to continue under Lenin such as the New Economic Policy . Stalinist policies radically altered much of the Soviet Union's agricultural production , modernising it by introducing tractors and other machinery, forced collectivisation of
1730-652: A dictatorship, believing instead that the chief focus should be on cultivating proletarian unity through propaganda and education. The works and teachings of these French writers, many now self identifying as communists, went on to inspire new communist groups such as the League of the Just , an organization founded in Paris in 1836 by the Christian communist German émigrés Wilhelm Weitling and Karl Schapper . A second group,
1903-451: A divisional delegate to state and federal conferences. He developed a reputation for compromise, maintaining good relations with both the railway management and the more militant sections of the union. However, Chifley was one of the local leaders of the 1917 Australian general strike , and as a result was dismissed from the railway. He and most of the other strikers were eventually reinstated, but lost seniority and related privileges; Chifley
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#17327727969422076-780: A few months later, Menzies called a double dissolution election for April 1951 . Although Chifley managed to lead Labor to a five-seat swing in the House, Labor lost six seats in the Senate, giving the Coalition control of both chambers. A few weeks later on 13 June 1951, Chifley suffered a heart attack in his room at the Hotel Kurrajong in Canberra . Chifley at first made light of the sudden chest pains and attempted to dissuade his secretary and confidante, Phyllis Donnelly, who
2249-559: A fine Australian. You will all agree that in the circumstances the festivities should end. It doesn't matter about party politics on an occasion such as this. Oddly enough, in Parliament we get on very well. We sometimes find we have the warmest friendships among people whose politics are not ours. Mr Chifley served this country magnificently for years. Chifley was buried at the Bathurst cemetery on 18 June 1951. Chifley married Elizabeth McKenzie (known as "Lizzie") on 6 June 1914. She
2422-407: A leadership ballot . At the 1946 Australian federal election , Chifley was re-elected with a slightly reduced majority – the first time that an incumbent Labor government had won re-election. The war had ended a month after he took office, and over the following three years his government embarked on an ambitious program of social reforms and nation-building schemes. These included the expansion of
2595-775: A lecturer and instructor at the Bathurst Railway Institute. Chifley drove both goods trains and passenger trains. He was based in Bathurst and worked on the Main Western railway , except for a few months in 1914 when he drove on the Main Southern railway and worked out of Harden, New South Wales . Chifley became involved with the labour movement as a member of the Locomotive Enginemen's Association. He never held executive office, preferring to work as an organiser , but did serve as
2768-615: A long-running extramarital affair with his private secretary Phyllis Donnelly. Day believed that their relationship began shortly after Chifley was elected in parliament in 1928, and continued more or less uninterrupted until his death in 1951; she was present in his room at the Hotel Kurrajong when he suffered his final heart attack. She stayed at the same hotel, and they were known to spend their free time with each other while in Canberra. She also accompanied him on many of his travels. According to Frank Slavin, Chifley's campaign manager at
2941-537: A member of the Labor Party. At the 1931 election , Chifley suffered a negative swing of 16.2 points in Macquarie, losing his seat to John Lawson , the UAP candidate, by just 456 votes on the final count. The Labor Party was reduced to 14 seats out of 75 in the House of Representatives, with five other ministers (including Treasurer Ted Theodore ) and future prime minister John Curtin also losing their seats. During
3114-512: A mid-term Labor government in 1941 following the collapse of the first Menzies government . Although deputy Labor leader Frank Forde was nominally the deputy in the government, Chifley became the minister Curtin most relied on, controlling most domestic policy while Curtin was preoccupied with the Second World War . Of highest importance was war funding, followed by the strong desire to control inflation. In February 1942, he announced
3287-547: A national health service, the Chifley government was successful in making arrangements with the states to upgrade the quality and availability of hospital treatment. The Mental Institutions Benefits Act 1948 marked the entry of the Commonwealth into mental health funding, where, in return for free treatment, the states were paid a benefit equal to the charges upon the relatives of mental hospital patients. The achievements of
3460-517: A now lost egalitarian social order. Around the late 5th century BC in Ancient Greece , ideas similar to communism were becoming widespread to the extent that they were parodied by the dramatist Aristophanes in his comedy The Assemblywomen in which the women of Athens seize control of the Ecclesia or city government and abolish all private property while making the sharing of women and
3633-507: A number of clandestine activities". There were numerous communist front organizations in Asia, many oriented to students and youth. According to one historian, in the labor union movement of the 1920s in Japan , the " Hyogikai never called itself a communist front but in effect, this was what it was". He points out it was repressed by the government "along with other communist front groups". In
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#17327727969423806-837: A partially dependent spouse; and wives legally separated or likely to be permanently living apart from their husbands became eligible for benefit. Ben Chifley's Government oversaw the creation of the Commonwealth Employment Service , the introduction of federal funds to the States for public housing construction and the Acoustic Laboratories Act 1948, which established the Commonwealth Acoustic Laboratories to undertake scientific investigations into hearing loss . Although it failed in its attempts to establish
3979-804: A prison camp in Siberia by the Tsarist government for his beliefs. A Marxist group known as the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was formed in the country, although it soon divided into two main factions, namely the Bolsheviks led by Lenin and the Mensheviks led by Julius Martov . In 1905, there was a revolution against the Tsar's rule in which workers' councils known as soviets were formed in many parts of
4152-657: A purely regional cause. This was to have a phenomenal impact on the spread of communism during the 20th century as the Soviet Union installed new Marxist–Leninist governments in Central and Eastern Europe following World War II and indirectly backed the ascension of others in the Americas, Asia and Africa. Pivotal to this policy was the Communist International , also known as the Comintern, formed with
4325-484: A revival of Babeuf's thought in France and the dissemination of political theories referred to as Neo-Babouvism . According to Bournatti's Neo-Babouvism a revolutionary elite of "wise and courageous" citizens who cared only for "ensuring the triumph of equality" would be needed to uplift the masses and establish a new society based on egalitarian principles. By the 1830s and 1840s, the egalitarian concepts of communism and
4498-609: A separate Australian citizenship in 1948 and the founding of ASIO . Science and education was also expanded, with a reorganisation and enlargement of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), alongside passing the Australian National University Act which provided post-graduate facilities in Australia and augmented the supply of staff for universities. Tertiary education extensively benefitted through
4671-438: A small number of Marxist–Leninist states remain, namely China , Cuba , Laos , North Korea and Vietnam . With the exception of North Korea, all of these states have started allowing more economic competition while maintaining one-party rule. Many historical groups have been considered as following forms of communism . Karl Marx and other early communist theorists believed that hunter-gatherer societies as were found in
4844-419: A society based on collective ownership." He did however temper his views by surmising that any attempts at enacting true equality and communal ownership would prove to be too costly and destructive to be worth implementing. Another French thinker, Étienne-Gabriel Morelly also contended that private property was the source of all vice in society and developed the basic principles for a communist society namely,
5017-468: A subject on which he had become an expert. He submitted a minority report advocating that the private banks be nationalised. After an unsuccessful effort to win back Macquarie at the 1934 Australian federal election , Chifley finally won his seat back at the 1940 Australian federal election on a swing of ten percent. Chifley was appointed Treasurer of Australia when the Labor leader, John Curtin, formed
5190-463: A term for their belief system. A landmark event that established the popularity of the communist movement in France occurred in 1840 when Dézamy along with Pillot and Albert Laponneraye organized a pro-communist banquet in Belleville , France, the "first public manifestation of the communist party" in France which proved so successful that further planned communist banquets had to be outlawed by
5363-475: A wide variety of ideologies and political movements sharing the core principles of common ownership of wealth , economic enterprise , and property . Most modern forms of communism are grounded at least nominally in Marxism , a theory and method conceived by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels during the 19th century. Marxism subsequently gained a widespread following across much of Europe, and throughout
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5536-695: A world to win. — Karl Marx , 1848 At the time, Marxism took off not only in Germany, but it also gained popularity in Hungary , the Habsburg monarchy and the Netherlands , although it did not achieve such success in other European nations like the United Kingdom , where Marx and Engels had been based. Nonetheless, the new political ideology had gained sufficient support that an organisation
5709-405: Is held in particularly high regard by the Labor Party, with his " light on the hill " speech seen as seminal in both the history of the party and the broader Australian labour movement . Chifley was born at 29 Havannah Street, Bathurst, New South Wales , on 22 September 1885. He was the first of three sons born to Roman Catholic parents: Mary Anne (née Corrigan) and Patrick Chifley II. His father,
5882-588: Is no mine or thine but all is held in common", but once initiated the scheme was quickly abandoned. They have been considered precursors of totalitarian governance while under leadership of the dictatorial Jan Želivský . After Taborite power was broken at Lipany their successors fled to Moravia forming the Moravian Church under the pacifist spiritual leader Petr Chelčický who harbored both Christian communist and Christian anarchist beliefs. The extent to which Chelčický's followers, also known as
6055-505: Is now listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register as " Ben Chifley's House ", and has operated as a house museum since 1973. Chifley and his wife had no children. She suffered a "serious health problem", probably a miscarriage, in about 1915, and later developed chronic back pain that restricted her mobility. The couple lived mostly separate lives, initially because of her husband's work on
6228-472: Is to deliver the lower classes to brutal exploitation. The proletariat is no more than a revival of antique slavery." He also asserted that private ownership of the means of production allowed for the exploitation of the lower classes and that private property was a concept divorced from human dignity. Dézamy would assert in his 1842 book Code la Communaté that what was needed was a," complete and unrestricted society of communal property" in which all activity
6401-459: The 1946 election , which Chifley won with 54 percent of the two-party-preferred vote . It marked the first time that an incumbent full-term federal Labor government was re-elected. In the post-war years, Chifley maintained wartime economic controls, including the highly unpopular petrol rationing. He did this partly to help Britain in its postwar economic difficulties. Upon becoming prime minister, Chifley continued as Treasurer and remained so for
6574-483: The Australian Constitution , the 1946 Social Services referendum , made possible many of the Chifley government's other legislative initiatives in social welfare and social provision and permitted federal legislation over pharmaceutical benefits and medical and dental services. It also authorised federal legislation with respect to pensions, benefits, and allowances. Such as, in the same year as
6747-577: The Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen – in 1920. He appeared as an expert witness before the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in 1924, which subsequently implemented a new federal industrial award for the enginemen. Chifley joined the Australian Labor Party at a young age, and was involved in state and federal election campaigns as an organiser. In 1921, he replaced his father on
6920-467: The Blue Mountains to Penrith , on the outskirts of Sydney; it included industrial, agricultural, and mining districts in virtually equal measure. It was one of the most marginal seats in the country, and had last been won by Labor in 1919. Lacking name recognition, Chifley lost the election to the incumbent Nationalist MP, Arthur Manning . However, he reprised his candidacy in 1928, mounting
7093-733: The Bohemian Brethren , adhered to his ideals, namely the abstinence from property, trade, and government, is disputed, and by the 16th century the Brethren definitely no longer embraced them. During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century the radical Anabaptists , who originated in Switzerland , endorsed the communalization of goods as practiced in the Book of Acts. The most notable Anabaptist groups were
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7266-692: The Book of Acts the passages Acts 2:44–45 and Acts 4:32–37 state all believers held their possessions communally and would distribute goods based on need. Additionally, the related Jewish sect known as the Essenes was committed to, "social and material egalitarianism." Despite these practices falling into decline even before the Christianization of the Roman Empire , the principles of sharing property and holding goods in common continued within
7439-711: The Chinese who then controlled the country , instituting a pro-Soviet government which declared the nation to be the Mongolian People's Republic in 1924. The Comintern and other such Soviet-backed communist groups soon spread across much of the world, though particularly in Europe, where the influence of the recent Russian Revolution was still strong. In Germany , the Spartacist uprising took place in 1919 when armed Spartacus League communists attempted to set up
7612-518: The Communist Correspondence Committee in 1846 through which the various communists, socialists and other leftists across Europe could keep in contact with one another in the face of political repression. He then published The Communist Manifesto in 1848, which would prove to be one of the most influential communist texts ever written. He subsequently began work on a multi-volume epic that would examine and criticise
7785-523: The Communist Correspondence Committee , was formed in Brussels in 1846 by another pair of German émigrés Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . The two groups were merged in 1847 to form the Communist League which was headed by Schapper who then proceeded to task the co-founding members Marx and Engels with writing a manifesto laying out the principles of the new political party. Communism is
7958-593: The Country Party (a further 4 seats went to splinter parties). In the Senate, Labor won 16 seats and the Liberal–Country Party coalition won 3 seats. Labor had sought to secure power over the supply of money and credit – amidst opposition from the private banks. The High Court of Australia invalidated part of his government's banking legislation, so in mid-1947 Chifley legislated to require at least local authorities and State governments to bank with
8131-441: The Country Party 19 in the House of Representatives, as opposed to Labor's 47 seats. Labor then commenced a 23-year period in opposition in the federal parliament. Ben Chifley Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1945–1949) Ministries Elections Joseph Benedict Chifley ( / ˈ tʃ ɪ f l i / ; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician and train driver who served as
8304-651: The French Revolution of 1789 in which various anti-monarchists , particularly the Jacobins , supported the idea of redistributing wealth equally among the people, including Jean-Paul Marat and Gracchus Babeuf . The latter was involved in the Conspiracy of the Equals of 1796 intending to establish a revolutionary regime based on communal ownership, egalitarianism and the redistribution of property. Babeuf
8477-408: The German Social-Democratic Party which had been created in 1875, but which was outlawed in 1879 by the German government, then led by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck , who deemed it to be a political threat due to its revolutionary nature and increasing number of supporters. In 1890, the party was re-legalised and by this time it had fully adopted Marxist principles. It subsequently achieved a fifth of
8650-423: The Hutterites , founded by Jacob Hutter , who settled in Moravia in the 1520s and the Münster Anabaptists who were eradicated in battle during their attempt in 1535 to forcibly convert the city of Münster into a theocratic New Jerusalem . Various groups on the side of the Roundheads during the English Civil War in the mid-17th century propagated the redistribution of wealth on an egalitarian basis, namely
8823-500: The International Workingmen's Association which would later become known as the First International to unite various communists and socialists, with Marx being elected to the Association's General Council. Marx summarized his system with the slogan, " From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs ." This phrasing used to formulate the principles of communism is borrowed from earlier socialist political activists such as August Becker and Louis Blanc . During
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#17327727969428996-401: The Korean War which drove the Americans back to the prewar boundaries, but which escalated tensions. The United States decided to mobilize its economy for a long contest with the Soviets, built the hydrogen bomb and strengthened the NATO alliance that covered Western Europe . According to Gorlizki and Khlevniuk (2004), Stalin's consistent and overriding goal after 1945 was to consolidate
9169-413: The Lang Labor faction that controlled the ALP in New South Wales. He was a delegate to the party's annual conference in Sydney in April 1939. After a unity conference in August 1939, the ILP members rejoined the ALP and ended Jack Lang's dominance. Chifley was subsequently elected to the ALP state executive. In 1935 the Lyons government appointed Chifley as a member of the Royal Commission on Banking,
9342-409: The Levellers and the Diggers although only the latter group under Gerrard Winstanley promoted a propertyless, communist society. European writers began depicting idealized communist societies in utopian fiction from the 16th century onward. Inspired by largely fictional accounts of native communities in the New World , the English humanist and future Lord Chancellor Thomas More , wrote
9515-471: The Paleolithic through to horticultural societies as found in the Chalcolithic were essentially egalitarian and he, therefore, termed their ideology to be primitive communism . One of the first writers to espouse a belief in the primitive communism of the past was the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca who stated," How happy was the primitive age when the bounties of nature lay in common...They held all nature in common which gave them secure possession of
9688-445: The Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic was officially redesignated to lead the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , simply known as the Soviet Union . In 1924, Lenin resigned as leader of the Soviet Union due to poor health and soon died, with Joseph Stalin subsequently taking over control. In 1919, the Bolshevik government in Russia instigated the creation of an international communist organisation that would act as
9861-417: The Second World War in July 1945, Frank Forde served as Prime Minister from 6–13 July, before the party elected Ben Chifley as Curtin's successor. Following his 1945 election as leader of the Australian Labor Party after the death of John Curtin , Chifley, a former railway engine driver , became Australia's 16th Prime Minister on 13 July 1945. The Second World War ended with the defeat of Japan in
10034-415: The Snowy Mountains Scheme , the establishment and nationalisation of Trans Australia Airlines and Qantas respectively, improvements in social services, the creation of the Commonwealth Employment Service, the introduction of federal funds to the States for public housing construction, the establishment of a Universities Commission for the expansion of university education, and free hospital treatment,
10207-539: The University of Western Sydney . According to a debate on the topic, held after the Labor Party had regained government, the decision to rename Chifley University reflected a desire to attach the name of Western Sydney to institutions of lasting significance, and that idea ultimately received the support of Bob Carr , later the Premier of New South Wales . Places and institutions that have been named after Chifley include: History of communism#Spreading communism (1945–1957) The history of communism encompasses
10380-566: The White Guard as well as Western powers. This led to the events of the Russian Civil War which the Bolsheviks won and subsequently consolidated their power over the entire country, centralising power from the Kremlin in the capital city of Moscow . In the early 1920s, Lenin began recruiting black workers, accusing American political parties of not doing more to campaign for black civil rights . A handful of African American activists were fascinated by communism, and Cyril Briggs led an organization called African Blood Brotherhood . In 1922,
10553-411: The World Peace Council . Malcolm Kennedy says the "Communist 'front' system included such international organizations as the WFTU, WFDY, IUS, WIDF and WPC, besides a host of lesser bodies bringing journalists, lawyers, scientists, doctors and others into the widespread net". The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) was established in 1945, to unite trade union confederations across the world and it
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#173277279694210726-407: The Young Communist International (youth), Profintern (trade unions), Krestintern (peasants), International Red Aid (humanitarian aid), and Red Sport International (organized sports), among others. In Europe, front organizations were especially influential in Italy and France which became the base for Communist front organizer Willi Münzenberg in 1933. These organizations were dissolved by
10899-434: The Zoroastrian priest and reformist Mazdak purportedly founded a movement preaching religious communism while under the patronage of the Sassanian King Kavad I who initially supported the priest and his reforms, but later had the Mazdakians repressed and Mazdak executed. Early Christianity supported a form of common ownership based on the teachings in the New Testament which emphasised sharing. For example, in
11072-422: The proletariat (the working class masses) who toiled to produce everything, but who had no political control. He advanced the idea that human society moved through a series of progressive stages from primitive communism through to slavery , feudalism and then capitalism; and that this, in turn, would be replaced by communism. For Marx, communism was seen as inevitable yet uncertain and desirable. Marx founded
11245-586: The welfare state , increased the post-war immigration to Australia , and the establishment of the Australian National University , the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), and the Snowy Mountains Scheme . Some of the new legislation was successfully challenged in the High Court , and as a result the constitution was amended to give the federal government extended powers over social services. Some of Chifley's more interventionist economic policies were poorly received by Australian business, particularly an attempt to nationalise banks. His government
11418-501: The 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the treasurer of Australia under Prime Minister John Curtin and later himself from 1941 to 1949. He was notable for defining Australia's post-war reconstruction efforts. Chifley was born in Bathurst, New South Wales , and joined the New South Wales Government Railways after leaving school, eventually qualifying as an engine driver . He
11591-436: The 1940 election, his wife was aware of the relationship and tolerated it. Day also speculated that Chifley may have had a similar relationship with Phyllis's older sister Nell. He assisted her financially in the 1930s, including buying her a house in Bathurst. Day based his conclusions on interviews conducted with the Donnelly family and other Bathurst residents who had known Chifley. His claims have been disputed by members of
11764-456: The 1950s, Scalapino argues: "The primary Communist-front organization was the Japan Peace Committee". It was founded in 1949. In 1924, Joseph Stalin , a key Bolshevik follower of Lenin, took power in the Soviet Union. Stalin was supported in his leadership by Nikolai Bukharin , but he had various important opponents in the government, most notably Lev Kamenev , Leon Trotsky , and Grigory Zinoviev . Stalin initiated his own process of building
11937-425: The 50th Jubilee of Federation (Chifley was invited but had declined to attend). Menzies was deeply distressed and abandoned his normally impassive demeanour to announce in a halting subdued voice: It is my very sorrowful duty during this celebration tonight to tell you that Mr Chifley has died. I don't want to try to talk about him now because, although we were political opponents, he was a friend of mine and yours, and
12110-419: The Australian population. In foreign policy, attorney-general and minister for external affairs H. V. Evatt was active in the formation of the United Nations . Australia played a significant mediatory role in the early years of the United Nations, successfully lobbying for an increased role for smaller and middle-ranking nations, and a stronger commitment to employment rights into the U.N. Charter . Evatt
12283-489: The Book of Acts, but were persecuted by the Catholic Church and retreated to the Piedmont . Some Waldensians led a schism after they felt the group's leader was becoming authoritarian . With the rise of the Mendicant Orders in the 13th century groups such as the Franciscans began challenging the concept of private property to the extent it had to be defended by Pope John XXII in his 1328 papal bull Quia vir reprobus , in which he ruled that because God had gifted Adam with
12456-851: The British National Health Service , including a free formulary of essential medicines. This was successfully opposed as unconstitutional in the High Court of Australia by the Australian branches of the British Medical Association , who were the precursors of the Australian Medical Association , in the First Pharmaceutical Benefits case . One of the few successful referendums to modify
12629-583: The Chifley family, and some reviewers of his book felt there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Chifley's relationship with either of the Donnelly sisters was sexual in nature. In 1987 the New South Wales Labor government decided to name the planned new university in Sydney's western suburbs Chifley University. Controversy broke out when, in 1989, a new Liberal government renamed it
12802-591: The Christian traditions of monasticism . From the High Middle Ages to the early modern period in Europe, various groups supporting Christian communist and communalist ideas were occasionally adopted by reformist Christian sects. An early 12th century proto-Protestant group originating in Lyon , Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles known as the Waldensians held their property in common in accordance with
12975-583: The Coalition won an additional 48. Labor retained a Senate majority however. Chifley was now aged 64 and in poor health (like Curtin, he was a lifelong smoker), but he refused to retire from politics. Though out of government, having retained a Senate majority, Chifley continued as Labor leader and became Leader of the Opposition . The opposition Senate majority would frequently ensure the passing of Labor amendments, or outright blocking, of Menzies Government legislation. Menzies responded by introducing
13148-630: The Earth as his domain, the ownership of property was divinely sanctioned. Also beginning in the 13th century a lay order known as the Beghards , originating in the Low Countries , started to spread among the underprivileged groups of society, taking in members who renounced private property and dedicated themselves to communal living and pious, frugal lifestyles as artisans. Although the practices were successful enough to spread to other areas on
13321-627: The Equals (1796), "we aim at something more sublime and more just, the COMMON GOOD or the COMMUNITY OF GOODS" and "The French Revolution is just a precursor of another revolution, far greater, far more solemn, which will be the last." Restif also continued to write and publish books on the topic of communism throughout the Revolution. Accordingly, through their egalitarian programs and agitation Restif, Maréchal, and Babeuf became
13494-410: The French government. Also in 1840 a society of "Egalitarian Workers" following a communist program was founded in Paris and a general strike was called whose leaders were reportedly inspired by communist ideals. During the 1840s Étienne Cabet had a following of between 100,000 and 200,000 French workers and was considered by Friedrich Engels to be the representative of the French proletariat. One of
13667-681: The German authorities in 1849. Marx and Engels took on many influences from earlier socialists such as the Utopian socialist Saint-Simonist school. Politically, they were influenced by Maximilien Robespierre and several other radical figures of the French Revolution whilst economically they were influenced by David Ricardo . Philosophically, they were influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel . Engels regularly met Marx at Chetham's Library in Manchester , England from 1845 and
13840-540: The Great Depression, with no parliamentary salary and no chance of returning to the railway, Chifley survived on his wife's family's money and his part-ownership of the Bathurst newspaper The National Advocate . In 1938, Chifley and most other Labor supporters in Bathurst joined the Industrial Labor Party (ILP), a breakaway organisation formed by Bob Heffron and dedicated to thwarting
14013-498: The Labor governments of Chifley and Curtin in expanding Australia's social welfare services were brought together under the Social Services Consolidation Act 1947, which consolidated the various social services benefits, liberalised some existing social security provisions, and increased the rates of various benefits. Among the government's other legislative achievements included the establishment of
14186-506: The Labor platform objective of democratic socialism . According to a biographer of Chifley, his government embarked upon greater intervention in "economic and social affairs", with policies directed towards better workplace conditions, full employment, and the "equalisation of wealth, income and opportunity". Chifley was successful in steering the economy into peacetime, and undertook a number of social welfare initiatives, as characterised by fairer pensions and unemployment and sickness benefits,
14359-487: The Pacific just four weeks later. Chifley served as Prime Minister and Treasurer. To combat inflationary pressures, he proposed a continuation of wartime price and import controls, and rationing of scarce commodities. Chifley went on to win the 1946 election . Labor won 43 House of Representatives seats, with 15 won by the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia led by Robert Menzies , and 11 by their coalition partner,
14532-428: The States were introduced to assist them in expanding their agricultural activities. The establishment of a Coal Industry Tribunal and a Joint Coal Board in 1946 also brought significant gains for miners; and life insurance came to be comprehensively regulated. Among the Chifley government's legislation was the post-war immigration scheme , the establishment of Australian citizenship , the beginning of construction of
14705-512: The Sun propagated the concept of a society where the products of society should be shared equally. In Campanella's utopia all people are well educated, there is only a four-hour work day, there is no private property, the population practices eugenics to improve mental and physical fitness, most time is devoted to either leisure or self improvement, and society is managed by a ruling scientist who bases his administration on scientific principles all in
14878-599: The Third International after the collapse of the Second International in 1916. This was known as the Communist International , although it was commonly abbreviated as the Comintern. Throughout its existence, the Comintern would be dominated by the Kremlin despite its internationalist stance. Meanwhile, in 1921, the Soviet Union invaded its neighboring Mongolia to aid a popular uprising against
15051-451: The abolition of property, the right to live and work for all, and the duty of all citizens to work for the common good. The French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau in his hugely influential The Social Contract (1762) outlined the basis for a political order based on popular sovereignty rather than the rule of monarchs, and in his Discourse on Inequality (1755) inveighed against the corrupting effects of private property claiming that
15224-535: The aim of controlling a huge accumulation of purchasing power. Following the death of Curtin in July 1945, Forde became prime minister since he was the ALP deputy leader. In the ensuing leadership ballot, Chifley defeated Forde to replace him as prime minister and Curtin as leader of the ALP. Once the war ended in September, normal political life resumed, and Chifley faced Robert Menzies and his new Liberal Party in
15397-677: The alcove where they met remains identical to this day. It was here that Engels relayed his experiences of industrial Manchester, chronicled in the Condition of the Working Class in England , highlighting the struggles of the working class. Marx stated that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles ", something that he believed was happening between the bourgeoisie (the select few upper class and upper middle class ) who then controlled society and
15570-579: The assault on Petrograd occurred largely without any human casualties . From the outset, the new government faced resistance from a myriad of forces with differing perspectives, including anarchists , social democrats , who took power in the Democratic Republic of Georgia , Socialist-Revolutionaries , who formed the Komuch in Samara, Russia , scattered tsarist resistance forces known as
15743-657: The banks . This provoked massive opposition from the press, and middle-class opinion turned against Labor. The High Court found Chifley's legislation to be unconstitutional. The government appealed the decision in the Privy Council , but it upheld the High Court's decision. However, Chifley's government did succeed in passing the Banking Act 1945 and the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945 which gave
15916-437: The benefit. Furthermore, from July 1947, funeral benefits could be paid in respect of claimants for Age Pension or Invalid Pension who would have qualified had they lived. Under the Social Services Consolidation Act 1947, an additional benefit became payable in cases where a man with one or more dependent children had a female partner, where he was not receiving benefit for his wife; a partial additional benefit became payable for
16089-565: The board of The National Advocate , a local newspaper that functioned as the mouthpiece of the labour movement. In 1922 and 1924, Chifley unsuccessfully contested Labor preselection for the NSW Electoral district of Bathurst . He was eventually chosen as the Labor candidate for the Division of Macquarie at the 1925 Australian federal election . Macquarie was a large and diverse electorate, covering an area from Bathurst east across
16262-480: The bourgeoisie-controlled government and instead establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat . The historical existence of the Communist International (Comintern) and the broader communist movement is divided among periods, regarding changes in the general policy it followed. At the start of the 20th century, the Russian Empire was an autocracy controlled by Tsar Nicholas II , with millions of
16435-451: The capitalist economy and the effect that it had upon politics, society and philosophy – the first volume of the work which was known as Capital: Critique of Political Economy was published in 1869. However, Marx and Engels were not only interested in writing about communism, as they were also active in supporting revolutionary activity that would lead to the creation of communist governments across Europe. They helped to found
16608-438: The ceremony, but they and their families were eventually reconciled. The McKenzies were relatively wealthy, and Chifley was seen as "marrying into money, or as much money as he could hope to marry into in the context of the relatively class-bound society of Bathurst". After their marriage, Chifley's father-in-law gave the couple a house on Busby Street, Bathurst, which they would occupy for the rest of their respective lives. It
16781-515: The collective rearing of children mandatory. Over a decade later in Plato's Republic Socrates declares that an ideal state would eliminate all forms of private property among the elite of society to the extent that even children and wives are shared. He asserts that such practices would prevent internal conflict within a society and promote a sense of unity and common identity. Around AD 500 in Iran ,
16954-562: The construction of new universities, technical colleges, and 200,000 houses. The amount of reforms undertaken was such that, between 1946 and 1949, the Parliament of Australia passed an at-the-time record 299 Acts of Parliament , which was well beyond the previous record of 113 Acts by the Second Fisher government . Among other measures, the Chifley government passed legislation to establish universal health care modelled on
17127-857: The continent such as France and Germany, the Beghards were later repeatedly condemned by the Catholic Church. Around 1300 the Apostolic Brethren in northern Italy were taken over by Fra Dolcino who formed a sect known as the Dulcinians which advocated ending feudalism, dissolving hierarchies in the church, and holding all property in common. The 14th century English scholastic and founder of Lollardy , John Wycliffe , preached of an idealized Christian state with collective ownership and disapproved of those rejecting the, "common charity and common property of Christian men." Around
17300-709: The country and the Tsar was forced to implement democratic reform, introducing an elected government, the Duma . In 1917, with further social unrest against the Duma and its part in involving Russia in World War I , the Bolsheviks took power in the October Revolution . They began remodelling the country by nationalizing various industries and confiscating land from wealthy aristocrats and redistributing it amongst
17473-405: The country's largely agrarian population living in abject poverty . The anti-communist historian Robert Service noted that "poverty and oppression constituted the best soil for Marxism to grow in". The man most responsible for introducing the ideology into the country was Georgi Plekhanov , although the movement itself was largely organised by Vladimir Lenin , who had for a time been exiled to
17646-520: The country, but the country itself was subsequently invaded by its neighbouring Romania within a matter of months who overthrew the government, with its leaders either escaping abroad or being executed. In 1921, a communist revolt against the Kingdom of Italy occurred whilst supportive factory workers were on strike in Turin and Milan in northern Italy , but the government acted swiftly and put down
17819-507: The crackdown on the Conspiracy of the Equals he was able, later in his life, to write the influential book Babeuf's Conspiracy for Equality first published in 1828 which chronicled and popularized Babeouf's beliefs. In it Buonarroti asserted that in society, "burdens, productions, and advantages ought to be equally divided," and believed that this division would lead to, "the greatest possible happiness of all." Bournatti's writings led to
17992-413: The current administrations over the treatment of the working classes rather than simply emphasising violent revolution as more orthodox Marxists did. Other Marxists opposed Bernstein and other revisionists, with many including Karl Kautsky , Otto Bauer , Rudolf Hilferding , Rosa Luxemburg , Vladimir Lenin and Georgi Plekhanov sticking steadfast to the concept of violently overthrowing what they saw as
18165-644: The economic strength of the West and instead of triumph saw the West build up alliances that were designed to permanently stop or contain Soviet expansion. In early 1950, Stalin gave the go-ahead for North Korea 's invasion of South Korea , expecting a short war. He was stunned when the Americans entered and defeated the North Koreans, putting them almost on the Soviet border. Stalin supported China 's entry into
18338-471: The entirety of his prime ministership. To date, Chifley is the last prime minister to have been his own Treasurer for a period that was not transitionary, as happened in 1972 and 1991 with Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke respectively. Chifley was also the longest-serving Labor Treasurer until this record was broken by Paul Keating in 1991 and Keating, like Chifley, would become prime minister. Feeling secure in an unprecedented position, Chifley looked toward
18511-689: The establishment of the Australian National University and the Commonwealth Education Office. The establishment of the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme to provide ex-servicemen with the opportunity to undertake a university education, with an interim five-year scholarships established to encourage other able students to attend universities. This was alongside annual grants to universities to provide
18684-546: The extent they demanded its abolition. One of the first secular visions for a communist society is contained within the French Catholic abbé Jean Meslier 's posthumously published Testament (1729). Similarly the Abbé de Mably , also a French philosopher wrote that the individual ownership of land was the source of all mischief and that wealthy inequality brought about social ruin that could only be reversed by adopting
18857-497: The face of more pressing concerns. There was little appetite for policy development, and Chifley instead concentrated on finding savings in his department that could be redirected to unemployment relief. He opened up unused military camps to the homeless, and also distributed surplus military clothing. Chifley was somewhat reluctant in his support of the Premiers' Plan , but believed there was no better alternative and felt bound by
19030-685: The farms and forced collection of grains from the peasants in accordance with predecided targets. There was food available for industrial workers, but those peasants who refused to move starved, especially in Kazakhstan and Ukraine . The All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) targeted kulaks , who owned a little land. Stalin took control of the Comintern and introduced a policy in the international organisation of opposing all leftists who were not Marxist–Leninists , labelling them to be social fascists , although many communists such as Jules Humbert-Droz disagreed with him on this policy, believing that
19203-479: The features of arrest and summary trial followed by execution were well entrenched in the Soviet system since the days of Lenin as Stalin systematically destroyed the older generation of pre-1918 leaders. Stalin did so usually under the justification that the accused were enemy spies or deemed " enemies of the people "; in the Red Army, a majority of generals were executed and hundreds of thousands of other "enemies of
19376-446: The federally owned Commonwealth Bank . The Melbourne City Council successfully appealed against the legislation in the High Court. In response Chifley then proposed the total nationalisation of the banks. The move alarmed conservatives and Menzies said it foretold of a "coming dictatorship in Australia". Chifley told parliament the legislation would guard against both depression and inflation. Country Party leader Earle Page described
19549-572: The government control over monetary policy and established the Commonwealth Bank as Australia's national bank. During the 1948 Queensland railway strike , Chifley barred striking workers from being eligible for unemployment benefits. A prolonged and bitter strike in the coal industry began in June 1949 and caused unemployment and hardship. Chifley saw the strike as a move by the Communist Party to challenge Labor's place as
19722-559: The government suffer an electoral wipeout . After his electoral defeat, Chifley remained involved in politics as a party official, siding with the federal Labor leadership against the Lang Labor faction. He served on a royal commission into the banking system in 1935, and in 1940 became a senior public servant in the Department of Munitions . Chifley was re-elected to parliament later that year, on his third attempt since 1931. He
19895-493: The government's economic response against criticism from two factions within his own party – economic conservatives led by Joseph Lyons and left-wing populists led by Jack Lang . His loyalty paid off in March 1931, when the Labor caucus chose him to fill one of the vacancies in cabinet caused by the resignations of Lyons and James Fenton . Scullin appointed him Minister for Defence, a portfolio that had been disregarded somewhat in
20068-642: The government. At the 1929 election , Chifley was re-elected on a 10.7-point swing as Labor won a landslide victory. James Scullin became the new prime minister, the fourth member of his party to hold the office. As a backbencher with little parliamentary experience, Chifley did not stand for election to the Scullin Ministry , but did join the Public Accounts Committee. As the Great Depression worsened, he defended
20241-410: The ideology altogether. Later historians have proposed different explanations for this decline, including arguments that Marxist-Leninist governments failed to live up to the ideal of a communist society , that there was a general trend towards increasing authoritarianism , that they suffered from excessive bureaucracy, and that they had inefficiencies in their economies. As of the 21st century, only
20414-464: The interest of benefiting society as a whole. Utopian communist societies were also described by the French writers François Fénelon and Denis Vairasse while English writer Francis Bacon wrote of a utopia that merely had a "communism in knowledge." During the Age of Enlightenment in 18th century France, some liberal writers increasingly began to criticize the institution of private property even to
20587-489: The invention of private property had led to the, "crimes, wars, murders, and suffering" that plagued civilization. I believe that no one will contest the justness of this proposition: that where no property exists, none of its pernicious consequences could exist...if you were to take away property, the blind and pitiless self-interest that accompanies it, you would cause all the prejudices in errors that they sustain to collapse. — Étienne-Gabriel Morelly , 1755 In 1785
20760-547: The late 1800s its militant supporters were instrumental in a number of unsuccessful revolutions on that continent. During the same era, there was also a proliferation of communist parties which rejected armed revolution, but embraced the Marxist ideal of collective property and a classless society . Although Marxist theory suggested that industrial societies were the most suitable places for social revolution (either through peaceful transition or by force of arms), communism
20933-673: The late 1930s or early 1940s. The Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat (PPTUS) was set up in 1927 by the Profintern (the Comintern's trade union arm) with the mission of promoting communist trade unions in China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and other nations in the western Pacific. Trapeznik (2009) says the PPTUS was a "Communist-front organization" and "engaged in overt and covert political agitation in addition to
21106-496: The latter half of the 19th century, various left-wing organisations across Europe continued to campaign against the many autocratic right-wing regimes that were then in power. In France, socialists set up a government known as the Paris Commune after the fall of Napoleon III in 1871, but they were soon overthrown and many of their members executed by counter-revolutionaries. Meanwhile, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels joined
21279-569: The left should unite against the rise of right-wing movements like fascism across Europe. In the early 1930s, Stalin reversed course and promoted popular front movements whereby communist parties would collaborate with socialists and other political forces. A high priority was mobilizing wide support for the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War . The Great Purge mainly operated from December 1936 to November 1938, although
21452-607: The local state school, which was known as a "half-time school" due to it being too small to offer daily classes; it shared a single teacher with a neighbouring community. He moved back to his parents' home at the age of 13, following his grandfather's death in January 1899, and attended a Patrician Brothers school for about two years. He was a voracious reader from a young age, and would later supplement his limited formal education by attending classes at night schools or mechanics' institutes . After leaving school, Chifley's first job
21625-500: The mass of the people'. With an increasingly uncertain economic outlook, and after his attempt to nationalise the banks, his government's continuation of some wartime controls, and a strike by the Communist-dominated Miners Federation , Chifley lost office at the 1949 federal election to Robert Menzies ' Liberal-Country Party Coalition . The Liberal Party won 55 seats and its coalition partner
21798-418: The members. To reach sympathisers unwilling to join the party, front organizations were created that advocated party-approved positions. Under the leadership of Grigory Zinoviev in the Kremlin, the Comintern established fronts in many countries in the 1920s and after. To coordinate their activities, the Comintern set up various international umbrella organizations (linking groups across national borders) such as
21971-429: The most prominent and influential French communists of the 1840s was Auguste Blanqui who was notable for his belief that violent revolutionary action should be used to overthrow the bourgeosie dominated state. In Blanqui's estimation a revolution would be most successful if it was executed by a small, secretive group which could then install a "dictatorship of the proletariat." Dézamy disagreed with any program endorsing
22144-443: The nation's superpower status and in the face of his growing physical decrepitude to maintain his own hold on total power. Stalin created a leadership system that reflected historic czarist styles of paternalism and repression, yet was also quite modern. At the top, personal loyalty to Stalin counted for everything. However, Stalin also created powerful committees, elevated younger specialists and began major institutional innovations. In
22317-500: The necessary staff and accommodation for the influx of assisted students and ex-servicemen. In addition, returned soldiers were also provided with a war gratuity and entitlement to special unemployment allowances, loans, vocational training, and preference in employment for seven years. In July 1948, the Dairy Industry Fund was created with the purpose of stabilising returns from exports, and further financial grants to
22490-468: The necessity for a reasonable equality of sacrifice, and capable of managing a wartime economy of complexity and difficulty. Financing the war by increased taxation, loans from the Australian public, and central bank credit, he ensured that the nation did not become burdened with overseas debt, as it had been after First World War . Every budget was accompanied by his strictures on 'vigorous self-denial', labour discipline and restriction of consumer demand with
22663-621: The only ones. In Germany, the split in the SPD had initially led to a variety of Communist unions and parties forming which included the councilist tendencies of the AAU-D, AAU-E and KAPD . Councilism had a limited impact outside of Germany, but a number of international organisations formed. In Spain, a fusion of left and right dissidents led to the formation of the POUM . Additionally, the Spanish CNT
22836-458: The party of the working class, and he sent in 13,000 army troops to break the strike. Early on in the strike, Chifley and H. V. Evatt froze Miner's Federation funds and "introduced legislation aimed at starving the workers back to work". In 1949 in the House of Representatives , Chifley stated that the Labor Party was a "bulwark against communism", and that the most effective way of weakening
23009-582: The peasants. They subsequently pulled out of the war against Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which was unpopular amongst many in Russia, for it gave away large areas of land to Germany. Lenin's government also instituted a number of progressive measures such as universal education , healthcare and equal rights for women . The initial stage of the October Revolution which involved
23182-516: The pegging of wages and profits, the introduction of controls on production, trade and consumption to reduce private spending, and the transfer of surplus personal income to savings and war loans. On 15 April 1942, more price controls were introduced. On 23 July, a uniform income tax was attained when the States were defeated in the High Court of Australia . The Australian Dictionary of Biography claims Chifley proved himself to be his country's greatest treasurer – fiscally responsible, able to transmit
23355-582: The people" were sent to the gulag , where inhumane conditions in Siberia led a quick death. The opening of the Soviet archives has vindicated the lower estimates put forth by the "revisionist school" scholars, despite the popular press continuing to use higher estimates and containing serious errors. By 2009, historian Archie Brown reported that estimates were now lower; about 1.7 million were arrested in 1937–1938 and half were shot. The International Right Opposition and Trotskyism are examples of dissidents who still claim communism today, but they are not
23528-427: The perspective of aiding and assisting communist parties around the world and fostering revolution. This was one major cause of tensions during the Cold War as the United States and its military allies equated the global spread of communism with Soviet expansionism by proxy. By 1985, one-third of the world's population lived under a Marxist–Leninist system of government in one form or another. However, there
23701-400: The plan as a "communist ramp". The High Court declared the law unconstitutional and an appeal to the Privy Council upheld that ruling. Chifley nevertheless refused to repeal the law, and it remained a controversial issue at the 1949 election. In the pursuit of centralist economic policy, the Chifley government also confirmed the continuation of the wartime measure under which the Commonwealth
23874-420: The popular French novelist Restif de la Bretonne wrote a book review on Victor d'Hupay's 1779 book Project for a Philosophical Community which described a plan for a communal experiment in Marseille where all private property was banned and which could be considered, "the first full blueprint for a secular communist society in the world." In the review Restif noted that d'Hupay had referred to himself as
24047-440: The principle of cabinet solidarity . His endorsement of the plan, which required cuts to wages and pensions, was received poorly in his own constituency. Many in the local labour movement defected to Lang Labor , which opposed the plan, and his own union expelled him in August 1931. Joseph Lyons reportedly offered Chifley the treasurership as an inducement to join the new United Australia Party (UAP); Chifley declined and remained
24220-412: The progenitors of modern communism. Babeuf's plot was detected, however, and he and several others involved were arrested and executed. Because of his views and methods, Babeuf is sometimes referred to as the first revolutionary communist, although at the time Babeuf himself used the term "communitist". Despite this setback, the example of the French Revolutionary regime and Babeuf's doomed insurrection
24393-404: The public wealth." Because of this he believed that such primitive societies were the richest as there was no poverty. Other Greco-Roman writers that believed in a prehistoric humanity that practiced communism include Diodorus Siculus , Virgil , and Ovid . Similarly the early Church Fathers , like their pagan predecessors, maintained that humans society had declined to its current state from
24566-553: The railways and later because of his political career. She rarely travelled outside Bathurst and never lived in Canberra, even while her husband was prime minister. She usually visited the city for only special occasions. Her health prevented her from campaigning for her husband, and she was known to have little interest in politics. Nonetheless, the couple "seemingly enjoyed a close and caring relationship throughout his life". She survived her husband by 11 years, dying in 1962. According to his biographer David Day , Chifley engaged in
24739-429: The rebellion. That same year, a further communist rebellion took place in the Weimar Republic only to be crushed, but another occurred in 1923 which once again was also defeated by the government. The Bulgarian Communist Party had also attempted an uprising in 1923, but like most of their counterparts across Europe they were defeated. Communist parties were tight knit organizations that exerted tight control over
24912-487: The referendum, when concessional rate radio licences were introduced for pensioners, and were later extended to widow pensioners and also to television licences. The following year, in 1947, specific racial disqualifications other than those referring to Aboriginal Australians were removed, while the Wife's Allowance became payable to de facto wives who had lived with the pensioner for at least three years. The subsequent federal legislation in relation to pharmaceutical benefits
25085-466: The related ideas of socialism had become widely popular in French revolutionary circles thanks to the writings of social critics and philosophers such as Pierre Leroux and Théodore Dézamy , whose critiques of bourgeoisie liberalism and individualism led to a widespread intellectual rejection of laissez-faire capitalism on economic, philosophical and moral grounds. According to Leroux writing in 1832, "To recognise no other aim than individualism
25258-403: The reorganisation and enlargement of the CSIRO, and the establishment of the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service . As noted by one historian, Chifley's government "balanced economic development and welfare support with restraint and regulation and provided the framework for Australia's post-war economic prosperity." In 1947, Chifley announced the government would initiate a nationalisation of
25431-482: The riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution. In the 1840s, German philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx , who was living in England after fleeing the authorities in Prussia , where he was considered a political threat, began publishing books in which he outlined his theories for a variety of communism now known as Marxism . Marx was financially aided and supported by another German émigré, Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), who like Marx had fled from
25604-411: The same time the revolutionary priest John Ball , who was later executed for his prominent role in the doomed Wat Tyler Rebellion allegedly declared, "things cannot go well in England, nor ever will, until all goods are held in common." In Tábor , Bohemia during the 15th century Hussite Wars , the radical Taborites attempted to institute a system they called a "community of goods" where, "there
25777-418: The sponsorship and they became less important. The devastation of the war resulted in a massive recovery program involving the rebuilding of industrial plants, housing and transportation as well as the demobilization and migration of millions of soldiers and civilians. In the midst of this turmoil during the winter of 1946–1947, the Soviet Union experienced the worst natural famine in the 20th century . There
25950-483: The strength of the Communist Party was "improving the conditions of the people". Despite this, Menzies exploited the rising Cold War hysteria to portray Labor as soft on Communism. These events, together with a perception that Chifley and Labor had grown increasingly arrogant in office, led to the Liberal election victory at the 1949 election. While Labor won an additional four seats in a House of Representatives that had been expanded from 74 seats to 121 seats, Menzies and
26123-441: The utopian novel Utopia (1516) in which the main character decries private property after traveling to an idyllic island without money or private property and where, "everything is under state control." More coined the term utopia as a name for his idealized community, which means "nowhere" in Latin, evincing the fact that More did not consider such a society attainable in reality. Tommaso Campanella 's 1601 work The City of
26296-441: The vote in the German elections and some of its leaders, such as August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht , became well-known public figures. The communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have
26469-427: Was an inspiration for French socialist thinkers such as Henri de Saint-Simon , Louis Blanc , Charles Fourier and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon . Proudhon, the founder of modern anarchism and libertarian socialism would later famously declare " property is theft! " a phrase first invented by the French revolutionary Brissot de Warville . Importantly because one of Babeuf's co-conspirators, Philippe Buonarroti , survived
26642-403: Was appointed Treasurer in the new Curtin government in 1941, as one of the few Labor MPs with previous ministerial experience. The following year Chifley was additionally made Minister for Postwar Reconstruction , making him one of the most powerful members of the government. He became prime minister following Curtin's death in office in 1945, defeating caretaker prime minister Frank Forde in
26815-580: Was as a cashier's assistant at a local department store. He later worked at a tannery for a period, and then in September 1903 joined the New South Wales Government Railways as a "shop boy" at the Bathurst locomotive shed . Over the following decade, he was promoted through the ranks to engine-cleaner and fireman , and then finally in March 1914 to engine-driver. The position of driver was considered relatively prestigious, and Chifley had to sit various examinations before being certified. He developed an intimate technical understanding of his locomotives, and became
26988-415: Was associated with the development of the FAI political party, a non-Marxist party which stood for revolutionary communism. As the Cold War took effect around 1947, the Kremlin set up new international coordination bodies including the World Federation of Democratic Youth , the International Union of Students , the World Federation of Trade Unions , the Women's International Democratic Federation and
27161-433: Was based in Prague. While it had non-communist unions it was largely dominated by the Soviets. In 1949 the British, American and other non-Communist unions broke away from the WFTU to form the rival International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). The labor movement in Europe became so polarized between the communist unions and social democratic and Christian labor unions, whereas front operations could no longer hide
27334-410: Was centralized. The systematic, historical and materialist analysis of the nature of communism in Dézamy's work led Marx to consider him among the first scientific socialists along with Jules Gay . It was only in the year 1840 that proponents of common ownership in France, including the socialists Théodore Dézamy, Étienne Cabet , and Jean-Jacques Pillot began to widely adopt the word "communism" as
27507-552: Was deemed constitutional by the High Court. This paved the way for the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), an important component of Australia's modern public health system. From July 1947, a prepayment of Maternity Allowance could be made up to four weeks before the expected date of the birth of the child. Moreover, eligibility for maternity benefits was extended to mothers who were classified as an alien but had lived in Australia for 12 months residence. Then again that same year, eligibility for Child's Allowance
27680-432: Was defeated at the 1949 Australian federal election , which brought Robert Menzies ' Liberal Party to power for the first time. He stayed on as Leader of the Opposition until his death, which came a few months after the 1951 Australian federal election ; Labor did not return to government until 1972. For his contributions to post-war prosperity, Chifley is often regarded as one of Australia's greatest prime ministers. He
27853-415: Was demoted from engine-driver to fireman. Despite repeated lobbying, their pre-1917 benefits were not restored until 1925. After the strike, the state government of William Holman also de-registered their union, placing it at a severe disadvantage against other railway unions . Chifley worked to secure its re-registration, which occurred in 1921, and was also involved in the formation of a national union –
28026-483: Was directly influenced by Morelly's anti-property utopian novel The Code of Nature and quoted it extensively, although he was under the erroneous impression it was written by Diderot . Also during the revolution the publisher Nicholas Bonneville , the founder of the Parisian revolutionary Social Club used his printing press to spread the communist treatises of Restif and Sylvain Maréchal . Maréchal, who later joined Babeuf's conspiracy, would state in his Manifesto of
28199-501: Was elected president of the third session of the United Nations General Assembly (September 1948 to May 1949). Internationally, the rise of Communism was a developing concern for many in Australia. Chifley sought to oppose the re-establishment of Dutch control of Indonesia and refused help to British efforts to quell the developing insurgency in Malaya . The Catholic-based "Movement" meanwhile campaigned strongly to drive Communists out of leadership positions in trade unions, prefiguring
28372-477: Was extended to those wives whose husbands were in asylums and to single invalid pensioners who had the custody, care and control of a child. An additional benefit of five shillings per week for the first child became available to a beneficiary who had custody and spent an equivalent or more of the benefit on the child. Amendments were also made to legislation on Child Endowment to allow Australians temporarily absent from Australia and newly arrived migrants to receive
28545-421: Was founded known as the Second International to unite the various Marxist groups around the world. As Marxism took off, it also began to come under criticism from other European intellectuals, including fellow socialists and leftists. For instance, the Russian collectivist anarchist Mikhail Bakunin criticised what he believed were the flaws in the Marxian theory that the state would eventually dissolve under
28718-419: Was making him a cup of tea, from calling a doctor. As his condition deteriorated, however, Donnelly called Dr. John Holt, who ordered Chifley's immediate removal to hospital. Chifley died in an ambulance on the way to the Canberra Community Hospital . He was pronounced dead at 10:45 pm. Menzies heard of Chifley's demise while attending a parliamentary ball at King's Hall in Parliament House to celebrate
28891-433: Was mostly successful in underdeveloped countries with endemic poverty such as the Republic of China . In 1917, the Bolshevik Party seized power during the Russian Revolution and in 1922 created the Soviet Union , the world's first self-declared socialist state . The Bolsheviks thoroughly embraced the concept of proletarian internationalism and world revolution , seeing their struggle as an international rather than
29064-521: Was no serious opposition to Stalin as the NKVD secret police continued to send possible suspects to the gulag. Relations with the United States and Britain went from friendly to hostile, as they denounced Stalin's political controls over eastern Europe and his blockade of Berlin . By 1947, the Cold War had begun. Stalin himself believed that capitalism was a hollow shell and would crumble under increased non-military pressure exerted through proxies in countries like Italy. However, he greatly underestimated
29237-432: Was prominent in the trade union movement before entering politics, and was also a director of The National Advocate . After several previous unsuccessful candidacies, Chifley was elected to parliament in the 1928 federal election . In 1931, he was appointed Minister for Defence in the government of James Scullin . He served in cabinet for less than a year before losing his seat at the 1931 federal election , which saw
29410-426: Was put down violently by the Freikorps, who historians believe killed around 1,200 communists and their sympathisers. That same year, political turmoil in Hungary following their defeat in World War I led to a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party taking control. The Hungarian Communist Party led by Béla Kun soon became dominant and instituted various communist reforms in
29583-451: Was significant debate among communist and Marxist ideologues as to whether most of these countries could be meaningfully considered Marxist at all since many of the basic components of the Marxist system were altered and revised by such countries. There was a rapid decline of communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and several other Marxist–Leninist states repudiating or abolishing
29756-427: Was the daughter of a more senior railways employee, George McKenzie. The couple began courting in 1912, but had known each other since childhood. The McKenzies were Presbyterian, and Elizabeth did not want to convert to Chifley's Catholic faith. Due to the Catholic Church's opposition to mixed marriages, the couple chose to marry in a Presbyterian church in Glebe, Sydney. Their parents opposed the union and did not attend
29929-410: Was the sole collector of income tax. Major national projects were also instituted, including the Snowy Mountains Scheme and an assisted immigration program. Despite demobilisation of Australian forces following war's end, Australia faced a labour shortage and Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell launched the post war migration program – intended to bring out mainly British migrants to augment
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