Socialism is, according to Engels, the "direct product of the recognition of class antagonisms between capitalists and wage workers".[1] At its core, socialism is the antithesis to capitalism; it is the stage of production in which labor is owned, controlled, and solely profited from by the proletariat, and is the bridge to communism.
Notable socialist states:
- The Soviet Union (1917-1991)
- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), known colloquially as North Korea (1948- )
- The People's Republic of China (1949- )
- The Republic of Cuba (1959- )
- The Lao Democratic People's Republic (1991- )
- The Polish People's Republic (1952-1989)
- The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1992)
- The German Democratic Republic (1949-1989)
- The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1976-2011)
- The Syrian Arab Republic (2000- )