Comrade

Comrade means "friend", "colleague", or "ally." The term originally carried a strong military connotation, and referred to a roommate.

Political use

The term "comrade" (and its equivalent in other languages) usually means "a fellow socialist" or "a fellow Communist".

This usage was inspired by the French Revolution. Upon abolishing the titles of nobility, and the terms monsieur and madame (literally, "milord" and "milady"), the revolutionaries employed the term citoyen(ne) (meaning "citizen") to refer to each other. The deposed King Louis XVI, for instance, was referred to as Citoyen Louis Capet to emphasize his loss of privilege.

When the socialist movement gained momentum in the mid-19th century, socialists began to look for an egalitarian alternative to terms like "Mister", "Miss", or "Missus". They chose "comrade" as their preferred term of address. In English, the first known use of the word with this meaning was in 1884 in the socialist magazine Justice. In French, the first use of the equivalent term, "camarade," among political leftists was in 1790.

The term is also often used amongst National Socialists, particularly in Great Britain. This is possibly due to National Socialism's roots in socialism, or inspired by the German cognate "Kamerad" which in modern Germany has Nazi connotations and is usually not used by German left-wingers (see following). The anthem of the British Union of Fascists also started with the words "Comrades, the voices of the dead battalions..."

Russian use

The original (archaic) meaning of the Russian version of this term (товарищ, tovarishch) meant something like "business companion", often "travel (or other adventure) mate", referring to the noun товар (tovar, i.e. 'merchandise').

The common secondary meaning of the term was (and continues to be) simply that of "friend", often referring to a schoolmate (as in 'he has been my товарищ since high school'). This usually implies a less close degree of friendship, signifying something similar to "a person with whom I have a good working (or similar) relationship".

After the Russian Revolution, the Russian word товарищ (tovarishch) was championed by the Bolsheviks. The use of "comrade" soon became widespread among Communists worldwide (much more so than among socialists who were not supporters of the Communist International).

During the Russian Civil War, the Tsarist White Russians used the word comrades (tovarishchi) as a derogatory term for their Bolshevik enemies, particularly those involved in the Red Army and the soviets. Western politicians sometimes mock left-wing opponents by calling them "comrade."

Because of its use by communists, the term is now strongly associated with communism, particularly the Marxist-Leninist, Stalinist and Trotskyist varieties, and the Soviet Union. The term can be affixed to titles to add a Soviet flavor (e.g. "Comrade Colonel"). The usage is fairly flexible. For instance, one might be referred to as Comrade Lenin or Comrade Chairman, or simply as Comrade. While the term has been used mockingly in stereotypical portrayals of the Soviet Union in Cold War films and books, it was frequently employed in Soviet society. In the Soviet Union the term was used essentially the same way that terms like "Mister" and "Sir" are employed. The term is not used often in contemporary Russian society, but it is still widely used today by the armed forces, where superior officers are normally addressed as "Comrade Colonel," "Comrade General," or the like.

The science fiction story Time Heals by Poul Anderson depicted a society in the year 2837 where "tovrash" is a worldwide word for "person", and "Tov" precedes the name of everybody like the present "Mr" - both having, by that far future time, no political significance.

Chinese usage

Main article: Tongzhi

In Chinese, the translation of comrade is "同志" (pinyin: tóng zhì), literally meaning "(people with) the same spirit, goal, ambition, etc." It was best known for its widespread use in mainland China after the People's Republic of China was founded, for basically anyone. However, after the 1980s and the onset of China's market-oriented reforms, this term has been moving out of daily usage. It remains in use as a respectful term of public address among middle-aged Chinese and members of the Communist Party of China. Within the Communist Party, failure to address a fellow member as tóng zhì is seen as a subtle but unmistakable sign of disrespect and enmity.

At party or civil meetings, the usage of the term has been retained. Officials often address each other as Tongzhi, and thus the usage here is not limited to Communist Party members alone. In addition, Tongzhi is the term of preference to address any national leader when their titles are not attached (e.g. Comrade Mao Zedong, Comrade Deng Xiaoping).

The Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) also has a long tradition of using the term comrade (同志) to refer to its members, usually as a noun rather than a title; for example, a KMT member would say "Mr. Zhang is a loyal and reliable comrade (同志)."

Recently, due to the fact that Tongzhi and Tóng Xìng Liàn ("同性恋", homosexuality) share that same first character, Tongzhi has recently become a colloquial term referring to a gay person.

Southern Africa

In South Africa, comrade is associated with the liberation struggle more generally and the African National Congress in particular. The members of unions affiliated to the ANC through their union federation use the term comrade to refer to each other. Comrade can also be a way of describing someone who is an activist, although it has an association with the ANC and the struggle against apartheid or economic inequality.

In Zimbabwe, the term is only used to people who are affiliated to the ruling party, ZANU (PF) where the state media also use Cde as short for comrade. Members of the opposition mainly the MDC are often referred by their names or Mr, Mrs or Prof.

German usage

In modern Germany the term Genosse is usually preferred over Kamerad by those on the political left. This is due to the association of the term with militarism as well as its use by the NSDAP during the Third Reich. Kamerad continues to be used today by those on the German far-right. Kamerad is also used in non-political situations such as within the Bundeswehr, among firemen and in schools for classmates (Klassenkamerad).

In other languages

• In Albanian, the word shok (from Latin socius) was used within communist circles.

• The Arabic word رفيق (Rafiq) (meaning friend) is used with the same political connotation as "comrade." The term is used both amongst Arab communists as well as within the Ba’ath movement. The term predates modern political usage, and is an Islamic male proper name. Iranian communists use the same term.

• The Armenian word for comrade is ընկեր ("unger") for boys and men, ընկերուհի ("ungerouhi") for girls and women. This word literally translates as "friend". The term is used by members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation when addressing other members of the party. The term is also used by the Armenian Communist Party.

• The Burmese word yèbaw is used in the Communist Party of Burma.

• The Bulgarian word for comrade is "другар" (drugar). It translates as friend or colleague. It used to be applied to teachers as well.

• The Croatian equivalent to comrade is drug, drugar and drugarica for females. In the period between World War II and Tito's death, it was applied to almost everybody: teachers, officials, etc. Today it is not used commonly, but it translates as "friend".

• The Czech word for comrade is soudruh, although the cognate kamarád is also seen. The latter translates as "friend".

• The Dutch word is kameraad. Although it can be used to refer to communists or an acquaintance, it is used in dialects to appoint someone's friend.

• The Esperanto word for comrade is kamarado in the sense of a friend. The word samideano, literally "same-thinker" is the equivalent of comrade in the Communist sense.

• The Finnish word is Toveri which literally translates as "buddy".

• The French word is camarade. It is mainly used by communists but can apply to classmates and soldiers.

• The German word is Genosse for males and Genossin for females.

• The Greek word is σύντροφος/συντρόφισσα syntrophos/syntrophissa (male/female), used by communists, socialists and other left-wing groups. Other meanings of this word are: mate, pal, friend, companion, even partner or associate etc.

• The Hebrew equivalent is Chaver (חבר), a word which can mean both "friend" and "member" (of a group or organization). During the time of Socialist Zionist political and ideoligical dominance of the 1930s to the 1960s, the word in a sense similar to English "comrade" was in widespread use, in the Kibbutz movement, the Histadrut trade unions, the driver-owned bus companies etc. At present, its political use is considered old-fashioned, mainly restricted to Israeli Communists. (The same word exists also in Yiddish, from which is derived the colloquial Australian word "cobber".)

• The Hungarian word for comrade is elvtárs. Literally, elvtárs means "policy fellow". The term is used only for Communists - Socialists don't use it.

• The Icelandic word for comrade is félagi. It is used as a less intimate alternative to vinur (friend). It is also the word used for a "member" of club or association. When used as a title to precede a name (i.e. félagi Tító or félagi Dimitroff) it has a communist implication.

• The Italian word for comrade is compagno, meaning "fellow". The word camerata, meaning "roommate", is the fascist equivalent.

• The Japanese word for comrade is "同志 (dōshi)", the same word used in Chinese. The word is used to refer to like-minded persons and the usage is not necessarily limited to Communists, though the word is to some extent associated with Communism. The word should not be confused with a homonym "同士", which is a more commonly used postfix to show people sharing a certain property.

• In Korean, a good equivalent of the word would be "동무" (dongmu), literally meaning "friend". Although the word was originally used by the Korean people all over the Korean Peninsula, people living south of the 38th Parallel begin avoiding using the word after a communist regime was set up in the north. In North Korea, the word replaced all prior social titles and earned a new meaning as "a fellow man fighting for the revolution". Today, usage of the word "동무" in South Korea could attract suspicious eyes from the public, as it has been stereotyped that only communists would use the word.

• In Malay, the words Komrad, Kawan and Sahabat are used among socialist organizations.

• In the Malayalam, word sakhavu is used among communist organizations.

• In the Philippines, communist and left-leaning activists prefer the term kasama (roughly, companion), and the short form, ka before the name, as in Ka Bel (referring to labor leader Crispin Beltran), while religious personalities address their adherents as Kapatid (Brethren), and also the same short form, ka before the name.

• In Poland, the word is towarzysz, which has the same origin as the Russian word. However, after the fall of communism in Poland a person who uses the word referring to classmates or roommates may be labelled a communist, which has a negative connotation in Polish society.

• In Portugal and Brazil, the word is camarada, now being commonly employed to sarcastically refer to communists or supporters of the communist system (result of the overusage of the term in the post-revolutionary society). It is also prevalent in the army, and has been gaining popularity among nationalist movements. The term used among socialist activists nowadays tends to be companheiro / companheira.

• In Punjabi language the word for Comrade is veer.

• In Romanian the exact translation is camarad which does not bear a political connotation, referring mainly to wartime allies and friends. The term used during the communist era was tovarăş, which is the same as the Russian word.

• The Serbian word for comrade is drug and is a regular word for 'friend'.

• The Slovak word for comrade is súdruh. Slovak language also knows a term "kamarát" too, but it is normally translated as a friend.

• In Slovenia comrade is similar to the Russian translation - Tovariš - which incidentally can also mean "teacher".

• In Spain, the word is compañero / compañera ("companion"); the term camarada ("companion", "friend") has also been used, but it's more associated with the communist tradition.
  • The standard form in Cuba is compañero / compañera, as it was in socialist Nicaragua and Chile. In some parts of Latin America, camarada is the more frequent word, except in Peru, where the term is commonly associated with Shining Path, members of the social-democrat party APRA employ compañero to refer to fellow members of the party. The term "camarada" is the more normal among Spanish Communists.

• In Swahili, the equivalent word is ndugu for brother-in-arms, or dada for a female comrade.

• The Swedish word is kamrat. Although it can be associated with communist lingo it may just as well be used to refer to a friend, a co-worker (arbetskamrat) or a classmate in school (klasskamrat or skolkamrat).

• The Tamil word for comrade is Thozhare (தோழரே) and is a regular word for 'friend'.

• The Thai word sahai (สหาย) was used in the communist movement.

• The Turkish word Yoldaş (literally co-traveller) has become used within the communist movement. In the climate of harsh anticommunist repression the word largely disappeared from common usage.

• In the United Kingdom, the term comrade is still used as a form of address among some Labour Party members, although it is much less common than formerly.

• In the United States, the word "comrade" carries a very strong connotation of being associated with Communism, Marxism-Leninism, and the Soviet Union in general. Especially during the Cold War, to address someone as "comrade" marked either the speaker, person addressed, or both as suspected communist sympathizers. It is still used in its generic context by some American socialists, even strong anti-communists. It latterly is frequently used with humorous intent.

Animal Farm

In George Orwell's novel Animal Farm, the animals all refer to each other as comrade, as the story is a satirical look at the Russian Revolution.