Comrade

World War I poster in the Library of Congress

The term comrade is used to mean "friend", "mate", "colleague", or "ally", and derives from the Iberian Romance language term camarada,[1] literally meaning "chamber mate", from Latin camera "chamber" or "room".[2] A political use of the term was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Ever since the Russian Revolution, popular media in the Western World have often associated it with Communism.

Background

Upon abolishing the titles of nobility in France, and the terms monsieur and madame (literally, "my lord" and "my lady"), the revolutionaries employed the term citoyen for men and citoyenne for women (both 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 elsewhere began to look for a similar egalitarian alternative to terms like "Mister", "Miss", or "Missus". In German, the word Kamerad had long been used as an affectionate form of address among people linked by some strong common interest, such as a sport, a college, a profession (notably as a soldier), or simply friendship. The term was often used with political overtones in the revolutions of 1848, and was subsequently borrowed by French and English. In English, the first known use of the word "comrade" with this meaning was in 1884 in the socialist magazine Justice.

Russian usage

In the late 19th century Russian Marxists and other leftist revolutionaries adopted as a translation of the word "Kamerad" the Russian word tovarishch (Russian: Товарищ) (from Old Turkic tavar ishchi; abbreviated tov.), whose original meaning was "business companion" or "travel (or other adventure) mate", deriving from the noun товар (tovar, i.e., 'merchandise').[3][4] as a form of address in international (especially German) Social Democracy and in the associated parts of the workers' movement. For instance, one might be referred to as Comrade Plekhanov or Comrade Chairman, or simply as Comrade. After the Russian Revolution, translations of the term in different languages were adopted by Communists worldwide. As a result, even though many other socialists would continue to use "Comrade" among themselves (e.g., German and Austrian social-democrats and, to this day, members of the British Labour Party), it became most strongly associated in public consciousness with Communism as known in the Soviet Union. This is exemplified in its mocking use in stereotypical portrayals of the Soviet Union in Cold War films and books.

In the early years of Soviet power, the Bolsheviks used "Comrade" when addressing or referring to people assumed sympathetic to the revolution and to the Soviet state, such as members of the Communist party (and originally of other pro-revolution leftist formations such as the Left SR) and people from the "working masses". The more neutral republican form of address would translate as "Citizen". Accordingly, supporters of the White movement in the Russian Civil War would use "Comrades" mockingly as a derogatory term for their enemies – although at the same time, the various socialist anti-Bolshevik forces such as the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks also used "Comrade" among themselves.

By the mid-1920s, the form of address "Comrade" became so commonplace in the Soviet Union that it was used indiscriminately in essentially the same way as terms like "Mister" and "Sir" are employed in English. That use persisted until the fall of the Soviet Union. Still, the original meaning partly re-surfaced in some contexts: criminals and suspects were only addressed as "Citizens" and not as "Comrades", and expressly refusing to address someone as "Comrade" would generally be perceived as a hostile act or, in Stalinist times, even as an accusation of being "Anti-Soviet".[5]

The term is not used often in contemporary Russian society, but it is still the standard form of address in the armed forces and police, where officers and soldiers are normally addressed as "Comrade Colonel", "Comrade General", "Comrade Sergeant", or the like. The term is also used as part of idioms e.g., tovarishch po neschast'yu (fellow-sufferer, from German Leidensgenosse) or as a part of such words as tovarishchestvo (partnership) that do not associate with communism.

The term became popular in some internet forums in .ru and .su domains where users called each other literally камрад (kamrad), probably to avoid any connotations with tovarishch.

Chinese usage

In Chinese, the translation of comrade is "同志" (pinyin: tóng zhì), literally meaning "(people with) the same spirit, goal, ambition, etc." It was first introduced in the political sense by Sun Yat-sen to refer to his followers.

The Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), which was co-founded by Sun Yat-Sen, has a long tradition of using the term Tongzhi (comrade) to refer to its members, usually as a noun rather than a title; for example, a KMT member would say "Mr. Chang is a loyal and reliable comrade."[6]

Nevertheless, the term was promoted most actively by the Communist Party of China during its struggle for power. It was used both as a noun and as a title for basically anyone in mainland China after the People's Republic of China was founded. For example, women were nü tongzhi (female comrade), children were xiao tongzhi (little comrade) and seniors were lao tongzhi (old comrade). However, after the 1980s and the onset of China's market-oriented reforms, this term has been moving out of such 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).

In October 2016, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a directive urging all 90 million party members to keep calling each other "comrades" instead of less egalitarian terms.[7][8] It is also in the regulations of the Chinese Armed Forces as one of three appropriate ways to formally address another member of the military ("comrade" plus rank or position, as in "Comrade Colonel", or simply "comrade/s" when lacking information about the person's rank, or talking to several servicepeople.)[9]

Chinese territories such as Hong Kong and Macau do not have comrade in its popular vernacular due to longtime administration by foreign Western powers which instilled a different language paradigm in the natives of those regions.

South African usage

During the 1970s and 1980s, comrade emerged as a popular revolutionary form of address in South Africa among those involved in anti-apartheid political activities.[10] For example, members of the African National Congress and South African Communist Party frequently referred to each other as comrade.[11]

Among poor residents of the country's segregated townships, it was also used to specifically denote members of militant youth organisations.[12] These radical activists led consumer boycotts, organised anti-apartheid rallies and demonstrations, and intimidated those suspected of having ties to the South African government or security forces.[12] In this particular context, the English title comrades was also used interchangeably with the Xhosa term amabutho.[12]

Zimbabwean usage

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

The revived Zimbabwe African Peoples` Union (ZAPU) members also call themselves comrades.

Usage in South Sudan

Members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army call each other 'Comrade'.[13]

In other languages

In literature

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. Also in Nineteen Eighty-Four, party members in Oceania refer to each other as comrade.

In the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, the main character Rosemarie Hathaway calls her mentor/lover, Russian Dimitri Belikov, "comrade" as a form of affection.

In the Trinity Blood series, Ion Fortuna uses this term when referring to Radu Barvon, his childhood friend, companion, and bodyguard

References

  1. ↑ Camarade - Académie française
  2. ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com.
  3. ↑ Anrede "Genosse" nicht mehr zeitgemäß
  4. ↑ "Schlagworte: Genosse - Genossin". textlog.de.
  5. ↑ Выходцева И.С. О проблеме общеупотребительного обращения в русском языке / И.С.Выходцева // Русская и сопоставительная филология: состояние и перспективы: Международная научная конференция, посвященная 200-летию Казанского университета (Казань, 4-6 октября 2004 г.): Труды и материалы: / Под общ. ред. К.Р.Галиуллина.– Казань: Изд-во Казан. ун-та, 2004.– C.211-212.
  6. ↑ See, for example, the remarks of Frank Hsieh after losing the Republic of China presidential election in 2008: 凝聚黨內團結　謝長廷：我決定留到五二五: "很多同志希望我能夠留到五月二十五日" ("Many comrades hoped that I could stay to May 25". See 中國國民黨第17屆中央委員會第2次全體會議出、列席同志發言須知 ("Rules for speaking for attending comrades at the 2nd plenary meeting of the 17th central committee of the Chinese Kuomintang") for an example of its usage in the Kuomintang.
  7. ↑ http://dzb.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20151019/15606.shtml
  8. ↑ "China: Keep using 'comrade', says Communist Party". 19 November 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2017 – via www.bbc.com.
  9. ↑ Blasco, Dennis J (2011). The Four General Departments. The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation for the 21st Century (2nd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0415783224. According to regulations, members of the PLA address each other: (1) by their duty position, or (2) by their position plus surname, or (3) by their position plus the title "comrade" (tongzhi). When the duty position of the other person is not known, one service member may address the other by military rank plus the word "comrade" or only as comrade.
  10. ↑ Jaster, Robert Scott (1992). South Africa’s Other Whites: Voices for Change. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. p. 110. ISBN 978-0333522080.
  11. ↑ Sechaba, Tsepo; Ellis, Stephen (1992). Comrades Against Apartheid: The ANC & the South African Communist Party in Exile. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0253210623.
  12. 1 2 3 Bornman, Elirea; van Eeden, Renee; Wentzel, Marie (1998). Violence in South Africa: A Variety of Perspectives. Pretoria: HRSC, Publishers. p. 110. ISBN 978-0796918581.
  13. ↑ Saskia Baas (2012). From Civilians to Soldiers and from Soldiers to Civilians: Mobilization and Demobilization in Sudan. Amsterdam University Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-90-8964-396-4.
  14. ↑ "Verzetsmuseum - NSB, Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging". verzetsmuseum.org.
  15. ↑ "Esperanto GCSE Wordlist". btclick.com.
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