The current usage refers to people who back dictatorships that call themselves socialist.
Historically, the definition was slightly tighter. A few years after the death of Stalin, the USSR brutally crushed a revolt in Hungary with tanks. The UK’s communist party was okay with this. This led to a lot of people leaving the party and calling the people who remained “tankies”.
Over time, the term became more broad. A lot of the original users of the term supported Stalin, and would be considered tankies themselves by the modern definition.
It is also sometimes misused. Some people think that dictatorships are the only form that socialism can take. As a consequence, these people call all socialists tankies, including anarchists and demsocs.
The UK bit makes more sense, I can hear the accent.
I thought it was about the Teineman square tank man with the bags, and Tankie’s were on the side of the tanks. I mean it’s the same concept but yours goes back further.
The current usage refers to people who back dictatorships that call themselves socialist.
Historically, the definition was slightly tighter. A few years after the death of Stalin, the USSR brutally crushed a revolt in Hungary with tanks. The UK’s communist party was okay with this. This led to a lot of people leaving the party and calling the people who remained “tankies”.
Over time, the term became more broad. A lot of the original users of the term supported Stalin, and would be considered tankies themselves by the modern definition.
It is also sometimes misused. Some people think that dictatorships are the only form that socialism can take. As a consequence, these people call all socialists tankies, including anarchists and demsocs.
The UK bit makes more sense, I can hear the accent.
I thought it was about the Teineman square tank man with the bags, and Tankie’s were on the side of the tanks. I mean it’s the same concept but yours goes back further.