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Comrade means "friend", "colleague", or "ally. " The term originally carried a strong military connotation, and referred to a roommate. A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking This word has distinct meanings in other fields see Connotation (semiotics and Connotation and denotation. A roommate is a person with whom one shares a residence who is not a relative or Significant other.

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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. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages 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". Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more beings

After the Russian Revolution, the Russian word товарищ (tovarishch) was championed by the Bolsheviks. See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction The use of "comrade" soon became widespread among Communists worldwide (much more so than among socialists who were not supporters of the Communist International). Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based The Comintern ( Com munist Intern ational also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow

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. The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia. 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. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Marxism-Leninism is a Communist ideological stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency amongst the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953 Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 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 officers and soldiers 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. Poul William Anderson ( November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American Science fiction author who wrote during a Golden

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. This article refers to the term "tongzhi" For the emperor who reigned China between 1861 and 1875 see Tongzhi Emperor Tongzhi Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use " It was best known for its widespread use in mainland China after the People's Republic of China was founded, for basically anyone. Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES For example, women were nu 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 daily usage. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. It remains in use as a respectful term of public address among middle-aged Chinese and members of the Communist Party of China. The Communist Party of China ( CPC) ( also known as the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the 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 Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa The African National Congress (ANC has been South Africa 's governing party supported by its Tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions The members of unions affiliated to the ANC through their union federation use the term comrade to refer to each other. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming 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. See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF is a Zimbabwean Political party that was the ruling government in Zimbabwe Members of the opposition mainly the MDC are often referred by their names or Mr, Mrs or Prof.

German usage

Kamerad and Kameradin for females is the direct translation in German language. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. By those on the political left the term Genosse is usually preferred over Kamerad. This is due to the association of the term with militarism as well as its use by the NSDAP during the Third Reich. Militarism is the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers 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). The Bundeswehr ( German for "Federal Defence Force") is the name of the unified Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany

In other languages

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. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Animal Farm is a Novel by George Orwell, and is the most famous satirical Allegory of Soviet Totalitarianism Also, in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Party members are meant to refer to each other as 'comerade'. 

    
 Critics say that Orwell was strongly motivated by political moves, 
and the events which he described were based on the countries which were burdened by heavy wars. 
     More over Orwell was also a staunch supporter of British social-democrats.

References

Dictionary

comrade

-noun

  1. A mate, companion, or associate.
  2. A companion in battle, fellow soldier.
  3. A fellow socialist or Communist.
  4. (As a title replacing "Mr", "Mrs", "Miss", "Ms" etc in leftwing circles) Comrade Lenin
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