ABSTRACT
A general pattern can be discerned in Third World states where a Communist movement dominates national affairs. The Communist takeover in Vietnam was a long-drawn out process camouflaged as a national liberation struggle against foreign domination. With the capture of state power the Party pursued a Marxist-Leninist strategy of socialist transformation among the peasantry and tribal people. In Afghanistan peasant and tribal societies form the overwhelming majority of the population. They were earmarked by the Communist Party for an accelerated transition from "feudalism to socialism." After capturing power in the guise of a military coup, the civilian Communist leadership imposed stringent political controls in regions under its domination. Tighter reins were placed on the rural population through resettlement and villagization schemes, and a Communist Party was eventually established by the military junta to enhance the Leninization of the state and the mobilization of society.
