chapotraphouse

the communist party of great britain got in arguments with each other over whether Khruschev was correct to invade hungary in 1956. One faction of CPGB argued that Khruschev was correct to do this, because America was funding nazi insurgents in Hungary. The other faction of CPGB argued that this was incorrect, and called the faction that supported Khruschev "tankies." This term, "Tankies" remained an obscure term that communists used when fighting each other for about 4 decades, until it was revived on the internet in the late '90s. By the early 2010s, liberals were beginning to use it against anyone who was anti-capitalist, including anarchists and social democrats. Now it pretty much is used as a slander against anyone who has broad critiques of US foreign policy.