this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2024
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Political Memes

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It's decades old. Refers to people who support communist regimes regardless of what they do. Originally because the Soviet Union used tanks to quell rebellion and some people in the west still cheered for them.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I believe it was coined by the British left when the USSR quashed the Hungarian revolution by driving tanks through their streets. Anyone still in support of them is deemed a "tankie." Nowadays it was meant to criticize authoritarian communists.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

when the USSR quashed the Hungarian revolution

quashed the Hungarian communist (democratic worker) revolution; lowercase.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Right, right, they were like "you're not doing it right!"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Was it from the Soviet Union? I always assumed it was a reference to justifying Tianamen Square.

I guess that more you know.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago

Yup, it even predates Tiananmen Square by a few decades IIRC