What is the difference between Communist and Socialist beliefs?

Answer 1

Karl Marx, who came up with the idea of communism believed that Socialism was the bridge to Communism. There has never been a true Communist state on the face of the earth due to the failure of all governments to get passed the Socialist Stage.

In socialism the government takes substantial control in the day to day operations of a country which usually leads to oppression in one form or another.

Answer 2

Generally speaking, a Communist is a socialist who subscribes to the Leninist theories of democratic centralism, the necessity of a vanguard party (and by extension single-party rule) and the theory of Imperialism.

In contrast, a socialist is anyone who advocates for some form of socialism as an alternative to the existing capitalist system. This includes anarchists, democratic socialists, communists, libertarian socialists, market socialists and Syndicalists.

Before the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, the two terms were generally synonymous with one another. After the revolution, socialists and social democratic parties that agreed with the politics of Leninism renamed themselves to "Communist" parties to distinguish themselves from socialists who opposed Leninism and the Russian revolution.

In essence, a Communist is a type of socialist, but a socialist is not necessarily a Communist. The primary difference between the two is in their methods for achieving a socialist economy. Socialists may support either revolutionary action or reforms, but reject the Communist idea of a single-party, authoritarian Vanguard state as a means to build socialism.

Answer 3

No difference: both stand for the abolition of the wages system and establishment of a classless society.