Communism's earliest known form was utilized by Plato in the fourth century B.C. and the stoics.  They put it to use in their natural right doctrine.  It was also used by early Christians in their communities - keeping everything common or equal (Croan).  Communism landed in France around the year 1840 and was later preached by Christian dissidents during the German Reformation (Lorwin). Likewise, many books have been published around it, including Sir Thomas Moore's Utopia and Morelly's Code de la Nature.

    Modern communism would not have aroused without our ability to learn from others' mistakes.  For example, Francois Noel Babeuf led a failed conspiracy of Revolutionary communism in 1796 against the French Directory.  Thanks to various other failures, Germans Karl Marx and Friederich Engels devised various theories that had actually evolved under the 19th century industrialism (Lorwin).