This film, a compilation of still photographs and newsreel footage, traces the growth of international Communism from Karl Marx and his Communist Manifesto to the present day. Highlights include the early days of Lenin; the sinking of a Russian warship during the Russo-Japanese War; the fight for power between Trotsky and Stalin; Stalin's political purges, mass executions, liquidation of the Kulaks, and pacts with the Allies; the German invasion of Russia during World War II; Communism in China; the Korean War; Stalin's death; the coming to power of Khrushchev; the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian revolution; Khrushchev's famous "kitchen debate" with visiting Vice President Nixon; Khrushchev in Hollywood during his visit to the United States in 1959; and the rise of Communism in Cuba under Fidel Castro.—TCM