Maoism is a political theory of communism based on the ideology of Mao Zedong, who led the revolution in China in 1949. Maoism covers the state ideology of China from the 1950s until Deng Xiaoping's reforms in the 1970s, and Mao claimed that peasants should be the essential revolutionary class, as they were more suited to establish a socialist society in China than their urban comrades, the industrial workers. This sets Maoism apart from Marxism and Leninism, which focus on the rights of the workers, not the peasants. Like Stalinism, Maoism establishes totalitarian rule of a communist party and suppresses national minorities such as Tibetans. Maoism was abandoned by the Communist Party of China under Deng Xiaoping during the 1980s, and Maoism declined as socialism with Chinese characteristics became the predominant ideology in China.
Elements of Maoism were also used by certain left-nationalist groups, like the Shining Path in Peru.