short answer: only the incas!!! the incas are the only known real communists in history, unless other ancient cultures actually all worked that way too and we just have less evidence- very probable- as for the twentieth century- no, not really! there were three, brief, 20th century attempts that all failed disastrously:

soviet russia was actually a fully-functioning communist society at one point, in that they didnt use currency for a time, right? when was this time period? is this time period called anything? how did they get into and out of it? what happened? is this the only time this has been tried in the world?

The period you are referring to is known as War Communism ($Военный,коммунизм$), which lasted roughly from 1918 to 1921 during the Russian Civil War.

While it is often debated whether this was a “fully-functioning” society or a desperate wartime survival strategy, it remains the closest a major state has come to the rapid, forceful abolition of a money-based economy.

1. The Era of “War Communism” (1918–1921)

Upon taking power, the Bolsheviks faced a collapsing economy and a brutal civil war. They implemented a series of radical policies aimed at centralizing the entire economy:

  • Abolition of Private Trade: All private commerce was declared illegal. The state became the sole distributor of goods.
  • Hyperinflation & Moneyless Exchange: The government printed massive amounts of currency to pay for the war, effectively making the Ruble worthless. In response, they moved toward a “natural economy” where workers were paid in rations, fuel, and clothing rather than cash.
  • Prodrazvyorstka (Grain Requisitioning): Since money was worthless, peasants had no incentive to sell grain. The state responded by sending armed detachments into the countryside to seize “surplus” crops by force to feed the cities and the Red Army.

2. Transition: How They Got In and Out

  • The Entry: It was driven by a mix of ideology (the desire to leapfrog directly into communism) and necessity (the total breakdown of the market during the war). Leaders like Bukharin initially hailed the disappearance of money as a triumph of Marxist theory.
  • The Exit: By 1921, the system had caused a total economic collapse. Industrial output fell to 20% of pre-war levels, and a massive famine in the Volga region killed millions. After the Kronstadt Rebellion—where even sailors who had supported the revolution revolted—Lenin realized the state was on the brink of collapse.

In March 1921, the USSR pivoted to the New Economic Policy (NEP). This was a “strategic retreat” that reintroduced a stable currency, allowed small private businesses to reopen, and replaced grain seizures with a fixed tax.

3. Has This Been Tried Elsewhere?

The attempt to fully abolish money and markets is rare because of the immense logistical difficulty, but there are a few notable examples:

  • Cambodia (1975–1979): Under the Khmer Rouge, the National Bank was blown up, and currency was completely abolished. It was the most extreme attempt in history, resulting in a total agrarian shift and the death of approximately 25% of the population.
  • Maoist China (Great Leap Forward): While money wasn’t officially abolished nationwide, the “People’s Communes” attempted to replace wages with a system of “work points” and communal dining halls, effectively removing cash from daily life for millions of peasants.
  • Inca Empire: Historically, the Inca are often cited as a large-scale civilization that functioned without a traditional currency or markets, instead utilizing a complex system of labor tribute ($mita$) and state redistribution.

Would you like to look into the specific economic theories the Bolsheviks used to justify the move away from currency, or perhaps see how the NEP era compared in terms of economic growth?

no i would like you to explain how the inca did it

The Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu) is one of the most remarkable examples of a massive, complex civilization—spanning nearly 2,500 miles—that functioned entirely without money, markets, or a writing system as we know it.

Their “economy” was based on a system of centralized redistribution and labor tribute. Here is how they managed it:

1. The Ayllu: The Basic Unit

The foundation of the Inca system was the ayllu, a group of families who lived and worked together on a defined piece of land. People didn’t “own” land; the state owned it. The ayllu members worked the land to feed themselves, but they also worked separate plots of land specifically designated for the State and the Sun (the religious establishment).

2. The Mit’a System (Labor Tax)

Instead of paying taxes in gold or currency, every able-bodied male citizen was required to provide a certain amount of labor to the state each year. This was called the Mit’a.

  • Infrastructure: This labor was used to build the incredible 25,000-mile road network, massive stone fortresses like Machu Picchu, and the sophisticated terrace farming systems.
  • Specialization: If a person was a skilled weaver, their “tax” might be producing a certain number of textiles. If they were a soldier, their tax was military service.

3. State Redistribution

This was the “functioning” part of their communist-like structure. The state maintained massive storehouses called Qullqas.

  • Surplus Management: When the ayllus produced more grain, potatoes, or cloth than they needed, the surplus was collected by the state and stored in these Qullqas.
  • Social Safety Net: If a region suffered a crop failure or a natural disaster, the Sapa Inca (the Emperor) would open the storehouses and redistribute the food and supplies to that region. In exchange for their labor (the Mit’a), the state guaranteed that every citizen was fed, clothed, and protected.

4. Quipu: The Data Management Tool

Because they had no money, the Inca needed an incredibly precise way to track resources, labor obligations, and population counts. They used the Quipu—a system of knotted strings.

  • Different colors, types of knots, and the distance between knots represented different categories and quantities (e.g., “500 bushels of corn in the Cusco storehouse”).
  • Professional “accountants” called Quipucamayocs traveled the empire to ensure the books balanced, making sure no region was over-taxed or under-supplied.

5. Why it Worked (and why it’s hard to replicate)

  • Total State Control: The Inca state controlled almost every aspect of life. You couldn’t move to another village or change your profession without state permission.
  • Vertical Archipelago: The Inca lived in the Andes, where different altitudes produced different goods (fish from the coast, corn from the valleys, potatoes from the heights). The state-controlled trade between these altitudes ensured everyone had a diverse diet, which was more efficient than a market would have been in such rugged terrain.

In essence, the Inca replaced the “Invisible Hand” of the market with the “Visible Hand” of a highly organized, bureaucratic state that viewed its citizens as a labor force to be maintained and cared for.