42 points
It’s decades old. Refers to people who support communist regimes regardless of what they do. Originally because the Soviet Union used tanks to quell rebellion and some people in the west still cheered for them.
25 points
I believe it was coined by the British left when the USSR quashed the Hungarian revolution by driving tanks through their streets. Anyone still in support of them is deemed a “tankie.” Nowadays it was meant to criticize authoritarian communists.
4 points
when the USSR quashed the Hungarian revolution
quashed the Hungarian communist (democratic worker) revolution; lowercase.
2 points
5 points
Was it from the Soviet Union? I always assumed it was a reference to justifying Tianamen Square.
I guess that more you know.
16 points
