Why did communism become so widespread?

Communism came about because poor countries wanted a quick fix for their economy. For instance, China, back in the early 1900's, was not a Communist nation. It became that way after years of poverty. What communists' do is go after the farmers, etc, and tell them that Communism will give them money, power, etc and will eliminate different classes of people (middle class, upper class), and people will be able to share everything, etc. Farmers and poverty-stricken people believe this, and it does work, temporarily. However, the long term effects are not good. You're pretty much working for your government; nothing is yours anymore. But, poorer countries don't think about the long-term effects. China today is still Communist; but they are not strict Communists like some other countries.