in general, there are two currents of left communism, namely the italian and dutch-german left. the communist left in italy was formed during world war i in organizations like the italian socialist party and the communist party of italy. the italian left considers itself to be leninist in nature, but denounces marxism–leninism as a form of bourgeois opportunism materialized in the soviet union under stalin. the italian left is currently embodied in organizations such as the internationalist communist party (battaglia comunista) and the international communist party. the dutch-german left split from vladimir lenin prior to stalin's rule and supports a firmly council communist and libertarian marxist viewpoint as opposed to the italian left which emphasised the need for an international revolutionary party.