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Socialist ideas have existed long before the 19th century but it took until then before it started becoming a serious threat to the old order. There were sporadic movements such as the Diggers and Levellers in Puritan England, but they petered out. '

Modern-style socialism evolved among the harsh conditions of early industry and growing anticlericalism. Could a socialist movement have gained political power in a European country (bonus points for a major power) well before then? I imagine any time before the printing press would be out of luck because the monarchies and the Catholic Church could suppress it much easier.

Any form of socialism can fit, from social democracy to utopian socialism to something resembling Marxism-Leninism. Before anyone asks, it does NOT need to be secularist to complete the challenge. You can make a society based on the economic ideas of Luke and Acts if you want (as one example), so long as it is plausible.
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