PdA was founded on 12 October 2013 by the Communist Initiative, a Marxist-Leninist breakaway faction of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ), who were dissatisfied with the party's ideological orientation.

[1] The Initiative broke with the KPÖ in 2005, citing a lack of internal democracy.

The founding conference was also attended by Yahima Martínez, the ambassador to Austria from Cuba.

[3] The PdA contested the elections for the Vienna City Council in 2015 in six different districts, namely Leopoldstadt, Favoriten, Simmering, Meidling, Ottakring and Donaustadt.

In 2020 the PdA only contested the Ottakring district, gaining 79 votes (0,21%).