Communism, as an ideology, is an extremely broad moniker that is applied to a number of (sometimes contradictory) positions. However, all forms of communist ideology are rooted in the writings of Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895) and share a number of common features. As a short answer, the chief features of communism are
The belief in a classless, stateless, propertyless society (communism);
The belief in a violent revolution to bring about communism; and
Opposition to capitalism.
While many implementations of communism in the 20th century attempted to bring about a communist society through an authoritarian regime, this isn't a universal feature of communism and is mostly associated with the writings of Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924). Anarcho-communists, informed by the writings of Peter Kropotkin (1842 - 1921), don't advocate for a state at all, and instead want to abolish it along with capitalism.
As a (very) long answer:
A central facet of Marx's theories has to do with the means of production. A means of production is essentially anything that can be used to produce commodities -- things that can be bought, sold, and consumed. An example of a means of production is a factory. Under capitalism, what Marx considered to be the predominant economic system of the day, the means of production are privately owned. For example, imagine someone who owns a textile factory, and hires workers to work in the factory. Marx would refer to those who own the means of production as the bourgeoisie (upper class) and the workers as the proletariat (working class.) Under socialism, the economic system Marx believed would follow capitalism, the proletariat would control the means of production by themselves. The proletariat would "seize the means" after a violent revolution.
This, in a nutshell, is the main theory behind communism. However, this is where Marxists begin to disagree with each other. Marxists primarily tend to argue about whether or not a state is absolutely needed to bring about communism. Marx himself believed this -- he called it the dictatorship of the proletariat, where the workers would form a government that represented their interests, which would eventually wither away, leaving true communism. Some communists, such as the previously mentioned Peter Kropotkin, disagree, however, and see the state as equally dangerous as capitalism.
Marxists also tend to disagree on the revolutionary subject -- that is, who is responsible for producing the revolution that will eventually lead to communism. While most communists agree the working class in industrial capitalism is the revolutionary subject, some, like Mao Zedong (1893 - 1976) believe that the rural, third world peasant will lead revolution. This is referred to as Third Worldism and is popular in Asia.
Communism is an extremely broad ideology, but all communists are united in their opposition to capitalism and support of revolution.
The basic tenets of Communism are based upon Karl Marx's founding text, the Communist Manifesto, which he wrote in 1848. Marx believed that the ideal society would be classless and that in order for this to be achieved, the "means of production" would have to be nationalized; the government would then be able to control all the country's wealth and distribute it equally.
In a Communist society, then, there is a strong central government which controls education, labor, transportation, agriculture, and the distribution of money. Communist societies, according to Marx, should also completely abolish the private ownership of property and confiscate the private property anyone owned before the revolution. This formed the first phase of his stipulated plan for establishing such societies. Supreme government authority would also mean that everyone's income would be heavily taxed in order to be redistributed equally, meaning that, theoretically, nobody should languish in poverty and a welfare state would provide care for all.
In actuality, Marx's theory—which he never put to the test—proved more difficult to implement than he had hoped, as it relies upon governments to be honest; a corrupt government can easily assert too much control, leading to the deaths of many citizens and the concentration of power and money among those who will abuse it.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf
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