The Communist Manifesto: Marx's New Form Of Communism
Logan Karls
HIST 101: Studies in World History
Hour 3
10/20/15
INTRO The Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was a way of explaining Marx's new form of Socialism/Communism. This document didn't come into large interest until Communism started to reach its highest popularity point. In it, Marx explains the science and history behind his findings. “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”(Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto). This class struggle seen time and time again throughout history was one of the main ideas Communism was aimed at to eradicate. In ancient Egyptian times: the Pharaoh and the slave, ancient Rome: the aristocrat and the plebian and most recently, …show more content…
This ideology has evolved slowly through time and Capitalism was the current species. Although Marx and Engels did not agree with the class rolls and oppression that Capitalism brought with it, they knew it was necessary in order to reach the final goal, Communism. A Capitalistic society brought with it a natural spirit of competition in its markets. This created social “superiors” that forced those lower into a submissive state of mind. The only way a classless society could be reached was through the overthrow of the capitalists (business owners) by the proletariat (working class). Once political power had been seized by the proletariat, a socialist society could be formed that would act almost like a Commonwealth for the proletariat which, in turn, would finally lead to Communism. Erasing all classes would require an astounding change in the traditional way of life. This is why Marx considered the Communist revolution to be “the most radical rupture” seeing as “Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things”. Private property was one of the largest materialistic values held throughout the bourgeoisie class and in Communism, any materialistic value that could separate one man from another on the social ladder had to be removed. Whatever work one was able to input, they were given the same …show more content…
His article, Our Programme, written in 1899 explains that Marxist theory “has only laid the foundation stones of that science on which the socialists must continue to build in every direction, unless they wish to be left behind by life.” He knew that the core values were there, that the Russian worker is constantly oppressed by those in power and will never be given the chance to speak up. His ideas are explained even further in his April theses, published in April 1917, quite recently after the Russian revolution, “No support for the Provisional Government; the utter falsity of all its promises should be made clear...”. Yet, he felt something was missing, this is why he created his own adaptation: Marxism-Leninism. Leninism states it believes in a central government, which is pretty much Lenin concealing himself with a form of
HIST 101: Studies in World History
Hour 3
10/20/15
INTRO The Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was a way of explaining Marx's new form of Socialism/Communism. This document didn't come into large interest until Communism started to reach its highest popularity point. In it, Marx explains the science and history behind his findings. “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”(Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto). This class struggle seen time and time again throughout history was one of the main ideas Communism was aimed at to eradicate. In ancient Egyptian times: the Pharaoh and the slave, ancient Rome: the aristocrat and the plebian and most recently, …show more content…
This ideology has evolved slowly through time and Capitalism was the current species. Although Marx and Engels did not agree with the class rolls and oppression that Capitalism brought with it, they knew it was necessary in order to reach the final goal, Communism. A Capitalistic society brought with it a natural spirit of competition in its markets. This created social “superiors” that forced those lower into a submissive state of mind. The only way a classless society could be reached was through the overthrow of the capitalists (business owners) by the proletariat (working class). Once political power had been seized by the proletariat, a socialist society could be formed that would act almost like a Commonwealth for the proletariat which, in turn, would finally lead to Communism. Erasing all classes would require an astounding change in the traditional way of life. This is why Marx considered the Communist revolution to be “the most radical rupture” seeing as “Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things”. Private property was one of the largest materialistic values held throughout the bourgeoisie class and in Communism, any materialistic value that could separate one man from another on the social ladder had to be removed. Whatever work one was able to input, they were given the same …show more content…
His article, Our Programme, written in 1899 explains that Marxist theory “has only laid the foundation stones of that science on which the socialists must continue to build in every direction, unless they wish to be left behind by life.” He knew that the core values were there, that the Russian worker is constantly oppressed by those in power and will never be given the chance to speak up. His ideas are explained even further in his April theses, published in April 1917, quite recently after the Russian revolution, “No support for the Provisional Government; the utter falsity of all its promises should be made clear...”. Yet, he felt something was missing, this is why he created his own adaptation: Marxism-Leninism. Leninism states it believes in a central government, which is pretty much Lenin concealing himself with a form of