Communism Notes
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-The idea of communism was developed by Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)
-They wrote two books called "The Communist Manifesto" (1847) and "Das Kapital" (1867) -Marx's theory was that human history was largely determined by the "history of class struggles" -He believed that the society should be ruled by the working class -Communism is a classless society, and a society of plenty rather than nothing -Marx didn't write much about the what a communist government would look like -He believed in the ideas of "Permanent revolution" -Marx thought that progression through the stages of society could not be avoided - Marxist theory of stages: Primitive communalism->Slave Society->Feudalism->Agricultural Capitalism->Industrial Capitalism->Socialism->Communism -His theory of Political economy in the book "Critique of political economy" (1859) argued that the economic structure is the foundation of any society -By changing the ownership of production, you could change history -Marx’s theory of dialectical materialism (image on the right) said that economic systems create social beliefs and political structures (not the other way around) |
The Communist Manifesto
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1.When and where was Karl Marx born? He was born in 1818 in Rhineland
2.Explain Georg Hegel’s (1770-1831) theory of history. He argued that throughout history there was an interaction of ideas that led to change. This was expressed as an original idea conflicting with a new idea to produce a third idea. 3.What job did Marx take after University in 1841? He became an editor in Journalism 4.How did that job change Marx’s belief in Hegelian idealism? It led him to question the validity of Hegel’s stress on the importance of ideas. He thought that there was a possibility that the physical conditions of life brought about historical change 5.When did Marx go to Paris and why? He went to Paris in 1844 to edit the Deutsch-Franzosische Jahrbucher. It also gave him the opportunity to meet French socialists 6.How did Marx’s ideas change in Paris? He studied a lot in Paris and it led him to the rejection of Idealism. States were not shaped by ideas but by the interests of the dominant groups in society 7.How did Marx and Engels meet? They met in Paris because Engels wrote an article that agreed very well with Marx's views 8.What were the main points of the ‘Communist Manifesto?’ 1. The existence of classes is only bound up with particular, historic phases in the development of production 2. The class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the working class 3. This dictatorship itself only constitutes the transition to the abolition of all classes and to a classless society 9.What is the opening statement of the Communist Manifesto? "The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle" 10.What is meant by ‘class struggle’? It argues that the nature of the class struggle varies according to the principal form of production. Hence in feudal societies, where the main form of production was agriculture, the class struggle was between those who owned the land and those who worked on it 11.According to Marx, how did the ‘bourgeoisie’ emerge? They emerged out of conflicts. These were people who had left agriculture to concentrate on manufacture and commerce 12.Which ‘class’ did the bourgeoise struggle with and why? They struggled the most with the upper class because of the priorities of the feudal state. This conflict was what made the bourgeoisie rise up during the French revolution 13.How did class conflict continue in bourgeoise society? In the bourgeoise society the conflict continued between bourgeoisie. The conflict was between the ones who owned the means of production and the working class, which owned nothing except its ability to work 14.Who owned the ‘means of production’ in bourgeois society? The upper class that could afford these production costs 15.How did Capitalism change human relationships? All relationships were reduced to a question of cash 16.How and why was bourgeois Capitalism unfair to the working class? Because companies reduced the wage to the lowest possible rate and this didn't allow the working class to enjoy the benefits of the expansion of the market 17.According to Marx, what other problems did Capitalism suffer from? Capital, the wealth created by capitalism, was the product of the proletariat’s labour, but its benefits were enjoyed, as private property, mainly by the bourgeoisie. Also there was the crisis of over-production 18.What is Marx’s view of history? His views are a materialist version of the Hegelian dialectic, where the conflict is between social classes not ideas 19.According to Marx, how would the ‘end of history’ be achieved and what would it be like? He thought that it would start with the proletarian revolution that would overthrow the bourgeoisie 20.Why did the Communist Manifesto survive and thrive? It is because it made sense of the experiences of growing numbers of industrial workers in Europe and the United States, it explained why Capitalism emerged, it located industrial conflicts within the class-struggle, and it claimed to demonstrate how that class struggle would result in the victory of the proletariat 21.Why is the Communist Manifesto so historically significant? It is historically significant because virtually all socialist parties, from the Communist Party of China to the tiniest Trotskyist sect, owe a greater debt to the ideas expressed in its pages |