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Karl Marx and the Rise of Communism. What is Communism? Who is Karl Marx? What was Marx ’ s “ perfect ” society?. Who came up with the basic ideas of Communism?. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) German by birth Former college professor Author / philosopher
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Karl Marx and the Rise of Communism What is Communism? Who is Karl Marx? What was Marx’s “perfect” society?
Who came up with the basic ideas of Communism? • Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) • German by birth • Former college professor • Author / philosopher • Hated the conditions that the Industrial Revolution had brought to workers • Created “Marxism” = aka “Communism”
Who came up with the idea of Communism? • Frederick Engels (1820 – 1895) • German by birth • College educated • Journalist / Social critic • Had reported on the conditions of working people in Europe during the Industrial Revolution • Financially supported Marx & his writings
Marx and Engels met in Paris in 1844 Shared a hatred of current European industrial society Shared an interest in reform In the 1850’s both moved to London and lived together Began collaborating on writings / philosophy How did Marx and Engels meet?
What is “communism”? • Communism is a philosophy of government / society • Based on the ideals of Marxism / Socialism • Stresses the following: • Classless / stateless society • Common ownership of all resources • No private property • Social equality
Marx & Engels’ home in the Primrose Hill neighborhood of London. Live here together with their families from 1852 until Marx’s death in 1883
During their close friendship / partnership of over 30 years, Engels and Marx wrote several books and over 1,500 letters to one another
The Communist Manifesto was Marx and Engels’ greatest work Published in 1848 Not widely read in Europe until after Marx’s death in 1883 Marxist “Bible” What is The Communist Manifesto?
Who are the major players in Communism? • Two (2) groups: • Proletariat = Working class / lower classes of society • Bourgeoisie = Upper classes / the ones who gain wealth off the proletariat
“The proletariat becomes an appendage to the machine.” • “The are daily and hourly enslaved to the machine” • “Let the ruling class tremble at a communist revolution.” • “The proletariat have nothing to lose but their chains.” • “Working men of the world unite.”
The immediate goals of the Communists • Formation of the proletariat into a class • Overthrow of bourgeoisie supremacy • Abolition of private property • Raise the proletariat to ruling class
What is Marx / Engels’ theories? • Marx and Engels studied the history of the world’s economies and the way that power, industry and finance are controlled. • They saw the way countries developed in stages over world history Communism (Marxism) Socialism Capitalism Feudalism Primitive Communism
What is Primitive Communism? • This is how humans first lived together – in small tribes. • Everything was shared amongst the tribe – food, jobs, belongings. No-one owned land. • Eventually a group comes to power – this leads to Feudalism… Primitive Communism
What is Feudalism? • Under feudalism, a king or emperor or chief becomes the ruler over all the people. • He gives land and privileges to ‘nobles’ who rule the people for him. • The people are kept uneducated and told that God chose the king to rule. The church helps the king this way. Feudalism • As trade develops, some people get richer. This leads to Capitalism….. Primitive Communism
What is Capitalism? • The capitalists get more power to serve their own interests. • The business owners or capitalists get richer while the workers do all the hard work. Capitalism Feudalism • Capitalism creates a huge working-class of people who soon get angry at the way they are treated. • Eventually they begin to demand changes. This will lead to a revolution and Socialism…
What is Socialism? • Because nothing is made for profit, all people benefit from education and health. • The workers take control of the country to produce things for everyone. Socialism • These ideas spread across the world to create Communism…. Capitalism • In the Socialist revolution all the rulers – kings, churches, capitalists are got rid of.
What is Communism (Marxism)? Communism (Marxism) Socialism • As everyone now works together, war is a thing of the past – armies are not needed. • Sharing means no police are needed. • Everything is provided by the people – so money becomes a thing of the past. • All human activity goes towards benefiting each other – allowing all to live their lives to the full.
Marx / Engels’ work is going to influence a new generation of revolutionaries Tired of corruption Desiring a new society Marx / Engels’ works are feared by many European leaders Arrest, imprison, or exile many Communist leaders How did Marx / Engels’ work influence European society?
Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) was a German economist who was exiled to England. He wrote Das Kapital, which explained how he thought capitalism would fall, and also the Communist Manifesto, which told the workers of the world to unite and fight the factory owners. How do you think his life shaped his work?
Historical Materialism Marx argued that economics is the driving force of history. What is materialism?
Karl Marx says… “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas…” “The ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”
According to Marx, whoever owns the means of production has always controlled the government and society.
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” -Karl Marx What do you think Marx meant by this? What about history is repeating itself?
Class Struggle According to Marx, society has always been divided into the “haves” and the “have nots” – and these two classes have always fought each other.
Worker Happiness Worker Productivity and Profit Capital (Bourgeoisie) Labor (Proletariat)
In Hunter / Gatherer cultures, people live in close-knit groups and share the fruits of their labors. Karl Marx says… “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”
In Feudal / Agricultural cultures, serfs and peasants lose the fruits of their labor by working for the nobles, but at least they still live in close-knit communities.
But in Industrial cultures, the proletariat is completely separated from the fruits of his labor, and he lives a restless, miserable detached existence. This is called Alienation of Labor
Marx believed that the proletariat in every country faced the same problem – Class struggle with the bourgeoisie.
So he told the proletariat in every country, “You have nothing to lose but your chains…”
Surplus Value Marx believed that the bourgeoisie basically bought the products of the laborers at a cheap price, and then sold those same products back to them at a high price, in effect stealing the surplus value as their profit.
Karl Marx says… “Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.” Remember A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift?
Inevitability of Socialism Marx argued that over time, capital (money) would concentrate in the hands of a small number of capitalists. Finally, the lower class would rise up, overthrow the capitalists, and establish a Dictatorship of the Proletariat. What does this remind you of?
Where do you think Marx believed Socialism would come first – Great Britain or Russia?
At first, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat would need absolute powers to make sure Reactionaries didn’t bring back capitalism. What does this remind you of?
But before long, the workers would learn to share everything equally – “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” Karl Marx called this Communism, or the Ultimate Classless Society.
