Communism Overview Essay Research Paper Communism Overview

Communism: Overview Essay, Research Paper

Communism: Overview

Communism is the belief that everyone in a society should be equal and

share their wealth. It is an outgrowth of socialism and Anabaptism (Laski 45).

It became a firmly rooted term after the Russian Revolution of 1917. According

to the words of Karl Marx, “From each according to his ability, to each

according to his needs” (monkeywrench@iww.org). These theories were spread by

Karl Marx. He believed that what a person made of himself reflected his effort

(McLellan 1). He also believed that communism, or the state of equality was

ones “final stage in life” (Leone 1).

Communism basically started in 1847, with the formation of the London

Communist League. This was an international association of worker, whose sole

purpose was to write a “theoretical and practical program which would serve as

the basis for uniting the working classes of Europe” (Leone 1). The London

Communist League asked Marx for help in drafting a document to represent their

standings. He composed the “Communist Manifesto” or “The Manifesto of the

Communist Party” (Leone 1).

The Russian Revolution helped foster communism. The Russian Revolution

started with the with the assassination of Rasputin. In March of 1917, the Duma

declares a prvisional government, including czars. During this period, there

were also massive strikes by the workers. It was furthered by the abdication of

Czar Nicholas. The Russian Revolution itself occured throughout 1917, with the

start of the March Revolution. In April of 1917, Lenin return from exil in

Switerland and denounced the established provisional government. The next

general step was the gaining of the seats in the Petograd Soviet Parliment by

the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks picked Lenin to then head the government, just

several days after the November Revolution. During this revolution the peasants

storm the palace, taking total control of the government. At this point, the

power was given to Lenin. Almost immediatly he issued the New Economic Plan,

which instituted the one party system or communism. They basicaly supported the

basic communist theories of Karl Marx, as interpreted by Lenin. He installed

many of his beliefs and helped reorganize the people, and essentially

emmancipatte the working class. He also is credited with the creation of the

Soviet Union. Unlike many of the countries previous leaders, he had more of the

peseants support. This was extrememly influential later in his career (McKay,

et all 880). When he came into power, he gave land to the peseants (Laski 48).

He even went as far to nationalize the banks of Russia.

Lenin had help with the running of his government, especially from

Joseph Stalin. Stalin helped to advise Lenin on almost all of his problems. He

even went as far as to help lead the Red Army in the Civil War (Brzezinski 25).

The theory of communism was developed by Karl Marx. He was born in

Trier of the Rhineland Germany to Jewish parents and spent his life in an effort

to improve the life of the average working man (Foreman 6). Marx is probably

best known for his masterpiece, the Communist Manifesto.

In the Communist Manifesto, Marx put forth his philosophy on society and

the way it would change. In essence, he developed “a set of proportions about

human society and the way it is supposed to behave over time” (Daniels 5).

Communist’s state that the “greatest freedom, freedom from want, can only be

realized went he abuses of big business are eliminated” (Leone 6). This would

require her citizens to give up everything they own, and trust completely in the

stability of their government.

The Marxist theory describes the cycle through which society revolves in

six basic steps. First, economic development would lead to the formation of a

class structure. This would occur because people would assume different roles

in the production of process, such as worker or supervisor. Second, the before

mentioned classes would struggle for dominance, and fight to gain power over the

other classes. Third, the classes would form political organizations to further

the cause of the class. Fourth, the economic conditions would change, causing

new classes to arise. Fifth, the addition of more classes would intensify the

struggle for dominance. And sixth, the lower class would rise up and overthrow

the upper class. The cycle would then begin again with the new upper class

bringing about economic prosperity (Daniels 6).

Marx cannot be given the entire credit for his ideas. He collaborated

with a fellow German, Fredrich Engles. Engles met Marx in 1844, at the tender

age of 24. From then on, the two combined ideas and wrote not only the

Communist Manifesto, but also the three-volume Das Kapital (Forman 138). Engles

served his purpose as the “literacy executor” of Marx well (Ebenstein

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