Communism was first envisioned by a man named Karl Marx, a German of Jewish origin who spent most of his life living in exile in France and Great Britain. In 1848, he, along with Friedrich Engels, published the Communist Manifesto, in London, England. According to them, communism was the ultimate result of a historical process. They believed that all of history had been a long, drawn out struggle between an exploiting class (capitalists, today), and an exploited class, the workers, also known as the proletariat. They believed this struggle would enter a critical stage with the development of capitalism, and industrialization. Industrialization, they stated, heightened the internal contradictions of capitalism. They affirmed that ownership of business and industry would gradually pass to fewer and fewer hands, which would produce further exploitation of the working class, eventually plunging them into rapidly increasing misery and despair. The proletariat would gain in numbers and eventually organize themselves into a political party so they could lead a revolution and overthrow the capitalists. Then, the working class would establish a society governed by a “dictatorship of the proletariat” and based on a communal ownership of wealth and property. Marx referred to this stage of society’s evolution as socialism, while preserving the word communism for the ultimate propertyless, stateless, and classless phase of society, for which he believed socialism was only a preparation. By using Marx’s definition then, communism is the final transcendent state of the elimination of a class divided society. This society would be governed by the principle “to each according to their needs, from each according to their ability.” A common example of this is "if an architect is single, he only needs one loaf of bread a day, and if a member of the working class has four children with his wife, they require six loaves of bread a day; but neither have to pay for the bread at the baker's, and they both ask for exactly as much bread as they need. This also applies to any other form of property, such as houses or cars or lamps.” However, a situation such as this has never occurred, and the Marxist ideal of communism is very often viewed as an unrealistic goal. It is for this reason then, that the word “communism” is missing from the name USSR; since it is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The man who can be most credited for bringing communism to Russia is Vladimir Lenin. Lenin, who believed the working class was unable to successfully lead a rebellion themselves and needed the help of a professional group of revolutionaries, came to power with his Bolshevik party in 1917. They renamed themselves as the Communist Party and outlawed all other political parties in the government. This accomplished, they transitioned from capitalism to socialism. Under Joseph Stalin, Lenin’s successor as leader of the Soviet Union, the Soviet party accomplished the switch from capitalism to socialism by nationalizing industries and collectivizing agriculture. Later, a program of hurried industrialization was forcibly pushed onto the people, despite the deprivations it caused. A secret police enforced terror on the populace to suppress all dissidents and opposition to the plan. After the end of World War II, the Red Army liberated many eastern nations from Nazi control, and consequently forced the formation of communist governments in the nations of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, East Germany, Poland, North Korea, and Romania (See Satellite States). Stalinism (the term that describes Stalin’s form of government) became the example for nearly all new communist governments. By the late 20th century, communism had failed both as an ideology and a practical system of government. By the 1980s, it was clear that state owned systems of economic production could not provide the same standards of living seen in many capitalistic countries. Additionally, unequal concentrations of wealth and property in free-market countries were contrasted by the concentrations of power in communist states, and it had become apparent that one-party communist rule severely limited personal freedoms in ways unseen in democracies.

The above two pictures are of Karl Marx, and then Marx and his wife Jenny.

Home