Marxism and Leninism According to most historians, “history is told by the victors”, which would explain why most people equate communism with Vladimir Lenin. He was the backbone of Russia’s communist revolution, and the first leader of history’s largest communist government. It is not known, or discussed by most, that Lenin made many reforms to the original ideals possessed by many communists during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He revised Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles’ theories to fit the so-called ‘backwardness’ of the Russian Empire. Lenin’s reforms were necessary to carry out a socialist revolution in Russia, and the contributions he made drastically changed the course of history. It can be assumed that, the Soviet Union would not have been as powerful if it was not for Lenin’s initial advocacy of violence and tight organization. Marxism is a philosophy coined by Karl Marx with the help of Friedrich Engles in the early nineteenth century. Marx’s writings inspired many progressive thinkers throughout the European continent and the United States. The Marxist doctrine stated that first a bourgeoisie revolution, which will ignite a capitalist fire. The political philosopher believed that communism could only thrive in a society distressed by “the political and economic circumstances created by a fully developed capitalism” With industry and capitalism growing a working class develops and begins to be exploited. According to Marx, the exploiting class essentially is at fault for their demise, and the exploited class eventually comes to power through the failure of capitalism: “But not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wie... ... middle of paper ... ...iks and the Petty Bourgeoisie." Lenin Collected Works. Vol. 12. Moscow: Foreign Languages House, 1962. 179-83. Marxist Internet Archive. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. Manifesto of the Communist Party. New York: International, 1948. Marxist Internet Archive. 2000. Web. Montague, Richard. "Marx and Lenin's Views Contrasted." World Socialist Movement. Socialist Standard, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. "Plekhanov and the Origins of Russian Marxism." Readings in Russian History. Ed. Sidney Harcave. Vol. 2. New York: Crowell, 1962. 80-90. Print. Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2005. Print. Silverman, Saul N. "Introduction." Introduction. Lenin. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1972. 1-21. Print. Waldron, Peter. The End of Imperial Russia: 1855-1917. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997. Print.
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Marxism is a method of analysis based around the concepts developed by the two German philosophers Karl Marx and Fredrich Engel, centered around the complexities of social-relations and a class-based society. Together, they collaborated their theories to produce such works as The German Ideology (1846) and The Communist Manifesto (1848), and developed the terms ‘’proletariat’ and ’bourgeois’ to describe the working-class and the wealthy, segmenting the difference between their respective social classes. As a result of the apparent differences, Marxism states that proletariats and bourgeoisie are in constant class struggle, working against each other to amount in a gain for themselves.
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http://www.dictionary.com/. 15. What is the difference between a.. Karl Marx and Bourgeois Economics by Prabhat Patnaik. 16. What is the difference between a.. Findings of economist Edward N. Wolff at New York University (2010). 17.
He is known worldwide for his numerous theories and ideas in regards to society, economics and politics. His outlook on these subjects is known as Marxism. Marxism focuses on the imbalance and struggle between classes and society. Marx’s theories stem from the concept of materialism based society and the implications thereof. These concepts leads to the Marxist theory of the failure of capitalism. Marx had a number of specific reasons for the downfall of capitalism yet capitalism remains very real and successful. Marxism covers a wide range of topics and theories, but an in depth analysis of his criticism to capitalism and how it is not relevant to modern day will be explored.