Karl Marx and the Theory of Communism

Background of Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who became fascinated with revolution and the nature of change within civilization. The purpose of these changes would be the ultimate creation of an ideal society. His ideas were not well received by his home country and he was forced to leave. He settled in Belgium and France for short periods before moving to England.

During his travels, Marx met Friedrich Engels who had similar ideas about revolution and the development of a new society. The two men began to write a number of articles and books discussing the possibilities of developing a communist state. They produced two key books Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto. The books outlined the stages of evolution towards the ideal society and became guideposts for the future revolution in Russia.

The Communist Manifesto

Marx defined his ideas by examining human history to see if a struggle for power existed. He believed that there were two types of people that existed historically. The “haves” and the “have-nots” would be involved with a constant struggle for resources. The “haves” were called “capitalists” because they had all the money needed to build new factories, mines, railways or other “means of production.” The capitalists would then force the “have-nots,” who he called the “proletariat (working class),” to work for them. This situation was unfair in the distribution of wealth within a society that would cause problems.

Problems emerge when capitalists pay the working classes very low wages while keeping the profits for themselves. In this manner the rich would become richer and the poor would become poorer. This situation would lead to the working class becoming frustrated and angry, therefore rising up to “seize the means of production.” The purpose of the uprising by the workers would be to distribute the wealth in a fair manner among all members of society. This stage of historical evolution would be called “socialism.”

A socialist state would have the workers own the means of production and all would share the profits equally. The workers would be working for themselves, not for the benefit of the capitalists. All forms of government would slowly disappear, as the workers understood the benefit of working for the good of each other. Once this model state of affairs occurred, his ideal society that he called communism would exist.

The manifesto became a major influence for educated revolutionary Russians in the late 1880’s. The dream of creating a Marxian state became the goal for a number of movements within Russia.