KCCIS Y12 - IB HISTORY

Marxism

BY: MELANIE AND

ADRIAN
1

KCCIS Y12 - IB HISTORY

Contents:
- Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels
- What is Marxism?
- How does Capitalism work?
- Socialism: Solution to Capitalism
Marxist theory of stages
Materialist Conception of History
Hegelian and Materialist Dialectic
- Contribution of Lenin
- Other forms of Socialism
Maoism
Stalinism
Trotskyism
Social Democracy
- Criticisms of Socialism/In defence of capitalism

KCCIS Y12 - IB HISTORY

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels:

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were German revolutionary philosophers who cowrote 'The Communist Manifesto' as well as several other pieces regarding the

evils of capitalism, its inevitable destruction and the evolution of the world's
economic system first to socialism then to communism. They blamed poverty
and starvation on the evils of capitalist society.

Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels

What is Marxism?:

In order to understand Marxism one must first understand what Capitalism is.
Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are

privately owned and goods and services are produced for profit in a free
market. In a free market people are free to use and sell their private
property without government interference.

Marxism refers to the political and economic theories of Karl Marx (1818-1883)
and

Friedrich

history.

Engels

(1820-1895).

Marxs

theories

revolved

around

human

He believed that history was largely determined by the struggle

between the ruling classes and the oppressed classes, which had conflicting
interests.

Marx believed that if workers could overthrow capitalism, they

would be able to build a socialist society. This society will still contain social
classes but for the first time in human history - the ruling class would be the
majority of the population.

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How does Capitalism work?:

Capitalism relies on the voluntary exchange of labour in return for wages or

capital.

This is a mutual beneficial agreement. Individuals pursue their own

self-interest. In a sense, capitalism is based on greed and self-interest.

People who support the idea of capitalism are known as capitalists. The

capitalists believe that governments should not interfere with the economy and
should regulate economic practices instead. The free market will distribute

goods to people in the more efficient and cheap way. Language, scientific
knowledge and law all grew out of free exchange and voluntary production.

The beginning of Capitalism began during the

Feudal System.

In the Feudal System, as

Lords owned the land, they relied on force

to guarantee that they were provided with

food. As they were not producing food to

sell

on

the

competitive
production.
military

market,

there

pressure

to

was

no

innovate

Lords spent all their wealth on

equipment

or

lavish

consumption,

they therefore had no incentive to invest in

developing new productive technologies.
result

of

the

Feudal

System

The

actually

prevented capitalism from growing! The Feudal Manor (village area) was selfsufficient which limited the growth of a free-market.
There were also 3 other stages of
Capitalism,

and

these

were:

Mercantilism (14th to 18th century),

Industrial Capitalism (18th to 20th
century)

and

Modern

(19th to 20th century).

Capitalism

KCCIS Y12 - IB HISTORY

Marxs Solution - Socialism:

Socialism

is

class

of

ideologies

favoring an economic system in which

all or most productive resources are
the

property

of

the

government,

in

which the production and distribution of

goods and services are administered
primarily by the government rather than

by private enterprises, and in which any remaining private production and

distribution is heavily regulated by the government rather than by market

processes.

There

are

many

forms

of

socialism

as

many

different leaders didnt really know what socialism

really meant, so they created their own form of it.

A few forms of socialism are: Maoism, Stalinism,

Leninism, Trotskyism, etc.

Marxist Theory of Stages:

Marx believed in the idea of permanent revolution or

uninterrupted revolution

- a series of revolutionary

stages in which, after one stage had been achieved, the next class struggle
would begin immediately.

He did not believe that progression through the

stages of society was inevitable and could actually be turned back. He even

believed that a backward society could jump a stage if aided by other

countries.

Materialist Conception of History:

Marx set out his theory of history in the book: Critique of Political Economy

(1859). He argued that the economic structure, based on the relations of

production in any society (which class owns the economy) is the real
foundation of any society.

KCCIS Y12 - IB HISTORY

On this are built the legal, political and intellectual superstructures of society.
It was social existence that largely determines
peoples
other

consciousness

way

ownership
history.

around.

of

or

So

production,

beliefs,

by

you

not

changing
could

the

the

change

Hegelian and Materialist Dialectic:

Marxs philosophy of history was influenced by

German idealist philosophy (Hegel, Herder, Kant),

the ideas of French socialists (Saint-Simon)
as well as the writing of British economists like
Adam Smith and David Ricardo.

Dialectical (contradiction) Materialism emerged from

Marxs
were

criticisms

made

up

of

of

Hegels

ideas.

opposite

Social

forces

relations

(thesis

and

antithesis). Class struggle between these poles would

eventually lead to a new mode of production and a

new stage in history (synthesis).

The Contribution of Lenin:

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, later known as (Vladimir) Lenin,

was born in Simbirsk in 1870. He was a gifted student,

doing exceptionally well in exams. Lenin went to a Kazan

university where he studied law. He took interest in

revolutionary ideas and was fascinated by the idea of

Marxism.

discussion

groups.

In

In 1895, he moved to St Petersburg and joined Marxist

1895,

Lenin

was

arrested

for

propaganda strike movement and was exiled for 5 years.

being

involved

in

KCCIS Y12 - IB HISTORY

After returning to the country he decided to press for the revolutionary

movements he wanted to execute. He published his pamphlet What Is To Be

Done? in 1902. The pamphlet contained his ideas about the nature of a
revolutionary party. He wanted to put forward his ideas at the Second

Congress of the Social Democratic Party which met in 1903. His actions had

caused the split in the party into the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. When the
revolution failed he was exiled again.
of 53 from a stroke.

Lenin died on January 21, 1924 at the age

Prior to his death he had suffered a few strokes.

Other forms of Socialism:

Socialism is Marxs solution for the perfect economy. This idea was appealing
to many past ruling leaders and some of them had
created their own versions of socialism.

Maoism composed of the ideology and methodology for

revolution developed by Mao Zedong and his associates in

the Chinese Communist Party from the 1920s until Maos
death

in

1976.

Maoism

has

clearly

represented

revolutionary method based on a distinct revolutionary

outlook

Mao Zedong

not

necessarily

dependent

Marxist-Leninist context.

on

Chinese

or

Stalinism refers to the method of rule, or policies,

created

by

Joseph

Stalin,

leader

of

the

Soviet

Communist Party and state from 1929 until his death in

1953. Stalinism is associated with a regime of terror

and

totalitarian

principles,

rule.

Stalinism

Based

came

to

on

Marxist-Leninist

represent

ideology Stalin wished it to represent.

whatever

Josef Stalin

KCCIS Y12 - IB HISTORY

Trotsykism is another Marxist ideology based on the theory of

permanent

revolution

first

expounded

by

Leon

Trotsky

(1879-1940), one of the leading thereticians of the Russian

Bolshevik

Party

and

leader

in

the

Russian

Revolution.

Trotskyism was to become the primary theoretical target of

Stalinism in Russian Communist circles in the 1920s and 1930s.

Leon Trotsky

Trotskys theory of permanent revolution held that, historically,

an economic system had to be seen as a world system

rather than a national one.

Social Democracy is the idea that the government should provide people

security and equality. The government should also actively reorder society in
order to develop this idea.

Criticisms of Socialism / In defence of Capitalism:

There have been some criticisms of socialism. The Marxist Doctrine has been
claimed to be a democratic one. However socialism involves using violence in

order to gain control which is not the principle of a democratic doctrine.

Marxism has also been criticised for making too many simplistic assumptions
about human nature, behaviour and society and sees everything in terms of

class struggle. Marxism focuses mainly on economic factors and ignores

cultural, traditional and other factors. Another criticism of Marxism is that it

does not encourage development of new products which in turn stunts

development of new technology. This is an argument in favour of capitalism.