The most inspiring person in my life was my older brother Aleksandr Ulyanov; a Great Russian Revolutionist who wanted change for a better Russia. During his university years at St Petersburg University, my brother joined political societies that were anti-government like the People’s Will. The People’s Will was a great part that “Systematic terror attacks were not considered as a primary method of struggle, but rather as a means of revenge.” My brother took part in many protest the Tsar-ruled government. I’m very proud to say that my brother was one of the main contributors to the attempted assassination of that rotten Alexander Romanov III that involved a bomb. However, the Okhrana caught him, and my brother was prosecuted and executed at the …show more content…
age of 21 for his involvement in May of 1886. His passion of politics led resulted in his tragic death. I was very angry when brother was killed, as he was trying to do the best thing for the rest of country by getting rid of the Romanovs. My brother was a martyr and I really admired him for that. His extreme political drive, inspired me to be like him. So, I decided to follow in brother’s footsteps to take down the monarch. I attended Kazan University in August 1887, I studied law just like my brother as well as joining in a zemlyachestvo, a form of university society where men could criticise the Russian government and monarch. I participated in many protests that sparked controversy as societies like mine were illegal due to our anti-government belief. However, many falsely accused me of being the leader of the anti-government protest. The Ministry of Internal Affairs banished me to my family’s Kokushkino estate in Eastern Siberia. During my exile, I spent most of my time reading a Russian translation version of Karl Marx’s 1848 radical pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto and I was starting to like the idea of communism and Marxism.
A while after my banishment, My family and I moved to Samara, in 1889 and that’s when I expressed my love for communism. I studied to be scholar in Marxism. I studied Friedrich Engel, Georgi Plekhanov and many others’ works. Their writings mesmerised me as it formed my outlook on communism. Communism is a political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the major means of production . Forming a communist party, the Bolsheviks in 1903, was the best thing I have done as I destroyed 300 years of Romanov reign. The Romanovs always lived the luxury lives while many of us had to work by working all day, providing food for our families and for even them. I believe that Russia needed a political change, they needed communism. I gave the people what they wanted, which was peace, land and bread in the form of communism. However, many Russians were not content and were against the communist lifestyle, thus they revolted in the Civil
War. I was infuriated. I thought people wanted to be equal. Communism will be successful if everybody received it with an open mind and contribute to society.
In 1918, while the rest of Europe was still engaged in World War I, a newly formed communist government was developing in Russia. Much like 18th century Americans, they had just managed to overthrow what was viewed as a tyrannical government and hoped to form a new nation free of the injustices of the previous rule. Both countries wrote a new constitution as well as a declaration of rights to facilitate this, but their respective documents had vast differences. These disparities stemmed from differences in the ideologies of the new governments. The primary objectives of the Russian Declaration of Rights of the Working and Exploited People and the later constitution were the “abolition of all exploitation of man by man, complete elimination of the division of society into classes, merciless suppression of the exploiters, socialist organization of society, and victory of socialism in all countries.” Americans wanted equality of opportunity and personal freedom instead of the social equality desired by the Russians. The American constitution and Bill of Rights were created to protect personal liberties and individual freedom while the Russians were more concerned with the welfare and equality of the population as a whole. This difference is partially due to the differences in the conditions leading to revolution in each country. The American Revolution was initiated by the wealthy in response to what they considered unfair treatment by a foreign ruler while the Russian revolution was instigated by the poor in reaction to centuries of oppression and exploitation by the wealthy within their own country.
In conclusion, many soviets citizens appeared to believe that Stalin’s positive contributions to the U.S.S.R. far outweigh his monstrous acts. These crimes have been down played by many of Stalin’s successors as they stress his achievements as collectivizer, industrializer, and war leader. Among those citizens who harbor feelings of nostalgia, Stalin’s strength, authority , and achievement contrast sharply with the pain and suffering of post-revolutionary Russia.
Alexander II was the Tsar Liberator who, despite unflattering characterization by his contemporaries, undertook one of the biggest reforms in Russian history: the liberation of the serfs. Yet despite such a necessary and seemingly humanitarian reform, his life was abruptly finished by a successful terrorist attack following no fewer than ten unsuccessful ones.
From the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century major historical events such as the Industrial revolution had occurred. During this period of time Europe was switching into an economy that is focused mostly in the industrial field. From this emerged two social-economic classes, the rich bourgeoisie and the poor proletariats. Furthermore tension brewed from the two groups since the bourgeoisie source of wealth was from the exploitation of the proletariats. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ book The Communist Manifesto responded to the situation and created a vision of an equal communist society. The Communist Manifesto was defined by the abolishment of the bourgeois sovereign rule that followed to a revolution against capitalism
The widespread suffering and loss under Stalin is undeniable. In spite of that, he had positive aspirations for what socialism could be. This potential and what he might have wanted for society can be seen in a few accounts outside of the terror he inflicted. Russian life is engulfed with struggle, dedicated labor and sacrifice. What helps some get through these trials can be the dreams of their future- to dissolve the past, and feel as if your current strains will not be wasted. The more positive outlooks on Stalin’s Russia tend to be propaganda, but there can be truth found in their hopes for improvement. Any sign of growth and positive development can be argued as a step in the right direction, and this is where people could place their
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels from “Communist League”, a radical workers group, was authorized to produce The Communist Manifesto on behalf of the group. Marx was the author of The Communist Manifesto with Engels as the assistant and editor. The Communist Manifesto was published on February 21, 1848. In the document Marx and Engels argue that struggles between classes and the exploitation between one classes of another, is the force behind historic development, “all history has been a history of class struggles, of struggles between exploited and exploiting, between dominated and dominating classes at various stages of social development,” (Karl Marx). In addition, Marx and Engel’s The Communist Manifesto was greatly influential in the labor movement of the late nineteenth century.
Karl Marx is living in a world he is not happy with, and seems to think that he has the perfect solution. I am a strong believer in his ideas. We are living in a time period with a huge class struggle. The Bourgroise exploits and the proletariat are being exploited. Marx did not like the way this society was and searched for a solution. Marx looked for “universal laws of human behavior that would explain and predict the future course of events" (36). He saw an unavoidable growth and change in society, coming not from the difference in opinions, but in the huge difference of opposing classes. He speaks of his ideal society and how he is going to bring about this utopia in his book The Communist Manifesto. I am going to share with you more on his ideas of this “world-wide revolution” (36) that would put an end to social classes and allow people to live with equal sharing which would result in a harmonious and much peaceful world.
During the 19th century, Europe faced a transition from its Feudal system to a newly born capitalism. The decline of the feudal system was caused by several political uprising. These revolutions gave way for the birth of different political ideologies, such as liberalism, radicalism, and socialism (among others). This new era set the stage for several changes in Europe. Most notably, the industrialization and urbanization of Europe. Even though the industrial revolution had both positive and negative impacts on Europe, it was problematic as it established new social classes defined by the means of wealth. As a consequence to the industrial revolution, Marx and Engels, who held socialist ideas, attacked the capital system. They aimed to abolish private property and classes themselves. However, it can be reasonably argued that their call for a violent workers’ revolution was an ill solution to the crisis at that time. A revolution will bring destruction, lack of confidence in leadership, and enforced equality on humans rather than a natural, gradual movement toward reform and prosperity as suggested by other political ideologies of the same time period.
The end of 19th century, Western Society was changing physically, philosophically, economically, and politically. It was an influential and critical time in that the Industrial Revolution created a new class. Many contemporary observers realized the dramatic changes in society. Among these were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who observed the conditions of the working man, or the proletariat, and saw a change in how goods and wealth were distributed. In their Communist Manifesto, they described their observations of the inequalities between the emerging wealthy middle class and the proletariat as well as the condition of the proletariat. They argued that the proletariat was at the mercy of the new emerging middle class, or bourgeoisie, and could only be rescued by Communism: a new economic form.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto explores class struggles and their resulting revolutions. They first present their theory of class struggle by explaining that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx 14), meaning that history is a repeated class struggle that only ends with a revolution. Marx and Engels’ message in The Communist Manifesto is that it is inevitable for class struggles to result in revolutions, ultimately these revolutions will result in society’s transition to communism.
Inspired by the works of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin nonetheless drew his ideology from many other great 19th century philosophers. However, Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” was immensely important to the success of Russia under Leninist rule as it started a new era in history. Viewed as taboo in a capitalist society, Karl Marx started a movement that would permanently change the history of the entire world. Also, around this time, the Populist promoted a doctrine of social and economic equality, although weak in its ideology and method, overall. Lenin was also inspired by the anarchists who sought revolution as an ultimate means to the end of old regimes, in the hope of a new, better society. To his core, a revolutionary, V.I. Lenin was driven to evoke the class struggle that would ultimately transform Russia into a Socialist powerhouse. Through following primarily in the footsteps of Karl Marx, Lenin was to a lesser extent inspired by the Populists, the Anarchists, and the Social Democrats.
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.
Exploring the October revolution and the establishment of communism, Richard Pipes concludes that the origin of communism can be traced back to the distant past in Russia’s history. Pipes states that Russia had entered a period of crisis after the governments of the 19th century undertook a limited attempt at capitalisation, not trying to change the underlying patrimonial structures of Russian society. (Pipes, 1964)
The second section of The Communist Manifesto is the section in which Karl Marx attempts to offer rebuttals to popular criticisms of his theory of governance. These explanations are based upon the supposition that capitalists cannot make informed observations upon communism as they are unable to look past their capitalist upbringing and that capitalists only seek to exploit others. Though the logic behind these suppositions are flawed, Marx does make some valid points concerning the uprising of the proletariat.
In the mid-nineteenth century, in Europe, there were struggles with class accession, morality, principles, and ideologies that complicated the prosperous way of life for individuals residing in Europe. There were individuals who opted to give their beliefs and concerns on Europe which was a vital epilogue in European history. Karl and Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848, which basically explains the life of the working class while depicting the hardships and their economic goals. Communist Manifesto was a key precedent to the improvement of the bourgeoisie which is the lower-class, who struggles to gain social justice against the proletariat, which is the upper-class. Likewise, with the Communist Manifesto, J.S. Mills wrote his ideologies of European society in On Liberty. J.S. Mills On Liberty was written a few years later in 1859 and had a different perspective as it related towards religion and freedom of opinion, ideas, and way of life. The ideologies of both the Communist Manifesto and On Liberty have general good ideas for achieving a