What is the significance of "Marxism" on the European History?
While pure Marxism as a political and economic ideology has proven to be unworkable, Karl Marx has made an impact on other aspects of human history the world over. Many sociologists, for example, make use of Marx's work on objective analyses of society. He has provided historians, as well, with a way of looking at the world and its history using an objective as opposed to a subjective view point. Karl Marx was a philosopher, economist, social critic and historian. Many of us simply peg him as a 'failed social activist' which makes much less of him than was really the case.
Why is it important to study Karl Marx?
1.He provided many of the major conceptual tools of the Conflict approach: 'power', structures of inequality'', 'labourvalue', 'alienation'; 'ideology' 2. He introduced the research method of the historical analysis of the development ,and current changes in, these structures of power .and the hypocracy of the culture that sustained this development 3. His own work on the structures of power and its ideological underpinning, of mid nineteenth century Europe. 4. For Australians, particularly, chapter 33 of vol I of Capital, is a very funny and insightful description of the establishment of 'modern liberal democratic society' on the continent 5. His focus on .the development of 'money' and 'debt' as commodities on the market has great resonance for the way that the 'collateral debt obligation' - the increasing alienation and confusion that the 'splitting and dicing' of these commodities - has made to our post 2009 ( the downfall of the Lehmanns and Fanny Mae) lives today. 6. Much of today's post colonial sociology is an investigation into the way that the historical development of class relations, gender relations and racism , still resonate in the global poltical economy and through that into our contemporary lives today. So the more complex investigation of the intersection of these three bases of inequality (see refs below) and the hegemonic power that underpins this complexity is directly related to the sociological tools that Marx provided.. 7.It was by 'arguing with the ghost of Marx' that Weber , then Foucault, produced their own insights 8.His warning - 'Je ne suis pas Marxiste'- against 'Marxism'
Why is the Communist Manifesto important?
because it sparked one of the most important and revolutionary changes in human existence. it offered the people the hope that they could govern themselves through a state where no one had power except the people. It established the idea of a Utopian Society and sparked revolutions in most of Europe, Russia, and parts of the middle east though they didnt go very far. it was almost singlehandedly responsible for the overthrow of the Russian Czar and many monarchs of Eastern Europe. it was responsible for the notion that workers had the real power in the state and the state should serve everyone equally instead of the elite few. this evolved right after the period of the American Revolution and it was in stark contrast to the capitalist way of thinking which they viewed as just another form of monarchy by the rich subjugating the poor worker class however as we know from history, these revolutions were usually lead by strong leaders who took it upon themselves to be the "agent of change" as an intermediary step between totalitarian government and communal government, but they didnt really want to give up that power. soon they turned into the very things they were trying to over throw, and you basically should know the story from there :) true Communism has never been able to be established on earth. the closest you get is dictators who are somewhat tempered and rational in their decisions. they usually dont have any problems exterminating segments of population in order to quell dissenters or political opponets though and tend to have a stranglehold on power. examples: Chairman Mao, Lenin, Castro, and Stalin. hope that helps!
Why was Karl Marx important to Russian history?
He did (alongside Freidrick Engels) create the communist manifesto which inspired the socialist upheaval in Eastern Europe in the 20th century which included the Soviet Union which was a world superpower from 1921 to 1991 and was the biggest threat to Nazism in Germany and it’s expansion in 1939 to 1945.
How did the Marxist theory evolve in the 20th century? What new Marxist "trends" appeared?
At the very beginning of the 20th century there was the 2nd Internationale theoretically led by Karl Kautsky, the official heir to Friedrich Engels who died in 1895. He spoke about a moderate kind of evolutionary (instead of revolutionary) Marxism which went out of fashion during WWI. The next big step would be Lenin with his novel conception of the Party (which is not the whole of the workers' movement, but a small theoretically trained revolutionaries who are able to lead); this together with much of Hegelian philosophy has been taken up by George Lukács in his 1923 History and Class Consciousness. This is kinda the most important Marxist writing in that period. It belongs to the family of Hegelian Marxism and Humanist Marxism the main figures of which are Lukács, Antonio Gramsci and Karl Korsch. Shortly after this in the '30s the so-called Frankfurt School emerged led by Max Horkheimer; he together with Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin became the leaders of Critical Theory a school made famous later by Herbert Marcuse who in the USA was pretty popular during the '60s. In France there's been a branch of Hegelian and other kinds of Marxisms, but the biggest thing that happened there was the appearance of Louis Althusser whose structuralist Marxism inspired most of today's French philosphy; as far as Marxism is concerned, Alain Badiou and Jaques Ranciére are important pupils of Althusser as well as Slavoj Žižek. On the Critical Theorist side Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse were followed by Jürgen Habermas, who however was much less of a Marxist than them, and this is even more true of 3rd generation critical theorists, i.e. Axel Honneth, Habermas's apprentice, and, for example, Nancy Fraser. In the Anglo-Saxon world there's been a revival of Marxist theory in the middle of the twentieth century. This branch is widely known as "Analytical Marxism" represented by G. A. Cohen (who wrote great stuff about historical materialism), Jon Elster (who wrote both social science and great summaries of Marxism), and Erik Wright (who wrote much good stuff on class). Analytical Marxism, however, is widely considered to be dead today at least in the sense that it has nothing especially new to offer, and it's generally just egalitarianism. What's cool now is mainly this French Marxism, and Critical Theory as far as I can see.
How did Marxism fail?
If you equate Marxism with China under Mao and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, Marxism failed because it was totalitarian. Singapore serves as an excellent example of a nation with a strong leader who at the same time allowed the citizens to prosper. Also, the representative form of government that we take for granted has successfully existed for a little over 100 years. Prior to that, Western nations practiced a grotesque form of such governments while they pillaged and raped and lynched and enslaved others. Having harvested the bounty of this endeavor, Westerners have admirably succeeded to transform themselves into liberal and pluralistic societies. Sadly, those claiming Marxism were repressive to the extreme. Therefore Marxism by default represents such failed forms of governance. On the other hand, in addition to their success pillaging others, those nations that pass as Capitalist successfully absorbed many of the fundamental rights espoused by Marxists; workers' rights, women's sufferage, anti-child-labor laws, pensions, the 40 hour week. Therefore, just like Marxism failed primarily for economic reasons, Capitalism succeeds because of the prosperity it engenders. The theoretical distinctions used to portray Marxism vs Capitalism do not represent what has occurred in history.
I have to write an essay on: The impact of Karl Marx and Communist Manifesto? I can't find anything on the Internet. What can I write?
Karl Marx was one of the most important men to have influenced modern Political thoughts , It’s almost impossible to talk about the Industrial Revolution without mentioning him.To talk about Karl Marx , you must have an opening on his history and the founding of his books , before Karl Marx developed his ideology on class war and Socialism , many economist were not unified , before him , there were Ricardian Socialist , Anti-Laissez Faire economist that are in opposition to the system itself , but they didn’t really have an ideology to align themselves with , Anarchism exist , but they weren’t Anarchist , It was only them and their own style of radicalism , then It all changed in 1848 after Karl Marx published his legendary book , the book that would become the guiding principles for Socialist , Communist and Anarchist worldwide , the Communist Manifesto , the Communist Manifesto exhibit Marx line of though , It that the victory of the proletariat to subdue the state and establish their own government in their own interest would put an end to a class society , It also set up the concepts of stages towards communism , which will later become known as some of the founding concept of Social Democracy and Market Socialism , range from progressive income tax to free education , healthcare for all , Karl Marx died due to a lung abscess in March 1883 , but his legacy will live on to define history , notably followers of his ideology attempts to make his dream of Communism come true , especially in the USSR , Vietnam , Yugoslavia , China , Sri Lanka the U.S,… Did his ideology come true? , was it implemented? , nobody know because Socialist are still very divided on the subject , but one thing to be sure , It that influences from him was so big that it frightened the establishment into making compromise with Workers and Workers Parties , accepting to establish more Regulations and Welfare , economical progress and modern day Social Democracy would come very late without him and his work(Engels work also).His impact was that he changed the political landscape so radically that it became what we know today as Social Democracy and modern Market Socialism , love him or hate him , his impacts is undeniable , It was a mixture of both bad and good.
What impact (political, economic, social) did Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto have on Europe at the time?
Marx had a major impact on Europe. Marxism offered an economic and political philosophy which gave credibility to working class organizations and the hope for a better world. At the time, there were growing concerns about industrialization and it’s impact on society as well as numerous socialist experiments proposed as alternatives. Marx offered a “scientific approach” suggesting that capitalism was laying the ground work for a socialist society in that it was rapidly improving technology and unifying the world economically, while creating it’s own “gravediggers”—the workers who produce the wealth, but who do not share in the benefits of society. Marx’s Communist Manifesto laid out these ideas in a format accessible to the general population.The Communist Manifesto helped to popularize his ideas and offered a basic program for improving conditions for workers. Socialist and Labor parties throughout Europe formed mass organizations in the late 19th century which helped to bring about social reforms, limit the working day, raise wages, allow for unionization, and to improve working and living conditions for working people.In the wake of WWI, the German Social Democratic Party became a leading party in Germany, the Russian Communist Party led a successful political revolution, and Labor, socialist, and communist parties enjoyed a significant amount of support.
What impact (social, economic, political) did Karl Marx and Communist Manifesto have on Europe in the future?
Honestly, I do not know. I live in East-Europe, here the Marxism is very unpopular. Please, ask answer from somebody else who lives in Western European - or South American countries. If you have spare time try to get information from communist periodicals or homepages, even ask directly Communist Parties or Social-Democrat Parties. Apropos: ask on Quora, how many copies of Manifesto was sold in the last ten years in the Worlh. Maybe somebody will answer it.My personal opinion is, there are more important works of Marx and Engels than the Manifesto, i.e: Capital, Anti-Dünring, The Misery of Philosophy, German Ideology, Surplus Theories, Marx and Engels on Germany (articles), on Russia, on Europe, Louis’ Brumaire 18th. (This latest means: Louis = III.Napoleon, Brumaire name of a month during the French revolution, so Brumaire 18. is a date.) Marx and Engels on Commune, etc. There are important articles from the old Engels who survived Marx and recognised that the capitalism changed (developed positively) after the death of Marx.You and me have to wait for the next Great Depression (or WW III.) in the World and we will see the possible impact of the communist ideas. One thing is sure Marx and Engels believed that America or England would be the first communist country and they refused the idea that an underdeveloped country like Russia or China or Germany(!) would be able to introduce the communism. The most surprising was for me, when I read in a Marx article (sorry I can’t remember the tittle), that a horrible global war was needed between the communist and feudalistic countries and this war must be won by the communist countries. But what if they lose? In the lyrics of the Internationale is said: This fight will be the final one. Lenin added somewhere: “I think this is not true.” Your question is unanswereble for me. (Sorry for my poor English!)
Why was the French Revolution so important to world history?
I think what your teacher has provided should be sufficient if you just think about each of the prompts. The French Revolution acted as a model for all sorts of societies in the future, whether it was one they wished to follow - or at least some aspects of it - or one they devoutly wished to avoid. For example, the ideals of the Revolution; Liberty, Equality and Fraternity have inspired Revolutionaries and Reformers ever since. Liberty is the call of every oppressed people right down to the recent Arab Spring; Equality has been the demand of subject groups from the slaves to feminists and Gays. Fraternity is something we are reminded of every time we receive a charity appeal, all men are brothers. In 1848 the Revolts in Germany, France, Spain and Italy all referenced the Constitutions of the Napoleonic period. During the Russian revolution the Bolsheviks constantly looked back at 1789, and a refrain at the time was "beware the man on a white horse" a reference to David's painting of Napoleon and a warning against a military dictatorship (something Stalin used against Trotsky who led the Red Army to victory). The Terror had a different effect. Both in France and across Europe it brought about Reaction. Every reform was stifled with the warning that it could open the flood-gates to Revolution and Terror. It held back reform in Britain, Austria, and Russia. Even today Statesmen warn of the danger of Revolution unleashing Terror, although some like Mao have used it deliberately. The conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars left Britain the pre-eminent Sea Power in the world, which meant they could get on with establishing their Empire without much interference until the 1860s. It kept European conflicts largely confined to Europe. Britain largely withdrew from Continental Europe until it got involved in the Crimean War. After that experience it stayed out again until 1914. The Concert of Europe organised primarily by the Austrian minister Metternich was the first attempt at agreed international dispute resolution in the world, and can be seen as an inspiration for the League of Nations and the United Nations. It arose directly from the need to prevent any one nation ever again achieving the dominance which France had under Napoleon. Have another look at the other points. The History Blog below might help too.