Karl Marx and Communism

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was one of the most influential political philosophers who propounded the ideology and theory of communism. His radical ideas on class struggle and historical materialism have changed and guided many revolutions. His ideologies of communism and Marxism have inspired the foundation of many communist regimes.

Karl Marx was born in Trier in 1818 in Germany and his parents were of Jewish ancestry. But due to contemporary laws prohibiting Jews,his father a lawyer converted to Christianity. Initially, Karl Marx was also a Christian but later he became an atheist. Marx studied law in Bonn and Berlin and then he obtained his doctorate in Philosophy. After completing his doctorate in 1841 Marx began looking for an academic job but his radical ideas and views were not accepted. He turned to journalism and rapidly involved himself in political and social issues. Karl Marx met Friedrich Engels and it was at this point in time that Marx began to consider communist theory.

Karl Marx wrote and published many books like the Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital, and the German ideology. The Communist Manifesto jointly written with Engels is his most widely read work.’ The German ideology ‘also co-authored with Engels in 1845 is an outline of the class struggle and his theory of history. The Das Kapital criticizes the capitalist mode of production and offers views on historical materialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

In the 19^th century a series of republican revolts had taken place in Italy, Germany, France and the Austrian empire against the European monarchies. Marx’s ideas of communism and his revolutionary ideas inspired these revolutions. Due to his radical political beliefs and his association with these revolutions, Marx was exiled and he went to London. Marx believed in the ideology of the working classes i.e. The proletariat who will one day rise up against the bourgeoisie (capitalist class) and overthrow the capitalist system and replace it with communism.

After this supposed revolution which Marx assumed, in the beginning, a violent phase known as the dictatorship of the proletariat would start in which the working classes would own the means of production and all modes of production such as land, bank, and factories would be collectively owned. Marx was deeply disturbed by the concentration of wealth in the hands of the capitalist class. Marx saw capitalism as playing a dominant role in eliminating feudalism which was the social system in medieval Europe.

In history, Marx advocated the theory of historical materialism in which he argues history has been shaped by material conditions rather than ideals. Historical materialism asserts that the modes of production of the material conditions of a society are the main indicator by which a society is organized. Marx was of the view that from the beginning of human civilization history has been determined by class struggles and that the economic modes of production which include primitive communism, slave society, feudalism, and capitalism were based on the relationship between the ruling class and a class of slaves. For example, feudalism was based on the relation between nobles and serfs. In religion, Marx was of the view that religion is the opium of the masses and the sigh of the oppressed.It means that oppressed people turn to religion and that all modern religions are the product of exploitation by the bourgeoisie class(capitalists). Karl Marx did not believe in any religion and identified himself as an atheist.

The Marxist ideology of communism gave inspiration to the Russian revolution of 1917 in which the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin overthrew the autocratic Tsarist regime and replaced it with the  Soviet Union. Karl Marx’s principles of communism have also guided the People’s Republic of China which is a communist nation. Mao Zedong in particular believed in the ideology of the working classes and he was deeply influenced by Karl Marx.

Today Karl Marx remains the most prominent of all political thinkers and his criticism of capitalism and its eventual replacement with communism has become the focal point of most political discussions. His views on class struggle and revolution of the working classes have inspired many revolutions.

The Cold war and American foreign policy

The Second World War had led to the allied powers join forces with the Soviet Union and USA in their fight against the fascist regimes of Italy and Germany in Europe and Japanese expansionism in Asia. But by 1945 major fighting in the European theater and Pacific theater began to come to an end. World War II in Europe ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Allied powers in May 1945.In August 1945 with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan by USA the Second World War finally came to an end. In the final stages of the Second World War relations between the USA and the Soviet Union began to fall apart.

The Yalta conference and the Potsdam conference took place in the final stages of WW II.The Yalta conference was a major event in the Cold War. It was attended by Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Neither side trusted the other and Stalin was of the belief that Britain and USA delayed the Normandy invasion and Allied invasion of Italy to cause the Soviet army to struggle alone against Nazi Germany.

The Potsdam conference of 1945 was attended by Harry Truman, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Truman had just replaced Roosevelt as President of the United States. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the post war reorganization of Europe and peace treaty issues. It was at the Potsdam conference that Truman made Stalin aware of the atomic bomb program (Manhattan project) and that the Americans had developed the world’s first atomic bomb. Both Truman and Stalin were suspicious of each other’s intentions and it was at the Potsdam conference that the Cold War started.

The nuclear arms race between the USA and the Soviet Union and the ideological incompatibility were the main features   of the Cold war. The USA had stockpiled a large arsenal of nuclear weapons and it was the only nation in the world to have used nuclear weapons in warfare. In response to this the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test in August 1949 which further led to rivalry, distrust and suspicion between the two nations. By the 1950s both countries had developed enough nuclear weapons to destroy the other. Their rivalry also extended to the space race when in 1957 the Soviet Union successfully launched its first satellite Sputnik and sent the first human to space in 1961.In a similar move America made its first landing on the moon in July 1969.

Ideological incompatibility was another feature of the Cold war. The USA had a capitalist economy and the Soviet Union had a communist economy. The Russian revolution of 1917 had transformed Russia in to a communist nation while the United States was a modern liberal democracy based on the principles of individualism. Capitalism believes in the private ownership of property and free trade while communism advocates the control of state over the means of production.

American foreign policy during the Cold War wanted to contain the spread of communism and its spread by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had already expanded its sphere of communism in Korea, China, Vietnam and Eastern Europe. In 1948 America started the Marshall plan to help the countries of Western Europe in their economic recovery following the destruction of Second World War.President Harry Truman approved the Marshall plan  in 1948 and aid was given to Britain,France,Belgium and other West European countries.

On the military front the United States signed the NATO pact in 1949 with the countries of Western Europe .to provide them military aid in the case of a Soviet attack. To counter this the Soviet Union signed the Warsaw Pact with the countries of Eastern Europe in 1955.The high points of the Cold War were the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962, the 1950-53 Korean war, the 1956 Suez crisis, the Vietnam War, the Berlin blockade of 1948-49 and the Berlin crisis of 1961.The Soviet Union and the US also competed for influence in Latin America and the Middle East

By the early 1970s the USSR and US entered a period of détente (French word for easing of relations) when relations between the USSR and the US began to improve. However things took a turn with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 which again led to a strain in relations. By the early 1980s Mikhail Gorbachev emerged as a prominent figure in the USSR. He withdrew from the Soviet Afghan war and both Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to reduce their nuclear weapons and end the Cold War.Domestically, he embarked on a policy of Glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).

The various Eastern bloc nations broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991 and this finally led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of Cold War. The fall of Berlin wall in 1989 led to the reunification of Germany.Following the end of Cold War the United States emerged as the sole superpower in the world.The United States had to intervene militarily in the 1991 Kuwait war when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. A coalition of American and British forces defeated Iraq in the 1991 Gulf war. America launched an invasion of Iraq in 2003 and ousted Saddam Hussein from power. A new threat has emerged in the form of terrorism and America has been fighting this menace in the present times.

The Communist Revolution in China (1911-1949)

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The declaration of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong on 1^st October 1949 brought to an end the conflict between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT). Historians trace the origins of the 1949 revolution in China to sharp inequalities in Chinese society. The rule of the Qing dynasty or the Manchu dynasty (1644-1911) was characterized by high rates of rent, usury and concentration of wealth in the hands of village chiefs and landlords. Also China was under the pressure of Western powers leading to the opium wars, unequal treaties and the Boxer Rebellion. Extreme internal inequality combined with external aggression was the factors which led to the rise of nationalism, class consciousness and leftism among the Chinese population.

The Xinhai revolution of 1911 brought to an end the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China. The people of China came in to contact with the western ideas. Dr Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925) advocated a modern state in China based up on the Western ideals. He formed the Kuomintang or the Nationalist Party in China in 1921. He was instrumental in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911 and the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). He was the first provisional president of the Republic of China. After the death of Sun Yat Sen in 1925 Chiang Kai Shek became the head of the Kuomintang or the Nationalist party. Meanwhile Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao had formed the Chinese Communist party in 1921. They believed in the ideology of the dictatorship of the proletariat through revolutionary means. Inspired by the Russian revolution they formed small Marxist groups throughout China and wanted to gain power through revolutionary means. At the third congress of the Communist party in Shanghai in June 1923 the delegates reaffirmed their commitment to working with the KMT. They agreed on a common plan to work for the rural peasants in China. But their relations strained in 1926 and in May 1926 Chiang Kai Shek expelled the communists from responsible posts with the exception of Mao Zedong.

In July 1926 Chiang Kai Shek aimed to unify the country in the Northern Expedition and overthrow the conservative government in Beijing. Mao quit the Kuomintang after fallout with Chiang Kai Shek and established bases for guerilla warfare in China. This was the beginning of Chinese Civil War. With the beginning of the Second World War and the Sino Japanese war the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) and the Chinese Communist PARTY (CCP) of Mao Zedong decided to briefly cease all hostilities. The Kuomintang and the CCP decided to form a united front against Japan. After the end of the Second World War in 1945 hostilities resumed again. In the countryside and in the cities the CCP gained the upper hand. Mao formally assumed the role of the chairman of the CCP IN 1946. The Communists gained control of mainland China and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 while the nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan. No armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed and the debate continues whether the civil war has officially ended.