KARL MARX

KARL MARX- was a German Philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist,

political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. Karl Marx
he born in Trier, Germany on May 5, 1818. Marx studied law and
philosophy at university. And he married Jenny von Westphalen in 1843.
due to his political publications, Marx became stateless and lived in
exile with his wife and children in London for decades, where he
continued to develop his thought in collaboration with German thinker
Friedrich Engels and publish his writings, researching in the reading
room of the British Museum. His best-known titles are the 1848
phamphlet, The communist Manifesto, and the three-volume Das Kapital.
His political and philosophical thought had enormous influence on
subsequent intellectual, economic and political history, and his name
has been used as an adjective, a noun and a school of social theory.
 THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MARXISM
MARXISM is a way of thinking critically, but it is not a “system”.
“I have never established a socialist system”, Karl Marx wrote in
his “notes on Adolph Wagner’s Lehrbuch der politischen Okonomie” on
(1880). Marxism is analysis of the development of the world as it
is, a method that must forge an intimate connection between
practice and theory.
 Here Are the Basic Principles of Marxism:
• Opposition to an economic system based on inequality and on the
alienation and exploitation of the majority (by means of the
system of wage labor), a system whose purpose is to obtain
profits for some people rather than satisfying the needs of
all. This describes capitalism, but one can obviously imagine
other systems that would present similar essential
characteristics, to which Marxists would be equally opposed.

For the transformation of society, Marxism considers that a

revolutionary process that will lead to society based on
cooperation and the free distribution of goods and provision of
services is necessary.
• “ The emancipation of the workers must be the task of the
workers themselves”. This principle is inherent to real
Marxism, which implies democracy and self-emancipation; it
also means that democracy is the indispensable foundation
for a new society (called socialism or communism). This
society, liberated from the diverse forms of domination,
will have to be freely constructed by its members.

• Internationalism, which is simultaneously the recognition of

the common interests of the workers of the entire world and
of the need to struggle on a world scale, and of the goal of
abolishing nations in the transition to a human world
community.
• The knowledge and analysis of History (the
materialist conception of history).

• The recognition of the existence of social classes

that divide men and women into distinct segments of
the population; the recognition of the profound
inequalities and injustices that separate these
classes; and the recognition that as long as
society is divided into classes, there will be
conflicts between these classes (the class
struggle).
 As a result, while they participate in the day-to-day
class struggle of the workers, Marxists work on behalf of a
recognition of society that will put an end to this class
division.

• The free exercise of the critical spirit. “Doubt everything”,

Marx said; for the goal is to perceive reality as it is, in
order to understand it better and thus to transform it.

These principles, or some of them, could very well be

embraced by other political and social tendencies: if this is
the case, then so much the better! Marxism does not attempt to
isolate itself, quite the contrary:
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, was born on April 22, 1870 and
he died on January 21, 1924, better known by his alias
Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and
political theorist. He served as head of government of
Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union
from 1922 to 1924. under his administration, Russia and
then the wider Soviet Union became a one-party
communist state governed by the Russian Communist
Party. Ideologically a communist, he developed a
variant of Marxism known as Leninism; his ideas were
posthumously codified as Marxism-Leninism.
IMPERIALISM- is a policy or ideology of extending a

country’s rule over foreign nations, often by military force or by

gaining political and economic control of other areas.

Imperialism was both normal and common worldwide throughout

recorded history, the earliest examples dating from the mid-third
millennium BC.

-An example of imperialism was England’s practices of colonizing

India.

Imperialism is when a country controls another country politically

and/or economically, often against the will of the people of the
Country.
The three types of Imperialism

1. Colonies
2. Protectorates;
3. Spheres of influence
The purpose of Imperialism

-to decrease the strategic and political vulnerability of a

nation.
Characteristics of Imperialism

-Monopolies, Oligarchy, the striving for domination instead

of striving for liberty, the exploitation of an increasing
number of small or weak nations by a handful of the richest
or most powerful nations-all these have given birth to those
distinctive.
Five reasons for Imperialism
• Economic- to make money, control trade, raw materials and
cheap labor.

• Exploratory- explore unknown areas, more scientific research,

go on an adventure.

• Political- gain power, compete with territory, good military

force, prestige.

• Religious
• Ideological
 ROLE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY
In political science, a communist party is a political party that
seeks to realize the social and economic goals of communism
through revolution and state policy. The term communist party was
popularized by the title of the Manifesto of the Communist
Party(1848), by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

The actions by governments of communist states have been subject

to criticism. According to critics, the rule by Communist parties
leads to totalitarianism, political repression, restrictions of
human rights, poor economic performance and cultural and artistic
censorship.