Topic: Communism!

The dreaded second essay! HS 102

See syllabus for the due date.

Communism is one of the most important movements to appear in Western Civilization in the past 200 years. Long story short, the communism envisioned by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848 was supposed to liberate the oppressed peoples of Europe from the tyranny of the Industrial Revolution. Given how miserable working and living conditions were for most people, this was indeed a worthwhile goal. This was supposed to be an international revolution, one in which the proletariat of all nations overthrew their oppressors and eventually ushered in what would become a much better world. That hasn’t happened…yet! And the revolution did not come in 1848 or 1858 or 1868 or 1878 or…well you get my point. On the eve of war in 1914, the left continued to expect the revolution to come, and it finally would in 1917. But this revolution was a little different, because the scene of the revolution was not in an advanced capitalist country (e.g., England, France, Germany or the United States), but in Russia, one of the most backward societies in Europe. And this revolution would succeed only in Russia (that is until 1949). This revolution would eventually give us the horrors of Stalinism. Make that your final thought before starting this essay. A revolutionary movement that was designed in 1848 to liberate people from tyranny would eventually be used as the ideology of one of the most horrific dictators (Joseph Stalin) in human history!

Assignment:

Read Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto and S.A. Smith’s The Russian Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. Then answer only ONE of the following questions. Write a four-five page double-spaced essay.

1. Why did the revolution succeed in Russia? Was the outcome what Marx envisioned? Provide MANY examples from the readings.

2. Could Lenin’s success in Russia actually have liberated the peoples of the world from oppression? Provide MANY examples from the readings.

3. Did Stalinism come out of nowhere? If not, can you find the roots of this horrible dictatorship in The Communist Manifesto and The Russian Revolution? Provide MANY examples from the readings.

4. You see yourself as the next great leader of the oppressed peoples of the world. Plan a revolution for 2014. Using The Communist Manifesto and The Russian Revolution as examples, show me how you will get your revolution right this time. Provide MANY examples from the readings.

5. You see yourself as the next great leader of the capitalist world. The idea of communism terrifies you. Using The Communist Manifesto and The Russian Revolution as examples, show

1

me how you would prevent communism from ever posing a threat to your world. Provide MANY examples from the readings.

The following are required of all essays.

1. A thesis, many examples and a conclusion. Your thesis needs to appear at the beginning of your essay and you must highlight this thesis in bold.

2. A reasonable amount of quotes. ALL quotes MUST come with proper citations!

3. A bibliography on a separate page. DO NOT give me a works cited page. I do not want this. I want a bibliography that consists of everything you have read and looked at (and that includes any and all web sites you look at!)

If you have questions, ASK!