Communism

• Even during the progressive era the US had a Middle Class

- Most Americans are neither rich or poor but live in between with relative comfort

other places in the world had not experienced the same positives from capitalism

The very rich and the very poor

• What do we remember about the very poor and the very rich from the progressive era unit?

Karl Marx • During the 19th

century Marx the very poor working for the very rich- Believed the rich were unfairly making profit from the work of the poor.

• Marx believed the value of a product came from the amount of labor put into producing it.

• - If this is true why are the business owners making most of the money and not the people actually making things.

• Communists believe the abuses of the upper class are the root cause of poverty and suffering among the lower-class.

• 1) Communism would create a classless society …everyone was seen as equal.

• In capitalism your class is determined by how much stuff you own, (money, stocks, property, investments)

• To solve this….• 2) through communism there would be no

private ownership• Meaning no can own anything!

• The government representing all of the people own everything

• Factories, farms and all former businesses are now owned by the state

• The rights of the whole are more important than the rights of the individual.

• Russia during WWI - The war effort makes life more difficult for the most of the Russian population already desperately poor. - For decades most Russians have been extremely poor while a few were enormously wealthy

• Prince Alexei’s play room

The Secret Weapon

• Tsar Nicolas II resigns amid pressure from his government and mutinies among the troops

• The new government pledges to continue the war

Leading communist Vladimir Lenin, formally exiled from Russia …returns