MLM Basic Course Part 1

7/28/2019 MLM Basic Course Part 1

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Tjen Folket ForlagFrste gang utgitt i 2011

About the Front PageKarl Marx and Fredrich Engels was the founders of the scientifi c communisttheory known as marxism. They developed the fi rst step in Marxism-Leninism-Maoism - the most advanced theory for revolution and emencipation of theworking class.


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Part 1 3

Side 4

1. Introduction

Side 52. What is MLM?

Side 7

3. Socio-economic Conditions Leading to the Birth of Marxism

Side 10

4. Early Life of Marx and Engels - Until They Became Marxists

Side 155. The Three Sources of Marxism

Side 17

6. The Basic Foundations of Marxist Philosophy - Dialectical and Historical Materialism

Side 19

7. Struggle Aganist Utiopian Socialism and the Establishment of Scientific Socialism

Side 21

8. Marxist Political Economy

Side 23

9. Marxism Fuses Its Links with the Working Class

Side 26

10. The Lessons of the Paris Commune

Side 29

11. Spread of Marxism and Rise of Opportunism


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4 Basic Course in Marxism-Leninism-Maoism

Introduction

Most o us revolutionary activists are practicalpeople. We eel, Why bother about ideology, andtheory, and such other things, that is or thescholars and intellectuals, the most importantthing is to get on with the job. Te lower levelactivists and members eel that it is suf cient thatthe CC and the higher committees do study andprovide guidance; and oten, many members in thehigher committees also eel that other work is toopressing to allow much time or theory.

On the other hand, there are a ew others who eelit is necessary to know every work o the Greateachers in order to work properly. Tey spend alarge amount o time in trying to read everything.Tey also have a tendency to treat everything theyread as dogma.

It is necessary to avoid both these attitudes in ourstudy. All comrades should give suf cient time andattention to study in order to understand the es-

sence o our ideology Marxism-Leninism-Maose-tung Tought. Rather than knowing by hearta large number o books, it is necessary to under-stand deeply the essential and basic aspects o ourguiding ideology. I we do this and learn to applyit in our day to day work we can greatly improveour practice, both, as individual activists, as well as,o the party as a whole. Very oten we understandand analyse the world around us only according toour own limited experiences and thereore arrive

at wrong conclusions. A proper understanding oMLM Tought can help us overcome such errors.At other times a supercial understanding can leadto going by only the letter o certain party decisionsand stands and not understanding their essence andspirit. Such mistakes can also be avoided by a deep-er grasp o MLM Tought. By our study o MLMTought, we learn rom the positive and negativeexperiences o World Revolution; we learn to ab-sorb the good in it, and we learn to dierentiatebetween the good and the bad in our own practice.

We thus learn to recognise, criticise, and ght alltypes o opportunism. In short, MLM Tought isa must to mould our practice in the light o theory.

Tis Basic Course in MLM Tought is intended topresent to activists an understanding o the prin-

cipal aspects o our ideology. Our ideology is, rstand oremost, a practical theory, meant to be im-plemented and put into practice. Te theory itselemerged in the course o numerous class struggles.It is thereore essential to understand the concretematerial conditions and social practice through

which the Great eachers o the proletariat Marx,Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao discovered andormulated its basic principles. Tus, this book hasbeen presented by relating the historical process othe growth and development o MLM Tought.

Te basic concepts have been presented in shortby, wherever possible, linking to the socioeconomicconditions, main political events and class strugglesthat gave birth to them. In order to understand anyparticular aspect in detail, more particular study

would be necessary. Tis Basic Course however ismeant to provide an essential basis or understand-ing the dynamic process o the development o ourideology and in what historical conditions and cir-cumstances certain stands and theory came into be-

ing.

Come; lets begin our study.


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Part 1 5

Chapter 2

What is MLM Thought?Te party leading the revolution is the Communistparty; and the ideology guiding the thinking andpractice o the Communist party is Marxism-Le-ninism-Mao se-tung Tought. Tis is known toall o us. However many o us are not so sure as to

what exactly is meant by communist ideology orMLM Tought and what are its various parts or as-pects. Quite a ew understand it simply as the ideaso Marx, Lenin and Mao. Such an understanding

is incomplete, insuf cient and supercial. What isneeded is to go deeper into the matter and under-stand the internal essence. Let us rst thereore tryto understand this essence o MLM Tought.

At the time when Marx and Engels were rst devel-oping and propagating the theory o communism,Engels, in 1847, drated a booklet called Te Prin-ciples o Communism. In this he dened what iscommunism in the ollowing very simple manner,

Communism is the doctrine o the prerequisitesor the emancipation o the proletariat. Tus En-gels, in this very short denition explains that theessence o communist ideology is to provide thetheory regarding what is needed to achieve the ulti-mate reedom o the working class (the proletariat).Tis reedom would nally be achieved through theestablishment o communist society.

Stalin explained the same thing in the ollowing

way, Marxism is the science o the laws governingthe development o nature and society, the scienceo the revolution o the oppressed and exploitedmasses, the science o the victory o socialism in allcountries, the science o building a communist so-ciety. Here Stalin explains the wide scope o Marx-ism. Firstly, it is a science, which provides the an-swers to the questions concerning not only society,but also the whole o nature. Tus Marxism is anall-encompassing science. Secondly, it is a scienceregarding revolution; and this revolution is not othe rich (as in earlier bourgeois revolutions o thecapitalist class), but o the poor and toiling masses.

And thirdly it is the science o building socialist andcommunist society.

Tis science is today given the name o Marxism-

Leninism-Mao se-tung Tought ater the nameso the three eachers who played the greatest role inestablishing and developing it Karl Marx, Vladi-mir Lenin and Mao se-tung. Besides these three,

we recognise two other great eachers who playeda tremendous role Frederick Engels and JosephStalin. Engels was the comrade o Marx who close-ly collaborated with him in laying the oundationso Marxism, as well as in advancing it ater Marxsdeath. Stalin deended and developed Marxism-Leninism ater Lenins death.

Marxism was rst worked out by Marx, with thehelp o Engels, more than 150 years ago. Te prin-cipal parts o Marxism are: the philosophy o dia-lectical materialism and the discovery o the materi-alist conception o history or historical materialism;Marxist political economy which discovered thelaws o motion o capitalism and its contradictionsand the doctrine o surplus value which uncoveredthe source o exploitation; and the theory o sci-

entic socialism based on the doctrine o the classstruggle and the outlining o the principles govern-ing the tactics o the class struggle o the proletariat.

Leninism is Marxism o the era o imperialism andthe proletarian revolution. It was rst developed byLenin around the turn o the century during thecourse o the Russian revolution, while ghting theopportunism o the Second International, and whileadvancing the international communist movement

through the Tird International. Leninism, whiledeending and developing Marxism, made the ol-lowing signicant contributions: the discovery othe laws o motion o capitalism under imperialismand how they would inevitably lead the imperialistpowers to war; the qualitative development o thetheory and practice o proletarian revolution dur-ing the bourgeois democratic revolution as well asthe socialist revolution; a clear understanding re-garding the dictatorship o the proletariat, as well asthe rst principles regarding socialist construction;

providing the theory and direction or the national-ity movements and the movements in the coloniesand linking the national liberation movements tothe World Socialist Revolution; the development o


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the organisational principles o the Leninist party the party o the new type. Stalin, while deending

and developing Leninism, particularly contributedto the principles and laws governing the period osocialist construction.

Mao se-tung Tought is an extension and devel-opment o Marxism-Leninism applicable to thepresent era. It was developed by Mao during thecourse o the Chinese Revolution, in the processo socialist construction, in the ght against mod-ern revisionism and particularly during the GreatProletarian Cultural Revolution. Mao se-tung

Toughts contributions include: the theory ocontradictions, the development o the theory oknowledge and the ormulation o the mass line orom the masses, to the masses; the theory o newdemocracy, the ormulation o the path o revolu-tion or the colonies and semi-colonies, and the or-mulation regarding the three magic weapons o therevolution the party, peoples army and the unitedront; the theory o protracted peoples war and thedevelopment o the principles o military warare;

the development o the organisational principleso the proletarian party through the understand-ing o two-line struggle, rectication campaignsand criticism and sel-criticism; the developmento the political economy o socialism on the ba-sis o the Soviet and Chinese experience and thedialectical understanding o the process o socialistconstruction as the correct handling o contradic-tions in the process o transition to socialism; andnally and most importantly, the theory and prac-

tice o continuing revolution under the dictatorshipo the proletariat to consolidate socialism, combatmodern revisionism and prevent the restoration ocapitalism, and its concrete expression in the GreatProletarian Cultural Revolution.

Marxism, Leninism, and Mao se-tung Toughtare thus not separate ideologies, but represent theconstant growth and advancement o one and thesame ideology. We shall in the ollowing pages tryto trace the story o the process o its development.

While doing this we shall also try to understandthe essence o its various parts and aspects that havebeen listed above. Te list may appear to be longand dif cult, but it need not be so. I we concen-

trate and try to understand the basic essence o eachaspect within its historical context we will be able

grasp a lot.


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Part 1 7

Chapter 3

Socio-economic Conditions Leading toThe Birth of Marxism

As we will see later, Marxism teaches us that anyideas or theory are always the product o somematerial conditions. Whenever new material con-ditions come into being, new ideas and theoriestoo are bound to emerge. Tis same truth appliesalso to Marxism itsel. Tus in order to understandMarxism better we should try to know the mate-rial conditions, i.e. the socioeconomic conditions,

within which Marx and Engels rst gave birth toMarxism.

Marxism was established over 150 years ago, duringthe 1840s. It was established rst in Europe, whichat that time dominated the whole world economi-cally, politically and militarily. Tis world domi-nation was such that almost all earlier advancedcivilizations like India, China and Persia had beensubordinated to it. Marx and Engels were born and

lived in some o the most economically advancedparts o Europe while developing the ideas o Marx-ism. Tey observed, participated in and were inu-enced by all the major political events o that time.Tus in order to understand how Marxism wasborn we will rst have to take a look at the Europeo that time and see the principal actors in the so-cioeconomic situation then.

1) Te most important actor was the Industrial

Revolution, which lasted approximately rom 1760to 1830, and, though it was centred in England,inuenced the whole world. Te Industrial Revolu-tion was named as such because it was during theseseventy years that the world rst saw an explosiveand revolutionary upsurge in industrial develop-ment. It was at this time that modern large acto-ries were rst set up and grew at a very rapid pace,particularly in England. Along with this was thetremendous expansion o the world market, whichsent English manuactured goods to all parts o the

world. Tough other countries like France, Hol-land, and parts o Germany and the USA also set uplarge actories, this period was heavily dominatedby England. Its domination was such that it came

to be called the workshop o the world which sup-plied manuactured goods to all countries.

Te Industrial Revolution transormed the capi-talist class. Tis class was earlier economically notso strong and was a middle class (it was called thebourgeoisie because bourgeois in French meansmiddle class). But, with the Industrial Revolution,this middle class was transormed into a class o in-dustrial millionaires the modern industrial bour-geoisie. Te untold riches o this new class gave itthe strength to more powerully challenge the eudalclasses, which were, till then, still the ruling classes.

Alongside the modern industrial bourgeoisie theIndustrial Revolution also gave birth to anotherclass the modern industrial working class, or pro-letariat. Tis class consisting o workers workingtogether in thousands in large actories was also ardierent rom the earlier workers working in smallgroups in tiny workshops. Te modern proletarianspossessed nothing else except their labouring pow-er and had a strength and condence not known

to earlier generations o workers and toilers. Tisstrength came rom their contact with modern in-dustry, their discipline learnt rom the actory sys-tem, and their superior organisation due to theirlarge numbers assembled together in single acto-ries under one roo. Teir position within societymade them the potentially most revolutionary orcein history.

2) Te other important actor was that which dom-

inated the political situation in Europe at that time.It was the spate o bourgeois democratic revolutionsled by the rising capitalist class, o which the mostimportant was the French Revolution o 1789. TeFrench Revolution not only brought about veryradical changes in France. It also led to the Napo-leonic wars where the armies o the French bour-geoisie conquered almost the whole o Europe andintroduced bourgeois reorms abolishing eudalism

wherever they went. Tey thus dealt a deathblow tothe kings and old eudal classes. Tough the French

armies were later deeated, the old ruling classescould never recover their old position. Te modernbourgeoisie continued its revolutionary wave withnumerous other bourgeois revolutions, which re-


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sulted in the conclusive deeat o the eudal classesand the victory o capitalism as a world system.

Tus both at the economic and political levels theperiod o the birth o Marxism was a period o greatadvances and victories or the capitalist class whenit was conclusively establishing its rule in the mostadvanced and dominant countries o the world.

3) Tough this was the period o the greatest ad-vancement o the bourgeoisie, the principal actorthat gave birth to Marxism during this period wasthe rise o working class consciousness and proletar-

ian organisations and movements thus signaling theemergence o the proletariat as an independent andsel-conscious orce.

Tis rise o a class-conscious proletariat rst tookplace in England and France. Tis was primarilybecause o the early spread o modern industry inthese two countries. Te spread o modern industry,though it brought great wealth to the bourgeoisie,at the same time meant the most inhuman working

and living conditions or the working class. Almostthree-quarter o the workorce was composed o

women and children because they provided cheaperand more easily controllable workers or the capi-talists. Children rom the age o six onwards wereorced to work ourteen and sixteen hours in thespinning mills. As the bourgeoisie amassed greaterand greater wealth the workers ell into greater andgreater misery. While the cloth mill owners multi-plied their capital many times over, their weavers

wages reduced to one eighth o what they earlierobtained.

Tus the conditions o the proletariat were suchthat rebellion was not merely possible but almostcompulsory. Te rst such outbursts were spon-taneous, without clear direction. An example wasthe machine-breaking agitation o 1810-11 in Eng-land, where groups o weavers would attack thetextile mills and smash whatever machinery theycould lay their hands on. Tis was their method

o protesting against the modern industry that wasdestroying their very livelihood. Such protests hav-ing no clear direction, and being severely repressed,quickly died out.

What ollowed was the spread and growth o the

labour movement and labour organisations thatprovided the answer and direction to the ghtingproletariat. Earlier unions, which had been restrict-ed to skilled workers, started rom 1818 uniting alllabouring men together in what were then calledgeneral trades unions. As these unions in Englandstarted growing, a movement to start a nationallevel union started building up. Tis was ormed,and by 1833-34 reached a membership o 500,000.

Along with the unions, workers also started or-ganising themselves in cooperatives and mutual

benet societies. In other countries where unionswere largely banned these were the main orms oorganisations o the working class which also grewin numbers and strength.

As the workers organisations started growing, theworkers in Britain launched the Chartist movementin 1837 demanding electoral rights or workers.Tis was the rst broad, truly mass and politicallyorganised proletarian revolutionary movement. It

used the method o mass petitions to Parliamentsomewhat similar to the signature campaigns some-times organised today. Tese petitions gatheredupto 5 million signatures. Some o the Chartistdemonstrations had 350,000 participants showingthe organised strength o the working class. How-ever as the movement grew in strength and mili-tancy it aced severe repression and was suppressedby 1850. During the early 1840s while Engels wasstaying in Manchester (in England) he was in close

contact with revolutionary Chartist leaders as wellas its weekly Te Northern Star and was inuencedby the Chartist movement.

Te growing militancy o the workers movementalso oten in this period led to the rst worker up-risings which were suppressed brutally. Exampleso these were the uprisings in London in 1816and Manchester in 1819, the uprisings o the silk-

workers o Lyons (France) in 1831 and 1834, andthe uprising o the handloom linen-weavers o Sile-

sia in Prussian Germany (today part o Poland) in1844. Te last-named struggle had a strong impactthroughout Germany as well as on the young Marx.


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Part 1 9

Tus, by the time o the 1840s, the proletarian move-ment was growing rapidly in strength and intensity

in many industrial countries. However, it was stillvery weak and in no position to yet pose a threatto either the dominant big bourgeoisie or the oldeudal ruling classes. Nevertheless the emergence othe proletariat as an independent class orce was anevent o world historical signicance. Te cominginto material existence o the proletariat also meantat the same time the birth o the ideas representingthis new revolutionary class. Many ideas and theo-ries claiming to represent working class intereststhus came into being. Marxism, when it was rst

ormulated in the 1840s was only one among these.However, though many theories had emerged romthe same economic conditions, Marxism alone pro-vided the tools to properly understand these con-ditions and also to change them. Tereore in theyears to come it was Marxism alone that wouldprove to be the true proletarian ideology.


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Chapter 4

Early Life of Marx and EngelsUntil they became Marxists

Obviously nobody can be born a Marxist noteven Marx. Tere has to be a process through whichideas and views are developed and ormulated andtake a basic shape which can be called an ideology.Naturally Marx and Engels too had to go throughsuch a process beore they came to discover andthemselves grasp the basic truths o what we todayknow as Marxism. Tis process o thought was nat-

urally determined to a great extent by the concreteexperiences that both o them went through. In or-der thereore to understand this in some depth letus briey look at the early lie experiences o thesetwo great teachers.

Karl Marx was born on 5th May 1818, in the towno rier, in what was then called Rhenish Prussia,and which is today part o Germany. His ather,Heinrich Marx, was one o the top lawyers o the

town. Te amily was well to do and cultured, butnot revolutionary. Both Marx parents came roma long line o Jewish priests. Tus, though they

were economically well o, they had to ace socialdiscrimination in the anti-Jew atmosphere o Prus-sia. In 1816, Marx ather was orced to convert toChristianity because the Prussian government hadthen brought out a rule stopping Jews rom prac-ticing law. Similarly, in 1824, another Prussian law

was passed to prevent non-Christians rom being

admitted to public schools. o overcome this, againHeinrich Marx was orced to baptize his son Karl,along with all his brothers and sisters. Tus, thoughhe was no believer in organised religion, Marx a-ther was orced to adopt a new aith just in order topursue his proession and give his children a goodeducation.

Marx hometown, rier, is the oldest town in Ger-many, which or many centuries had been theresidence o Roman emperors and later the seat oCatholic bishops, with a religious administrationor the town and surrounding area. In August 1794the French armies captured the town, instituted acivil administration, and brought in the ideas and

institutions o the French Revolution. Te townonly went back into the hands o the Prussian king

ater the deeat o Frances Napoleon in 1815. Tusduring the time o Marx birth and youth it stillcarried the denite impact o twenty-one years oFrench revolutionary ideas.

rier was a small town, similar in size to our smallertaluka towns, with a population then o around12,000. It was principally a market town or thesurrounding area, which or centuries has been aamous wine-growing area. Its population was com-posed o occupations typical to a service town

civil servants, priests, small merchants, cratsmen,etc. It had remained untouched by the IndustrialRevolution and was thus economically relativelybackward. During Marx youth it also had a highdegree o poverty. Of cial statistics in 1830 gave anunemployment gure o one in every our, thoughthe actual gure must have been much higher. Beg-gars and prostitutes were common and the gureso petty crime like stealing was extremely high.Tus Marx rom a very young age was witness to

the misery o the poorer labouring classes.

Ater attending elementary school, Marx enteredthe Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium (secondaryschool) in 1831, rom which he passed out in 1835.

Within three weeks he was sent or urther studiesat the law aculty o the university orty miles awayrom rier, at the city o Bonn (an important centre

which is today the joint capital o Germany). Marx,with a desire to learn as much as much as possible,

immediately registered in nine courses that besideslaw, included poetry, literature, art, etc. He was atrst regular at lectures but gradually lost interest,particularly in the law lectures, which he ound dryand unsatisying. He reduced his courses rst to sixand then to our.

He decided to study on his own and soon got in-volved in the stormy lie o the students o whomhe soon became a leader. Being deeply interestedin writing poetry he also joined the Poetenbund,

a circle o young writers ounded by revolutionarystudents. In the constant struggle between the sonso the eudal nobles and the bourgeoisie, he soonbecame a leader o the bourgeois group. He was o-


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Part 1 11

ten involved in stghts and sometimes in sword-duels. He carried a stiletto knie (somewhat similar

to our gupti knives), or which he was once arrestedand had a police case put on him. He was also sen-tenced to one day in the universitys student prisonon charges o nightly uproarious disturbances othe peace and drunkenness. Marx, in one sword-duel was even injured on his right eyebrow. Tisled to his ather withdrawing him rom the BonnUniversity and bringing him back to rier in Au-gust 1836.

While he was in rier he got secretly engaged to

Jenny von Westphalen, the daughter o Baron vonWestphalen a nobleman and senior Prussian gov-ernment of cial. Jenny, who was our years elder tohim, and Marx, were childhood loves who had de-cided to get married while Marx was still in school.Tey now got engaged with the approval o Marxparents, but without Jennys parents approval,

which was only obtained in 1837.

In October 1836 Marx moved to the University o

Berlin, which was the capital o Prussia. Te univer-sity was much larger than Bonn and was renownedas a major centre o learning. Ater registering orhis University courses, Marx immediately jumpedinto a storm o work. He stayed up night aternight, eating irregularly, smoking heavily, readingheavy books and lling up notebooks. Instead oormal classes Marx pursued his studies on his own.

Working at a tremendous pace he moved rom lawto philosophy to poetry to art and then to writ-

ing plays and stories and then back to philosophyand poetry. His overwork had a bad eect o hishealth, particularly his B aected lungs, and hesometimes was orced to take a break. But he wasalways back to his excessive work habits, reading upeverything, rom the ancient to the latest works oscientists and philosophers. His bent was towardsphilosophy, always trying to nd universal mean-ing; always searching or the absolute in principles,denitions and concepts.

During his second year at the University he joineda group o philosophy students and teachers called

Young Hegelians. Tey were ollowers o the a-mous German philosopher, Frederick Hegel, who

had taught at Berlin University and died in 1830.Tey tried to give a radical interpretation to Hegels

philosophy and or this were sometimes called LetHegelians. One o Marx riends in this group, itsintellectual leader, was a proessor called BrunoBauer who was a militant atheist who constantlyattacked the churchs teachings. Such attacks, along

with the radical political views o the Young Hege-lians, made them a target o the Prussian authori-ties. Tus when Marx completed his doctoral the-sis he could not obtain his degree rom the BerlinUniversity, which was dominated by reactionaryappointees o the Prussian government. Ater com-

pleting his studies in Berlin, he submitted his the-sis and obtained his Ph.D. in April 1841 rom theliberal leaning University o Jena that was outsidePrussian control.

Ater obtaining his degree he had hoped to becomea lecturer at the Bonn University where BrunoBauer had shited to in 1839. But Bauer himsel

was in trouble because o the student disturbanceshis anti-religion lectures were causing. Finally the

King himsel ordered the removal o Bauer romthe Bonn University. Tis meant the end to Bauersteaching career as well as any hope o a teaching jobor Marx.

Marx started concentrating on journalism, whichhe had already started immediately ater leavingUniversity. Tis also helped him to participatemore thoroughly in the rapidly growing radicaldemocratic opposition movement then developing

in his Rhineland province and the neighbouringprovince o Westphalia. Tese provinces which hadexperienced the liberating inuence o the Frenchanti- eudal reorms were major centres o opposi-tion to the Prussian king. Industrialisation had alsoled to the growth o the bourgeoisie, particularlyin Cologne, the richest city o the Rhineland. Tismeant strong support or this radical oppositionmovement by the industrialists, who were ed up

with the excessive controls o the eudals.

Marx rst started writing or, and then, in October1842, became the chie editor o Te RheinischeZeitung, a daily newspaper supported by such in-dustrialists. In Marx hands the newspaper soon be-


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came a ghter or radical democratic rights. Tishowever brought Marx into constant conict with

the Prussian censors who were very repressive. Fi-nally, when the paper published a criticism o theRussian Czars despotism, the Czar himsel broughtpressure on the Prussian King to take action. Tepaper was banned and had to be closed down inMarch 1843. Marx then started involving himselin a plan to bring out a new journal Te German-French Yearbooks.

During this period, rom 1841 to 1843, Marx wasdeeply involved in the stormy political lie o that

period. However he was basically a radical democratand did not at that time hold communist views. Atthe level o philosophy his major transormationduring this period was in 1841 ater reading a bookTe Essence o Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach

which presented a criticism o religion rom thestandpoint o materialism. Tis book played a ma-

jor role in shiting Marx ideas rom the idealismo the Young Hegelian group to materialism. An-other philosophical work o 1841 (Te European

riarchy) that inuenced Marx was the attempt byhis riend, Moses Hess, to develop a communistphilosophy by combining French socialist and LetHegelian ideas.

However at that time Marx yet had only a limitedknowledge o the ideas o the socialists and com-munists. His rst contact was in 1842 when heread with interest the works o many o the lead-ing French socialist theorists. He was however not

converted to communism or socialism by thesereadings. Tis change came about more throughhis contact with working class communist groupsand study o political economy, both o which tookplace mainly ater moving to Paris at the end o1843.

Seven years ater their engagement, Marx and Jennywere married in June 1843. Tey had a short hon-eymoon in Switzerland during which Marx wrotea booklet where he presented his initial criticisms

o Hegel. Ater the honeymoon he started thestudy and preparations or moving to Paris rom

where the earlier mentioned German-French Year-books was to be brought out. Tis move to Paris

was planned in order to avoid the Prussian cen-sors. However, though the journal was planned as a

monthly, it collapsed ater only one issue that cameout in February 1844.

Marx period in Paris was however marked by verysignicant new experiences. O the greatest impor-tance was direct contact with the various socialistand communist groups o which Paris was a hotcentre. Besides meeting a large number o theoreti-cians and revolutionaries Marx beneted greatly byregular contact with the many working class revo-lutionaries in Paris. At the same time Marx started

a study o political economy in which he read mosto the works o the amous English economists. Terevolutionary contacts and urther study had theirimpact. Tese were reected in Marx writings.

Te only issue o the Yearbooks was o crucial im-portance because it contained Marx rst broad gen-eralisation o a Marxist materialist understandingo history that was contained in an article criticisingHegels philosophy. It was in this article that Marx

made the highly important ormulation regardingthe historical role o the proletariat. He also heremade his amous ormulation that religion is theopium o the people. Te same issue also containedan article by Engels on political economy, whichalso gave a materialist understanding regarding thedevelopment o modern capitalism.

It was Marx interest in Engels writings that ledto their meeting in Paris between August 28 and

September 6 1844.Tis turned out to be a historicmeeting that helped the two great thinkers to clari-y their ideas and lay the rst oundations o Marx-ism. Tough they had both independently cometo similar conclusions earlier, this meeting helpedthem to achieve complete theoretical agreement. It

was at this meeting that they more clearly came toan understanding regarding the materialist concep-tion o history, which was the cornerstone o Marx-ist theory.

Frederick Engels was born on 28th November 1820in the textile town o Barmen in the Rhine prov-ince o Prussia. His ather was the wealthy owner oa cotton-spinning mill and was a ercely religious


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Part 1 13

Protestant Christian with a reactionary politicaloutlook.

Barmen, like Marx rier, also belonged to the parto Prussia which had seen twenty years o Frenchconquest. It thus also had progressive inuences onit. However its main characteristic was that it wasone o the biggest Rhenish industrial centres. TusEngels rom a very early age saw the severe povertyand exploitation o the working class. o surviveagainst actory competition cratsmen were orcedto work rom morning to night. Oten they triedto drown their sorrows in drink. Child labour and

occupational lung diseases were rampant.

Engels attended the Barmen town school till the ageo 14. He was then sent to the gymnasium at theneighbouring town o Elbereld (today both Bar-men and Elbereld are merged into one town). Tisgymnasium (secondary school) had the reputationo being one o the best in Prussia. He was an intel-ligent student with an early air or learning lan-guages. He was also part o a poetry circle among

the students and wrote his own poetry and shortstories. He was planning to study economy and lawbut his ather was more interested in making hiseldest son learn the amily business. At the age o 17he was suddenly removed rom school and made to

join as an apprentice in his athers of ce.

Tough this was the end o Engels ormal schoolinghe continued to use his ree time to study history,philosophy, literature and linguistics and to write

poetry, which he was attracted to. Te next year, inJuly 1838, Engels was sent to work as a clerk in alarge trading rm in the large port city o Bremen.Te big city atmosphere brought Engels in contact

with oreign literature and the press. In leisure hestarted reading ction and political books. He con-tinued learning new languages and besides Germangot some knowledge o Latin, Greek, Italian, Span-ish, Portuguese, French, English, Dutch, etc. Tisability to learn languages continued throughoutEngels lie during which he learnt to be quite u-

ent in over 20 languages including Persian and Ara-bic. Also in Bremen, Engels became a good horse-man, swimmer, swordsman and skater.

While at school itsel Engels had been a ghteragainst bureaucracy. Now as a grown youth he

was attracted to the radical democratic ideas o thebourgeois democratic revolution then taking shapein Germany. Te rst group he was attracted to-

wards was the Young Germany literary group thatstood or radical political views. He soon started

writing or a journal being brought out by themrom the port city o Hamburg, not ar rom Bre-men. He wrote two articles on the situation in hishome district. He exposed the severe exploitation othe workers in Barmen and Elbereld, the diseasessuered by them, and the act that hal the children

o the town were deprived o school and orced towork in the actories. He particularly attacked thehollowness o the religiosity o the exploitative in-dustrialists (which included his own ather).

owards the end o 1839 he started a study oHegel, whose philosophy he tried to link with hisown radical democratic belies. However he onlymade urther progress in this when he nishedhis clerkship in Bremen in 1841, and, ater a ew

months gap, moved to Berlin or one years com-pulsory military service.

While in military service he joined the Berlin Uni-versity as an external student and did a course inphilosophy. He then became closely connected withthe Young Hegelian group which Marx had beenpart o. He, like Marx, was also inuenced greatlyby the materialist views in Feurbachs book thatcame out in that year. Engels writings now started

to have some materialist aspects. Te main thing healways stressed was political action. Tis was whatmade him split, in 1842, rom his earlier YoungGerman group, which he elt restricted itsel onlyto empty literary debate. He however continued tostrongly be linked with the Young Hegelians, par-ticularly Bruno Bauer and his brother.

It was this closeness o Engels with the Bauers thatprevented a riendship with Marx, when they metor the rst time in November 1842. Engels at that

time had nished his military service and was onhis way rom his hometown to join as a clerk in hisathers business in Manchester, in England. On the

way he visited Marx at the newspaper of ce in Co-


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logne where Marx was then the chie editor. Marx,by then, had however started criticising Young

Hegelians, and particularly the Bauers, or con-centrating their propaganda too much on religionrather than politics. Hence Marx and Engels, hav-ing dierent political af liations, could not comeclose at this, their rst meeting.

It was Engels experiences in England that made hima communist. He developed very close links with the

workers o Manchester, as well as the leaders o therevolutionary workers Chartist movement. Man-chester was the main centre o the worlds modern

textile industry and soon Engels undertook an in-depth study o the working and living conditionso its workers. He would regularly visit the workingclass areas to gain direct knowledge. In this processa love grew between him and Mary Burns, youngIrish actory worker, who would later become hiscompanion and wie. Besides collecting material orhis uture book on the conditions o the workingclass in England, Engels came to understand therevolutionary potential o the proletariat. His regu-

lar participation in the movement convinced himthat the working class was not merely a sueringclass, but a ghting class whose revolutionary ac-tions would build the uture.

Besides working class contact, Engels also made adeep study o the various socialist and communisttheories and even met many o the French and Ger-man leaders and writers who had ormulated thesetheories. Tough he did not adopt any o these

theories, he made an analysis o their positive andnegative points. At the same time he started a deepstudy o bourgeois political economy. Tis was inorder to help him analyse the economic relations osociety, which he had started eeling was the basiso all social change. Te initial results o his studyhe put down in his article that was published byMarx in his journal brought out rom Paris. As wehave mentioned earlier, this led to correspondencebetween Marx and Engels and their historic meet-ing in 1844.

Engels was then on his way back rom Manchesterto his hometown Barmen, when he stopped on the

way to meet Marx who was then staying in Paris.

Teir discussions helped Marx to better ormu-late the materialist understanding o history which

they had both started believing in. Tey also, atthis meeting, started work on their rst joint book,which was an attack on Bruno Bauer and the YoungHegelian group, which they had both earlier be-longed to.

Engels spent the next eight months doing intensivecommunist propaganda and organisational work inGermany. During this period he was in constant re-volt against his ather who opposed his communist

work and tried to get him to work in his actory.

Ater just two weeks at his athers of ce Engels re-jected it completely and let Barmen to join Marx.Marx by that time had again become the target oeudal authorities. Te Prussian King had broughtpressure on the French King, who expelled Marxrom Paris. Marx was orced to move to Brussels inBelgium along with his wie and eight-month-oldchild. Tis is where Engels came and set up houseright next to Marxs house.

Marx in the meantime had done deep work andhad developed the main eatures o the new worldoutlook, which they had discussed at their earliermeeting. In Brussels both Marx and Engels startedintensive joint work. Tis was, as Engels said, to de-velop the new outlook in all possible directions. Teresult was the historic book, Te German Ideology,

which however only got published almost a hun-dred years later. Te main purpose served this bookserved at that time was or the two great thinkers to

sel clariy regarding their old understanding andset up the pillars o the new world outlook, whichlater came to be known as Marxism. Marx and En-gels had become Marxists!


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ahead the work o the English economists beyondthe limits o the capitalist class and drew the neces-

sary revolutionary conclusions rom them. It wasthus that Marx developed the principles o Marxistpolitical economy.

3) Te third source o Marxism was the varioussocialist theories, which mainly originated romFrance. Tese theories represented the hopes andaims o the newly emerging proletariat class. Tey

were both a reection o, as well as a protest againstcapitalist exploitation and oppression o the work-ing class. France at that time was the main centre

or revolutionary groups and revolutionary theory,which inspired the whole o Europe. It was there-ore natural that socialist theories too mainly cameout o France.

Most o these theories had major deects, as theywere not based on a proper scientic analysis o so-ciety. Nevertheless, they represented a break withthe individualism, sel-interest and competition obourgeois revolutionary theory. Tey also pointed

the way orward or the proletariat rom capitalistsociety. Marx thus made a study o these theories osocialism and communism beore ormulating theMarxist principles o scientic socialism. While inParis, he spent a considerable amount o time withthe leaders and members o the numerous Frenchrevolutionary and socialist groups. Marx took what

was best in socialism and gave it the scientic basiso the doctrine o class struggle. He thus developedthe principles o Marxist scientic socialism.

Tis then is the story o how Marxism emergedrom the three great sources o ideas in the thenmost advanced countries o the world. Te threeSources o Marxism German philosophy, Englishpolitical economy and French socialist theories corresponded to the three main component partso the new ideology Marxist philosophy o dia-lectical materialism, Marxist political economy andMarxist theory o scientic socialism. In the ollow-ing pages we will try to understand the essence o

each o these parts.


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Part 1 17

Chapter 6

The Basic Formulations of Marxist Philosophy:Dialectical and Historical Materialism

As we have repeatedly seen earlier, Marx and Engelsalways insisted that all philosophy should be practi-cal and linked to the real world. Tis was expressedin the most clear manner by Marx in his amoussaying, Te philosophers have always interpretedthe world in various ways; the point, however, isto change it. By this, Marx meant that he did not

want to become a philosopher like our rishis and

munnis sitting on some mountain and meditatingregarding supernatural things. He did not see muchpoint in thinking and contemplation unless it waslinked to the practical world. His basic search was totry to understand how the world was changing andthus to participate in actual practice and change to-days world and society. He thus was interested in aphilosophy that would be applied in social practice.

In order to do this Marx had to take a stand with

regards to the basic division in all philosophy thedivision between idealism and materialism. Tis di-vision is regarding the basic question as to, whichis primary spirit or nature. Tose who take thestand that spirit is primary belong to the camp oidealism, whereas those who take the stand that na-ture is primary belong to the camp o materialism.Idealism is always connected in one way or other toreligion. Being men o practice, who were absolute-ly opposed to religious belies, it was but natural

that Marx and Engels established Marxist philoso-phy rmly in the camp o materialism.

In doing so they were denitely inuenced andaided by the writings o Feuerbach and other ma-terialist philosophers o that time. However thesephilosophers were mechanical materialists who un-derstood nature and society to be like a machineturning round and round without any develop-ment or real change. Marx rejected mechanical ma-terialism because it did not give any understandingo historical change and development.

For this Marx had to turn to dialectics, which is thescience o the general laws o motion. Te essence

o dialectics is that it understands things in their in-ter-connections and contradictions. Dialectics thus

was able to provide the science o development thatMarx knew was necessary to change the world.

At that time Hegels philosophy and laws o dia-lectics (which Marx studied deeply) were the mostadvanced in Europe. But Hegel had developed hisphilosophical laws in an idealist way by only mak-ing them applicable to the eld o thought. Hebelonged to the camp o idealism and reused torecognise that nature and material social being areprimary, and spirit and ideas are secondary. He thus

did not accept that his system o thought itsel wasa product o the development o human societyto a denite stage. He reused to understand thathis laws o thought were themselves reections othe laws o nature and society. Tus, as Marx said,Hegels dialectics, by being idealist, was standing onits head that means it was absurd and illogical.Marx turned Hegels dialectics the right side up that means he made it rational by putting it onthe basis o materialism. Marx took Hegels dialecti-

cal laws and gave them the approach o materialistphilosophy. He thus made Hegels laws o thoughtalso into laws o nature and society. He thus ormu-lated Dialectical Materialism, which is the essenceo Marxist philosophy.

By giving dialectics a rational and materialist basisMarx changed it into a philosophy o revolution.Marx and Engels applied dialectical materialism tothe study o society and history and thus discovered

the materialist conception o history. Te material-ist conception o history was a new and revolution-ary way o understanding society and social change.It explained the basis o social changes and politi-cal revolutions not as an invention o some brilliantmens brains but as the product o the processes

within society. It showed all revolutionaries thatthe path to social change lay in understanding soci-ety and accordingly ormulating the ideas to bringabout change.

Te starting point o the materialist conception ohistory is the level o development o the materialproductive orces i.e. tools, machinery, skills, etc.Marx says that according to the stage in the devel-


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opment o the productive orces we get denite re-lations o production i.e. relations o ownership and

control over the means o production. Tus, or ex-ample, backward productive orces like the woodenplough, and wind, hand and animal operated millsgive us eudal relations; modern productive orceslike tractors, harvesters, etc., when they are wide-spread, give rise to capitalist relations o produc-tion. Tese relations o production constitute theeconomic structure o society, or the economic baseo society.

On top o the economic base o society arises a le-

gal and political superstructure with denite ormso social consciousness. Further, Marx says that itis the mode o production (consisting o the pro-ductive orces and relations o production) thatconditions the social, political and intellectual liein general. Tus, or example, the eudal mode oproduction gives rise to very severe oppression on

women and lower castes and a very undemocraticpolitical system; the capitalist mode o production,on the other hand, reduces social oppression and

brings some bourgeois democratic rights.

At a certain stage in the development o the pro-ductive orces they come into conict with the ex-isting relations o production. Tese old relationso production start preventing the developmento the productive orces. Unless these productionrelations are changed the productive orces cannotdevelop. Tis period when the relations o produc-tion start acting as chains on the development o

the productive orces is the beginning o the epocho social revolution. Revolution is needed to changethe relations o production i.e. the relation betweenthe various classes in society. Once this happensand the relations o production or property rela-tions are broken i.e. the economic base is changed,then the change in the whole superstructure ollowsquite quickly.

Tis materialist conception o history was the rstgreat discovery o Marx, which he accomplished in

1844-45. It was the oundation on which the othergreat pillars o Marxist theory were built.

In later years Marx and Engels, and the other Marx-

ist eachers urther developed Marxist philosophy.However its essence remained the basic principles

o dialectical and historical materialism mentionedabove.


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Part 1 19

Chapter 7

Struggle Against Utopian Socialism and theEstablishment of Scientific Socialism

Utopian socialism is the term used to describe themain trends o pre-Marxist socialism, which aroseand became prominent in the rst hal o the nine-teenth century. Te terms utopians (derived romthe idea o Utopia, which is supposed to be a stateo things where everything is perect) and socialistbecame popular rst in the 1830s. Tey were usedto describe a group o thinkers who developed the-

ories to transorm society on a more egalitarian ba-sis by removing the individualism, selshness andcompetitiveness in human nature. Many o thesethinkers or their ollowers tried to implement theirtheories by setting up ideal communities where allthe members worked, lived and shared the ruits otheir labour on a cooperative basis. Tey believedthat such ideal communities would provide the ex-ample that would then be ollowed by the rest o so-ciety. Tey thus did not rely on the actual processes

in society or building their schemes o socialism.Rather they thought that the rationality o theirplans and ideas itsel was suf cient to convincepeople and change society.

Utopian socialism was rst and oremost a reactionto the oppression and exploitation o the work-ing class under capitalism. Te working peoplehad ought bitterly or the overthrow o eudal-ism. However the bourgeoisies slogans o reedom,

equality and raternity had only meant reedom orthe capitalist class and intensied exploitation othe workers. Te various socialist doctrines aroseas a result o the emerging class contradictions be-tween the capitalists and workers and as a protestagainst exploitation. Tey attempted to build a sys-tem that would provide justice to the toilers.

Te anarchy o capitalist production was anothercause or the new socialist theories. Te utopiansocialists attempted to build rational systems that

would provide or the needs o humankind in an or-derly and harmonious ashion. Some o them eventried to convince capitalists and government of -cials that their socialist systems where much more

rational, planned, and thereore desirable than theexisting capitalist system. Tey even thus attempted

to get unds rom the rich or their projects.

Te main deect o pre-Marxist socialist doctrineswas that they did not have a real basis in the classcontradictions and class struggles unolding in so-ciety. Tough their ideas were themselves the prod-uct o the class contradictions within society, theutopian socialists did not realise that it was abso-lutely necessary to wage the class struggle in orderto achieve socialism. Tough their ideas were inreality a reection o the aspirations o the inant

proletariat, the utopian socialists did not recognisethe central importance o the revolutionary role othe proletariat in bringing about socialism.

When Marx and Engels came into contact with thesocialist and communist groups they started tryingto convince the ollowers o the utopian socialisttheories o the incorrectness o their ideas. Teyparticipated intensively in the debates in the vari-ous revolutionary and working class groups where

these theories and ideas were being discussed. Teirmain aim was to give a scientic basis to socialisttheory. For this they had to expose the deects and

wrong understanding o the earlier socialists andplace socialism on the sound basis o the Marxisttheory o class struggle.

As Marx himsel pointed out the theory o classstruggle was not something new invented by him.In act the earlier socialists and even bourgeois writ-

ers were quite conscious about and wrote aboutclasses and class struggle. However the essential di-erence o the Marxist theory o class struggle is thatit showed how the class struggle led inevitably tosocialism and communism.

Marx rst o all showed that classes are not some-thing that have always existed in human society.He showed that there was a long period in humanhistory when there were no classes at all (i.e. dur-ing primitive communism). Tere would also be

a period in the uture when there would again beno classes. Secondly Marx particularly analysed thepresent day class struggle between the bourgeoisieand the proletariat and showed how this class strug-


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Part 1 21

Chapter 8

Marxist Political EconomyAs we have seen earlier Marx developed his prin-ciples o political economy in continuation o andin opposition to the bourgeois political economyo the English economists. Most o Marx earliereconomic writings rom 1844 to 1859 were in theorm o a critique o bourgeois political economy.He countered the claims o the bourgeois politicaleconomists that capitalism was a permanent anduniversal system. On the other hand he proved that

capitalism could exist only or a limited period andwas destined to be overthrown and replaced by anew and higher social system. His later economicanalysis, particularly the various volumes o hismain work, Capital, concentrated on discoveringthe economic laws o capitalism. Te in-depth anal-ysis o the relations o production in capitalist soci-ety, in their origin, development and decline, thusorms the main content o Marx political economy.

Bourgeois political economists always made theiranalysis in the orm o a relation between things i.e.the exchange o one commodity or another. Marxhowever showed that economics deals not withthings but with relations between persons, and inthe last resort between classes.

Since under capitalism it is the production o com-modities that dominates, Marx started his analysis

with an analysis o the commodity. He pointed out

that the exchange o commodities was not a mereexchange o things but actually an expression o therelation between individual producers in society

who have been linked by the market. Tough com-modity exchange has existed or thousands o years,it is only with the development o money and thebirth o capitalism that it reaches its peak linkingup the entire economic lie o millions o individ-ual producers throughout society into one whole.Capitalism even converts the labour power o the

worker into a commodity that is bought and soldreely in the market place.

Te wageworker sells his labour power to the ownero the means o production, i.e. the capitalist. Te

worker spends one part o his working day produc-ing the equivalent o his wage, i.e. producing what

is necessary to cover the cost o maintaining himseland his amily. Te other part o his working day isspent producing or the maintenance and growtho the capitalist. Te worker gets absolutely no pay-ment rom this production which is or the capital-ist. Tis additional value which every worker pro-duces, over and above the value necessary to earnhis wage and maintain himsel, Marx called surplusvalue. It is the source o prot and the source o

wealth o the capitalist class.

Te discovery o the concept o surplus value ex-posed the nature o exploitation o the working class.It also brought out the source o the antagonismbetween the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Tisclass antagonism was the principal maniestation othe undamental contradiction o capitalist society:the contradiction between the social character oproduction and the private character o ownership.Tis discovery o surplus value was reerred to byEngels as the second important discovery o Marx

(along with the discovery o the materialist concep-tion o history). Lenin called the doctrine o surplusvalue as the corner stone o Marx economic theory.

Marx also analysed in detail the periodic economiccrises that repeatedly aected capitalism. He ex-plained capitalist crises also as another maniesta-tion o the undamental contradiction o capital-ism. He thus exposed the alsehood o the bourgeoiseconomists who at that time propagated that capi-

talism could not ace any crisis, as the operation othe market would solve all problems. Tey tried topresent that whatever was produced by the capital-ist would automatically be sold in the market place.

Marx however exposed that the nature o the work-ing o capitalism itsel would lead inevitably to crisis.He showed how capitalists in their desperate urge toearn more and more prots went on madly increas-ing production. However at the same time everycapitalist tried to maintain a higher rate o prot

by cutting the wage rates o his workers and throw-ing them into poverty. Te working class composesthe largest section in society and the poverty o the

working class automatically means the reduction


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o their capacity to buy the goods available in themarket. Tus on the one hand the capitalist class

goes on increasing the production o goods beingsupplied to the market, whereas on the other handit goes on reducing the buying capacity o a largesection o the buyers in the very same market. Tisnaturally leads to a severe contradiction betweenthe expansion o production on one hand and thecontraction o the market on the other hand. Teresult is a crisis o overproduction where the marketis ooded with unsold goods. Numerous capitalistsare thrown into bankruptcy. Lakhs o workers arethrown out o their jobs and orced into starvation

at the same as the shops are lled with goods thatremained unused because there is no one to buythem.

Marx urther concluded that the anarchy o thesecrises o capitalism could only be resolved by resolv-ing the undamental contradiction o capitalism be-tween the social character o production and theprivate character o ownership. Tis could only bedone by overthrowing the capitalist system and es-

tablishing socialism and communism, and thus giv-ing a social character to the ownership o the meanso production. Marx showed that the social orcethat would bring about this revolution had beencreated by capitalism itsel; it was the proletariatclass. It was the proletariat alone who had no inter-est in continuing the present system o exploitationand private ownership. It alone had the interest andcapacity to establish socialism.

Marx analysed how every crisis intensied the con-tradictions o the capitalist system. He described theprocess with each crisis o centralisation o capitalinto the hands o a smaller and smaller handul ocapitalists. Tis proceeded alongside the immensegrowth in the misery and discontent o the vastmass o workers. As the contradictions o capitalismsharpened, the revolutionary upheavals o the pro-letariat grew in strength, nally resulting in revolu-tion, the conscation o the capital o the capitalistsand the building o a socialist society with a social

character o ownership suited to the social charactero production.

In this way, Marx, starting rom the economys most

basic unit the commodity brings out the natureo the economic laws governing capitalism. He thus

exposes the scientic economic basis or the social-ist revolution and the road to communism.


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Part 1 23

Chapter 9

Marxism Fuses Its Links with the WorkingClass

As we saw earlier Marx and Engels were deeply in-volved in the revolutionary communist groups othe eighteen orties. Tey thus came to lead theCommunist League which was an internationalbody uniting the revolutionaries o various Euro-pean countries. Tey also drated its programme the Communist Maniesto , which acquired

world historic signicance. However at that time

in 1848 the inuence o Marxism had yet toreach the vast working class masses. Te inuenceo the Communist League was limited and it con-sisted mainly o exiled workers and intellectuals. Inact at that time Marxism was just one o the manytrends o socialism.

Te 1848 Revolution, which spread insurrectionthroughout the European continent, was the rstmajor historical event where Marxism proved itsel

in practice. Marx and Engels were in Brussels whenthe Revolution rst broke out in France. Te Bel-gian government earing the spread o the Revolu-tion immediately expelled Marx rom Brussels andorced him to leave or Paris where he was soon

joined by Engels. However as the revolutionarywave spread to Germany, both decided to immedi-ately move there in order to directly participate inthe revolutionary events.

Tere they tried to consolidate the work o theCommunist League and the workers associations.Tey brought out a daily newspaper, the Neue Rhe-inische Zeitung, which served as an organ o propa-gation o the revolutionary line. Te newspapertook a line in support o radical bourgeois democ-racy as the completion o the bourgeois democraticrevolution was then the main task in Germany.However the paper simultaneously served as theorganiser o the emerging revolutionary proletarianparty in Germany. Marx and Engels even tried toorm a mass workers party by uniting the work-ers associations o various provinces o Germany.Te paper lasted or one year. With the collapse othe revolution in Germany and other parts o Eu-

rope, the paper was orced to close down and Marxwas expelled by the Prussian King. He retreated to

Paris but had to soon leave rom there too becauseo persecution by the French authorities. Engelscontinued in Germany ghting as a soldier in therevolutionary armies till the very end. Ater militarydeeat, he escaped, and towards the end o 1849,

joined Marx, who had by then settled in London.England then continued to be their centre till theend o their lives.

Te deeat o the 1848 Revolution had spread con-usion among the revolutionaries and proletarian

activists throughout Europe. Most o the earlierdominant trends o socialism could not provideany proper understanding regarding the reasonsor the course o events during the revolution.It was in such an atmosphere that Marx took upthe task o explaining the social orces behind theinitial victory and later deeat o the Revolution.Since France was the centre and principal startingpoint o both the upsurge and decline o the revolu-tion, Marx concentrated his analysis on the French

events. Tis he did through his brilliant works, TeClass Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850 and theEighteenth Brumaire o Louis Bonaparte. Tey

were Marx rst attempts to explain current histori-cal events by means o the materialist conception ohistory. He analysed with complete clarity the classorces behind each o the major turns and twists inthe revolution. He thus provided the class basis orrevolutionary proletarian tactics. By exposing therole o various classes at various stages, he showed

who were the riends and enemies o the revolu-tion and thereore the approach o the proletariatto each o them.

In the ollowing period, Marx continued his writ-ings on all the major political events throughoutthe world. In all these writings he presented a clearperspective rom a proletarian viewpoint. Tisdistinguished them rom all other varieties o so-cialism, which proved incapable o providing realanswers to the continuously changing world situa-

tion. It clearly established the superiority o Marx-ism over other brands o socialism as a practical toolor understanding and changing the world.


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Simultaneously, Marx and Engels worked energeti-cally to unite the weak and ragmented organisa-

tions o the working class. Te Communist League,which had its main centre in Germany, aced se-vere repression rom the Prussian police. Many oits members in Germany were put behind bars andthe organisation itsel was nally dissolved in No-vember 1852. During the long period o reactionater the ailure o the 1848 Revolution Marx andEngels tried continuously to reorganise and revivethe working class movement. Besides writing andpublishing their works extensively, they maintainedconstant contact with the working class organisa-

tions in various countries, particularly England,France and Germany. Teir constant attempt wasto orm an international organisation o the work-ing class and to set up separate parties o the prole-tariat in the industrially developed countries.

Te main work in this respect was done by Marx.He worked throughout this period under very di-cult conditions. Ater having been driven out bythe governments o various countries, even ater

Marx settled in London he was under constant sur-veillance o the secret police, particularly o Prus-sia. Besides the political repression Marx economicsituation was always very bad. Due to the poorand disorganised state o the revolutionary work-ing class movement at that time it was unable tosupport him as a ull-timer. Tus his only source oearnings was the small payment per article whichhe got or writing or a large American newspaperTe New York ribune. Tis was o course totally

insuf cient or Marx large amily. Tey thus acedconstant poverty, debt and even starvation. Manya time things rom the house had to be pawned toprovide or ood. Marx had six children but onlythree survived beyond childhood. When his babydaughter died the burial had to be delayed or a ewdays till some money was collected or the burial.Marx himsel aced constant serious illnesses, whichhe had to struggle against to complete his work.

Troughout all these economic dif culties the main

support or the Marx amily was Engels. Ater theailure o the 1848 Revolution Engels had beenorced to take up a job in his athers Manchesterrm. He worked there or twenty years, rst as a

clerk and then or the last ve years as a partnerin the rm till 1869. During this period he had a

substantial income, with which he would regularlyhelp Marx.

Engels help however was not merely economic.Tough he did not get much spare time becauseo his job he put in all eorts to continue studyand help Marx. Tey corresponded very regularlyand constantly exchanged ideas. Marx always con-sulted Engels on major questions, particularly ondecisions regarding the international working classmovement.

Teir eorts nally bore ruit in 1864 with the or-mation o the International Workingmens Associa-tion the First International. Marx soon becameits leader and was primarily responsible or drawingup its rst programme and constitution. Te In-ternationals programme however did not containthe strong words o the Communist Maniesto.Te First International, unlike the CommunistLeague, was not an organisation limited to small

groups o revolutionaries. In act many o the sec-tions o the International, especially those o Eng-land and France, represented organisations with avast mass ollowing o workers. However, most othese organisations did not have a clear and cor-rect understanding. Tough they were composedpredominantly o workers the level o conscious-ness was normally lower than that o the selectedrevolutionaries o the Communist League. Teprogramme and constitution thus had to be ormu-

lated keeping this in mind. Te correct line had tobe presented in a manner acceptable to the memberorganisations o the International. Marx, with hisgreat ideological depth and practical organisationalexperience was at that time the only person capableo thus drating these documents and was thereoregiven this task. In subsequent years too, it was he,

who drated all the most important documents othe First International.

It was thus Marxism alone that could provide the

ideological, political and organisational perspec-tive or the First International. Implementation othis perspective meant constant struggle against thevarious anarchist and opportunist trends that arose


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bers in the Commune, were particularly at a loss.Marx analysis gave a clear-cut position clearing alltypes o conusion. Marx also helped propagate thecorrect understanding regarding the Communethroughout the world. Following the Communethe bourgeoisie portrayed Marx as the real leadero the Commune and he was thereore even inter-viewed by the world press. Trough these inter-views he thus was able to present the correct stand

to various countries. Marxism again was providingthe correct answers.


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Part 1 29

Chapter 11

Spread of Marxism and Rise of Opportunism

Te period ater the Paris Commune was one o re-actionary oensive by the bourgeoisie on the work-ing class movement. Tis had its impact on the FirstInternational. Te French section was the worst hit

with most o the members becoming reugees in

other countries and severe actional ghts amongthem. Te German labour movement also aced asetback with the long arrest o the main Marxistleaders, Bebel and Liebknecht, who had opposedthe war and the annexation o parts o France. Tismeant that the two o the most important sectionsin the International were handicapped. Simul-taneously there was a split in the English section

with some o the leaders leaving the Internationalin opposition to the militant stand in support othe Commune taken by Marx. Tis coupled with

the manipulations by the anarchists weakened theInternational. Marx and Engels decided to transerthe headquarters o the International rom Londonto New York. Tis decision was taken in the 1872Congress o the International. Te weakened Inter-national however could not revive and was nallydissolved in 1876.

Te dissolution o the First International howeverdid not stop the onward march o Marxism and the

setting up o new proletarian parties. Te periodater the Paris Commune saw a long almost 35 yeargap o peace, without any major wars between thebig capitalist countries on the European continent.During this period the labour movement in mostindustrialised countries expanded rapidly. Socialistparties, which had a basically proletarian composi-tion, set up large and elaborate structures. Undertheir leadership grew trade unions, daily newspa-pers, worker cooperatives, etc. Working oten un-

der legal conditions they participated quite success-ully in the bourgeois parliaments. It was many othese parties who got together to set up the SecondInternational in 1889. Tis ormation o the Sec-

ond International gave urther encouragement tothe growth o new proletarian socialist parties invarious parts o the world.

Marx and Engels till the end o their lives contin-ued to play the role o ideological leaders and prac-tical organisers o this growing working class move-ment. Tey provided constant theoretical inputs tostrengthen the oundations o the growing move-

ment. Marx concentrated on urther study o po-litical economy and more in-depth study o capital-ism. Te rst volume o Capital came out in1867.

Ater that Marx continued to struggle against severeill health to try and complete the later volumes othis work. However it remained unnished rightupto his death on 14th March 1883. Engels how-ever completed the monumental task o collectingtogether Marx notes, editing them and nally pub-lishing the second and third volumes o Capital.Engels in act also did substantial theoretical work

ater becoming a ull-timer in 1869. Along withMarx, and alone, he brought out various workson philosophy, socialist theory, evolution, origino social and political institutions, etc. Ater thedeath o Marx he played the central role in guidingand building the movement in various countries.Trough regular correspondence he perormed therole o a centre which was otherwise non-existentthroughout this period. Tis he did till his death on5th August 1895.

A large part o the work o Marx and Engels wasin ghting the trends o opportunism that startedgaining strength with the growth o the movement.One important trend was that o Lassalleism whicharose rst during the First International but con-tinued also in later years. Its originator, FerdinandLassalle, was the ounder o the rst working classsocialist party set up in 1863 in Germany. Te mainopportunist aspects o Lassalleism were a discour-

agement o workers struggle or higher wages andmaking appeals to the state or government aid toset up workers cooperatives which Lassalle saw asthe main means o reorming society and gradu-


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ally bringing about socialism. In order to ghtthe wrong understanding on wage struggles Marx

wrote the work, Wages, Prices and Prots and pre-sented it in the General Council o the First In-ternational in 1865. Te ght against Lassalleismcontinued in 1875 when Marx wrote the Critiqueo the Gotha Programme. Te Gotha programme

was the programme drated at the time o the uni-cation o the Lassalleist and Marxist proletarianparties o Germany into one party. At that timethe Marxists were so keen on unity that they mademany compromises with the opportunist politicso Lassalleism. Marx in his Critique made a thor-

ough criticism o the points that had opportunistpolitics. However the Critique was only given toa handul o the leading Marxist members o theGerman party. It was not circulated and very ew oits suggestions were brought into practice. Howeverin 1891 when a new party programme was beingdrated Engels insisted on publishing the Critique,despite the protests o some o the leading memberso the party. Tis time the Lassalleist aspects did notappear in the new programme.

Other opportunist trends, which appeared, weresimilarly resolutely opposed by Marx and Engels aslong as they were alive. Ater Engels death how-ever one o the most major attacks on Marxismappeared rom within the proletarian movementitsel. Since direct opposition to Marxism was verydif cult this attack came in the orm o an attemptto revise Marxism. Tis trend which later cameto be called revisionism was initiated rst by Ber-

nstein, one o the leading members o the Germanparty and also o the Second International. He rstpresented his views in 1898-99 within the Germanparty. Bernstein proposed that because o changedconditions it was necessary to change all the basicormulations made by Marx. He proposed thatit was not necessary to have violent revolution tobring about socialism and that reorm o capitalistinstitutions would gradually bring about socialism.

As opportunism had been growing in the workingclass movement Bernsteins revisionism soon ound

supporters in various parties. However at the sametime many genuine revolutionaries rallied aroundin the support o Marxism. Te debate was takenup beore the Congress o the Second International

held in 1904. Te Congress strongly condemnedrevisionism by a vote o 25 to 5, with 12 absten-

tions. Tere was also another compromise resolu-tion, which did not so strongly condemn revision-ism, which did not get passed because there was atie vote o 21 to 21. Tus in both the resolutionsthere was a very big section that supported or didnot want to take a strong stand against revisionism.Tough the Congress nally condemned revision-ism it was quite clear in 1904 itsel that opportun-ism and revisionism had built a substantial baseor itsel at the highest levels o the international

working class movement. Te opposition to oppor-

tunism in many countries however was also strong.A particularly strong centre was in Russia, wherethe Bolsheviks under the leadership o Lenin hadalready waged numerous struggles against Russianvarieties o opportunism.


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MLM Basic Course Part 1

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Transcript of MLM Basic Course Part 1