Marxism (Callie, Isabella, Taahir, Tucker)

The first thing we all did was research Marxism. We used sources that helped us get a solid grounding on the topic, and then used that knowledge in our research of the revolutions. Each of us chose smaller battles/protests in each of the revolutions. These studies include the Bolshevik revolution, North Korea vs. South Korea, and the May Fourth Movement. As we did our research, we found sources that gave accurate information about the time period as well as the event. We needed this because we were writing fictional journal articles as if we were from the time period. This was how we chose to display our information at first.

The majority of our sources are reports from college professors, online articles, or just informational documents. We did try and tackle the famous “Economic Philosophic Manuscripts,” but that turned out to be really very dense, and it was detracting from our overall message. Instead, we used videos given to us by our teacher. David Harvey, a professor who specializes in Marx, turned out to be a very useful source for us. We watched videos that gave us insight into Marxism that would have taken us a lot longer if done on our own.

In the end, we learned a great deal about the flaws of governmental ideals, and how crucial it is to have a system that falls in the middle of the spectrum. A system that is amalgamated with ideals from both Marxism and its antithesis can create a governmental set up that works just as efficiently as any seen today. Marxism has had a nominally latent existence, and has been pidgin holed by the common public as a corrupt system or a flawed system. However, the goal of this project was not to defend this idea or counteract it; it was to show that there is no country that has followed the doctrines and philosophies of Marxism to scrupulous detail. We found this to be true.

Sources:

Marx, Karl. "Economic Philosophic Manuscripts." Economic Philosophic Manuscripts(1932): 1-81. Web.

This is a link to the PDF of Karl Marx’s Economic Philosophic Manuscripts. This is a primary source, because he was the author in 1844. This is essay will play a critical role in the way we conceptualize our idea of socialism. There are a lot of interpretations of what it means to have a Marxist government, and those interpretations originate from Karl Marx himself. That is why this primary source will be useful for the project. He mentions a lot of German ideologies that he uses as an influence for his writings. This inspires the idea of possibly connecting some of the older beliefs of Germany to the beliefs of Germany in the 20th century. Because the Russian revolution began in the early 20th century, the manuscripts would have had to have played a major role in how the leaders of  socialist movements later assessed their own ideals in the founding of the new governments.


Von Kühlmann, Richard. Richard Von Kühlmann on the Russian Revolution. Germany. 30 Nov. 1917.
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/russia_kuehlmann.htm

This is a speech that the German foreign secretary, Richard Von Kühlmann, gave to the German Reichtag on November 30th, 1917. The speech presents his opinions on the Russian Revolutions and the way the world is reacting to them. He then goes into his opinions on the governments of countries such as England and France stating that “freedom of though and freedom of speech have been suppressed.” This source is valuable because it portrays the opinions of the revolutions from another country. Richard Von Kühlmann relates what is happening in Russia to what could possibly happen in Germany, which shows the international effect of the revolutions. His underlying tone is that Germany will prevail against other countries that are filled with “greed and power.” He believes that the powers of the east will be able to rise up against the inhumane powers of the west, which is not only a statement about Germany but a statement about much of the European continent.

Lenin, Vladimir. "Proclamation of 7 November 1917." Proclamation of 7 November 1917. Russia. 7 Nov. 1917. Speech. <http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/lenin_25oct1917.htm>

This source is a speech given by Vladimir Lenin, a Marxist and communist revolutionist who led the Russian Revolutions, on October 25, 1917. In this speech he warns against a counter revolution and uprising of the military against the new government formed after the overthrow of Alexander Kerenski. He states that all military men must openly support and join the new government or else they will be arrested. The speech lists what the Petrograd Council of Workmen and Soldeir’s Delegate’s (new government)  sees as its top priorities, which includes but is not limited to, giving land to the peasants and a transfer of all power to the council. This source is valuable because it displays the intended goals of the new communist party in Russia and what the party was based on (its ideology).

Lenin, Vladimir. "Call to Power." Call to Power. Russia. 24 Oct. 1917. Speech.
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/calltopower.htm

This is a writing by Lenin titled “Call to Power,” on the 24th of October in 1917. In it he requests that power be taken away from Alexander Kerenski’s provisional government and be transferred a committee/party chosen by the people specifically the poor and starving. He warns that the government in place at the time was going to fall and that as a revolutionary/revolutionists they must not wait. It is written to the Soviet Central Committee and supposed to represent the voices of the people. He uses a very urgent tone warning that if something doesn't happen immediately the Soviet Union as a whole will lose everything. This source is valuable because it was one of the major factors contributing to the fall of the provisional government. The day after being written Kerenski’s government was overthrown which really shows the power of these words. Although technically a call to the Soviet Union, it addressed the protesters/revolutionists in hope of motivating them.

Lenin, Vladimir. "April Theses." April Theses. Saint Petersburg, Russia. Apr. 1917. Speech. <http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/apriltheses.htm>http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/apriltheses.htm
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/apriltheses.htm

The April Theses was a chain of "directions" which was created by Vladimir Lenin when he returned to St. Petersburg, in response to the war. In the Theses, he summoned the soviets to take power and criticized the liberals in the Provisional Government. Before Lenin's return, the government was controlled by socialist in liberals, which created a democracy. Most of the directives called for new communist policies, also calling for a new government which would be imperial to all other forms of government in Russia.

Duffy/ Firstworldwar.com, Michael. "Manifesto of Russian Council of Workmen and Soldiers." First World War.com. Web. 06 Jan. 2012. <http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/russian_councilofworkmen1.htm>.

The link is to a manifesto written by workers and soldiers.  Its dated to may 15 1917. They start off by explaining that the are speaking in the name of / support of the “ Russian Revolutionary Democracy”  and that as a people they didn’t wish to become involved with the war.  They go on to explain the adverse effects of Russia losing its freedoms.  Revolutionary russia was being threatened by a man power.   They are explaining to the soldiers on the battle front that they must fight to win or else “Revolutionary Russia” will be destroyed.  They are defending liberty in Russia because they are up against the German army that represents  When describing Russia in modern terms its described as being a communist country.