Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto

In Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, Marx made multiple bold predictions involving the future of Russia and other countries. Marx predicted that there were many 19th european countries that were on the verge of a bourgeois revolution. He insisted that these countries would be better off without capitalism and boldy supported a communist revolution. The reading stated that capitalist states could not support the same standard of living that communism provides. There came a point where it was beginning to look like Marx’s comments had some accuracy to them. During the 20th century, many countries on the eastern side of Europe, known as the Eastern Bloc, followed communist rule. Countries such as the Soviet Union, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and

However, some of Marx’s statements proved to be false. One of the predictions that Marx made in Communist Manifesto that turned out to be false was his statements about the industrial revolution. Marx was convinced that the more capitalist countries developed, the more enslaved one of the social classes would become. Marx stated, “Modern industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist… Not only are they slaves of the bourgeois class, and of the bourgeois state; they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine.” At the time it seemed like Marx made a good point as many people in capitalist countries worked long hours in factories. However, we now know this to be false because citizens in capitalist countries such as America enjoyed a higher standard of living than communist countries such as the Soviet Union ever had. While Marx thought his ideologies would be applicable in the real world, they only looked good on

Unlike Marx, both Stalin and and Lenin used the ideologies of communism and applied it to the real world. However, Stalin used a different tactic to enforce it. While Lenin was not above using violence, he envisioned a peaceful communist state. However, Stalin was willing to go to any lengths necessary in order to ensure that communism was followed. In Stalin’s writing, The Hard Line, he shows how far he is willing to go to ensure that his communist rule goes successful. Stalin shows that he is willing to push the Soviet Union and its citizens to the absolute maximum in order to maintain Soviet Power. As stated in The Hard Line, “It is sometimes asked whether it is not possible to slow down the tempo a bit, to put a check on the movement. No, comrades, it is not possible! The tempo must not be reduced! On the contrary, we must increase it as much as within our powers and possibilities.” This is where Stalin differs from Marx. Marx envisioned a successful communist community with a high standard of living. He criticized the capitalist community slaving away in factories. Stalin did not fulfil Marx’s envisionment. Stalin drove the citizens of the USSR into the ground and somewhat enslaved everyone. While both had a passion to make communism work, Stalin went down the wrong path in order to make it work. In the readings of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, I was able to learn a great deal of knowledge about each of their