Communism Essay -- Communism Essays

Communism is the belief that every wizard in a society should be equal andshare their wealth. It is an outgrowth of collectivism and Anabaptism (Laski 45).It became a firmly rooted term after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Accordingto the words of Karl Marx, From each according to his ability, to eachaccording to his needs 1. These theories were pass around byKarl Marx. He believed that what a person made of himself reflected his effort(McLellan 1). He also believed that communism, or the state of equality wasones "final stage in bread and butter" (Leone 1).     Communism basically started in 1847, with the formation of the LondonCommunist League. This was an international association of worker, whose solepurpose was to write a "theoretical and practical computer programme which would serve asthe basis for uniting the working classes of Europe" (Leone 1). The LondonCommunist League asked Marx for help in drafting a document to bet theirstandi ngs. He composed the "Communist Manifesto" or "The Manifesto of theCommunist Party" (Leone 1).     The Russian Revolution helped foster communism. The Russian Revolutionstarted with the with the assassination of Rasputin. In March of 1917, the Dumadeclares a prvisional government, including czars. During this period, therewere also massive strikes by the workers. It was furthered by the abdication ofCzar Nicholas. The Russian Revolution itself occured throughout 1917, with thestart of the March Revolution. In April of 1917, Lenin return from exil inSwiter acres and denounced the established provisional government. The nextgeneral step was the gaining of the seats in the Petograd Soviet Parliment bythe Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks picked Lenin to then head the government, just some(prenominal) days after the November Revolution. During this revolution the peasantsstorm the palace, taking total control of the government. At this point, thepower was gi ven to Lenin. Almost immediatly he issued the New Economic Plan,which instituted the one party system or communism. They basicaly supported thebasic communist theories of Karl Marx, as interpreted by Lenin. He installedmany of his beliefs and helped reorganize the people, and essentiallyemmancipatte the working class. He also is credited with the creation of theS... .... The economic state of China made it much more profitablefor a peasant to work for the warlord that form the land (Shanor 95).     Because of the poor conditions, small Communist groups began to form inChinas cities. At first, they were allies with Sun Yat-Sen and hisNationalists. But the good feelings between the two parties deterioratedquickly after Chiang Kai-Shek, Suns successor, arranged the Shanghai Massacre ofthe Communists. Chiang spent the following years alternating betweennegotiating with and fighting against the Communists. The situation became sodrastic that the Communists eventuall y fled during the Long March of 1934-35(Shanor 95).The united States, who was very Anti-Communist after WWII, supportedChiang Kai-Shek. Over a period of four years, the US gave $2.5 billion tosupport the Nationalist cause. Despite their efforts, the Communists eventuallyoverthrew the Nationalist government, forcing Chiang and following to flee toTaiwan. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communists,proclaimed the country as the Peoples Republic of China (Shanor 96). 1 Industrial Workers of the World www.iww.org