The Origins of Socialism
Kevin J. Benoy
Origins of Socialism
• Socialism is not now,
nor has it ever been, a
single movement.
• Socialists may often
have similar beliefs, but
their political tactics
have varied widely.
Ancient Origins
• Some see the origins of
Socialism in Plato’s
Republic.
• Others see Socialist
beliefs in the teachings
of Christ and
Mohammed.
More Recent Origins
• Still others look to the
ideal of a more equal
society in the 16th
Century writer Sir
Thomas More, author
of Utopia.
Modern Socialism
• Modern Socialism was a
reaction to problems
faced by society during
the early industrial
revolution.
• Socialists shared the
notion that the
injustices and
inequalities of the
modern age should be
reduced or eliminated.
Modern Socialism
• There was huge disagreement on how
equality could be achieved:
– Some called for a strong centralized state.
– Some called for abolition of the state.
– Some called for regulation of capitalism.
– Some called for the complete abolition of
capitalism.
Utopian Socialism
France, site of the greatest social revolution of
the early modern world, was home to many
early revolutionaries.
Utopian Socialism
Henri de Saint Simon (1760-1825)
• Saint-Simon saw the past
as having been run by
churchmen and
aristocrats.
• The future would be run
by technocrats. “The
administration of things
will replace the
government of man.”
• He introduced the idea of
central planning – to
bring about the
elimination of waste.
Utopian Socialism
Francois-Marie Charles Fourier (1772-1837)
• Fourier was a mad genius
who hated the world of
competition and wasteful
commerce – which he, a
salesman, inhabited.
• He wanted to set up
communities that would
serve as models for a
better future society.
• Love and passion would
bind mankind together.
Utopian Socialism
Robert Owen (1771-1858)
• Owen was a capitalist, but he
was appalled at the conditions
that other capitalists had their
workers live in.
• He felt that healthy and happy
workers were better for all
society.
• He built model communities for
his Scottish workers.
• He encouraged trade unions.
• He began the cooperative
movement, which encouraged
workers to improve their lot by
fostering education
Radical Socialism
Louis-Auguste Blanqui (1805-1881)
• Blanqui was an atheist and a
revolutionary, who spent half his
adult life in jail.
• He called his movement communist.
• He felt capitalism would be replaced
by cooperative associations – but
after a revolution.
• He wanted a tight, hierarchical,
revolutionary organization that
would seize power in the name of
the working class.
• Some argue that Lenin was more
“Blanquist” than “Marxist.”
Radical Socialism
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865)
• Proudhon is generally seen as the
father of Anarchism.
• We wanted to eliminate all
institutions, as well as private
property – saying “property is
theft.”
• He allowed the possession of some
tools, but all major items would be
socialized.
• He opposed political parties, saying
they became authoritarian.
• During the 1870s Anarchism was as
popular as Marxism.
• It remained strong in Spain until
the late 1930s.
The Radicals
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
• By far the most famous
socialist of all, Marx
based his assumptions
on two principles:
– Economics determined
how all societies
evolved.
– Societies inevitably
evolved toward what he
called Communism.
Karl Marx - Societies Evolve
• Marx felt that any study of history revealed clear stages of development
– Primitive Communism: No rulers. The few goods available were shared.
Productivity was low.
– Slave Based Societies: Classes were antagonistic. Slaves worked without
rights. Governments formed.
– Feudal Societies: Lords exploited and lived off the work of peasants. More
goods were produced than in slave societies.
– Capitalist Societies: The Proletariat (workers and small merchants) do most
of the work. A small group of capitalists (the Bourgeoisie) profit. As
capitalists seek to increase their profits, workers are reduced to poverty and
will ultimately fight back. First would come riots and strikes. Later there
would come unions and parties, and ultimately, revolution.
– Socialism: The revolution would create a “dictatorship of the proletariat,
where the workers consolidate power. The state would control the means of
production until classes disappeared. The state would have to defend the
revolution against the deposed capitalists and neighbouring capitalist states.
– Communism: The elimination of class struggle would allow government to
disappear. All ownership would be shared in a world of high productivity. All
would be equal and all human needs met.
Karl Marx
• Marx believed in
dialectical materialism.
– Marx took Hegel’s notion
of progress as the
product of ideas
changing though a
dialectic –
thesis/antithesis/synthes
is.
– He added the notion
that only material things
exist, so the ownership
of things and the means
of production are what
matter in the world.
• Religion was, therefore,
merely a tool used to
keep the lower classes
subservient.
Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
• Marx was cast out of his
native Germany, living as
a political exile in Britain.
• There he lived and
researched, supported by
a an idealistic capitalist
fellow German, Friedrich
Engels – who supported
Marx and his family in
London.
• Together, they wrote the
Communist Manifesto.
Karl Marx
• Marx is buried in
London’s Highgate
Cemetary
Socialism After Marx
• Apart from a brief period
in Paris in 1871, there was
no Socialist government
anywhere in the 19th
century.
• The commune lasted only
3 months before being
crushed by the French
government, with
300,000 lives lost.
• After this there as no
model state available for
socialists to study.
Socialist Fragmentation
• In Britain and Australia,
non-revolutionary forms
of socialism
predominated – with
the emergence of
Labour Parties which
sought to work within
the existing electoral
systems.
• Along with intellectuals,
Fabian Socialists, they
sought gradual change
through practical
reforms.
German Socialism
• Marx remained the father of
German Socialism – but even
here Marxists reinterpreted the
old man’s ideas.
• Mainstream socialists, led by Karl
Kautsky, believed like Marx that
there was inevitable progress and
history didn’t need a push.
• The revolution need not be a
violent one.
• The German Social Democratic
Party became a model for others
around the world.
• The party was democratic and
allowed debate of all issues.
German Socialism
• Under the leadership of
Eduard Bernstein, the
party became even less
radical.
• Bernstein argued that a
mixed economy – both
capitalist and socialist,
was possible.
• He cooperated with
liberals against Germany’s
aristocratic and militarist
leaders.
Spartacists
• When World War I came,
it split the SPD.
• Radicals, who had been
critical of Bernstein and
Kautsky, split off to form
the Spartacist group,
which would later
become the KPD – the
Communist Party of
Germany.
• This group was led by Karl
Liebknecht and Rosa
Luxemburg.
Russian Socialism
• Despite the backwardness
of Russian society, and
possibly because of it,
Russia had a long
background of socialist
activism.
• Men like Alexander
Herzen argued Russian
socialism might skip the
stage of capitalism and
build socialism on the
peasant traditions from
the Mir system.
Russian Socialism
• In the 1860s and 1870s,
radical populists lost faith in
the possibility of peasant
revolt.
• Students took to terrorist
actions to try to bring down
the Tsarist government.
• In 1881 Tsar Alexander II
was assassinated – but the
system did not collapse.
Russian Socialism
• Georgy Plekhanov
brought Marxism to
Russia, basing his faith
on the growing factory
proletariat.
• He rejected any notion
of Russia being a special
case – saying it needed
to evolve like any other
state.
Russian Socialism
Vladimir Illich Ulyanov – Lenin (1870-1924)
• Lenin continued the
Marxist tradition.
• To it, he added the
Blanquist notion that
any revolution needed
to be led by a small
band of determined,
professional
revolutionaries, who
would propel the
masses into action.
Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
• In 1903, in a meeting held in
London, England, Lenin forced
a split in the Russian Socialist
party.
• The names Bolshevik and
Menshvik (“large faction” and
“small faction”) relate to the
sizes of the groups at this
meeting.
• In Russia the Mensheviks
tended to attract the better
educated and move skilled
workers.
• The Bolsheviks attracted less
educated elements.
Russian Socialism
• By 1917, Lenin no longer
believed in waiting for the
revolution to come.
• In the chaos of 1917, as
War took Russia to collapse,
Lenin determined to give
history a push and to seize
power.
• He argued that a Russian
revolution would not be
isolated. It would be
followed by revolution in
the West – certainly in
Germany.
In Conclusion
• Clearly, Socialism has
existed in many forms.
• They are united only in
their aim of creating fair
and equal societies.
• Some supporters were
radical revolutionaries.
• Others were moderate
reformers.
• Often these extremes
were as hostile to each
other as to other belief
systems.
Finis