Karl Marx
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Born in germany
Studied a hegelian movement in university
Hegelian movement critique christianity
Takes this movement and moves into the area of journalism
Starts working for Rheinische Zeitung (newspaper company)
Newspaper was backed by industrialists and liberals
His writing forces the Prussian government to shut down his writing in
the newspaper
He was now forced to move to France
Writes the economic and philosophical manuscripts
“The nature of individuals depended on the material conditions
determining their conditions” → German ideology (you are
characterized with what you own)
Predicts capitalism will be replaced by communism
His most influential work → communist manifesto
Communist manifesto: his book was his best known work; set off
communism
Writes 3 ways that capitalism will alienate people → written in the
economic and philosophical manuscripts
1) Worker is alienated from what they produce
2) The worker is alienated from themselves
3) People are alienated from each other
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Solution → communism
Marxism: materials shape ideas; not ideas shaping materials
Believed first communism communities were a slave state
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Comes to the head in 1917 (October Revolution) led by Vladimir Lenin
Lenin becomes leader of Russia
Lenin realized communism doesn't work
Starts to loosen up the country a bit on communism
Allows farmers to sell their excess crops for money → a little bit of
capitalism
Joseph Stalin takes over when Lenin dies in 1924, communism was
now ripped of communism
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