Karl Marx's View Of Communism After World War I

Autocrat

By:

Darien Wiggins

Modern World History EP

Woodward Academy

April 9, 2015

With World War I approaching an end in 1917, many countries witnessed the dethroning of either there monarchies or the drastic descend of one’s government. As a result, a new movement blossomed to where many countries turned to more radical governments; communism and moderate socialism. Thus, new more aggressive and ambitious leaders rallied angered and frustrated citizens together to support the new movement, so much that they captured their emotions and gave the populous something to stand on. These new governments sought drastic change for their

These rising conflicts eventually spiraled Russia into a civil war where more “underground [groups] worked to overthrow Russia’s Tsarist government”[1] in late 1917. However, a wide range of revolutionary leaders such as Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin rose from the outskirts of Russia to preach a new communist government that is based off the philosophy from Karl Marx socialist theory. Here, Karl Marx develops his theory into a utopian philosophy , known as Marxism. From here, he published his work as the Communist Manifesto which helped his influence skyrocketed as he further specified the flaws of capitalism and the shortcomings social classes. He even goes on to describe a type of government that follows a political and economic theory that has all production and distribution regulated by the government. He believed that society would not be equal in a capitalist economy, because the working class or proletariat’s were at a terrible disadvantage. This style of government gained citizen approval it gave individuals a sense of security and stability. Many citizens part of the proletariat sympathized with Karl Marx as he regarded that the elite “bourgeoisie/ would become richer and

In the 1930s, as a way to insure his autocratic status, Stalin strengthens his own centralized power and forces his opposition out with his newly formed Secret Police, People's Commissariat Internal Affairs or the NKVD. Before indulging further, the Secret Police began as the Cheka under Vladimir Lenin during the Russian Civil War in 1917. There they helped the Bolshevik regime investigate counterrevolutionary crimes and used their power to exert minimal terror against the enemies of the Bolsheviks. Eventually disbanding after the Russian Civil War, they became a smaller faction with limited power granted to them by the government. In 1929, when Joseph Stalin became dictator he reintroduced his Secret Police, the NKVD. Under Stalin, the NKVD acquired vast powers and was no longer subject to party rule or law. In the in suing years, “the NKVD became a direct instrument of Stalin for use against the [Communist] party and the country during the Great Terror of the 1930s”.[13] Utilizing the NKVD, Stalin was able to repress and eliminate many political opponents and stop potential up rises in the Soviet states. During the 1930s, Stalin’s paranoia led to the removal or purge of the old Bolshevik members that he presumed a legitimate threat to his absolute power. In particular, individuals like Leon Trotsky and Sergei Kirov were few