Marxism - 1894-1914

• Based on the writings of Karl Marx, Marxism calls for revolution, the workers taking control of production and the redistribution of wealth.
• Marx set out history as a series of epoch's.

  • The final one of which was communism.
• Russia in the 1890s however was not at the point at which a Marxist revolution would be expected.
• In the early to mid-1890s, Marxist activity in Russia had been limited due to repressive policies and the relatively small size of the Russian proletariat.
• As the urban working class grew, so did the number of workers' organisations such as trade unions and Marxist groups.
• In 1898, the first Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDRP) was held in Minsk in order to co-ordinate a number of Marxist groups.
• A 9 man Congress produced a manifesto which asserted that social democracy in Russia should follow the path outlined by Marx.

  • This meant that the driving force of political change had to be the industrial proletariat and not the peasants.
  • Marx did not consider the peasantry to be revolutionary.