Shrouded in Revolutions: Misconceptions and the Communist Manifesto

Calvin Lu Sarah Vicol Junior Division

Works Cited Primary Sources

Engels, Friedrich. The Condition of the Working Class in England. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1968. Print. While we found the preface of The Condition of the Working Class in England to be mostly accurate, it revealed to us Engels overly pessimistic view of proletariat conditions. He said in the preface that the conditions of the working class in England would apply everywhere, including in Germany, which they did not. And the workers that Engels observed were the textile factories of Manchester, which had suffered much more greatly than the rest of England and Europe. We quoted passages of the preface in our website.

Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Trans. Samuel Moore. London, 1848. Print. The Communist Manifesto is the basis of our project. This article was published in February 1848 in London to clarify the purpose of the Communist League. Using the Communist Manifesto, we learned what "true" communism was and what Marx and Engels intended Communism to do. It also brought to light how much different the way Stalin implicated Communism was.

Kiernan, Eugene H. Spinning Jenny. Patent 453399. 2 June 1891. Print. Although submitted in the U.S., it shows the patent for the spinning jenny. It was issued on Jun 2, 1891.

A Spectre Is Haunting Europe - the Spectre of Communism. Photograph. Soviet War Posters. Comp. Jamie Hertzinger. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.jamieherzlinger.com/blog/tag/soviet-war-time-posters/>. A war poster showing Lenin. The caption translates from Russian into "A spectre is haunting Europe-the spectre of communism", the first line of the Communist Manifesto. The caption proves that Lenin and the Russian Socialist Democratic Labor Party were claiming they were communists.

Communist Countries. Photograph. Wikipedia Commons. Wikipedia. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Communist_countries_19791983.png> A map showing modern Communist States from 1979 to 1983.

Hammer Sickle. Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Hammer_sickle_clean.png> The Communist flag.

Hine, Lewis. Sweeper and Doffer Boys in Lancaster Cotton Mills. 1908. Photograph. Lancaster. Picturing the Century: One Hundred Years of Photography from the National Archives. National Archives. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <http://www.archives.gov/press/press-kits/picturing-the-century-photos/sweeper-anddoffer-in-cotton-mill.jpg>. A photograph taken by Lewis Hine of a boy sweeping inside of a factory. The unhappiness is clearly seen on the boy's face.

Julius Martov. Photograph. Julius Martov. History Learning Site. Web. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/fileadmin/historyLearningSite/martov2.jpg> A photograph of Julius Martov, leader of the Mensheviks with Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks, and other unnamed individuals.

KARL MARX FREDERICK ENGELS. Sketch. Marx 2 Mao. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://www.marx2mao.com/M&E/CM47.html>. A sketch of Marx and Engels

Lenin and Stalin. Photograph. Joseph Stalin. Wikipedia, 21 Feb. 2006. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Lenin_and_stalin.jpg>. A photograph of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin.

Marx and Engels. Photograph. Karl Marx. Wikipedia, 16 May 2011. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Marx_and_Engels.jpg>. A photograph of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels late in their lives.

Mill, Bibb. The Mill. Photograph. The History Place. The History Place. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. <http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/hine-empty.htm>. Work in factories such as this were very dangerous especially for children. Some boys and girls were so young, they had to climb onto the machines to replace empty bobbins. Injuries were common as limbs were often caught in the machines.

Navosti, Ria. Bolshevik Meeting. Photograph. The Bureau IX Congress of the RCP (B.). Visualrian. Web. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Bolshevikmeeting.jpg>. A photograph of a Bolshevik meeting.

Picture of Friedrich Engels. Photograph. Picture of Friedrich Engels. Listal. Web. <http://i2.listal.com/image/348909/600full-friedrich-engels.jpg>. A photograph of Friedrich Engels.

Vasiliev, P. Stalin at the Sixth Congress of the Russian Social- Democratic Labour Party. Photograph. P. Vasiliev. Poster Shop. Web. <http://www.postershop.co.uk/VasilievP/Vasiliev-P-Stalin-at-the-Sixth-Congress-of-the-Russian-Social-Democratic-LabourParty-1243110.html>. A photograph of Stalin at the Sixth Congress of the RSDLP.

The First Factories of the Industrial Revolution. Sketch. A drawing showing steam and smoke pouring from the chimneys of the factories of the Industrial Revolution

Lenin Leading a Communist Uprising in Moscow. Painting. A painting of Vladimir Lenin leading the communist revolution in Moscow.

London Slum. Painting. Industrial Revolution. Columbia University Press. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://www.roebuckclasses.com/102/image/londonslum.jpg>. A painting depicting a typical scene in a city's slums. People in factory cities like Manchester lived like this with puddles of waste on the streets and rows and rows of run-down two story houses.

Lowry, L. S. Sale of a Riverbank. Biodiversity in My Kitchen, Part II: The Industrial Agriculture Revolution. Eatcology, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://www.eatcology.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/L.S.Lowry-Sale-of-aRiverbank-300x229.jpg>. A drawing of Manchester, England from the view of a riverbank.

Karl Marx Shown at Podium. Sketch. A sketch of Karl Marx standing at the podium.

Marx and Engels at Work Together. 2010. Sketch. A sketch of Marx and Engels working together presumably, the Communist Manifesto

Marx Und Engels 1867 in London Bei Der Arbeit Am Kapital. Sketch. A sketch of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Marxism and the Revolutionary Struggle of the Proletariat. 2003. Sketch. A sketch of Marx and Engels chatting, preparing to write something.

A Picture of an Early Mule. Sketch. A sketch of an early spinning jenny, one of the major inventions behind the Industrial Revolution.

Burck, Jacob. "Class Against Class." Cartoon. Daily Worker. Circa 1930. Print. A cartoon showing miners going on a strike.

Burck, Jacob. "A Working Class Bulwark." Cartoon. Daily Worker. Circa 1934. Print. Although composed years after the Communist Manifesto, it quotes one of the most famous lines in it, "Workers of the World, Unite!"

Crane, Walter. "The Capitalist Vampire." Cartoon. The Comrade. 1903. Print. This cartoon shows the "Capitalist Vampire" feeding on an exhausted and helpless laborer while an angelic figure rises trumpeting on a horn with a banner that says "Socialism" on it and holding a wooden stake; one of the classic ways to kill a vampire.

Crane, Walter. "Mrs. Grundy Frightened at Her Own Shadow." Cartoon. Commonweal. 1886. Print. Although unclear at first, the cartoon shows Mrs. Grundy a member of the bourgeoisie frightened at her own shadow, an angry man. She holds wages, profits, law and order, and land in her hands while an unemployed child asks her if she needs help.

Keppler, Joseph. "A Picture for Our Employees." Cartoon. Puck. 1878. Print. A cartoon published in 1878 of a man opening the door to find children and wife crowded into one room alongside scores of people huddling in bunks and crowded on the ground.

Secondary Sources

Boyer, George R. "The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto." Journal of Economic Perspectives. 4th ed. Vol. 12. American Economic Association, 1998. 15174. Print. This source further revealed to us the extent of Marx and Engels pessimistic views. It compared workers from Manchester, their living conditions, and wages with workers from the rest of England, and found that while you were better off living in other parts of England, the only workers who really suffered because of the yearly plummets in Englands economy were the textile workers.

Brown, Archie. The Rise and Fall of Communism. New York: Harper Collins, 2009. Print. This book immensely helped our project. The first chapter revealed how Marx and Engels communism was different from the Russians version, and why true communism hadnt flourished in Russia. Brown hinted at overly pessimistic views of the workers condition and connected that to Marx and Engels flawed theory, how they had forgotten human nature. We quoted this book in our website.

Courtois, Stephane, Nicolas Weth, Jean-Louis Panne, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, and Jean-Louis Margolin. The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. London: Harward UP, 1999. Print. While most of the book was very biased and consisted of accusing statistics and irrelevant death tolls, it gave us specifics on exactly how brutal and cruel the communist government headed by Lenin really was. As the title suggests, it stated that wherever Communism headed, it dragged "crimes, terror, and repression." We used quotes that vividly illustrated the destruction Lenin's communism brought.

Communist-Manifesto. Photograph. Communist Manifesto. Wikipedia, 13 Dec. 2007. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Communistmanifesto.png>. This is a photograph of the original cover of the Communist Manifesto.

Rutter, Clem. Modern Loose Reed Power Loom. Power Loom. Wikipedia, 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Modern_Loose_Reed_Power _Loom-marsden.png>. This is a photo of a modern power loom, one of the inventions that created the Industrial Revolution

"Bolsheviks Vs. Mensheviks." Vladimir Iliych Lenin and the Russian Revolution. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://karllenin.tripod.com/id4.html>.

Although graphically this site was very simple and bland, it conveyed the information we needed very clearly. Through this site, it came to light that the Bolshevik party was truly responsible for the distortion of Communism. The Bolsheviks were members of the Russian Socialist Democratic Labor Party who believed that violence and a quick uprising would be the path to a communist state. Eventually, the Bolsheviks won against the opposing faction, the Mensheviks and ultimately caused the misconceptions about communism and the Communist Manifesto.

"Friedrich Engels : Biography." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUengels.htm>. In the earlier stages of our project, this website was perfect for our needs. It provided us with dates, events, and most importantly, reasons. Friedrich Engel's family owned a cotton-factory in Manchester, England and it was here that Engels first witnessed the working conditions of laborers. Consequently, he wrote the "Condition of the Working Class in England" in 1844 which portrayed his shock of the working conditions. In the end, his experience in Manchester influenced and was reflected in the Communist Manifesto.

"Industrial Revolution History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com History Made Every Day American & World History. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution>.

Though the article is short, it quickly summarized what we had read in other sources. The Industrial Revolution did improve living conditions for the poor, because items were massed produced, the price of such items decreased. At the same time though, working conditions worsened ,wages dropped sharply, and people worked in increasingly dangerous environments.

"Karl Marx : Biography." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUmarx.htm>. Similar to the Spartacus Educational source we have for Friedrich Engels, this website provides us with simple events and dates that we used to figure out Karl Marxs history.