Examining Karl Marx's failed communist revolution.
“Working men of all countries, unite!” the infamous closing to the Communist Manifesto, which established the principles that became Marxism. Marxism, however brilliant in theory, was ineffective in enticing followers. The success of Communism depended on the proletariat, or working class, for a radical revolution, however it conflicts with the loyalties of the proletariat. Despite Marx's ravings that the church is a machine of the bourgeoisie, the proletariat remain loyal to the clergy and have been equally affected by the growing sense of nationalism in Europe, due to this, it is unrealistic to demand a radical revolution of them. Marx demands revolution anyway, and in doing so weakens his own cause.
Marx argued that the church is a system of control used by the bourgeoisie to maintain control of the proletariat. “But Communism,” he argued, “abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality….” Though the separation from church may be accepted by the scholars, who are already moving in the direction of atheism, due to the publication of The Origin of the Species, it has no sway over the proletariat who have shown undying loyalty to the church their entire lives. Additionally, the church saw Marxism as a threat and as a result, the clergy discouraged communist sympathies. The church, being perhaps the single largest influence on the proletariat, had a huge impact on the failure of Marxism to arouse revolution amongst the workers. The proletariat are in no position to simply drop all religious beliefs, the fear is already instilled in them. They believe in God's wrath and they fear it, because of this fact, they are not ready to give up religion, as Marx demands of them.
The era following the publication of the Communist Manifesto could be appropriately dubbed an era of nationalism. Nationalism began to snowball across Europe in the late 19th century instilling loyalty from the proletariat. By the late 1800's, both Italy and Germany have found some form of unification through a strong sense of nationalism. Both France and England were proud of the success of their individual industrial revolutions causing nationalism to spread among the proletariat. This newfound sense of national pride and loyalty made the working class less apt to flood to the communist banner, and, more importantly, less apt to adopt the idea of a radical revolution, which is what Marx required of them.
Marx's brainchild depended entirely upon class struggle and the willingness of the working class to rise up against the bourgeoisie. “We have seen above that the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of the ruling class, to win the battle of democracy. “The proletariat in Europe, however oppressed by the bourgeoisie, was not ready for such a revolution. Marx claimed that the bourgeoisie produces “…its own gravediggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable….” Things may have been bad, but they had seen a lot of improvement in their lifetime; they had seen the passage of the Ten Hours Act, child labor was being addressed, and some countries had even acquired universal male suffrage. They had seen the evolution in Europe with industrialization and the inventions and money that came with it. They saw opportunity and they saw hope. Revolution was seen as an act of desperation and inappropriate when hope remained. Marx jumped on the idea of the oppressed rising up against the oppressors, but he failed to realize that the oppressors were giving back just enough that the proletariat was not willing to cross the line that is revolution.
Marxism had many other critical weaknesses, among them was the lack of education among the proletariat that allowed them to be easily manipulated by the church, the bourgeoisie, the conservatives, and the state, all of which saw no benefit in Marxism. Many new “isms” evolved in the 1800's, such as Liberalism, Radicalism, Republicanism, Socialism, and Conservatism, all of these “isms” were in fierce competition with Marxism. With people being pulled every direction by the propaganda and politics of each “ism,” the mass of followers needed to achieve the goals of Marxism could never be attained. This in addition to the proletariat's unwavering loyalty to the church, the growing the sense of nationalism across Europe led to a weak push for any form of radical revolution and resulted in weak support for Marxism. Despite all Marx's brilliance in devising such a masterpiece as the Communist Manifesto, he failed to foresee all its weaknesses and therefore pushed for revolution from a class that was not ready for a radical means of change.
