Marxism - Theory In Action
THEORY IN ACTION
When Marx and Engels died at the end of the nineteenth century, Marxism's evolution was inherited by the revolutionaries of the next generation. In Western Europe at that time, conditions improved for factory workers. Economic prosperity meant improved living standards across the board. Workers formed unions and were able to negotiate better working conditions and earnings. Many European countries were becoming more democratic, moving away from Marxism, and were prospering.
In Western Europe the people felt satisfied and, rather than jeopardizing what they'd gained by having a revolution, they worked to gradually improve their conditions. Marxism fizzled into smaller groups of intellectuals who, in order to gain any support at all, stressed reform in place of revolution.
When the Second International was formed as the latest communist entity, it was an international organization of socialist parties. Its...
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