Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto was a response to the.
new society created by the Industrial Revolution. This.
new society was split into two main classes, that of.
the rich bourgeoisie or upper class and the lower,.
working class people, known as the proletariats. These.
two classes were at odds with each other because as.
the bourgeoisie became more wealthy and powerful, the.
proletariats became poorer and powerless. Karl Marx.
felt that something should be done to correct this.
inequality in society. He envisioned communism as the.
answer. It would create a perfectly balanced society.
where no one person had more than the other. He.
believed that communism would create the correct.
balance between the needs of the individuals and the.
needs of society.
In his manifesto, Marx wrote about the happenings that.
took place before and after the Industrial Revolution.
He stated that the revolution started with a massive.
movement away from small farms and businesses and.
developed into a society with large businesses,.
factories with mass-producing machines, and underpaid.
workers. This caused an overall downfall in the.
socioeconomic and cultural situation of the people.
There was no longer a need for persons with individual.
skills. Most workers did small, repetitive jobs that.
kept machines operating and producing. Many of these.
workers were forced to live in the cities where their.
pay was not enough to support them. They had to work.
long hours for small wages. These working and living.
conditions magnified the differences between the two.
classes. The bourgeois, who were a tiny portion of the.
population, had the majority of wealth, while the.
proletariats, the larger majority, had nothing.
Marx was very concerned that the poor proletariats.
were existing at below human conditions and that the.
bourgeoisie, with their wealth and power were abusing.
their position. Marx stated that there had always been.
a struggle between the two classes, but the.
bourgeoisie were establishing a new standard that only.