Category Archives: History

Karl Marx was an economic and political philosopher during the 19th century. He was a significant advocate of the political ideology of communism. Though the ideas in the ideology of communism were nothing new, Marx was important in compiling these ideas and making them influential. Though many can agree that communism does not work and is a faulty ideology, it is important to point out the specific points in an ideology, which moves on to the question: what are two weak points in the views of Karl Marx?

It is difficult to point out two specific weak points of the beliefs of Marx because communism has many weak points, and is rather impossible to carry out fully. One weak point in the views of Marx is how he believed that people in a communistic society can choose whatever career or job they want at any time. For example, say if I was good at writing, I could have a career in writing, but if I am also skilled at baking, that can also be a job for me. This is rather impossible in a communistic economy. In a communistic economy, everything is pre-planned, which means that there is little room for people to be changing careers constantly, whenever they please.

Another weak point in Marx’s viewpoint is his view on business owners or bosses. He believed that bosses were selfish, money-hungry, and lazy. This in and of itself is a very large assumption that by no means applies to most bosses. To become a boss, business owner, or manager in a capitalistic economy a person must work his way up. Once a person becomes a boss, that does not mean that they just sit around taking advantage of people, they actually probably have more work on their plate now that they are boss. 

In conclusion, there are many weak points in the views of Karl Marx; two of these weak points are: people are able to switch jobs or careers whenever they want in a communistic society, and that business owners, bosses, or managers are selfish, money-hungry, and lazy. Both of these views are faulty for numerous reasons and contradict each other within themselves. 

Karl Marx(1818-1883), was an Economic philosopher, who mainly studied the political ideology, which Marx himself referred to as either communism or socialism(who used those terms interchangeably). Though the ideas of communism have been around for longer than Marx, he was the one who further influenced the concept of this ideology to what we think of it as today. A common theme with Marx was that he believed that socialism was superior to capitalism; why did he think this?

One reason why Marx believed that socialism or communism was superior to capitalism was that capitalism in his opinion does not use everyone to their full use. In other words, people who are unemployed, he saw as a waste of human potential. Everyone in a communistic economy would be working which means no waste. Another reason why Marx believed this was because he believed that factory business owners’ exploited their employees because they would pay their employees just enough for them to survive. In communism nobody would own anything that would be “solved.” Something that is also to be noted is that Marx believed that communism would make people less selfish. This to conclude is some of the reasons why Marx believed that communism or socialism was superior to capitalism. 

During the 1830s it was a time in which Revolutions were happening across Europe. A country in Europe that fell into Revolution again was France. Unlike the first main Revolution in France this Revolution was of smaller scale, which is thus why it is often overlooked in history textbooks today. What happened in France during the Revolution of 1830?

Charles X became king in 1824, he was an Ultra(which was a French political faction). During this time politics was mostly made up of Moderates and Liberals, but instead Charles chose his own officials from his own political faction, the Ultras. This was not exactly something that pleased the majority at the time. To make the tension worse Charles dissolved the chamber of deputies(which was a lower house of the French Parliament), and decreased the number of eligible votes to a number below twenty three thousand. 

This ended in Charles being deposed, and protests in the streets. He was replaced by a man named Louis Philippe. This did not end the issues though because the Artisans were now displeased about free market economics.

Thus, this is what happened in France during the Revolution in 1830.

During the 18th century new movements in art and literature sprung up. One of those new artistic movements’ was the movement of Romanticism. What were the characteristics of Romanticism?

Romanticism is an artistic movement that had a focus on emotions, unlike Neoclassicism which had a focus on reason, logic, and balance. Romanticism was also a movement that had an emphasis on the individual, and their feelings. One can find Romanticism in paintings, music, and literature. Thus, these are the characteristics of Romanticism.

Neoclassicism was an artistic period during the 18th century in which art was inspired greatly by the classical art from ancient Greece and Rome. Neoclassicism was not only applied to paintings but also to sculptures, literature, etc. 

A very important characteristic of Neoclassicism was its focus on balance, symmetry, and reason, which were valued things in the classical period. Another very important characteristic of Neoclassicism was its emphasis on serenity, order, and rationality. Thus these were the characteristics of neoclassicism. 

Socialism is a highly debated political belief that has much controversy surrounding it. The views of socialism have been around for centuries, but especially began to set forth after the French revolution which was based on certain socialistic beliefs. Like every political belief, socialism has a spectrum of subgroups who share a common view of socialism just with different flavors of the same belief. One of these so-called subgroups is known as Utopian socialism. What was the basic message of the utopian socialists?

Utopian socialists main goal is to persuade capitalists to surrender the means of production peacefully to the people. They believed that the government should have almost or total control over the people. Of course, like all areas of socialism, the ideal society of the Utopian socialists there would be no private property, all production would be under the control of a few specific producers, and no one would own anything. To conclude this was the basic message of the utopian socialists.

Liberalism is a term that has been distorted and changed over the years. Now the majority of us when we think of Liberalism we think of the views related more to the left of the political spectrum, but this view has not always been the same. The term classical liberalism is the term that describes the original definition of liberalism, which is more or less almost the opposite of the view that modern liberals have today. What is classical liberalism?

Classical liberalism is the view in which freedom is of utmost importance. Classical liberals believe in the individual freedom of the individual, which includes the beliefs of: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of press. Many classical liberals also believe in the concept of the free market. The majority of classical liberals disapprove of government intervention, and the overriding of an individual’s liberties. Thus, this is classical liberalism.

Compulsory state education is a common norm in the west, with the majority of children in the west getting an education. In England in particular this system of compulsory state education system was established in 1870, which leaves the question: what does the evidence show about education in England before the compulsory state system was established?

At first most likely one thinks that before compulsory state education in England, few children were being educated in the lower classes, that education was merely for the rich. This was absolutely not the case. Before this compulsory education in England the percentage rates of literacy were already dramatically rising. In the later period of the 1830s, ninety five percent of fifteen year olds were literate. The compulsory education law in fact was established because there was a dramatic rise in people being educated, not the other way around. Also to note the reason why there was a drastic rise in people being educated was due to the increase in income and population. 

In short, the evidence showed that education in England was already dramatically increasing before 1870, when compulsory state education was put in place. 

The Congress of Vienna(1814-1815), brought together the four major European powers: England, Prussia, Austria, and Russia. This was after the French Revolution which was a time of uncertainty in Europe. What were the major principles guiding the diplomats at the Congress of Vienna?

The four powers at this meeting had one goal which was to unite Europe after Napoleon. They believed that working together in this way would protect them from another devastating Revolution, such as the one in France. The key principles that were guiding these diplomats included: compensation, power balance, and legitimacy of the throne. 

This Congress in Vienna influenced the replacing of Napoleon with Louis the 18th, who was the previous unfortunate king of France’s brother, which ultimately united Europe. 

The Congress of Vienna(1814-1815), brought together the four major European powers: England, Prussia, Austria, and Russia. This was after the French Revolution which was a time of uncertainty in Europe. What were the major principles guiding the diplomats at the Congress of Vienna?

The four powers at this meeting had one goal which was to unite Europe after Napoleon. They believed that working together in this way would protect them from another devastating Revolution, such as the one in France. The key principles that were guiding these diplomats included: compensation, power balance, and legitimacy of the throne. 

This Congress in Vienna influenced the replacing of Napoleon with Louis the 18th, who was the previous unfortunate king of France’s brother, which ultimately united Europe.