| What did Marx and Engels discuss? | a ‘proletarian revolution’ whereby the class-conscious working class would rise up against capitalism and overthrow it. |
| What was the first revolution in history? | in Russia in 1917, although this was more of a coup (overthrow of the government) by an armed group- Lenin and the Bolsheviks- rather than a mass class revolt. |
| Why were revolutionary tactics attractive to socialists? | industrialism and capitalism in the 19th century were producing mass poverty and social inequality, so the working classes wanted a chance to change their circumstances and the working classes had very few alternatives to revolution- there was no real representation or way of engaging in political life. In monarchies, the country was dominated by royalty and privilege. |
| What do revolutionary socialists believe about the state? | the state is a device of class oppression, acting for ‘capital’ against ‘labour’ |
| if the state is a device of class oppression, what does this mean? | This means that the political state will always reflect and preach the interests of the property-owning classes. Therefore, in order to build socialism, the ‘bourgeois’ state must be overthrown |
| Where has revolutionary socialism been seen in history? | Revolutionary socialism has been seen through the establishment of the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In each case, the existing order was overthrown and replaced with a one-party state which controlled the economy. |
| Which key thinkers were revolutionary socialists? | Marx, Engels and Rosa Luxembourg |
