Capital

In studying capitalist society we encounter first of all the concept of capital . What is capital ? What do we imply by this term ? There are many concrete manifestations of capital . In any bourgeois country capital may be money , machinery , build ings , ready – made goods , etc. The first conclusion that can therefore be drawn is that capital is value . However , not every value is capital . A worker’s wages are paid in money , but this does not mean that the worker has capital . A peasant has a house and agricultural implements , but this property is not capital either . Money , like any other value , becomes capital only when it increases its value , i.e. , when it produces surplus value . We can therefore extend the first conclusion by defining capital as value which produces surplus value . intrinsic Bourgeois science asserts that profit is an property of capital . However , capital cannot of itself pro duce surplus value . Capital increases its value only when it unites with labour , i.e. , in the process of production . Capital exploits the worker who by his labour creates surplus value which in its turn increases capital . It follows that capital is value which produces surplus value by exploiting wage – workers . Whatever its concrete form , capital is not merely a thing . Capital embodies certain production relations between the capitalist class and the class of wage – workers , and these relations are expressed in exploitation of man by man . In defining capital bourgeois economists usually imply by it the means of production . This view was held by Adam Smith and David Ricardo , representatives of English classical bourgeois political economy . Ricardo , for example , regarded as capital the stone and stick , i.e. , the primitive tools of primitive man . Bourgeois science still continues to identify capital with the means of production . It strives to represent capital as the eternal and natural condition of any produc tion . The ” finding ” of capital in primitive society serves precisely this purpose . The ” theory of eternal existence ” of capital is supposed to confirm the ” theory of eternal existence ” of capitalism . Bourgeois economists misrepresent the history of the origin of capitalism and of the formation of classes in capitalist society . According to them , hard – working and thrifty people became capitalists , while the lazy people who had squan dered all their property became workers . These fabrica tions have nothing in common with historical truth . Primary accumulation of capital was marked not by thrift , but by real plunder of the colonies , forcible dispossession of peasants , and rigid laws against the poor in order to create a capitalist labour discipline .In studying capitalist society we encounter first of all the concept of capital . What is capital ? What do we imply by this term ? There are many concrete manifestations of capital . In any bourgeois country capital may be money , machinery , build ings , ready – made goods , etc. The first conclusion that can therefore be drawn is that capital is value . However , not every value is capital . A worker’s wages are paid in money , but this does not mean that the worker has capital . A peasant has a house and agricultural implements , but this property is not capital either . Money , like any other value , becomes capital only when it increases its value , i.e. , when it produces surplus value . We can therefore extend the first conclusion by defining capital as value which produces surplus value . intrinsic Bourgeois science asserts that profit is an property of capital . However , capital cannot of itself pro duce surplus value . Capital increases its value only when it unites with labour , i.e. , in the process of production . Capital exploits the worker who by his labour creates surplus value which in its turn increases capital . It follows that capital is value which produces surplus value by exploiting wage – workers . Whatever its concrete form , capital is not merely a thing . Capital embodies certain production relations between the capitalist class and the class of wage – workers , and these relations are expressed in exploitation of man by man . In defining capital bourgeois economists usually imply by it the means of production . This view was held by Adam Smith and David Ricardo , representatives of English classical bourgeois political economy . Ricardo , for example , regarded as capital the stone and stick , i.e. , the primitive tools of primitive man . Bourgeois science still continues to identify capital with the means of production . It strives to represent capital as the eternal and natural condition of any produc tion . The ” finding ” of capital in primitive society serves precisely this purpose . The ” theory of eternal existence ” of capital is supposed to confirm the ” theory of eternal existence ” of capitalism . Bourgeois economists misrepresent the history of the origin of capitalism and of the formation of classes in capitalist society . According to them , hard – working and thrifty people became capitalists , while the lazy people who had squan dered all their property became workers . These fabrica tions have nothing in common with historical truth . Primary accumulation of capital was marked not by thrift , but by real plunder of the colonies , forcible dispossession of peasants , and rigid laws against the poor in order to create a capitalist labour discipline .In studying capitalist society we encounter first of all the concept of capital . What is capital ? What do we imply by this term ? There are many concrete manifestations of capital . In any bourgeois country capital may be money , machinery , build ings , ready – made goods , etc. The first conclusion that can therefore be drawn is that capital is value . However , not every value is capital . A worker’s wages are paid in money , but this does not mean that the worker has capital . A peasant has a house and agricultural implements , but this property is not capital either . Money , like any other value , becomes capital only when it increases its value , i.e. , when it produces surplus value . We can therefore extend the first conclusion by defining capital as value which produces surplus value . intrinsic Bourgeois science asserts that profit is an property of capital . However , capital cannot of itself pro duce surplus value . Capital increases its value only when it unites with labour , i.e. , in the process of production . Capital exploits the worker who by his labour creates surplus value which in its turn increases capital . It follows that capital is value which produces surplus value by exploiting wage – workers . Whatever its concrete form , capital is not merely a thing . Capital embodies certain production relations between the capitalist class and the class of wage – workers , and these relations are expressed in exploitation of man by man . In defining capital bourgeois economists usually imply by it the means of production . This view was held by Adam Smith and David Ricardo , representatives of English classical bourgeois political economy . Ricardo , for example , regarded as capital the stone and stick , i.e. , the primitive tools of primitive man . Bourgeois science still continues to identify capital with the means of production . It strives to represent capital as the eternal and natural condition of any produc tion . The ” finding ” of capital in primitive society serves precisely this purpose . The ” theory of eternal existence ” of capital is supposed to confirm the ” theory of eternal existence ” of capitalism . Bourgeois economists misrepresent the history of the origin of capitalism and of the formation of classes in capitalist society . According to them , hard – working and thrifty people became capitalists , while the lazy people who had squan dered all their property became workers . These fabrica tions have nothing in common with historical truth . Primary accumulation of capital was marked not by thrift , but by real plunder of the colonies , forcible dispossession of peasants , and rigid laws against the poor in order to create a capitalist labour discipline .In studying capitalist society we encounter first of all the concept of capital . What is capital ? What do we imply by this term ? There are many concrete manifestations of capital . In any bourgeois country capital may be money , machinery , build ings , ready – made goods , etc. The first conclusion that can therefore be drawn is that capital is value . However , not every value is capital . A worker’s wages are paid in money , but this does not mean that the worker has capital . A peasant has a house and agricultural implements , but this property is not capital either . Money , like any other value , becomes capital only when it increases its value , i.e. , when it produces surplus value . We can therefore extend the first conclusion by defining capital as value which produces surplus value . intrinsic Bourgeois science asserts that profit is an property of capital . However , capital cannot of itself pro duce surplus value . Capital increases its value only when it unites with labour , i.e. , in the process of production . Capital exploits the worker who by his labour creates surplus value which in its turn increases capital . It follows that capital is value which produces surplus value by exploiting wage – workers . Whatever its concrete form , capital is not merely a thing . Capital embodies certain production relations between the capitalist class and the class of wage – workers , and these relations are expressed in exploitation of man by man . In defining capital bourgeois economists usually imply by it the means of production . This view was held by Adam Smith and David Ricardo , representatives of English classical bourgeois political economy . Ricardo , for example , regarded as capital the stone and stick , i.e. , the primitive tools of primitive man . Bourgeois science still continues to identify capital with the means of production . It strives to represent capital as the eternal and natural condition of any produc tion . The ” finding ” of capital in primitive society serves precisely this purpose . The ” theory of eternal existence ” of capital is supposed to confirm the ” theory of eternal existence ” of capitalism . Bourgeois economists misrepresent the history of the origin of capitalism and of the formation of classes in capitalist society . According to them , hard – working and thrifty people became capitalists , while the lazy people who had squan dered all their property became workers . These fabrica tions have nothing in common with historical truth . Primary accumulation of capital was marked not by thrift , but by real plunder of the colonies , forcible dispossession of peasants , and rigid laws against the poor in order to create a capitalist labour discipline .

FIRST IMPERIALIST WORLD WAR

The signing of the Anglo – Russian agreement completed the creation of the Entente as an imperialist bloc of England , France and Russia . A period of bitter struggle between the two imperialist groups began . However , there were such great contradictions within the groups themselves ( disagree ments between Italy and Austria – Hungary over Tyrol , the Adriatic coast and other territories ) that Italy began to seek support from the Entente countries , and during World War I left the Triple Alliance and joined the Entente . There were disagreements also within the Entente . Russia was dissatis fied with the striving of England and France to prevent Russia’s access to the Black Sea Straits ( Bosporus and Dardanelles ) which had long been the aim of expansion of Russian tsarism . Despite the agreement on the division of spheres of influence in Africa reached by England and France , certain disagreements between the two countries persisted . The United States of America legally observed neutrality , although they actually sided with the Entente because they considered German imperialism the greatest threat to their own interests .

The Development of Speech

Articulate human speech evolved in the processes of labour . Human thought and consciousness have the quality of abstract thinking , i.e. , a generalised reflection of reality in concepts , expressed in words . This capacity for abstract thought made it possible to express an idea , a sum of impressions in words , and with their aid man could inform other human beings of his impressions . However , this ability to communicate his thoughts to another human being through the aid of words was insufficient to stimulate speech . What was lacking was the necessity to communicate one’s thoughts to another . This necessity arose and developed in the process of man’s conscious labour . Labour was always a social activity . The work of a single human being was an integral part of the life of the human community . The unity of a commune of human beings in productive labour resulted in the fact that the individual in his mind , thoughts and actions regarded himself as a member of the commune , as subservient to it . That is why in the process of collective labour people felt the need to com municate with each other , to speak to each other . In the beginning , various shouts and cries used in the process of labour and arising from various actions were the sole means of communication . These cries gradually became established and remembered . This , in turn , brought about a change in the corresponding human organs . Under the in fluence of the pressing need to communicate in the process of common labour , the undeveloped throat was gradually transformed into an organ capable of producing articulate sounds . Thus , as a result of collective labour over a great period of time , articulate speech gradually evolved as a means of exchanging thoughts , as a means of human associa tion . Speech was of tremendous significance in the further development of society , since it helped to unite man’s efforts in labour as well as in organising collective labour ; speech made it possible for man to retain and pass on to coming generations his labour experience . Since the history of primitive society is a history of small , isolated human communities , the language of each such com munity developed independently and was unlike the language of other communities .

Germany On The Eve Of The Revolution

Germany on the Eve of the Revolution In the 1840s there had as yet been no bourgeois revolution in Germany. The country was broken up into a number of independent states. The German Union formally unified 34 German states and four free cities. The supreme body of the Union was the Bundestag which exercised practically no power; It had no army, no legal rights and no diplomatic representatives abroad. The decisions of the Bundestag came into effect only after their approval by the heads of all the states and cities. In other words , no centralized state – basis for the development of capitalism – had as yet formed in Germany ; The country had no single internal market and the trade relations between the various German states were hampered by customs barriers. Under those conditions the development of capitalism in Germany encountered great difficulties . A customs union unifying 18 German states with a population of 23 million formed only in 1818-34 . The industry and cities developed slowly . For example , in the 1840s the 12 largest cities of Germany had a slightly larger population than Paris . In the middle of the 19th century the industrial revolution in Germany was only going through its initial stage. The German bourgeoisie was faced with the problem of carrying out a bourgeois revolution , creating a centralised state and winning power . However , the cowardly German bourgeoisie preferred not to raise the question of altering the political system , but to pursue a course of reforms . The German working class , which developed later than the working classes of England and France , began its struggle in the middle of the 19th century ; it tried to set up its own organisations and came out with its own demands . Owing to the severe police regime the German workers set up their organisations abroad , in Switzerland and England , where the political system was more democratic , and tried to guide the working – class movement from there . One of these organisations was the German People’s Union but , like the others , this organisation had weak ties with the workers of the German states and therefore could not exercise any practical guidance of the working – class movement . At the same time the workers began to struggle for their rights openly . The workers of Silesia ( the best developed area in Germany ) who lived under intolerable economic conditions rose against the capitalists in 1844 , but the government immediately dispatched troops to defend the interests of the exploiters . In the middle of the 19th century German industry advanced from the manufactory stage to machine produc tion , and its further development now depended on how rapidly feudalism was abolished in the country . Since the the necessary reforms , a government of the German Union was unwilling to carry out Germany . revolution was impending in Germany.

Landowners ‘ Way of Development of Capitalism

The second way of development of capitalism in agriculture is slower and harder for the peasants . In this case the landowners remain the dominant force in the countryside and , as a rule , in the whole of the country . The greater part of the land is owned by landowners , while the peasants are transformed from serfs into farm hands or tenants . Only a negligible number of rich peasants embark on the path of capitalist exploitation and use hired labour . This way of capitalist development in agriculture is connected with the existence of reactionary political systems , domination of the landowners ‘ class . The most typical of this way of capitalist development in agriculture were Germany , especially Prussia , and tsarist Russia . Neither in Germany nor in Russia ( until 1917 ) was the agrarian problem solved in a revolutionary way . That is why the development of bourgeois relations in the agriculture of these countries was the result not of a revolutionary over throw of feudalism , but of a slow and tormenting for the peasantry development of serf forms of exploitation into capitalist forms . In Prussia serfdom was abolished in 1806 , but the feudal obligations actually existed until the middle of the 19th century . A law on redeeming the feudal obligations was passed only in 1850 , and the peasants paid the land owners 1,000 million marks . These enormous sums received by the landowners from the peasants accelerated the trans formation of the landowners ‘ estates into capitalist farms and at the same time ruined many peasants . A similar picture was observed in Russia after the ” emancipation ” of the peasants in 1861 . The landowners ‘ way of development of capitalism in agriculture means persistence of the survivals of feudalism in the economy and the political system of the state . Elimina tion of these survivals becomes one of the objectives of the revolutionary movement .

Industrial Revolution in England

The industrial revolution began first of all in England ( in the middle of the 18th century ) where it developed in its clearest form . In the 19th century the industrial revolution spread to other capitalist countries . It was not a mere accident that the industrial revolution began precisely in England . Prerequisites for a rapid development of industry were being created there over a period of several centuries . The early abolition of serfdom and dispossession of the peasants of their land led to the appearance of a mass of free labour hands and development of capitalist methods of agriculture . Both stimulated the growth of the internal market . The colonial seizures gave England guaranteed foreign markets and served as the source of creation of enormous wealth . Lastly , the bourgeois revolution of the 17th century eliminated many survivals of feudalism . The industrial revolution began in the branch of industry where the guild restrictions were felt the least , i.e. , in the cotton industry . Feudal England , as feudal Europe in general , did not have this branch of industry for it lacked raw material . England received cotton only as the result of seizing colonies , particularly India . Cotton fabrics soon began successfully to compete with woollen and linen fabrics . They had a greater mass of consumers and , consequently , a more stable market . This stimulated the development of the cotton industry to such an extent that the manufactories could no longer satisfy the continuously growing demand . Any innovations fostering an increase in production of cotton fabrics brought enormous profits . The invention of machinery began in the spinning industry . A mechanical spinning wheel – spinning jenny – was invented in 1765 , the water frame was invented in 1767 , and the mule was invented in 1779. The appearance of these machines radically altered the technology of cotton – spinning . Spinning factories employing hundreds of workers came into existence in the 1770s . By 1780 England had 20 such facto ries and 10 years later 150 of them . The development of machine technology in cotton – spinning resulted in a lag in weaving . Attempts to invent weaving machines were made and after long efforts succeeded .The first machines were driven by water wheels , which made them usable only near rivers . The need for a general purpose engine that could be used anywhere made itself felt increasingly more insistently . In the 1780s the cotton industry began to use Watt’s steam engine . That made it possible considerably to increase the volume of factory production , ensured the spread of factories over the country and the growth of industrial centres . The increase in the production of machines stimulated a greater need for metal , but the lack of charcoal limited the development of metallurgy . The production of metal began to grow rapidly only after Henry Cort invented the puddling furnace in 1784. Between 1785 and 1797 the production of iron in England was thus doubled . The use of coke instead of charcoal in the smelting of pig iron fostered an increase in coal mining : in 100 years it increased fourfold and by the end of the century amounted to 10 million tons . The introduction of machinery , which began in cotton spinning , subsequently spread to other branches of industry and led to the development of a number of associated branches , particularly the heavy industry . The development of heavy industry was consummated by the creation of the engineering industry . At first machines were produced in manufactories manually . They were very expensive and their production lagged behind the growing demand of industry . Only when mechanical engineering came into existence as a separate branch of industry was it possible to make the machines cheaper and hasten their production . The produc tion of machinery increased at so fast a rate that already in 1824 Parliament allowed machines to be exported from England . The first railway was built in England in 1825 and railway communication between Manchester and Liverpool was opened in 1830 , but by the middle of the 19th century England already had 10,000 kilometres of railways . The machine industry finally supplanted manual produc tion in England in the 1840s . Those were the years of con summation of the industrial revolution . England became the leading industrial country , the ” workshop of the world ” . In 1839 England mined four times as much coal as did France , Belgium and Prussia taken together . From 1826 to 1846 the export of iron and cast iron from England increased 7.5 – fold .

Capitalist Industrialisation

The essence of the industrial revolution was the creation of a large – scale industry , i.e , industrialisation , which was aimed at building a technical basis appropriate to the pro duction relations of capitalism . However , capitalist industrialisation , as part of capitalist production , was governed by the principal economic law of capitalism – production of surplus value . That is why in the capitalist countries the industrial revolution began in the light industry where , in virtue of the rapid capital turnover , it was possible to make profit more quickly ; only as capital accumulated was it directed into the heavy industry . The capitalist countries were industrialised primarily through the plunder of their colonies . This applies particularly to England and France . Foreign loans are another means of building the industry . Lastly , industrialisation was carried out in a number of cases partly at the expense of the vanquished country . For example , Germany used the indemnities received from France after the Franco – Prussian War to build its large – scale industry . But in all cases , a large – scale industry in capitalist countries is also built through ruination and plunder of the country’s own people , i.e. , increase in taxes , dispossession of peasants , intensified exploitation of workers , etc.

Classical German philosophy

By the middle of the 19th century the natural and social sciences had reached such a level of development that it was possible to create a truly scientific philosophy – a science about the most general laws of development of nature and society . The natural sciences showed that the world had not been created by anybody , but had developed according to its own laws . For example , physics discovered the law of universal gravitation which governs all natural phenomena , while chemistry discovered the law of conservation of matter , according to which nothing is created in the world and nothing disappears without leaving a trace , everything merely changing the form of its existence . The advance of natural sciences helped the further development of materialism and dialectics . The greatest contribution to materialist philosophy was made by the German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach ( 1804 1872 ) . Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel ( 1770-1831 ) , another German philosopher , generalised the method used by the modern sciences in analysing the phenomena of nature and society and raised dialectics to a new level ; according to Hegelian dialectics everything must be considered from the point of view of continuous change and development . However , neither Feuerbach nor Hegel could create a truly scientific philosophy . Feuerbach , for example , did not recognise dialectics and thereby rejected the method of cognition used by science , whereas Hegel adhered to idealist positions and persisted in the opinion that , according to the laws of dialectics , it was not nature and society , but some Absolute Idea that developed . Moreover , he limited the development of this idea to the creation of the Prussian constitutional monarchy , considering it the highest expression of the Absolute Idea and the acme of development of society .