Primary Source Assignment: Marxism as a Global Ideology

Paper Assignment: Marxism as a Global Ideology

Background: Marxism was an ideology that inspired billions of people across the planet. Marxism-inspired revolutionaries governed the world’s most populous nations for much of the twentieth century. The fight for or against Marxism established the most important military, diplomatic, economic, and cultural battle lines of the century. The global reach of Marxism and the myriad reactions to it are revealed in the primary sources.

Assignment: Compare and contrast three or more of the following primary sources. At least TWO of the primary sources must be from Group 2. Make an argument in which you assert how and why the sources illustrate the global influences of Marxism on major trends in history in the twentieth century. Make specific references to primary sources’ texts in order to illustrate and back up the points you make. Use the textbook, lectures, and other class materials to provide appropriate historical context for the documents.

Primary sources for analysis (copies of all sources can be found on Blackboard or in the textbook):

Group 1

Joseph Stalin: Results of the First Five-Year Plan (1933) (In textbook)

Arthur Koestler, “I Was Ripe to be Converted” (1949) (on Blackboard)

Alexandra Kollontai: Communism and the Family (1920)
http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1920/communism-family.htm

Group 2

He Zhen, “What Women Should Know About Communism” (circa 1907) (On Blackboard)

Liberation News Service, no. 110, Oct. 12, 1968
http://www.lns-archive.org/1968-packets/1968-10-12_LNS_packet_110.pdf

Ho Chi Minh: Appeal Made on the Occasion of the Founding of the Indochinese Communist Party (1930)
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/ho-chi-minh/works/1930/02/18.htm

Mao Zedong: The People’s Democratic Dictatorship (1949)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1949mao.html

Jawaharlal Nehru: Marxism, Capitalism and Non-Alignment (1941 and 1957)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1941nehru.html

Assignment Requirements: Your paper must be at least 1000 words, but you may write as much as you like. Papers must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date indicated. You must footnote the primary and secondary sources you cite. Papers must use proper footnoting style as indicated in the writing guides found on your syllabus and in the textbook. (APA writing guidelines)