A Major Movement, First in Painting and Later in Music

Notes -Impressionism: The impressionist style of painting is characterized chiefly by concentration on the general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light.  a major movement, first in painting and later in music  developed chiefly in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries  work produced between about 1867 and 1886 by a group of artists who shared a set of related approaches and techniques  an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and colour.  Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin, and Frédéric Bazille o worked together o influenced each other o exhibited together independently  The founders of this society were animated by the will to break with the official art  Impressionism is a lot more a state of the mind than a technique o thus artists other than painters have also been qualified of impressionists. o many of these painters ignore the law of simultaneous contrast as established by Chevreul in 1823  Eugène Boudin, Stanislas Lépine and the Dutch Jongkind were among the forerunners of the movement  highly impressed by the works of Edouard Manet o became outraged when they learned that he was refused for the 1863 Salon o indignation was so high among the artistic population that Napoleon III allowed the opening of a ``Salon des Refusés'' . Manet, Pissarro, Jongkind, Cals, Chintreuil, Fantin-Latour, etc. showed their works  http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/impressionism/

-Nationalism: the most successful political force of the 19th century  It emerged from two main sources: the Romantic exaltation of "feeling" and "identity" [see Herder above all on this] and the Liberal requirement that a legitimate state be based on a "people" rather than, for example, a dynasty, God, or imperial domination  essentially middle class movements  US can be seen to have, eventually, adopted this ideal of civic inclusive nationalism  The German method, required by political circumstances, was todefine the "nation" in ethnic terms  later in the 19th century that nationalism spread to Slavic countries o nationalism tended to develop and change in similar ways among each people  generally from a "cultural nationalism" to a more overtly political "liberal nationalism", and then, all to often, to an exclusivist "triumphal nationalism" o Building on the ideas of Herder, and the Romanitic folklore movements of the early nineteenth century, classical composers sought to revalue the heritage of their "people" by using "folk" themes : Cultural o Liberal nationalism, as for instance associated with the Italian leader Giuseppe Mazzini, sought to establish liberal states based on the a "nation". o Triumphal nationalism: illustrates the attractions of overbearing nationalism. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/NATMUSIC.html

Romanticism: few romantics have survived, it is because few of them discovered romanticism, though all of them sought it sincerely and honestly.  Some applied themselves only to the choice of subjects- but they had not the temperament for their subjects  Others, still believing in a Catholic society, sought to reflect Catholicism in their works  Realism had already existed for a long time when that great battle took place  Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subjects nor in exact truth, but in a mode of feeling  so romanticism will not consist in a perfect execution, but in a conception analogous to the ethical disposition of the age o Some blasphemed the Greeks and the Romans in the name of romanticism: but you can only make Romans and Greeks into romantics if you are one yourself  strongholds of the Romantic Movement were England and Germany, not the countries of the romance languages themselves o Thus it is from the historians of English and German literature that we inherit the convenient set of terminal dates for the Romantic period, beginning in 1798, the year of the first edition of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge and of the composition of Hymns to the Night by Novalis, and ending in 1832, the year which marked the deaths of both Sir Walter Scott and Goethe. http://web.archive.org/web/20000617070143/warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/History/te aching/sem10/baud.html http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html Marxism: a theory in which class struggle is a central element in the analysis of social change in Western societies  economic and social system based upon the political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels  the antithesis of capitalism  system of socialism of which the dominant feature is public ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange.  Under capitalism, the proletariat, the working class or “the people,” own only their capacity to work o they have the ability only to sell their own labor. According to Marx a class is defined by the relations of its members to the means of production. o under capitalism, Marx continues, the workers, in order to support their families are paid a bare minimum wage or salary. . The worker is alienated because he has no control over the labor or product which he produces. The capitalists sell the products produced by the workers at a proportional value as related to the labor involved.  A proletariat or socialist revolution must occur, according to Marx, where the state (the means by which the ruling class forcibly maintains rule over the other classes) is a dictatorship of the proletariat.  Because the worker under the capitalist regimes was miserable and alienated, religious beliefs were sustained o Religion, according to Marx was the response to the pain of being alive, the response to earthly suffering o the working class, the proletariat was a true revolutionary class, universal in character and acquainted with universal suffering  Marxism played a large role in Vladimir Lenin’s ideas. Vladimir Lenin was the dictator of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924.  Marxism’s ideas so greatly influenced Vladimir, that he overthrew the Provisional Government and formed the Soviet Union in 1917  In 1924, Vladimir Lenin died  Joseph Stalin, seized control of the party and state apparatus  During World War II Leon Trotsky, a former citizen of the Soviet Union used Marxism’s ideas to predict the future. o The USSR became a world power during this time thanks to Marxism http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/what-is-marxism-faq.htm http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/karl-marx/marx-s-influence.html http://www.wsws.org/exhibits/1937/lecture2.htm

Scientific Socialism (Marxism) In the words of Karl Marx, “Men make their own history but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past.” History influences the future, and no person was more influential to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries than Karl Marx. Not only did he impact the past, but his philosophies continue to impact our present. Karl Marx’s theories served as the foundation of Marxism; the most influential nineteenth century intellectual and political movement.

Marxism is a very complex political movement. It is an extremely intricate theory, and contains many implications and ramifications throughout the theory. It is a strong form of Socialism. Throughout Marxism, Karl Marx explains what the cycle of our society resembles. This cycle develops over long periods of time. It begins with the dominant class overtaking the government. The dominant class then begins making radical changes to the government and society. This new government will be a socialist order and a classless society. Marxism also claims that class struggle has been the main agency of historical change, and that the capitalist system will be superseded by a socialist order. All means of production are commonly owned in this theory. Marxism has had a great influence all over the world; however, it is evident that Marxism’s greatest influence was in Russia during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Although Marxism influenced many leaders, Marxism played a large role in

Vladimir Lenin’s ideas. Vladimir Lenin was the dictator of the Soviet Union from

1917 to 1924. Lenin claimed to be the philosophical and political heir to Marx. Lenin developed a political program, called Leninism or Bolshevism, which called for an organized revolution. A centrally organized Communist Party directed this political program. This program led to the Russian Revolution and the formation of the

Soviet Union. Marxism was the spark that ignited the Russian Revolution. Marxism’s ideas so greatly influenced Vladimir, that he overthrew the Provisional Government and formed the Soviet Union in 1917. Lenin believed that the Russian government was an autocracy, meaning that one person possesses unlimited power. Alexander

Kerensky had complete control; he allowed very few rights for the citizens of Russia.

Lenin, who had been exiled to Switzerland for speaking out against the government, grew tired of constant persecution (as were most citizens). As he gathered forces for an overthrow he began to embrace the ideals of Marx. Marx’s theories made sense to Lenin, and he believed that raising up against those in power could give him and his peers a better life. By 1917, Lenin and his army forced Kerensky out of

Russia. Lenin followed the ideas of Marxism as he ran the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics with great success.

In 1924, Vladimir Lenin died. Therefore, the Secretary-General of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, seized control of the party and state apparatus. Stalin was familiar with Lenin and his Marxist ideas, he simply took

Marxism another step forward. Joseph Stalin believed the Communist Party of the

Soviet Union had to dedicate itself to building communism in its own country. He wanted to transform the USSR into a world power. Stalin craved a world-wide communist revolution. Joseph Stalin’s policies greatly resembled Marxism’s theories. He knew that by distributing wealth evenly he would maintain a healthy citizen body. This changed the image of Soviet Union into a Marxism ideology.

Throughout World War II and the Cold War Marxism was looked at as being equivalent to communism. This led to Marxism being understood as a political totalitarianism. During World War II Leon Trotsky, a former citizen of the Soviet

Union used Marxism’s ideas to predict the future. He predicted that unless Hitler was stopped right away, German imperialism would thrive. He suggested that

Germany would take colonies across the world and begin to have an influx of raw materials. These realizations would eventually evolve in a new world war. Trotsky assumed that a workers’ state would mobilize its military and even threaten intervention in Germany. However, Stalin did not listen and decided not to attempt any confirmation with Germany. He continued to form alliances. Trotsky’s writings were influenced by Marxism’s ideas, and even though they were ignored, they accurately predicted the advances of WWII.

It is evident Marxism greatly influenced the nineteenth century Russia. The

USSR became a world power during this time thanks to Marxism. The effects of

Marxism in Russia are still ongoing. In the 1920s and 1930s a group of Marxists founded the Institute for Social Research in Germany. Max Horkheimer, Theodor

Adorno, Erich Fromm, and Herbert Marcuse were those involved in the foundation of this institute. The authors are also referred to as “The Frankfurt School.” Their work is a type of Marxist philosophy and cultural criticism. Marxism is still studied today at the Franfurt School. Philosophers use Marxism’s ideas to predict our economic and political future and better prepare us for what may lie ahead.

Marxism was the most significant nineteenth century political movement. It was extremely relevant to Russia’s history. Russia was a great influence on the world during WWII and the Cold War. Tensions between the U.S. and the USSR from the Cold War remain today. Therefore, Marxism influenced the world through

Russia alone. The Soviet Union was the clear outcome of Karl Marx’s theories.

Marxism continues to be a part of everyday lives across the world. Many philosophers predict Marxism will be the basis of our world’s future governments.