Bourgeois Revolution

As a bourgeois revolution which designates Marxism , the power of the bourgeoisie by overthrowing the feudal or, as in England ( Glorious Revolution ) , by agreement with her as a result of the class struggle .

Tasks of the bourgeois revolution

According to the Marxist view, the tasks of the bourgeois revolution include:

• the creation of the nation state (which can be constituted differently by different peoples )
• the constitution of the state based on popular sovereignty ( the rule of law is based on a constitution adopted by the people )
• bourgeois rule, if possible in the form of a democratic republic (which, however, was complemented by tyranny in antiquity )
• the abolition of serfdom , instead free wage laborers
• the separation of the producers from the means of production in the original accumulation
• the abolition of the guilds , freedom of investment
• the free development of the productive forces until they are ripe for social revolution

The most radical section of the bourgeoisie also calls for the nationalization of land, but has nowhere to assert itself in Europe. Therefore, Marx describes it as one of the tasks of the coming social revolution (according to Volume III of Capital, however, in the form of socialization).

Achievements of the bourgeois revolution

The bourgeois revolution takes place in different societies at different times and under different conditions. In England it took place in the 17th century, in France in several stages in the 18th and 19th centuries, in Germany (imperfectly) in the 19th and 20th centuries and in Russia in the 20th century. The main achievements of the bourgeois revolution include:

• the guarantee of private property through the constitution and laws and its protection through the state's monopoly on the use of force
• the freedom of association , especially the right to form political associations, parties called (the right to form trade unions was partially enforced until later)
• Freedom of career choice and marriage , freedom of worship , freedom of expression , freedom of the press , freedom of assembly , etc., in short: the freedom of decision of the individual within the framework of the law
• the equality before the law

The equality of men and women or of the different nationalities within a state (including immigrants), on the other hand, has not yet been fully implemented. The so-called human rights only apply in the respective country of origin.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See z. B. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: Neue Rheinische Zeitung. In MEW 6, p. 111.
2. ↑ Compare MEW 8, p. 197; but especially also MEW 16, p. 157.
3. ↑ Cf. MEW 37, p. 463. The basis for this is the social contract of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
4. ↑ See MEW 8, p. 196.
5. ↑ See MEW 22, p. 235; 236 but also MEW 17, p. 625 and MEW 21, p. 167.
6. ↑ See MEW 17, p. 337 f.
7. ↑ See MEW 17, p. 592 f.
8. ↑ See MEW 23, pp. 741-761.
9. ↑ See MEW 17, p. 592 f.
10. ↑ See MEW 16, p. 400, but on the other hand MEW 25, p. 784.