7.3b Rosa Luxemburg & Beatrice Webb

Question 1

Beatrice Webb (1858-1943)

Answer 1

Webb wrote works in support of socialism including ‘A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain’ (1920), ‘The Decay of Capitalist Civilisation’ (1923) and ‘Soviet Communism: A New Civilisation?’ (1935).

Question 2

Webb: The inevitability of gradualness

Answer 2

‘The inevitability of gradualness’ outlines how socialism can be established peacefully through parliamentary law-making and democratic reforms.

‘The inevitability of gradualness’ is the idea that democratic politics can bring about policies which look after the working class.

Webb stated that the move towards socialism could come about faster in a democratic system by presenting logical arguments and research which show socialism’s benefits over capitalism.

Question 3

Webb: The expansion of the state I

Answer 3

Webb believed that a growth of state power was important to bring about socialism peacefully.

Webb believed that expanding the power of the state would bring about socialism because the government and authorities would increasingly provide important services and amenities to the public, and make decisions which bring about socialism.

Question 4

Webb: The expansion of the state II

Answer 4

Webb said that the state would need an elite of highly trained specialists and administrators to organise society so that socialism could be brought about by the state.

Webb predicted that as more parts of society would require regulation and planning over time, state intervention would increase.

This idea opposed Marx and Engels’ belief that socialism could be established by overthrowing the state.

Question 5

Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919)

Answer 5

Rosa Luxemburg was a Polish Marxist who argued that socialism could only be established through revolution rather than by gradual reforms.

Question 6

Luxemburg: Evolutionary socialism/revisionism

Answer 6

Rosa Luxemburg did not believe the creation of socialism gradually (evolutionary socialism) and through reforms (revisionism) was possible from within a capitalist system which exploits the working class.

Question 7

Luxemburg: ‘Social Reform or Revolution’

Answer 7

Rosa Luxemburg argued in ‘Social Reform or Revolution’ (1899) that a revolution by the working class (proletariat) was key to overthrowing capitalism.

Luxemburg stated that evolutionary socialism or revisionism would fail to bring about socialism because it would not remove the capitalist system fully from society.

Luxemburg believed that evolutionary socialism or revisionism would not remove the exploitation of workers brought about by capitalism.

Question 8

Luxemburg: Struggle by the proletariat

Answer 8

Luxemburg believed that the struggle to reform the capitalist system by the working class would create a class consciousness for workers.

Luxemburg argued that workers having class consciousness is important because it would cause the overthrow of capitalism.

Question 9

Luxemburg: ‘Mass Strike, Party and Trade Unions’

Answer 9

Luxemburg outlined in ‘Mass Strike, Party and Trade Unions’ (1906) that class consciousness would naturally develop within workers themselves.

Luxemburg believed that the working class would protest against the state through strikes which would lead to a final mass strike that would establish socialism.