Machiavelli, Niccolo - (1496 - 1527) Famous politician, diplomat, historian, and writer of the early sixteenth century. He is recognized as the founder of political science. Marx considered his History of Florence a masterpiece. Machiavelli was a progressive and original thinker in his time. Organizer of the first popular militia and author of a treatise on war, he is credited with being the "first military thinker of modem Europe." He advocated the unification of Italy. Machiavelli favored a republic, but the "ideal" regime in his days was the centralized absolute monarchy. In his books, The Prince and The Discourses, Machiavelli demonstrated that for the preservation of class rule, any and all means are employed and justified by the spokesmen of the ruling class. Ironically enough, his name has become associated with the use of demagogy, deceit and ruthlessness in politics and the methods he probed into - the methods now utilized by the imperialist politicians to preserve dying capitalism - are termed "Machiavellian."
Malthusian Theory - The theory developed by Thomas Malthus which claimed that population levels were responsible for social problems and should be checked to resolve them since uncontrolled population increases occur on a geometrical ratio whereas the increase in resources occurs on an arithmetical basis. This is not so but laid the basis for the belief that nothing could be done about the problems of the world. In its most extreme form it was the basis for an acceptance of famines etc. as unavoidable and socially necessary.
Martov, Julius - (1873 - 1923) Founder of the Russian Scial Democratic Party, and a close associate of Lenin on the editorial board of Iskra until he joined the Menshevik faction. An internationalist during World War I, he tried to play the role of loyal opposition after the October Revolution.
Marx, Karl - (1818 -1883) Philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, revolutionary. Born in the city of Trier, Rhenish Prussia, gained law doctorate from Berlin University in 1841. Marx lived most of his life in exile in London. Along with Frederick Engels, he was the founder of Scientific Socialism and leader of the First International.
Principal works: The Poverty of Philosophy (1847), The Manifesto of The Communist Party (1848, with Engels), The Civil War in France (1871), The German Ideology (with Engels), Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859), Capital vols 1 (1867), 2, 3 and Theories of Surplus Value.
See also the Marxism FAQ entry.
Marxism - Marxism is the system of Marx's views and teachings. Marx was the genius who continued and consummated the three main ideological currents of the 19th century, as represented by the three most advanced countries of mankind: classical German philosophy, classical English political economy, and French socialism combined with French revolutionary doctrines in general. Acknowledged even by his opponents, the remarkable consistency and integrity of Marx's views, whose totality constitutes modern materialism and modern scientific socialism, as the theory and program of the working-class movement in all the civilized countries of the world.
Mensheviks - The word menshevik means 'mminority'. Originally part of the Russian Social Democratic Party, split from the Bolsheviks (majority) in 1903, forming two wings of the RSDP, until the Bolsheviks formed a separate party in 1912. They were a moderate socialist party claiming allegiance to Karl Marx, but believed that the working class must collaborate with the liberal bourgeoisie to over throw czarism and estalish a bourgeois democratic republic.
Metaphysics - There are two definitions of this word: the one used by Marx and Engels, and the other more traditional conception. In Marxist terminology, metaphysics is a method which holds that things are final and immutable, independent of one another and denies that inherent contradictions are the source of the development of nature and society but rather that nature is at rest, unchanging and static. All things can be investigated as separate from each other. Nowadays, the word reductionism would often be used instead.
The more traditional philosophical definition derives from Aristotle who used the word metaphysics to describe the branch of philosophy dealing with universal concepts as opposed to the observation of nature (in Greek, "meta ta physika" means "that which comes after physics"). Later on it became a synonym for abstract idealist speculation.
Mezharontsi (Inter-District Organization) - Consistently mainitained an internationalist opposition to the imperialist war (World War I) and opposed the Provisional Government. Through negotiations with Trotsky, it merged with the Bolsheviks in August 1917. The name of its journal in 1917 was Vperyod (Forward).
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