Answer the question below with a 500-700 word essay (roughly 2 to 4 printed pages, 12-point font,
double spaced, not including “Works Cited” page). Write using sentences and paragraphs; do not write in
point form or in rough. Your answer is due on Monday February 14 by 11:59 PM.
The late
penalty is a 5% deduction for each day late.
Please note that all essays will be checked by Safe Assign, an electronic plagiarism detection service.
Please see the “Avoiding Plagiarism” link in “Getting Started” so you know what constitutes plagiarism.
Answer the following two-part question on Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto (be sure to
answer BOTH sections):
(1) Consider the historical details of the Russian Revolution, Lenin’s leadership, and the Russian
Civil War in Gellately’s Lenin, Stalin, Hitler (pgs. 21-77). Discuss one or two ways in which
Lenin and the Bolsheviks followed the revolutionary guidelines set out in Marx and Engel’s
Communist Manifesto. Discuss one or two ways in which Lenin and the Bolsheviks did not
follow the Communist Manifesto. (350 words maximum)
(2) Compare and contrast the account of communism in Marx and Engel’s Communist Manifesto with the account of National Socialism in Hitler’s Mein Kampf. What are one or two major differences? What are one or two major things they have in common? (350 words maximum)
Organize your paper according to the section breakdown above and in the order listed. Please keep each
section distinct and approximately the same length (around 250-350 words for each section). You do not
need a general thesis for this essay; just complete the comparisons in each section as instructed above.
Each section is worth an equal amount (5% each section – see rubric below).
For this essay, you are required to refer to the following three texts, which are available as PDFs on the
course website in “Course Readings”:
Gellately, R. (2007). Lenin, Stalin, Hitler: The age of social catastrophe. New York: Alfred A
Knopf.
Hitler, A. Mein Kampf. In Somerville, J. and Santoni, R. (Eds). (1963). Social and political
philosophy. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor
Marx, K. and Engels, F. Manifesto of the Communist Party. In R. Tucker (Ed.). (1978). The
Marx-Engels reader. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
You are required to cite, and encouraged to strategically quote, the above texts. Use the APA
method for citations. Here are examples of in-text citations using the APA:
Marx and Engels (1978) write: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class
struggles” (p. 473).
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx & Engels,
1978, p. 473).
According to Gellately (2007, p. 59), Lenin supported the idea of permanent camps in the north to
imprison enemies of the new Soviet state.
Lenin supported the idea of permanent camps in the north to imprison enemies of the new Soviet
state. (Gellately, 2007, p. 59).
At the end of your paper, provide a list of all of your works cited. HINT: Just cut and paste the text
citations above into your Works Cited list, and makes sure they appear in alphabetical order based on
authors’ last names. Do not cite any sources other than the three listed above.
Rubric:
a) Content (Do you answer each section of the question and provide an
insightful comparison? Do you demonstrate a solid understanding of
the relevant materials? Do you adequately reference/quote these materials?
The content grade for each section is 5%): 10%
b) Organization (Is your essay properly structured and easy to follow?): 4%
c) Grammar/Style/Spelling (Is your essay grammatically correct? Readable?): 4%
d) Citations (Do you cite using the APA method?) 2%
20%
