Socialism

**Socialism** is a political ideology encompassing a vast range of economic philosophies that aim to overthrow capitalism and re-organize society to ensure the social ownership of the means of production by the community as a whole.

## History

The socialist movement was weakened by the break-up of the First International and the reformist tendencies of the Second International. The latter would eventually break-up with the outbreak of the First Great War as the social chauvinists sought to support their respective countries to the detriment of the worldwide working class.

The socialist revolution in Russia was strangled in the cradle by liberal and monarchist reactionaires, with the aid of the bourgeoning German Empire. However it was in Western Europe that the cause of socialism was reborn with the overthrow of the capitalist system in France and northern Italy, leading to the rise of the first socialist states in history. Subsequent revolutions in Britain, Chile and India spread the scarlet banner across all the continents save for Africa, then still controlled by colonial empires, conservative republics and reactionary kingdoms.

The Second Great War would put an end to the seeminly hegemonic German Empire and expand the roost of socialist states from the ashes of capitalism.

## Strains and tendencies

While all socialist ideologies seek to establish common ownership of the means of productions they disagree on methods, the nature and shape of post-capitalist society or if the new socialist society needs further revolutionizing.

### Libertarianism

Libertarianism is a broad category of socialist ideology that supports devolution of political power, pragmatic oppositionto hierarchies and for direct ownership the means of production at the communal level with no space for state-run or directed industry.

The most common libertarian ideology is Orthodox Syndicalism, which seeks to re-organize society into federations of trade unions called syndicates which manage the economy through a system of co-operative confederations and mutual aid. Orthodox Syndicalism's natural tendency to develop static trade union bureaucracy has led to sharp criticism and played a role in the Gloriouse Nivôse in France.

### Marxism

Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist method, called historical materialism, to criticise the development of capitalism and class society. According to Marxist theory, class conflict arises from the exploitation of the oppressed proletariat - the social class of labourers employed in the production of goods and services- by the bourgeoisie, the social class that owns the means of productions and extracts profit from the labor of the proletariat. To Marxist theory, this class conflict will eventually culminate in social revolution and the establishment of class rule by the proletariat.

The bulk of the theory was created by German philosophers Karl Marx and Frederich Engels, with its sociopolitical aspects being codified in the iconic Communist Manifesto. For this reason the majority of political parties and groups espousing Marxism tend to be called communists.

### Social Nationalism

Chauvinistic tendencies always existed in the political left and played a role in the collapse of the Second International. In the aftermath of the Second Great War, the downfall of Totalism created a political void that allowed chauvinistic leftism to fill.

Social Nationalism tends to exclude, intentionally or not, internationalism and cooperation with ideologically aligned states. Iternally, the domestic policies of Social Nationalism are poorly defined and thus they tend to create power-sharing arrangements and coalitions with local socialist groups.

National Liberation Fronts are a common form of Social Nationalism, not because they necessarily scorn internationalism but as by-product of their conditons. One of the most explicit Social Nationalist government is Bosé's Indocommunism, which is greatly influenced by other socialist tendencies but is more concerned with local affairs than participating in the growing Cold War.

### Moderate Socialism

Moderate Socialism is a broad category that can range from movements that do not necessarily aim for a violent overthrow of the capitalist order, and those that do not seek to achieve a vastly radical transformation of society as other socialists. Historically, social democracy was a form of moderate socialism until the aftermath of the First Great War. Currently, most moderate tendencies includes Market Socialists, Religious Socialists and Agrarian Socialist.

The moderate syndicalist government of Italy, which implemented opportunistic reforms in wake of the Glorious Nivôse in France, is the leading proponent of this tendency.

## Former Ideologies

### Totalism

Totalitarian Socialism, commonly referred as Totalism, is a discredited authoritarian doctrine that advocates for expansion of the state involvement in the internal affairs, centralization of power and militarism. The actions of its two most common adherents, Oswald Mosley and Benito Mussolini, lead to its total ruin.

## See Also

* Syndicalism in the Kaiserreich Wiki, for information on the original lore of the socialist movement