History

The name of Karl Marx, and to a certain extent Frederick Engels, will always be associated with the ideology he created  Marxism or communism. Marx and Engels (20061848) viewed the world from a different prism, the one of class struggle. It had been the case of the ruling class over the ones they ruled from feudalism to capitalism. The way they saw it was more of a master-slave relationship where the ruling class, the bourgeoisie dominated the lower class, the proletariat. This was done through the state which served as an instrument of repression.  Freedom (and equality) was non-existent (Marx  Engels, 20061848).

In view of this concept, Marx and Engels (19701932) defined freedom differently from the thinkers of Enlightenment. Their definition of freedom was somewhat biased and was limited to that of the proletariat who must seize control of the state in order to end the exploitation of the ruling class through revolution. Once the proletariat had seized the state, they must use it to erase the vestiges of the old system and create a new one, leading to what Marx and Engels (19701932) would call the classless society.  It was at this point where there would be true freedom in the state. The instrument of repression would fade away for it would no longer be necessary in this new communal society that would be created as it is only through this ideal society that freedom can be realized (Marx  Engels, 19701932).

This was how Marx and Engels defined freedomno class struggle with a ruling class oppressing or exploiting the lower class. Through communism, everyone would be equal and freedom would be guaranteed. Although this appeared to be a moral good under Marxism, other analysts saw it the other way around. Marx and Engels did not take into account individual freedom as they saw it from a communal view. This was why communism failed in the long run because it was equality in poverty and it was flawed after all, leading to its downfall.