Quiz: Principles of Communism

11 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. Which measure concerns inheritance between children? Equal rights of inheritance for legitimate and illegitimate children Inheritance by the eldest son only, to keep the estates undivided Abolition of all inheritance, with every estate passing to the state Inheritance by sons only, with daughters receiving a fixed dowry
2. Where was Engels’s manuscript of the Principles found? In the archives of the Prussian police In a Paris bookshop Among Engels’s posthumous papers In Marx’s house in Maitland Park, London
3. Which inventions does Engels name as causes of the industrial revolution? The steam engine, spinning machines and the mechanical loom The printing press, the compass and the blast furnace The telegraph and the railway Gunpowder and the clock
4. Why was the abolition of private property not possible before now, according to Engels? No one had yet thought of it before the socialist writers of the eighteenth century The workers lacked education, which only universal schooling has now supplied Property forms change only when new productive forces outgrow the old ones The church had always forbidden it, and only the Enlightenment broke its hold
5. In England, which party does Engels say is “indefinitely nearer to the Communists” than the radicals? The Tories The Chartists, mostly workers The Whigs The Anti-Corn Law League
6. What does Engels propose for children in his list of measures? Sending them as apprentices to the national workshops from the age of ten Leaving education entirely to the family, with the state only inspecting the schools Religious schooling under the clergy, paid for out of the confiscated church lands Raising them in national institutions at national expense, after early infancy
7. In America, with which party does Engels say the Communists should side? The national agrarian reformers, who would use the constitution against the bourgeoisie None: they should stand apart from all parties and organise a separate party of their own The Whig Party, as the party of industry and protection against the slaveholders The Democratic Party, as the party of the small farmers and artisans against the Eastern bankers
8. What influence will communist society have on the relation of the sexes, according to Engels? It will make marriage compulsory and regulate it by law for the good of society It will introduce the community of women along with the community of goods and land It will make it a purely private affair in which society need not interfere It will abolish marriage by law and place all children in the care of the state
9. Will the revolution be accomplished in one country alone? It does not matter, since each nation must find its own road to communism in its own time Yes: it will begin and be completed in England alone, the most industrially advanced country Yes: it will be accomplished in Germany alone, where the bourgeoisie is weakest No: it will take place at once in England, America, France and Germany at least
10. What was the first result of machine production on old handicraft industry, according to Engels? Little effect at first, since machines were confined to cotton spinning Its expansion, as cheap machine yarn supplied more hand-weavers Its protection, as guilds won tariffs against machine-made goods Its complete destruction, as prices of industrial products kept falling
11. How does the proletarian differ from the slave, according to Engels? The slave works the land; the proletarian works only in factories and towns The slave is paid wages; the proletarian is paid only in food and shelter by his master The slave is sold once and for all; the proletarian sells himself daily and hourly The slave’s existence is insecure; the proletarian’s is guaranteed by his own employer

0 of 11 answered