ABSTRACT
Communism developed alongside the growth of industrial society, as both moral criticism and political nemesis. The age of modern ideologies had dawned: liberalism, nationalism, socialism and communism all made their first appearances on the political stage. Although modern communism was concerned with the suffering of the masses, its aim was to emancipate the masses, not to alleviate their suffering. But modern communism also marked a break with the earlier ideals at a deeper level, in terms of scope, means and aims. Modern communism sought to replace the existing society rather than to create alternative communities living counter culturally as examples of a different type of society. Modern communism, because of industrialization and the rise of the nation-state and imperialism, became an international movement rather than an eclectic collection of local expressions, punctuating the historical stage sporadically. Modern communism, as specified by Marx, looked to create a new society in the future rather than looking backwards to restore a lost golden age.
