… in 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published a pamphlet called The Communist Manifesto. It advocated the abolition of private property and emphasised that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
Arguably one of the most influential works ever, the Manifesto influenced everything from literary theory to politics – notably being adopted (and, quickly, distorted) during the Russian Revolution and under Stalin’s rule in the early twentieth century.
… in 1947 the ‘Hollywood Ten’ – a group of film producers, directors and screenwriters – were blacklisted by the majority of Hollywood Studios for their rumoured Communist affiliations.
These men included Alvah Bessie, Lester Cole, Herbert Biberman, Edward Dmytryk, John Howard Lawson, Ring Lardner Jr, Samuel Ornitz, Albert Maltz, Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo. Most were never employed in Hollywood again, so great was the fear of Communism in the west at this time.
Interestingly, the German writer Bertolt Brecht was originally among this group, but he fled the country the day after the inquest.
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