A. Royden D'souza

Beneath the surface of diplomatic cables lay the desperate financial interests of banking dynasties, the relentless drive for colonial resources, and an escalating arms race that had turned Europe into a loaded weapon, primed to fire by the very financiers and industrialists who stood to profit from the chaos.

Marx had emphasized the self-emancipation of the working class. Lenin emphasized the leadership of a revolutionary organization acting for the working class.

The roots of communism don't start with Karl Marx. They go back to Moses Hess (1812–1875), a German philosopher and socialist whose ideas played a critical role in the early development of communist thought.