Marxism has a relatively short history as far as political movements go, but it has had a lasting impact that has far surpassed it's active utility. While the ideas for an economically communal society had existed in European literature at least as long as Thomas More's "Utopia", they had been in reaction to a much different social, political, and economic force than in what was to become the Industrial Age. Marxism was an attempt to put just such a society into effect - which ultimately failed. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss both Marxism's origins and its ultimate failures. 4-pages, bibliography lists 1 source.