Socialism is the economic and political theory that promotes the redistribution of wealth in society from the rich to the poor. This redistribution could be achieved by violence — seizing the property of the rich by force and giving it to the poor — or the taxes raised by a government from the wealthy could be used to provide free services such as health care to all people. Where the government manages the distribution, this is known as ‘state socialism’.

Complete these investigations to discover information about the development of socialism in Australia in the nineteenth century.