Political theorist, Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels wrote, Communist Manifesto, which is the documentation of the Communist party, published February 1848, in London. This is one of history's most influential literature pieces. This manifesto was written during a period known as “the hungry 1840's”, which accounted to their ideas and theories (Boyer 151). The Communist Manifesto contained many challenging ideas that changed the mind set of every person even till this day. Their ideas led to the communist revolutions in Russia and China.
The Background on the authors of the Communist Manifesto; “Marx, the son of a prosperous German lawyer, was living in Brussels, having emigrated from Prussia to Paris in 1843 after the government had suppressed the newspaper which he edited, and having been expelled from Paris in 1845.” (Boyer 152). Marx's father was wealthy, Engels father was as well. “Engels, whose father owned a cotton spinning business with branches in Barmen, Germany, and Manchester, England, was living in Paris.” (Boyer 152). “The two had first met in 1842, and had begun to work together after their second meeting in Paris in 1844.” (Boyer 152) They had written two books together, The Holy Family (1845) and The German Ideology (1846), before writing the Communist Manifesto.” (Boyer 152). “Marx wrote the Manifesto in December 1847 and January 1848. The Manifesto was published in London in February.” (Boyer 152). These two collaborated together to write a great piece of literature which has been known to be called the “holy book” according to historian A. J. P. Taylor (Boyer 151).
“Marx established a Communist Correspondence Committee in Brussels to keep contact with German, French and English socialist. After this, Marx and ...
... middle of paper ...
...ion spreading to Britain. Their analysis of British politics and society was greatly oversimplified. Also their theory that wages would decline while capitalism progressed was proved wrong, and living conditions increased sharply. Marx and Engels believed the increasing prosperity of the working class and the decline in worker militancy went against their predictions. Lastly, “there was no unified middle class or unified working class like they believed” (Boyer 170). Although no revolution took place in Britain like planned, twenty two years after Engels death, a communist revolution broke out in Russia. Marx and Engels theories on communism changed history forever and helped pave the way for future governments.
Works Cited
Boyer, George R. "The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto." Journal of Economic Perspectives. N.p., 1998. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Karl Marx 's writing of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 has been documented by a vast number of academics as one of the most influential pieces of political texts written in the modern era. Its ideologically driven ideas formed the solid foundation of the Communist movement throughout the 20th century, offering a greater alternative for those who were rapidly becoming disillusioned and frustrated with the growing wealth and social divisions created by capitalism. A feeling not just felt in by a couple of individuals in one society, but a feeling that was spreading throughout various societies worldwide. As Toma highlights in his work, Marx felt that ‘capitalism would produce a crisis-ridden, polarized society destined to be taken over by
Temkin, G. (1998). Karl Marx and the economics of communism: Anniversary recollections. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 31(4), 303–328. doi:10.1016/S0967-067X(98)00014-2
The Communist Manifesto, written in 1848, provided the views of Karl Marx on humans and nature. For the time in which the document was written, the ideas of Marx were very radical to society. The ongoing struggle between the Proletarians( the working class) and the Bourgeois( the owners) prompted Marx to develop a solution to this social problem. His solution to this historical problem was to create a capitalist nation, which in the end would result in a Communist nation. He wanted to help the social status of the working class, because he felt that they were being taken advantage of by the owners. The document also discusses the role of humans and their interaction with nature.
The word “communism” is generally linked with “Marxism”. Since Marx along with Friedrich Engels published the cutting-edge thesis, The Communist Manifesto in the middle of the 19th century, it conceived the new dimension for both politics and economics. Before turning to the principles of the Manifesto, it is useful to present the brief historical background of the era, and understand why it affected the ideology. Predominantly the Industrial Revolution (IR) and the Great Revolution in France (FR) transformed the society as follows; creation of conditions for capitalism by destroying feudalism. Period between 1820 -1840 marks the beginning of the IR, which altered the whole meantime s...
In The Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the two German philosophers saw history as the struggle between the working class and the Bourgeois, or middle class (textbook 708). The Communist Manifesto was written in 1848, during the peak of the Industrial Revolution, a time when the Bourgeois made huge profits in manufacturing at the expense of the working class. According to Marx and Engels, the fruits of the Industrial Revolution created a new class of the oppressed modern working class, the Proletariat, which had never before existed because it was neither like serfdom or slave hood in that it was dependent on the Bourgeois to hire them for wage labor. This was the class the two philosophers envisioned would set off a revolution that would overthrow capitalism to end the perpetual class struggle and create a fair society known as Communism.
Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. "The Communist Manifesto." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 769-773.
There is no doubt that the Communist Manifesto was a shocking and radical document for its time, but it did much more than shock the public. The Communist Manifesto made the oppressed conscious of their status and influenced the unity of the working class. It also influenced the revolutions of 1848, it formed the basis of the reorganization of the Communist League and the demands of the Communist party, it influenced other radicals to take action, and it significantly influenced all subsequent Communist literature.
The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, a period of political turmoil in Europe. Its meaning in today’s capitalistic world is a very controversial issue. Some people, such as the American government, consider socialism taboo and thus disregard the manifesto. They believe that capitalism, and the world itself, has changed greatly from the one Marx was describing in the Manifesto and, therefore, that Marx’s ideas cannot be used to comprehend today’s economy. Others find that the Manifesto highlights issues that are still problematic today. Marx’s predicative notions in the Communist Manifesto are the key to understanding modern day capitalism.
The Communist Manifesto was first distributed in 1848 in England and was implied as a mission statement for Marx's socialist gathering. The archive gave truths to what was not right with society and how they could be settled. Rather than having various classes, bringing about many issues, Marx thought it was best to separate society into just two classes: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. He portrayed his vision of history and concentrated on the advancement and devastation of the bourgeoisie, the dominant class of his day.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto explores class struggles and their resulting revolutions. They first present their theory of class struggle by explaining that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx 14), meaning that history is a repeated class struggle that only ends with a revolution. Marx and Engels’ message in The Communist Manifesto is that it is inevitable for class struggles to result in revolutions, ultimately these revolutions will result in society’s transition to communism.
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Trans. Paul M. Sweeny. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1998.
Manifesto of the Communist Party. New York: International, 1948. Marxist Internet Archive - "The Marxist Archive" 2000. The. Web. The Web.
The second section of The Communist Manifesto is the section in which Karl Marx attempts to offer rebuttals to popular criticisms of his theory of governance. These explanations are based upon the supposition that capitalists cannot make informed observations upon communism as they are unable to look past their capitalist upbringing and that capitalists only seek to exploit others. Though the logic behind these suppositions are flawed, Marx does make some valid points concerning the uprising of the proletariat.
He developed the socio-political theory of Marxism. One of his most famous works is The Communist Manifesto, which he co-wrote with Friedrich Engels. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx discusses his theories on society, economics and politics. He believed that “all societies progress through the dialectic of class struggle”. He criticized capitalism, and referred to it as the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie".
Karl Marx, the founder and main advocator of his Marxist philosophy, wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848. This document was the basis for all of his thoughts and ideas of the world at the time being. One of the major topics that he spoken on was how religion affected the society and how it was an institution that was not actually necessary to exist.