Summary Of Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto

In the first sections of the The Communist Manifesto, the writer, Karl Marx, explains the views of the communist party and its inevitability in becoming the main power in society. He does so by first describing why it was necessary for this manifesto to be written and how capitalist society came to be. Afterwards, Marx moves onto naming the main players and describing their own individual developments and eventual respective demises or ascensions. First, Marx opens by describing the purpose of this document and how the situation came to be. This manifesto was intended to provide a rebuttal to the powers of Europe who, for the most part, opposed communism. They fear its growing influence and so they use whatever means possible to stop it and Marx explains that it is high time the communist party describes its views and addresses the claims being made against them. He then explains the basic background behind his and the communist party 's beliefs. Marx explains that history was entirely shaped by a class struggle between the oppressor and the

They were able to take advantage of the growing technology and exploration to advance out of the middle class and become extremely rich. Through their wealth, the bourgeois were able to gain an enormous amount of influence in society. For example, they have “exclusive political sway” (Marx 18). In other words, the state exists entirely to serve the needs of the bourgeois. However, even more importantly so, their existence is bringing about a gradual disintegration of sentiment and true relations. People are now measured by the amount of material goods they own. Therefore, doctors, lawyers, and other originally honest occupations have become based entirely on wages and familial relationships no longer exist. They have instead been replaced by purely money relations. The bourgeois are also constantly exploiting the lower classes, otherwise known as the proletarians. (Marx