Summary Of The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx

Karl Marx was born in Prussia in 1818. Later in his life he became a newspaper editor and his writings ended up getting him expelled by the Prussian authorities for its radicalism and atheism (Perry 195). He then met Fredrich Engels and together they produced The Communist Manifesto in 1848, for the Communist League. This piece of writing basically laid out Marx’s theory of history in short form (Coffin 623). The Communist Manifesto is mainly revolved around how society was split up into two sides, the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. I do believe that the ideas of the Communist Manifesto did indeed look educated on paper but due to the lessons of history communism is doomed to fail in the past, present, and future. Communism did not prevail in many different countries, two of them being Berlin and the Soviet Union.

     Marx describes the problem in great detail in the first chapter. He feels there is a problem between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians. The bourgeoisie were the oppressed class before the French Revolution and he argues that they are now the oppressors. The proletarians are the new working class, which works in the large factory and industries. He says that through mass industry they have sacrificed everything from the old way of religion, employment, to a man’s self worth and replaced it with monetary value. He is mad that the people of ole that use to be upper class such as skills man, trades people, & shopkeepers, are now slipping into the proletarians or working class. He

In the beginning of reading the given essay “the ‘Communist Manifesto,’ 150 years later” one can easily mistake the abstract as the opening paragraph. If one was to mistake it for the opening paragraph it makes perfect sense for the thesis, but the actual opening paragraph is only a couple sentences and possibly one of longest sentences that one has ever seen. The opening paragraph does contain a thesis statement, but it is jumbled. It states that if Marx and Engels would have been exposed to information that was published later that they would have revised their claims.

In order to discuss the different ways in which economists considered societies could resolve the economic calculation problem and the implications of the economic calculation debate it is important to consider different view points of influential economists from all over the world.

The Communist Manifesto, originally drafted as, “Manifesto of the Communist Party”, is a pamphlet written by Karl Marx, that in essence reflects an attempt to explain the goals and objectives of Communism, while also explaining the concrete theories about the nature of society in relation to the political ideology. The Communist Manifesto breaks down the relationship of socio-economic classes and specifically identifies the friction between those classes. Karl Marx essentially presents a well analyzed understanding of class struggles and the issues concerning capitalism, the means and modes of production and how those means affect the classes as a whole.

The first part of the Communist Manifesto focuses on the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. Throughout the text Marx focuses on the divide between the two classes, and the impact it had on society. Marx “the history all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” Before the bourgeoisie rose to power, Feudal society was the dominant social system in which the upper class provided land and protection for the working class. Eventually the feudal society could not keep up with the growing demand of the market and the bourgeoisie arose from the remnants of the feudal society. As the bourgeoisie rise to power this divide of the social class was known as the oppressor vs the oppressed.

     The Communist Manifesto was written by two world renowned philosophers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This book was produced in an era of great suffering and anguish of all workers in a socially distressed system. In a time when revolutions were spreading through Europe like wildfire, Marx organized his thoughts and views to produce the critical pamphlet “The Communist Manifesto”. Marx’s scrutiny illustrates his belief that unless change is to occur the constant outcome will repeatedly remain uniform. This is a novel that displays the differentiation between the Bourgeois and the Proletariat. Class relationships are defined by an era's means of production. Marx’s

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels is a political manifesto in defense of, and advocation for, the ideals of communism. Chapter one begins stating that, “The history of all hitherto existing society, is the history of class struggles.” The chapter, titled “Bourgeois and Proletarians,” goes on to describe the modern bourgeois structure of society that has formed, and with it, new conditions of oppression for people who do not own any means of production. Throughout the chapter, Marx describes the development of the bourgeoisie throughout history and its power - how the bourgeoisie has revolutionized the current economic structure of society and exploited the proletariat (working class) for labor that they are forced to sell. The second chapter, titled “Proletarians and Communists,” proposes communism as a solution to class antagonisms and defends its ideals against criticism.

The title of Marx’s book is self-explanatory in which Marx declare his ideas regarding the Communism. First, Marx explains the historical relationship between bourgeoisie

Since the beginning of civilization there has always been a clash between the upper class and lower class. Karl Marx illustrates this at the beginning of Communist Manifesto by listing out the relationships of social classes: “Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed…” (Marx 14). With these social ranks came forth the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie being the greedy, money grabbing upper class and the Proletariat being the working middle class. As all the European powers allied together to get rid of communism Karl Marx wrote this Manifesto to dispel the misconceptions that the public had towards Communism.

Marx and Engels provide a telling account of the historical process of economic and social change. They cogently examine the role that the rise of capitalistic markets has had on the social order, exposing the shift of hierarchical distinctions from lord and serf to owner and worker. As Marx and Engels attempt to define the trajectory of history they looks at these issues from a high level of abstraction which allows their major thesis about class conflict providing the basis for historical change to take shape. With this strategy they are able to connect the rise of markets with increasing globalization, colonialism, and commodification. Marx and Engels ability to provide a cohesive base for such a wide breadth of phenomena helps to add to the legitimacy of their argument. At the same time, their level of abstraction also leads to obfuscation.

The housing shortage in industrial cities like Manchester where Engels witnessed all the forces in play. From the working class bad living condition and hygienic problems to the huge flux of workers to the city which has driven the population to increase six times between 1771 and 1801.

Opening famously with “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” is Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto. Published in 1848, the political pamphlet exercised the belief that communism would dispel capitalism and perpetual class struggles caused by the bourgeoisie, which had remained unchanged as modes of production evolved. Stemming from its origin “common,” communism proposes the idea of a post-capitalist, classless society where all property is publicly owned and the means of production provide a stable economic base for all. However, despite its many shortcomings, communism offered passing hope to many of those suffering under capitalism. The proposition of communism is outlined

The Communist Manifesto is written at first as a 23 page pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848 after the proceedings of the second congress and since it has been considered as one of the world’s most influential political manuscripts. The principle author was Marx and Engels assisted him. In the Manifesto Marx describes the struggle of classes through an analytical approach and he explains the problems of capitalism by introducing his theories about the nature of society and politics. The Manifesto marked the end of a year-long discussion within the League of the Just about the objectives and methods of proletarian emancipation and implied the conclusion of its transformation into the League of Communists. The hardships faced by

Karl Marx was an idealist. He observed the cruelties and injustices that the poor working class endured during the period of industrial revolution, and was inspired to write of a society in which no oppression existed for any class of people. Marx believed in a revolution that would end socialism and capitalism, and focus on communist principles. The Manifesto of the Communist Party, written by Karl Marx and edited by Frederick Engels, describes the goals of the communist party for ending exploitation of the working class and creating a society in which there is equality in society without social classes.1