The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto

By: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Published: February 21, 1848

The Communist Manifesto

I learned that Marx believes history is merely a series of conflicts between who has more goods/money from the quote, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" (Marx 79).

The Communist Manifesto

I chose to read this book because I was interested in learning more about Communism. I was also intrigued to read this book because Karl Marx is known as the top thinker of the millenium. This is an interesting quote from Marx, from a criticism of Hegel's "Philosphy of Right", "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people" (1847).

Reflections &Recommendation

Author Background(Continued)

Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) was a German social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and co-founder of the Marxist theory. Engels met Marx in Paris and they began to write together short after. In 1845, he published "The Condition of the Working Class" in England. In 1848, he co-authored "The Communist Manifesto" with Karl Marx. He was influenced by the writings of Hegel, just like Marx. Marx once wrote in "Das Kapital", that "freedom is the recognition of necessity" (1867).

Author Background

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He wrote in many radical newspapers and developed his own theory of "dialetical materialism". Marx spoke a little about materialism in an economic manuscript, "Our mutual value is for us the value of our mutual objects. Hence for us man himself is mutually of no value" (1844). He was a leading figure of the Communist League and of the International Workingmen's Association. He was influenced by the writings of Hegel, another well known philospher. Marx's theories about politics, economics, and society, known as Marxism, basically boil down every situation to a conflict between a lower class and an upper class, where the upper class controls production of goods.

From reading this book, I learned where Communism came from and what it's intentions were in the context of the 19th century. This book taught me how to be a good Communist if I ever desired to become one. I would recommend this book to anyone who's interested in politics, philosophy, or history.

Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto

(1818-1883)

I learned that, in the time period Marx wrote the Manifesto, that he believed the current society was unique because it only consisted of only two classes; the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, compared to the multiple classes present in the past, explained by the quote, "Society as a whole is more and more splitting into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat" (Marx 80).

The Communist Manifesto

Friedrich Engels

I learned that the Communist Manifesto was written in a sarcastic way on purpose, and often Marx would be harsh about the criticisms of Communism to make the reading experience interesting for the audience. Marx states near the beginning of the book that, "A specter is haunting Europe: the specter of Communism" (Marx 78). Of course Marx didn't think Communism was a bad thing, he was being sarcastic and mocking how some peope feared the theory.

(1820-1895)

The Communist Manifesto

I learned what the three main goals of Communism according to Marx were, listed in the quote, "The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all the other proletariat parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, the overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat" (Marx 95).

Literary Criticism

The Communist Manifesto

In a review by Stephen Holmes, in "London's Review of Books", he states "[The Communist Manifesto] is written, as though in a single creative burst, in lapidary sentences almost naturally transforming themselves into the memorable aphorisms which have become known far beyond the world of political debate". I agree with Holmes, because the speech Marx uses is memorable and very well thought out.

I learned that Marx believed that the proletariat would eventually rebel, making them no longer dependent on the bourgeoisie. They would destroy the modern society, and the concept of private property. Therefore, the bourgeoisie were basically making conditions worse for themselves because they loved their private property. As Marx concludes, "What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, is its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable" (Marx 94).

The Communist Manifesto

I learned that the one essential step that was needed for a complete Communist takeover was the destruction of private property from the quote, ""...the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property" (Marx 96).

From this quote at the end of the book, ""Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!", I realized how Marx was trying to rally his audience, and how the Manifesto was not only trying to explain Communism, how it was also intended to provoke a revolution (Marx 120).