The Communist Manifesto: Comparing Marx And Engels

The Communist Manifesto was a pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848. Both Marx and Engels were German-born philosophers and revolutionary socialists. They were commissioned by a London-based communist group to partner their efforts and compose a document detailing the communist ideals and policies. They had both been previously vocal about the communist movement in Europe, but the Manifesto was the first to formally address the proletariat class on a wider scale. Marx and Engels had a unique platform of influence. They were both outspoken social scientists who had become established through their respective writings about the ailments of society. I would estimate that it was not often in that time that citizens could

The Manifesto teaches us about the hardships that the proletarians face at the opposition of the bourgeoisie. We learn about the mindset of the working class, instead of the logistics of their labour. In Engels and Marx’s view, the proletarians have lost all of their individuality and have been reduced to simply cogs of a machine. Unfortunately for the proletarians, their availability of work and the amount of their income are directly tied to the market, and the supply and demand factor. We are told that they are “slaves of the bourgeoisie class” and “privates of the industrial army.” What Marx and Engels are trying to convey is the dependence that the proletariat class has on the market, with no payoff. This is why the authors predict an uprising of the proletarians, and their eventual rule. The authors have some background for this claim, as they have known of revolutions brought on by the lower class. From a historic perspective, the communists must have thought that the proletariat were strong in numbers and ready for dramatic

The overview of the Communist Manifesto draws attention to the type of words used by the authors in comparison to the textbook. It should be noted that Marx and Engels use very dramatic words in place of simpler terms. Our secondary source describes The Manifesto as a “radical critique of capitalism,” and about the “unbearable oppression of industrial workers.” It is not an arguable fact that the Manifesto critiques capitalism, yet Marx and Engels do not call the system by name. Instead, they describe a society in which money and the market control all aspects. We know this to be a capitalist system now, so it raises the question: did Marx and Engels leave out the proper name for this system for dramatic effect? It is quite probable that they excluded using “oppression” in favour of the more provocative “enslavement.” These type of language choices greatly impact how we read the article now, and how readers of that time also interpreted