- Why do Marx and Engels believe the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat will have a different result from all previous class struggles in recorded history?
- Why do Marx and Engels claim that the bourgeoisie inevitably produces its own gravediggers?
- What do Marx and Engels mean when they describe the proletariat as a revolutionary class?
- What do Marx and Engels mean when they say that capital has individuality but living persons do not? Is this true of members of the bourgeoisie as well as the proletariat?
- Why does a manifesto of the Communist party place such strong emphasis on the remarkable achievements of bourgeois capitalism?
- Why do Marx and Engels assume there is a strong affinity between the grievances of the workers and the aims of Communism?
- What gives Communists an advantage over the proletariat in understanding the conditions, direction, and general results of the proletarian movement?
- What evidence do Marx and Engels give for their claim that human consciousness—ideas, views, and conceptions—changes with every change in material existence?
- Why do Marx and Engels insist that the abolition of private property is central to revolutionary change?
- If one of the early stages of the proletarian revolution is a despotism of the working class, as Marx and Engels assert, what assures that this order will give way to a free, classless society?
- Why do Marx and Engels reject the possibility that existing social and political systems can be reformed?
- In part 3 of the Manifesto, why do Marx and Engels advocate supporting the bourgeoisie in Germany when it acts in a revolutionary way, instead of advocating direct support of the proletariat in its class struggle
Lehrman American Studies Center at ISI
Home > Catalog > Communist Manifesto
ARTICLE
Communist Manifesto
| Authors: | Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels |
| Publication Info: | The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, New York, 1978), 469-500 |
The Communist Manifesto is the commonly-known name of "The Manifesto of the Communist Party" written by Karl Marx and Friederich Engles. It was published on February 21, 1848 and was commission by the Commmunist League. The Manifesto calls for a program of a proletarian evolution that abolishes private property to lead eventually to a classeless and stateless society.
The work itself is divided into five sections: 1) a preamble to make explicit communist ideas to the public; 2) "bourgeois and proletarians" which describes history as class strugle and the contradictions within capitalism; 3) "proletarians and communists" that makes no fundamental distinctions between the two classes and outlines ten main ideas of the communist program; 4) "socialist and communist literature" that criticizes non-Marxist socialist theories; and 5) "position of the communists in relation to the various existing opposition parties" calls for a world-wide social revolution.
The ten main ideas of the communist program are as follows:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production et al.
Gabriel Martinez on Dec 16, 2008
Gabriel Martinez on Dec 16, 2008
For Further Reflection
- Is it possible to define human needs, values, and goals outside the material conditions of a society?
- How could a historical process, governed not by ideals but by the clash of materially contending interests ("the class struggle"), lead to a morally desirable result?
Lee Trepanier on Dec 16, 2008
One of the best way to introduce students to The Communist Manifesto is to have them develop an outline of Marx's and Engel's argument. I usually divide the work into the four main sections: 1) bourgeois and proletarians; 2) proletarians and communists; 3) socialist and communist literature; and 4) the communists' position in relation to other oppositional parties. For each of these sections, the student is to provide definitions, analyze the assumptions, and outline the argument. The next step is to have the students compare their outlines with one another to see who best understood the argument of The Communist Manifesto. After this close reading of the text, students are able to apply the Marx's and Engel's ideas to case studies to see whether these ideas are feasible.
Carolyn Garris on Dec 16, 2008
From Robert Ingram's syllabus:
How did Marx and Engels explain the development of human history?