Marx was ordered to leave Paris in 1845 due to his diverse political thoughts. This prompted him to move to Brussels where he set up a network of revolutionary groups called the Communist Correspondence Committees, which later with the help of Engels formed the Communist League. This lead to the publication in London, of the Communist Manifesto (1848) written by Marx, declaring the principles and objectives of the Communist League. Engels called this manifesto “the worker’s bible”. The Manifesto is divided in four pieces, starting with the introduction, “a spector is haunting Europe – the spector is communism,” which suggests Marx feels in time communism will spread throughout Europe. The theme of the manifesto, later explained in his Critique of Political Economy (1859), is of the history of struggles between exploiting and exploited, that is between ruling and oppressed social classes. Marx concluded that the proletariat would overthrow the capitalist class, leaving a worldwide classless society, with the defeat of the bourgeoisie. To make this happen Marx knew that the ownership of private property needed to be abolished as with the ideology of capitalism. This would leave after a revolution, economic production in the hands of the state, that being the proletariat, and because ownership will now be in common with all, class distinctions will begin to disappear, with the last line of the manifesto being “Workers of All Countries, Unite!”
The Manifesto is very clear on Marx’s materialist view of history, and today has become the most widely read of all his works, despite it having very little effect when it was first published.
After the Communist Manifesto was published, revolutions occurred in France and Germany, and with the Belgium government fearful of this, decided to banish Marx. This enabled Marx to return to Cologne and restart the newspaper he was once editor of, and he began to organise communist activities through the newspaper. In 1849 Marx was arrested and tried in Cologne on a charge of inciting armed rebellion. He was acquitted but expelled from Germany, and later in the same year France. He then spent the remainder of his life in London.
In England Marx continued to study and write in an effort to build an international communist movement. During this time he wrote a number of works that are considered classics in communist theory, including possibly his greatest work, Das Kapital. This is a historical analysis of the economy of a capitalist society, and how the idea of exploitation of the working class through the use of the “surplus value” is used. This “surplus value” is when a worker has done enough work to provide for his family, but must continue to work and produce for the benefit of the employer.
Marx’s next work was called The Civil War in France, which analysed the short-lived government in Paris established during the Franco-German War. Marx told how it was necessary for the workers to seize political power by force and then destroy the capitalist state. This was known as the Commune of Paris and was established on March 17th 1871, and was said to be “a new starting point of the greatest importance for world history,” by Marx himself. The people of Paris led an uprising against the national government and established a proletarian dictatorship, called the Central Committee of the National Guard. The Commune proposed many measures for the benefit of workers. However, before this came into effect, the National Assembly sent troops into Paris to suppress the revolt, before the Commune eventually fell on May 28th 1871.
When the communist League dissolved in 1852, Marx remained in contact with revolutionists across the world with the idea of forming another revolutionary organization. This led to the establishment of the First International in London in 1864. Marx directed this organisation, but after the collapse of the Commune of Paris, the First International fell into decline.
In his last years, Marx had planned a fourth volume of Das Kapital but died in London on March 14th 1883, before having time to complete his works.
Marx’s influence during his life was not great, however “historically speaking, Marxist orthodoxy has been identified with such names as Lenin, Castro, and Mao Tse-Tung.” His ideas have become known as Marxism, which is today one of the contemporary political thoughts. His theories of historical materialism, the class struggle, and surplus value have become core principles in the socialist doctrine. Marxism makes sense on the surface but in a modern society with so many commodities it is impossible to implement. These doctrines were revised after his death in the 20th century by Lenin and have made Karl Marx one of the most important political thinkers in history, which along with Engels is the reason socialism, is where it is today. This makes “Marxism, in one form or another, an inescapable intellectual force almost everywhere in the modern world.”
Bibliography
Essentialism in the thought of Karl Marx, Scott Meikle, first published in 1985 by Gerald Duckworth and Co Ltd.
Karl Marx, Werner Blumberg, first published by Rowohlt, 1962. Unwin Brothers Limited Working and London.
The Philosophy of Marx, William Leon McBride, 1977 Hutchinson and Co (Publishers) Ltd.
Marx’s Theory of History, William H Shaw 1978, Hutchinson and Co (Publishers) Ltd.
Microsoft Encarta ®
Karl Marx, Ancestors, Family Life and School, page 7 Werner Blumberg 1962
Karl Marx, The Power of New Ideas, page 95 Werner Blumberg 1962
Engels The Unfinished Life Work, page 165 Werner Blumberg 1962
Karl Marx, “Communist Manifesto”, Microsoft ® Encarta.
The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx 1848
Marx’s Theory of History, William H Shaw 1978 page 158, Hutchinson and Co Ltd.
The Philosophy of Marx, William Leon McBride 1997 page 7, Prof of Philosophy, Purdue University, USA.
Essentialism in the Thought of Karl Marx, Scott Meikle, page 164, 1985, Gerald Duckworth Ltd.
