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===Ubiquity, 1917–present=== [[File:Kustodiev The Bolshevik.jpg|thumb|Following the [[October Revolution|1917 October Revolution]], Marx and Engels' classics like ''The Communist Manifesto'' were distributed far and wide.]] Following the [[October Revolution]] of 1917 that swept the [[Vladimir Lenin]]-led [[Bolsheviks]] to power in Russia, the world's first [[socialist state]] was founded explicitly along Marxist lines. The [[Soviet Union]], which [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Bolshevik Russia]] would become a part of, was a [[one-party state]] under the rule of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU). Unlike their mass-based counterparts of the Second International, the CPSU and other [[Vanguard party|Leninist parties]] like it in the [[Third International]] expected their members to know the classic works of Marx, Engels and Lenin. Further, party leaders were expected to base their policy decisions on [[Marxist–Leninist]] ideology. Therefore works such as the ''Manifesto'' were required reading for the party rank-and-file. Widespread dissemination of Marx and Engels' works became an important policy objective; backed by a sovereign state, the CPSU had relatively inexhaustible resources for this purpose. Works by Marx, Engels, and Lenin were published on a very large scale, and cheap editions of their works were available in several languages across the world. These publications were either shorter writings or they were compendia such as the various editions of Marx and Engels' ''Selected Works'', or their ''[[Marx/Engels Collected Works|Collected Works]]''. This affected the destiny of the ''Manifesto'' in several ways. Firstly, in terms of circulation; in 1932 the [[Communist Party USA|American]] and [[Communist Party of Great Britain|British Communist Parties]] printed several hundred thousand copies of a cheap edition for "probably the largest mass edition ever issued in English". Secondly the work entered political-science syllabuses in universities, which would only expand after the Second World War. For its centenary in 1948, its publication was no longer the exclusive domain of Marxists and academicians; general publishers too printed the ''Manifesto'' in large numbers. "In short, it was no longer only a classic Marxist document", Hobsbawm noted, "it had become a political classic tout court". Total sales have been estimated at 500 million, and one of the four best-selling books of all time.<ref>[https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/knowledge/200-years-of-karl-marx-seven-facts ''Seven facts about Karl Marx'']</ref> In 1920, the ''Communist Manifesto'' was printed and distributed in Chinese.<ref name=":RedInk">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Ying |title=Red Ink: A History of Printing and Politics in China |publisher=Royal Collins Press |year=2024 |isbn=9781487812737}}</ref>{{Rp|page=104}} [[Chen Wangdao]] is credited as translator of the first printing.<ref name=":RedInk" />{{Rp|page=106}} Even after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in the 1990s, the ''Communist Manifesto'' remains ubiquitous; Hobsbawm says that "In states without censorship, almost certainly anyone within reach of a good bookshop, and certainly anyone within reach of a good library, not to mention the internet, can have access to it". The 150th anniversary once again brought a deluge of attention in the press and the academia, as well as new editions of the book fronted by introductions to the text by academics. One of these, ''The Communist Manifesto: A Modern Edition'' by Verso, was touted by a critic in the ''[[London Review of Books]]'' as being a "stylish red-ribboned edition of the work. It is designed as a sweet keepsake, an exquisite collector's item. In Manhattan, a prominent [[Fifth Avenue]] store put copies of this choice new edition in the hands of shop-window mannequins, displayed in come-hither poses and fashionable [[décolletage]]".<!-- == Analysis == === Prose style === {{empty section|date=March 2015}} === Materialist conception of history === {{empty section|date=March 2015}} === Rise of the bourgeoisie === {{empty section|date=March 2015}} === Proletarian revolution === {{empty section|date=March 2015}} === Language and terminology === {{empty section|date=March 2015}} === Relevant and obsolete aspects === {{empty section|date=March 2015}} === Sources === {{empty section|date=March 2015}} -->
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