Editing The Communist Manifesto

{{Short description|1848 political pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = The Communist Manifesto
| image             = communist-manifesto.png
| caption           = First edition in German
| author            = {{ubl|[[Karl Marx]]|[[Friedrich Engels]]}}
| translator        = [[Samuel Moore (translator)|Samuel Moore]]
| country           = United Kingdom
| language          = [[German language|German]]
| genre             = Philosophy
| release_date      = 21 February 1848
| wikisource        = Manifesto of the Communist Party
| alt               = A decorative border and ornate text reading "Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei." on darker-than-white paper.
}}

{{Marxism sidebar}}
'''''The Communist Manifesto''''' ({{langx|de|Das Kommunistische Manifest|links=no}}), originally the '''''Manifesto of the Communist Party''''' ({{langx|de|Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei|label=none}}), is a political [[pamphlet]] written by [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]], commissioned by the [[Communist League]] and originally published in London in 1848. The text is the first and most systematic attempt by Marx and Engels to codify for wide consumption the [[Historical materialism|historical materialist]] idea that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of [[Class conflict|class struggles]]", in which [[social class]]es are defined by the relationship of people to the [[means of production]]. Published amid the [[Revolutions of 1848]] in Europe, the [[Party manifesto|manifesto]] remains one of the world's most influential political documents.

Marx and Engels combine [[philosophical materialism]] with the [[Hegelian dialectic|Hegelian dialectical]] method in order to analyze the development of European society through its [[Mode of production|modes of production]], including [[primitive communism]], [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]], [[feudalism]], and [[capitalism]], noting the emergence of a new, dominant class at each stage. The text outlines the relationship between the means of production, [[relations of production]], [[Productive forces|forces of production]], and the mode of production, and posits that changes in society's economic [[Base and superstructure|"base" affect changes in its "superstructure"]]. Marx and Engels assert that capitalism is marked by the [[Exploitation of labour|exploitation]] of the [[proletariat]] ([[working class]] of [[wage labour]]ers) by the ruling [[bourgeoisie]], which is "constantly revolutionising the instruments [and] relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society". They argue that capital's need for a flexible labour force dissolves the old relations, and that its global expansion in search of new markets creates "a world after its own image".

The ''Manifesto'' concludes that capitalism does not offer humanity the possibility of [[self-realization]], instead ensuring that humans are perpetually stunted and [[Marx's theory of alienation|alienated]]. It theorizes that capitalism will bring about its own destruction by polarizing and unifying the proletariat, and predicts that a revolution will lead to the emergence of [[communism]], a [[classless society]] in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all". Marx and Engels propose the following transitional policies: the abolition of [[private property]] in land and [[inheritance]]; introduction of a [[Progressive tax|progressive income tax]]; confiscation of rebels' property; [[Nationalization|nationalisation]] of [[credit]], communication, and transport; expansion and integration of industry and agriculture; enforcement of universal obligation of labour; and provision of [[Universal access to education|universal education]] and abolition of [[child labour]]. The text ends with three decisive sentences, reworked and popularized into the famous call for solidarity, the slogan "[[Workers of the world, unite!]] You have nothing to lose but your chains".

==Overview==
''The Communist Manifesto'' is divided into a preamble and four sections. The introduction begins: "A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of [[communism]]."{{Sfn|Marx|Engels|1977|p=[https://archive.org/details/communistmanifestomarxengels/page/n29/mode/2up 34]}} Pointing out that it was widespread for politicians—both those in government and those in the opposition—to label their opponents as communists, the authors infer that those in power acknowledge communism to be a power in itself. Subsequently, the introduction exhorts communists to openly publish their views and aims, which is the very function of the manifesto.{{Sfn|Marx|Engels|1977|p=34}}

The first section of the ''Manifesto'', "Bourgeois and Proletarians",{{Sfn|Marx|Engels|1977|pp=35-48}} outlines [[historical materialism]], and states that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles".{{Sfn|Marx|Engels|1977|p=[https://archive.org/details/communistmanifestomarxengels/page/n31/mode/2up 35]}} According to the authors, all societies in history had taken the form of an oppressed majority exploited by an oppressive minority. In Marx and Engels' time, they say that under [[capitalism]], the industrial [[working class]], or '[[proletariat]]', engages in [[class struggle]] against the owners of the [[means of production]], the '[[bourgeoisie]]'.{{Sfn|Marx|Engels|1977|p=36}} The bourgeoisie, through the "constant revolutionising of production [and] uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions" have emerged as the supreme class in society, displacing all the old powers of [[feudalism]].{{Sfn|Marx|Engels|1977|pp=36-7}} The bourgeoisie constantly exploits the proletariat for its [[labour power]], creating profit for themselves and accumulating capital. In doing so, however, Marx and Engels describe the bourgeoisie as serving as "its own grave-diggers"; as they believe the proletariat will inevitably become conscious of their own potential and rise to power through revolution, overthrowing the bourgeoisie.

"Proletarians and Communists", the second section, starts by stating the relationship of 'conscious communists' (i.e., those who identify as communists) to the rest of the working class. The communists' party will not oppose other working-class parties, but unlike them, it will express the [[general will]] and defend the common interests of the world's proletariat as a whole, independent of all nationalities. The section goes on to defend communism from various objections, including claims that it advocates communal prostitution or disincentivises people from working. The section ends by outlining a set of short-term demands—among them a [[progressive income tax]]; abolition of inheritances and [[private property]]; abolition of [[child labour]]; free [[public education]]; nationalisation of the means of transport and communication; centralisation of credit via a national bank; expansion of publicly owned land, etc.—the implementation of which is argued would result in the precursor to a stateless and [[classless society]].

The third section, "Socialist and Communist Literature", distinguishes communism from other socialist doctrines prevalent at the time—these being broadly categorised as [[Paternalistic conservatism|Reactionary Socialism]]; Conservative or [[Bourgeois socialism|Bourgeois Socialism]]; and [[Utopian socialism|Critical-Utopian Socialism]] and Communism. While the degree of reproach toward rival perspectives varies, all are dismissed for advocating [[reformism]] and failing to recognise the pre-eminent revolutionary role of the working class.

"Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Opposition Parties", the concluding section of the ''Manifesto'', briefly discusses the communist position on struggles in specific countries in the mid-nineteenth century such as in France, Switzerland, Poland, and lastly Germany, which is said to be "on the eve of a bourgeois revolution" and predicts that a [[world revolution]] will soon follow. It ends by declaring an alliance with the [[The Mountain (1849)|democratic socialist]]s, boldly supporting other communist revolutions and calling for united international proletarian action—"[[Workers of the world, unite!|Working Men of All Countries, Unite!]]"

==Writing==
[[File:Iishmarx.jpg|thumb|upright|Only surviving page from the first draft of the ''Manifesto'', handwritten by [[Karl Marx]]]]
In spring 1847, Marx and Engels joined the [[League of the Just]], who were quickly convinced by the duo's ideas of "critical communism". At its First Congress in 2–9 June, the League tasked Engels with drafting a "profession of faith", but such a document was later deemed inappropriate for an open, non-confrontational organisation. Engels nevertheless wrote the "Draft of a Communist Confession of Faith", detailing the League's programme. A few months later, in October, Engels arrived at the League's Paris branch to find that [[Moses Hess]] had written an inadequate manifesto for the group, now called the [[Communist League|League of Communists]]. In Hess's absence, Engels severely criticised this manifesto, and convinced the rest of the League to entrust him with drafting a new one. This became the draft ''[[Principles of Communism]]'', described as "less of a credo and more of an exam paper".

On 23 November, just before the Communist League's Second Congress (29 November – 8 December 1847), Engels wrote to Marx, expressing his desire to eschew the [[catechism]] format in favour of the manifesto, because he felt it "must contain some history." On the 28th, Marx and Engels met at [[Ostend]] in [[Belgium]], and a few days later, gathered at the [[Soho]], London headquarters of the German Workers' Education Association to attend the Congress. Over the next ten days, intense debate raged between League functionaries; Marx eventually dominated the others and, overcoming "stiff and prolonged opposition",<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Laski |first=Harold |author-link=Harold Laski|encyclopedia=Communist Manifesto: Socialist Landmark |title=Introduction |year=1948 |publisher=[[George Allen and Unwin]] |page=22}}</ref> in [[Harold Laski]]'s words, secured a majority for his programme. The League thus unanimously adopted a far more combative resolution than that at the First Congress in June. Marx (especially) and Engels were subsequently commissioned to draw up a manifesto for the League.

Upon returning to Brussels, Marx engaged in "ceaseless procrastination", according to his biographer [[Francis Wheen]]. Working only intermittently on the ''Manifesto'', he spent much of his time delivering lectures on [[political economy]] at the German Workers' Education Association, writing articles for the ''{{ill|Deutsche-Brüsseler-Zeitung|de}}'', and giving a long speech on [[free trade]]. Following this, he even spent a week (17–26 January 1848) in Ghent to establish a branch of the Democratic Association there. Subsequently, having not heard from Marx for nearly two months, the Central Committee of the Communist League sent him an ultimatum on 24 or 26 January, demanding he submit the completed manuscript by 1 February. This imposition spurred Marx on, who struggled to work without a deadline, and he seems to have rushed to finish the job in time. For evidence of this, historian [[Eric Hobsbawm]] points to the absence of rough drafts, only one page of which survives.<ref>Introduction of {{cite book |last1=Engels |first1=Friedrich |last2=Marx |first2=Karl |date=1998 |title=The Communist Manifesto: A Modern Edition |location=London |publisher=Verso |isbn=9781844678761}} Or that introduction as chap. 5 of {{cite book |last=Hobsbawm |first=Eric |date=2011 |title=How to Change the World |publisher=Yale University Press |page=102 |isbn=9780300176162 |ref=none}}</ref>

In all, the ''Manifesto'' was written over 6–7 weeks. Although Engels is credited as co-writer, the final draft was penned exclusively by Marx. From the 26 January letter, Laski infers that even the Communist League considered Marx to be the sole draftsman and that he was merely their agent, imminently replaceable. Further, Engels himself wrote in 1883: "The basic thought running through the ''Manifesto'' [...] belongs solely and exclusively to Marx". Although Laski does not disagree, he suggests that Engels underplays his own contribution with characteristic modesty and points out the "close resemblance between its substance and that of the [''Principles of Communism'']". Laski argues that while writing the ''Manifesto'', Marx drew from the "joint stock of ideas" he developed with Engels "a kind of intellectual bank account upon which either could draw freely".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Laski |first=Harold |author-link=Harold Laski|encyclopedia=Communist Manifesto: Socialist Landmark |title=Introduction |year=1948 |publisher=[[George Allen and Unwin]] |page=26}}</ref>

==Publication==
===Initial publication and obscurity, 1848–1872===
[[File:Ereignisblatt aus den revolutionären Märztagen 18.-19. März 1848 mit einer Barrikadenszene aus der Breiten Strasse, Berlin 01.jpg|thumb|A scene from the German [[German revolutions of 1848–1849|March 1848 Revolution]] in Berlin]]
In late February 1848, the ''Manifesto'' was anonymously published by the Communist Workers' Educational Association (''Kommunistischer Arbeiterbildungsverein''), based at 46 Liverpool Street, in the [[Bishopsgate|Bishopsgate Without]] area of the [[City of London]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bosmajian |first=Haig A. |title=A RHETORICAL APPROACH TO THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO |url=https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/62745/dalrev_vol43_iss4_pp457_468.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=dalspace.library.dal.ca}}</ref> Written in German, the 23-page pamphlet was titled ''Manifest der kommunistischen Partei'' and had a dark-green cover. It was reprinted three times and serialised in the ''Deutsche Londoner Zeitung'', a newspaper for German ''émigré''s. On 4 March, one day after the serialisation in the ''Zeitung'' began, Marx was expelled by Belgian police. Two weeks later, around 20 March, a thousand copies of the ''Manifesto'' reached Paris, and from there to Germany in early April. In April–May the text was corrected for printing and punctuation mistakes; Marx and Engels would use this 30-page version as the basis for future editions of the ''Manifesto''.

Although the ''Manifesto''{{'}}s prelude announced that it was "to be published in the English, French, German, Italian, Flemish and Danish languages", the initial printings were only in German. Polish and Danish translations soon followed the German original in London, and by the end of 1848, a Swedish translation was published with a new title—''The Voice of Communism: Declaration of the Communist Party''. In November 1850 the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' was published in English for the first time when [[George Julian Harney]] serialised [[Helen Macfarlane]]'s translation in his [[Chartism|Chartist]] newspaper ''[[The Red Republican]]''. Her version begins: "A frightful hobgoblin stalks throughout Europe. We are haunted by a ghost, the ghost of Communism".<ref>[[Louise Yeoman|Yeoman, Louise]]. "[http://bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-20475989 Helen McFarlane – the radical feminist admired by Karl Marx] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402170218/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-20475989|date=2 April 2015}}". [[BBC Scotland]]. 25 November 2012.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Usher|first=Robert J.|date=1910|title=The Bibliography of The Communist Manifesto|journal=Papers|volume=5|pages=109–114|jstor=24306239}}</ref> For her translation, the [[Lancashire]]-based Macfarlane probably consulted Engels, who had abandoned his own English translation half way. Harney's introduction revealed the ''Manifesto''{{'}}s hitherto-anonymous authors' identities for the first time.

[[File:1852 Der Koelner Kommunistenprozess.jpg|thumb|left|Immediately after the [[Cologne Communist Trial]] of late 1852, the [[Communist League]] disbanded itself.]]
A French translation of the ''Manifesto'' was published just before the working-class [[June Days Uprising]] was crushed. Its influence in the Europe-wide [[Revolutions of 1848]] was restricted to [[German revolutions of 1848–1849|Germany]], where the [[Cologne]]-based Communist League and its newspaper ''[[Neue Rheinische Zeitung]]'', edited by Marx, played an important role. Within a year of its establishment, in May 1849, the ''Zeitung'' was suppressed; Marx was expelled from Germany and had to seek lifelong refuge in London. In 1851, members of the Communist League's central board were arrested by the [[Prussian Secret Police]]. At their [[Cologne Communist Trial|trial in Cologne]] 18 months later in late 1852 they were sentenced to 3–6 years' imprisonment. For Engels, the revolution was "forced into the background by the reaction that began with the [[June Days uprising|defeat of the Paris workers]] in June 1848, and was finally excommunicated 'by law' in the conviction of the Cologne Communists in November 1852".

After the defeat of the 1848 revolutions the ''Manifesto'' fell into obscurity, where it remained throughout the 1850s and 1860s. Hobsbawm says that by November 1850 the ''Manifesto'' "had become sufficiently scarce for Marx to think it worth reprinting section III [...] in the last issue of his [short-lived] London magazine". Over the next two decades only a few new editions were published; these include an (unauthorised and occasionally inaccurate) 1869 Russian translation by [[Mikhail Bakunin]] in [[Geneva]] and an 1866 edition in [[Berlin]]—the first time the ''Manifesto'' was published in Germany. According to Hobsbawm: "By the middle 1860s virtually nothing that Marx had written in the past was any longer in print". However, [[John Cowell-Stepney]] did publish an abridged version in the ''Social Economist'' in August/September 1869,<ref name="DL">{{cite book|last1=Leopold|first1=David|editor1-last=Carver|editor1-first=Terrell|editor2-last=Farr|editor2-first=James|title=The Cambridge Companion to The Communist Manifesto|article=Marx Engels and Other Socialisms|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge}}</ref> in time for the [[Basle Congress (1869)|Basle Congress]].

===Rise, 1872–1917===
In the early 1870s, the ''Manifesto'' and its authors experienced a revival in fortunes. Hobsbawm identifies three reasons for this. The first is the leadership role Marx played in the [[International Workingmen's Association]] (aka the First International). Secondly, Marx also came into much prominence among socialists—and equal notoriety among the authorities—for his support of the [[Paris Commune]] of 1871, elucidated in ''[[The Civil War in France]]''. Lastly, and perhaps most significantly in the popularisation of the ''Manifesto'', was the treason trial of the [[Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany]] (SDAP) leaders. During the trial prosecutors read the ''Manifesto'' out loud as evidence; this meant that the pamphlet could legally be published in Germany. Thus in 1872 Marx and Engels rushed out a new German-language edition, writing a preface that identified that several portions that became outdated in the quarter century since its original publication. This edition was also the first time the title was shortened to ''The Communist Manifesto'' (''Das Kommunistische Manifest''), and it became the version the authors based future editions upon. Between 1871 and 1873, the ''Manifesto'' was published in over nine editions in six languages; on 30 December 1871 it was published in the United States for the first time in ''[[Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly]]'' of [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marx |first1=Karl |last2=Engels |first2=Frederick |title=German Communism – Manifesto of the German Communist Party |journal=Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly |date=30 December 1871 |volume=04 |issue=7 |pages=3–7, 12–13 |url=http://communalsocieties.hamilton.edu/islandora/object/hamLibCom%3A43713#page/1/mode/1up}}</ref> However, by the mid 1870s the ''Communist Manifesto'' remained Marx and Engels' only work to be even moderately well-known.

Over the next forty years, as [[Social democracy|social-democratic parties]] rose across Europe and parts of the world, so did the publication of the ''Manifesto'' alongside them, in hundreds of editions in thirty languages. Marx and Engels wrote a new preface for the 1882 Russian edition, translated by [[Georgi Plekhanov]] in Geneva. In it they wondered if Russia could directly become a [[communist society]], or if she would become capitalist first like other European countries. After Marx's death in 1883, Engels provided the prefaces for five editions between 1888 and 1893. Among these is the 1888 English edition, translated by [[Samuel Moore (translator of Das Kapital)|Samuel Moore]] and approved by Engels, who also provided notes throughout the text. It has been the standard English-language edition ever since.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Thomas H. |date=July 2021 |title=Atmospheric Late Romanticism: Babbage, Marx, Ruskin |url=https://doi.org/10.3366/rom.2021.0508 |journal=Romanticism |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=187-200 |quote=...and which Samuel Moore, the translator of the now standard anglophone edition of The Communist Manifesto... |via=[[Edinburgh University Press]]}}</ref>

The principal region of its influence, in terms of editions published, was in the "central belt of Europe", from Russia in the east to France in the west. In comparison, the pamphlet had little impact on politics in [[Southwest Europe|southwest]] and [[southeast Europe]], and moderate presence in the north. Outside Europe, Chinese and Japanese translations were published, as were Spanish editions in Latin America. The first [[Chinese language|Chinese]] edition of the book was translated by [[Zhu Zhixin (revolutionary)|Zhu Zhixin]] after the [[1905 Russian Revolution]] in a [[Tongmenghui]] newspaper along with articles on socialist movements in Europe, North America, and Japan.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-communism/B9C5FA2BB979884CAC7E9EFEB6B70439|title=The Cambridge History of Communism: Volume 1: World Revolution and Socialism in One Country 1917–1941|date=2017|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-09284-6|editor-last=Pons|editor-first=Silvio|series=The Cambridge History of Communism|volume=1|location=Cambridge|doi=10.1017/9781316137024|editor-last2=Smith|editor-first2=Stephen A.}}</ref> This uneven geographical spread in the ''Manifesto''{{'}}s popularity reflected the development of socialist movements in a particular region as well as the popularity of Marxist variety of socialism there. There was not always a strong correlation between a social-democratic party's strength and the ''Manifesto''{{'}}s popularity in that country. For instance, the German SPD printed only a few thousand copies of the ''Communist Manifesto'' every year, but a few hundred thousand copies of the ''[[Erfurt Programme]]''. Further, the mass-based social-democratic parties of the [[Second International]] did not require their rank and file to be well-versed in theory; Marxist works such as the ''Manifesto'' or {{Lang|de|[[Das Kapital]]}} were read primarily by party theoreticians. On the other hand, small, dedicated militant parties and Marxist sects in the West took pride in knowing the theory; Hobsbawm says: "This was the milieu in which 'the clearness of a comrade could be gauged invariably from the number of earmarks on his Manifesto{{' "}}.

===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 ===
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=== Materialist conception of history ===
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=== Rise of the bourgeoisie ===
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=== Proletarian revolution ===
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=== Language and terminology ===
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=== Relevant and obsolete aspects ===
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=== Sources ===
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==Legacy==
{{quote box|width=23em|"With the clarity and brilliance of genius, this work outlines a new world-conception, consistent materialism, which also embraces the realm of social life; dialectics, as the most comprehensive and profound doctrine of development; the theory of the class struggle and of the world-historic revolutionary role of the proletariat—the creator of a new, communist society."|—[[Vladimir Lenin]] on the ''Manifesto'', 1914<ref>''[[Marx/Engels Collected Works]]'', Volume 6, p. xxvi.</ref>}}
A number of late-20th- and 21st-century writers have commented on the ''Communist Manifesto''{{'}}s continuing relevance. In a special issue of the ''[[Socialist Register]]'' commemorating the ''Manifesto''{{'}}s 150th anniversary, [[Peter Osborne (writer and academic)|Peter Osborne]] argued that it was "the single most influential text written in the nineteenth century".<ref>Osborne, Peter. 1998. "Remember the Future? The Communist Manifesto as Historical and Cultural Form" in Panitch, Leo and Colin Leys, Eds., ''The Communist Manifesto Now: Socialist Register, 1998'' London: Merlin Press, p. 170. Available online from the [http://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/issue/view/434#.Vk5TIXhvlFU Socialist Register] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120085120/http://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/issue/view/434#.Vk5TIXhvlFU |date=20 November 2015 }} archives. Retrieved November 2015.</ref> Academic John Raines in 2002 noted: "In our day this Capitalist Revolution has reached the farthest corners of the earth. The tool of money has produced the miracle of the new global market and the ubiquitous shopping mall. Read ''The Communist Manifesto'', written more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and you will discover that Marx foresaw it all".<ref>Raines, John (2002). "Introduction". ''Marx on Religion'' (Marx, Karl). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 5.</ref> In 2003, English Marxist [[Chris Harman]] stated: "There is still a compulsive quality to its prose as it provides insight after insight into the society in which we live, where it comes from and where it's going to. It is still able to explain, as mainstream economists and sociologists cannot, today's world of recurrent wars and repeated economic crisis, of hunger for hundreds of millions on the one hand and '[[overproduction]]' on the other. There are passages that could have come from the most recent writings on globalisation".<ref>Harman, Chris (2010). "The Manifesto and the World of 1848". ''The Communist Manifesto'' (Marx, Karl and Engels, Friedrich). Bloomsbury, London: Bookmarks. p. 3.</ref> [[Alex Callinicos]], editor of ''[[International Socialism (magazine)|International Socialism]]'', stated in 2010: "This is indeed a manifesto for the 21st century".<ref>Callinicos, Alex (2010). "The Manifesto and the Crisis Today". ''The Communist Manifesto'' (Marx, Karl and Engels, Friedrich). Bloomsbury, London: Bookmarks. p. 8.</ref> Writing in ''[[The London Evening Standard]]'', Andrew Neather cited [[Verso Books]]' 2012 re-edition of ''The Communist Manifesto'' with an introduction by [[Eric Hobsbawm]] as part of a resurgence of left-wing-themed ideas which includes the publication of [[Owen Jones (writer)|Owen Jones]]' book ''[[Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class]]'' and [[Jason Barker]]'s documentary ''[[Marx Reloaded]]''.<ref name="The London Evening Standard">{{cite web | url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-marx-effect-7669766.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130114022733/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-marx-effect-7669766.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=14 January 2013 | title=The Marx effect | work=[[The London Evening Standard]] | date=23 April 2012 | access-date=8 May 2012 }}</ref>

[[File:Stamp Soviet Union 1948 CPA 1246.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Soviet Union stamp catalogue|Soviet Union stamp]] [[commemorative stamp|commemorating]] the 100th anniversary of the ''Manifesto'']]
In contrast, critics such as [[Revisionism (Marxism)|revisionist Marxist]] and reformist socialist [[Eduard Bernstein]] distinguished between "immature" early Marxism—as exemplified by ''The Communist Manifesto'' written by Marx and Engels in their youth—that he opposed for its violent [[Blanquism|Blanquist]] tendencies and later "mature" Marxism that he supported.<ref name="Steger, Manfred B. 1997. pg. 236-237">Steger, Manfred B. ''The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein And Social Democracy''. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. pp. 236–37.</ref> This latter form refers to Marx in his later life seemingly claiming that socialism, under certain circumstances, could be achieved through peaceful means through legislative reform in democratic societies.<ref>[[Micheline Ishay|Micheline R. Ishay]]. ''The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era. ''Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008. p. 148. {{ISBN?}}</ref> Bernstein declared that the massive and homogeneous working-class claimed in the ''Communist Manifesto'' did not exist, and that contrary to claims of a proletarian majority emerging, the middle-class was growing under capitalism and not disappearing as Marx had claimed. Marx himself, later in his life, acknowledged that the [[middle-class|Petite bourgeoisie]] was not disappearing in his work ''[[Theories of Surplus Value]]'' (1863). The obscurity of the later work means that Marx's acknowledgement of this error is not well known.<ref>Michael Harrington. ''Socialism: Past and Future''. Reprint edition of original published in 1989. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2011. pp. 249–250. {{ISBN?}}</ref> [[George Boyer]] described the ''Manifesto'' as "very much a period piece, a document of what was called the 'hungry' 1840s".<ref name = "Boyer 1998 151">{{Harvnb|Boyer|1998|p=151}}.</ref>

[[Hal Draper]] rejected Bernstein's arguments about the middle class, stating that the ''Manifesto'' actually notes that, although individual members of this class are being constantly proletarianized, the class 'limps on, in a more and more ruined state'.<ref>Draper, Hal (2010). "Special Note F. The Alleged Theory of the Disappearance of the Middle Classes". ''Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution (Volume 2): The Politics of Social Classes'' New York: Monthly Review Press. p. 618. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Many have drawn attention to the passage in the ''Manifesto'' that seems to sneer at the stupidity of the rustic: "The bourgeoisie [...] draws all nations [...] into civilisation[.] [...] It has created enormous cities [...] and thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy [sic] of rural life".<ref>The ''[sic!]'' is that of [[Joseph Schumpeter]]; see {{Harvnb|Schumpeter|1997|p=8 n2}}.</ref> However, as Eric Hobsbawm noted: {{blockquote|[W]hile there is no doubt that Marx at this time shared the usual townsman's contempt for, as well as ignorance of, the peasant milieu, the actual and analytically more interesting German phrase ("dem Idiotismus des Landlebens entrissen") referred not to "stupidity" but to "the narrow horizons", or "the isolation from the wider society" in which people in the countryside lived. It echoed the original meaning of the Greek term ''idiotes'' from which the current meaning of "idiot" or "idiocy" is derived, namely "a person concerned only with his own private affairs and not with those of the wider community". In the course of the decades since the 1840s, and in movements whose members, unlike Marx, were not classically educated, the original sense was lost and was misread.<ref name = "Hobsbawm 108">{{Harvnb|Hobsbawm|2011|p=108}}.</ref>}}In 2013, ''The Communist Manifesto'' was registered to [[UNESCO]]'s [[Memory of the World Programme]] along with Marx's ''[[Das Kapital, Volume I|Capital, Volume{{nbsp}}I]]''.<ref>[http://www.unesco.de/kommunikation/mow/mow-deutschland/kommunistisches-manifest.html "Schriften von Karl Marx: "Das Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei" (1948) und "Das Kapital", ernster Band (1867)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122235442/http://www.unesco.de/kommunikation/mow/mow-deutschland/kommunistisches-manifest.html|date=22 January 2016}}. [[UNESCO]].</ref>

==Influences==
Marx and Engels' [[Influences on Karl Marx|political influences]] were wide-ranging, reacting to and taking inspiration from [[German idealism|German idealist]] philosophy, [[French socialism]], and English and Scottish [[political economy]]. ''The Communist Manifesto'' also takes influence from literature. In [[Jacques Derrida]]'s work, ''[[Specters of Marx]]: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International'', he uses [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Hamlet]]'' to frame a discussion of the history of the International, showing in the process the influence that Shakespeare's work had on Marx and Engels' writing.<ref>Derrida, Jacques. "[https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/derrida2.htm What is Ideology?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710050818/https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/derrida2.htm |date=10 July 2017 }}" in ''Specters of Marx, the state of the debt, the Work of Mourning, & the New International'', translated by Peggy Kamuf, Routledge 1994.</ref> In his essay, "Big Leagues: Specters of Milton and Republican International Justice between Shakespeare and Marx", Christopher N. Warren makes the case that English poet [[John Milton]] also had a substantial influence on Marx and Engels' work.<ref>Warren, Christopher N (2016). "[https://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6VW8W Big Leagues: Specters of Milton and Republican International Justice between Shakespeare and Marx.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924094514/https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:12691/ |date=24 September 2020 }}" ''Humanity'', Vol. 7.</ref> Historians of 19th-century reading habits have confirmed that Marx and Engels would have read these authors and it is known that Marx loved Shakespeare in particular.<ref>Rose, Jonathan (2001). [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Intellectual_Life_of_the_British_Wor.html?id=3B-qbvQTYyEC ''The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828223904/https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Intellectual_Life_of_the_British_Wor.html?id=3B-qbvQTYyEC |date=28 August 2019 }}. pp. 26, 36–37, 122–125, 187.</ref><ref>Taylor, Antony (2002). "Shakespeare and Radicalism: The Uses and Abuses of Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century Popular Politics." ''Historical Journal 45'', no. 2. pp. 357–379.</ref><ref>Marx, Karl (1844). "[[On the Jewish Question]]."</ref> Milton, Warren argues, also shows a notable influence on ''The Communist Manifesto'', saying: "Looking back on Milton’s era, Marx saw a historical dialectic founded on inspiration in which freedom of the press, republicanism, and revolution were closely joined".<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6VW8W|doi = 10.17613/M6VW8W|title = Big Leagues: Specters of Milton and Republican International Justice between Shakespeare and Marx|journal = Humanity |year = 2016|volume = 7|issue = 3|pages = 365–389|last1 = Warren|first1 = Christopher}}</ref> Milton’s [[republicanism]], Warren continues, served as "a useful, if unlikely, bridge" as Marx and Engels sought to forge a revolutionary international coalition. The ''Manifesto'' also makes reference to the "revolutionary" antibourgeois social criticism of [[Thomas Carlyle]], whom Engels had read as early as May 1843.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Demetz |first=Peter |url=https://archive.org/details/marxengelspoetso0000deme |title=Marx, Engels, and the Poets: Origins of Marxist Literary Criticism |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=1967 |edition=Revised |location=Chicago & London |pages=37 |translator-last=Sammons |translator-first=Jeffrey L. |chapter=Economics and Intellect: Thomas Carlyle |author-link=Peter Demetz |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zenzinger |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Nvdx-4-CzoC |title=The Carlyle Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Fairleigh Dickinson University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=9780838637920 |editor-last=Cumming |editor-first=Mark |location=Madison and Teaneck, NJ |pages=149–150 |chapter=Engels, Friedrich |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zenzinger |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Nvdx-4-CzoC |title=The Carlyle Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Fairleigh Dickinson University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=9780838637920 |editor-last=Cumming |editor-first=Mark |location=Madison and Teaneck, NJ |pages=310 |chapter=Marx, Karl |url-access=limited}}</ref>
{{Portal|Communism}}

==Editions==
* {{cite book |first1=Karl |last1=Marx |first2=Friedrich |last2=Engels |date=1977 |orig-date=1848 |url=https://archive.org/details/communistmanifestomarxengels/ |title=Manifesto of the Communist Party |location=Moscow |publisher=Progress |edition=2nd revised}}
* {{cite book |first1=Karl |last1=Marx |first2=Friedrich |last2=Engels |date=2004 |orig-date=1848 |url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf |title=Manifesto of the Communist Party |publisher=[[Marxists Internet Archive]] |access-date=14 March 2015 |ref=none}}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* Adoratsky, V. (1938). ''The History of the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels''. New York: International Publishers.
* {{cite journal|last=Boyer|first=George R.|author-link=George Boyer|year=1998|title=The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto|journal=[[Journal of Economic Perspectives]]|volume=12|issue=4|pages=151–174|jstor=2646899|doi=10.1257/jep.12.4.151|citeseerx=10.1.1.673.9426}}
* {{cite book|last=Hobsbawm|first=Eric|author-link=Eric Hobsbawm|year=2011|chapter=On the ''Communist Manifesto''|title=How To Change The World|publisher=[[Little, Brown]]|pages=101–120|isbn=978-1-408-70287-1}}
* Hunt, Tristram (2009). ''Marx's General: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels''. Metropolitan Books.
* {{cite book|last=Schumpeter|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Schumpeter|year=1997|orig-year=1952|title=Ten Great Economists: From Marx to Keynes|location=London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-11079-2}}
* {{cite journal|last=Schumpeter|first=Joseph A.|author-link=Joseph Schumpeter|title=''The Communist Manifesto'' in sociology and economics|journal=[[Journal of Political Economy]]|volume=57|issue=3|pages=199–212|date=June 1949|jstor=1826126|doi=10.1086/256806|s2cid=144457532}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* David Black, ''Helen Macfarlane: A Feminist, Revolutionary Journalist, and Philosopher in Mid-nineteenth-century England'', 2004. <small>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CjMhtCAWokYC&pg=PA91 Chapter 11: The Translation of ''The Communist Manifesto'']</small>
* Hal Draper, ''The Adventures of the Communist Manifesto.'' [1994] Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2020.
* Dirk J. Struik (ed.), ''Birth of the Communist Manifesto.'' New York: International Publishers, 1971.

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Manifesto of the Communist Party}}
{{Commons category|Communist Manifesto}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/karl-marx_friedrich-engels/the-communist-manifesto/samuel-moore}}
* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm ''The Communist Manifesto''] at the [[Marxists Internet Archive]]
* [https://archive.org/details/communistmanifestomarxengels ''Manifesto of the Communist Party''], an English-language translation by [[Progress Publishers]], in [[PDF]] format
* [http://ciml.250x.com/archive/marx_engels/me_languages.html ''The Communist Manifesto''] in 80 world languages
* ''[https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10859626?page=1 Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei : veröffentlicht im Februar 1848]'' Original 1848 edition in full colour scan
* {{librivox book|title=The Communist Manifesto}} 
* [https://labouraffairsmagazine.com/very-old-issues-images/magazines-010-to-019/magazine-018-xx/democracy-and-the-communist-manifesto/ Democracy and the Communist Manifesto]
* [http://spip.modkraft.dk/tidsskriftcentret/undersider/article/det-kommunistiske-manifest-in On the ''Communist Manifesto''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104002542/http://spip.modkraft.dk/tidsskriftcentret/undersider/article/det-kommunistiske-manifest-in |date=4 November 2016 }} at modkraft.dk (a collection of links to bibliographical and historical materials, and contemporary analyses)
* {{Gutenberg | no=61 | name=The Communist Manifesto }}

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