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The Communist Manifesto

Political pamphlet by Marx and Engels outlining class struggle and communism.

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It argues that capitalism exploits the proletariat and predicts a revolution leading to a classless communist society.[1] The text is divided into a preamble and four sections, beginning with the famous line "A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of communism".[2]

Making and release

In spring 1847, Marx and Engels joined the League of the Just, which tasked Engels with drafting a programme document.[3] After criticizing Moses Hess's version, Engels wrote the Principles of Communism, still in catechism style but with 25 questions.[4] On 23 November 1847, Engels wrote to Marx suggesting they abandon the catechism format for a manifesto.[5] Marx engaged in "ceaseless procrastination" after returning to Brussels, working only intermittently on the text.[6]

It was anonymously published in late February 1848 as a 23-page German pamphlet with a dark-green cover.[7] During the League of the Just's First Congress in June 1847, Engels was asked to prepare a "Creed" document, and he rapidly composed the "Draft of a Communist Confession of Faith" using a question-and-answer structure reminiscent of a catechism.[3] At the November 1847 Congress in London, the Communist League gave Marx and Engels the task of creating a comprehensive program.[8][9] The entire composition of the Manifesto took between six and seven weeks, and Marx alone wrote the final version.[10]

What the cited sources add

Engels wrote in the 1890 German edition preface that the Manifesto's manuscript went to London for printing a few weeks before the February 1848 Revolution.[8] The French version first appeared in Paris shortly before the June 1848 insurrection, according to Engels's 1890 preface.[8] The same source notes both the Manifesto and Das Kapital are UNESCO World Heritage documents.[11] A London Review of Books critic described a Verso edition as a "stylish red-ribboned edition" designed as a "sweet keepsake, an exquisite collector's item".[12][13]

According to a 2018 article on deutschland.de, the Manifesto has sold roughly 500 million copies, placing it among the four most purchased books ever.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marx Engels 1977, p. [https://archive.org/details/communistmanifestomarxengels/page/n33/mode/2up?q=constantly 38–9]; Marx Engels 1977, p. [https://archive.org/details/communistmanifestomarxengels/page/n33/mode/2up?q=constantly 38–9] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marx Engels 1977, p. [https://archive.org/details/communistmanifestomarxengels/page/n33/mode/2up?q=constantly 38–9]; "Letters", July 13, 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hobsbawm 2011, p. 101; Laski 1948, p. 24 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Laski 1948, p. 24; Struik 1971, p. 163; Miéville 2022, p. 50 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: : Excerpt from Engels letter to Marx: "I believe that the best thing is to do away with the catechism form and give the thing the title: Communist Manifesto. We; "Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Selected Correspondence, 1846–1895, with explanatory notes", International Publishers, 1942, p. 20 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wheen, "Karl Marx: A Life", W. W. Norton & Co., 2000, p. 118 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bosmajian, "A Rhetorical Approach to the Communist Manifesto", dalspace.library.dal.ca (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Engels, "The 1890 German Edition Preface", 1 May 1890. facts only, no text reused. marxists.org
  9. Engels, "The 1883 German Edition Preface", Marxists Internet Archive, June 28, 1883. facts only, no text reused. marxists.org
  10. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Engels, "The 1883 German Edition Preface", Marxists Internet Archive, June 28, 1883 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Seven facts about Karl Marx", www.deutschland.de, 27 April 2018. facts only, no text reused. deutschland.de
  12. Holmes, "The End of Idiocy on a Planetary Scale", 29 October 1998. facts only, no text reused. lrb.co.uk
  13. Wikipedia, "The Communist Manifesto" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Holmes, "The End of Idiocy on a Planetary Scale", 29 October 1998; "Seven facts about Karl Marx", www.deutschland.de, 27 April 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article The Communist Manifesto (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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