The abstract under analysis was taken from the manuscript written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848 and called “The Manifesto of the Communist Party”. This work in known as one of the most significant political writings as it explores the issue of class differences and struggle in the society that was especially meaningful during the 1840s-50s when the revolutions and uprisings started to take over the European countries. The authors of this manuscript provided their own explanation of the nature of the society, the gap between classes as its ever-present historical characteristic, and the predicted development and failure of the capitalist way of life.
“The Manifesto of the Communist Party” was written by two German philosophers driven by their materialist approach to the concepts of society and politics. The work was created during quite an unstable time of the Western European history. This period is characterized by a series of revolutionary movements that occurred in several European countries within just several years. The causes of the public dissatisfaction were multiple.
First of all, the rapid development of industrialization all over Europe created a larger community of laborers whose income was quite low and unmatched to the contribution they made to the prosperity of their nations. At the same time, a wave of hunger, low harvest, and food scarcity struck a number of countries and brought starvation, poverty, and desperation among the peasants and laborers. Feudal order that dominated Europe became seriously endangered when the hungry peasants attacked the ruling class.
The prices for food and growing taxes served as the main triggers for the uprisings in Berlin, Krakow, Milan, Sicily, Vienna, and Paris. The composition of the rebelling crowds all around Europe was the same – students, peasants, landless citizens, factory workers. All of them fought for the establishment of democracy and civil rights, the abolition of serfdom. In other words, capitalist built of the society was attacked by the hungry laborers tired of the growing gap between the rich and the poor social classes.
The manifesto begins with the preamble and then is divided into four chapters: “Bourgeois and Proletarians”, “Proletarians and Communists”, “Socialist and Communist Literature”, and “Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties”. The passage discussed in this essay is located at the end of the first chapter. Chapter one begins with the claim that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”.
This statement outlines the main subject the authors are concerned with throughout the writing. Marx and Engels begin their manifesto familiarizing the reader with various examples of class inequalities and struggle from the earlier human history to support their initial claim. Further, they compare the society of their time with all the previous illustrations and conclude that it is still filled with class antagonisms. The authors evaluate the rule of the bourgeoisie as the major push towards the advancement of economies, international relations, markets, and technologies, but, at the same time, they point out that it resulted in total exploitation of the people.
Next, Marx and Engels emphasize that the bourgeoisie has facilitated its own decay creating the proletarian class turning the proletarians against the rulers. The selected passage draws a conclusion to the discussion leading up to it and says that the bourgeoisie is unfit for the modern world. The passage right below it is the last to the first chapter, and it states that the downfall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletarians are inevitable.
The passage is important to the work because it summarizes the points the authors used to persuade the reader and support their initial claim. After all the arguments concerning the development and decay of the bourgeoisie and the uprising of the proletarians are laid out, the authors sum them up in this passage making a conclusion regarding the present and the nearest future of both classes. That way, the previous passages comprise the thesis statement, background, and the explanation, whereas the passage under analysis serves as the dénouement and the conclusion.
The value of the manifesto by Marx and Engels is immense. Within the period when it was written, the work provided a clear and detailed explanation of the crises the Europe was dealing with, its causes, and even the future outcomes. The authors delivered a professional analysis of the historical, social, economic, and political events of the time. Besides, the work is written in a very comprehensible matter and is logically built. It begins with a claim, moves on to the background and arguments that support it, and ends with a clear conclusion that includes recommendations and implications of the events.
Marx and Engels leave no room for arguments regarding their point of view and analysis. Their arguments include multiple characteristics of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Besides, even though the authors speak against the bourgeoisie, they avoid bias and describe this class mentioning its advantages and achievements as well as its failures. Overall, “The Manifesto of the Communist Party” is a scholarly view on the events in Europe of the 1840s rather than a subjective promotion of communism.
Bibliography
Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels, “The Manifesto of the Communist Party.” Marxists. 2015. Web.
Smitha, Frank E. “Revolutions in 1848.” Macrohistory. Web.