Communist Party Manifesto

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Title page of the first edition of the Communist Party's manifesto . ("Bu23")

The Communist Party's Manifesto , also known as The Communist Manifesto , is a programmatic text from 1848 in which Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed large parts of what would later be called " Marxism ".

The manifesto was created around the turn of the year 1847/48 on behalf of the League of Communists , which wanted to present its views in it. It was published in London on February 21, 1848, shortly before the February Revolution in France and the March Revolution in the German Confederation and in its largest states Austria and Prussia . Translated over time into more than 100 languages, the Communist Manifesto was included in the UNESCO Document Heritage in June 2013 .

Manuscript page of the Communist Party Manuscript
Communist manifesto. Swedish first edition 1848
Communist manifesto. First edition after the death of Karl Marx
Soviet Post special stamp for the 100th anniversary of the first issue (1948)

The 23-page work consists of an introduction and four chapters. It begins with the phrase that is popular today : "A ghost is haunting Europe - the ghost of communism " and ends with the well-known appeal: " Workers of all countries, unite!"

Chapter 1: Bourgeois and Proletarians

Marx and Engels describe the development of society so far as a history of partly hidden, partly open class struggles , basically of two opposing classes: "Free and slave , patrician and plebeian , baron and serf ". The concept of classes is something very important here, since up to now, analogous to feudalism, the classes of the nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie (as well as serfs, who overall played no independent role) were spoken of. In the first section of the manifesto, the authors essentially try to show the extent to which the economy and society have changed for the workers and the proletariat due to the industrial revolution .

The "modern bourgeoisie " arose through the discovery of America, industrial development and the advent of the world market . In place of a religiously or politically disguised exploitation by feudalism, there is now open, egoistic enrichment, the family relationships appear as pure money relationships. The middle class, such as "doctors, lawyers, priests, poets and scientists", has also become paid wage workers. The state becomes a mere “committee” that administers the “common affairs” of the bourgeoisie.

In the sense of capital, the bourgeoisie cannot help but constantly revolutionize the relations of production and thus the forms of society based on them. In addition, national restrictions are overcome, which make material and intellectual production and consumption cosmopolitan. Production requires raw materials from all over the world. The result is "an all-round dependence of nations on one another".

The bourgeoisie is given a historically progressive role: “The bourgeoisie is tearing even the most barbaric nations into civilization through the rapid improvement of all production instruments and the infinitely easier communication.” The bourgeoisie thus becomes a potentially revolutionary function - see also: materialistic Dialectic - approved compared to the previously ruling classes, so it is the antithesis of feudalism. Even in this early phase of capitalism , Marx and Engels state that property is concentrated in a few hands. The former small and medium-sized enterprises are merging with the proletariat . In barely 100 years bourgeois class rule has set free more productive forces than in all of human history before that. Despite the plight of the subjugated classes, there is “an epidemic of overproduction ”, because bourgeois relationships have become too narrow and hinder the sale of goods, so recurring overproduction crises shake the societies that the bourgeoisie can only find with further tightening of wage pressure and development can encounter new markets.

The labor-power which the class of modern workers brings to market is a commodity like any other article of commerce and is therefore exposed to all fluctuations in the market. With the growing use of machines and the increasing division of labor , work is simplified in the sense of capital, but also torture for the worker - Marx explains the process elsewhere with the theorem of “the alienation of the worker from work”. In feudalism, for example, a shoemaker made the entire shoe, which required knowledge and craftsmanship, but in a shoe factory he is now condemned to only attach the seam between the upper shoe and the sole. Any reasonably healthy person can carry out such a simple job, so the worker becomes a machine part that can be replaced at will; the wage therefore just covers the demands absolutely necessary for the simplest support of life and for the reproduction of the worker. The working masses are being exploited and subject to the absolute rule of capital in the factories. Gender and age play no role, qualified work is replaced by unskilled work, the only important thing is the lowest possible costs. In addition, there is the financial dependence of the proletariat on "homeowners, shopkeepers, pawnbrokers, etc."

As an outgrowth of this situation, it is shown that the workers defend themselves against the respective capitalist , first individually, then in a factory, later in one place. “They destroy competing goods, they smash machines , they set factories on fire” because they hope to regain the social position of the free craftsmen of earlier times that has been lost in society. With the increasing pressure on the individual, however, a more and more class consciousness arises, especially since former free craftsmen and petty bourgeoisie inevitably sink into the proletariat due to the development.

It becomes clear that the bourgeoisie has a common interest in increasingly tightening the conditions of production in the sense of maximizing yields, so there is “a collision of two classes”, the class struggle . The class struggle, however, necessarily becomes a political struggle; the proletarians organize themselves into a political party. This wins individual laws in favor of the workers, like the ten-hour day in England. Not only the bourgeoisie, but also the proletariat is therefore a revolutionary class.

The essential condition for the existence and rule of the bourgeoisie class is the accumulation and increase of wealth in the hands of a few; the mode of operation of capital is wage labor . Instead of improving his condition with the advance of industry, the modern worker becomes a pauper ; H. it is becoming increasingly impoverished despite the advancement of industry. With the pauperization of broad masses in the course of big industry, the bourgeoisie produces its "own gravedigger", i. H. it participates in the emergence and formation of the proletariat as a class willing to fight.

The current isolation of the individual worker through competition is abolished in their “revolutionary union through association ”.

Chapter 2: Proletarians and Communists

In this section, Marx and Engels are primarily concerned with refuting objections to a communist society . In each case, reference is made to the weaknesses of civil society in order to then present the alternative proposal.

“The communists are not a special party vis-à-vis the other workers' parties.” According to Marx and Engels, they have the same interests as the entire proletariat and always represent the interests of the movement as a whole. Thus they are the most determined part of the workers' parties of all countries. The communists are accused of striving for the abolition of property as such, but the bourgeoisie has already usurped property. Even the individual bourgeois does not freely dispose of his property, but can only use it within the framework of the overall economic activity of the bourgeoisie and for its rules; he had to play the game of exploitation, whether he wanted to or not, otherwise he would soon no longer be a bourgeois; bourgeois property is therefore not at all personal property, but class property. So you have to make it accessible to everyone in the sense of socialism . “So when capital is transformed into common property belonging to all members of society , personal property is not transformed into social property. Only the social character of property changes. It loses its class character. "

Then it comes to the analysis of the concept of wage labor . Here, too, the contradictions are made clear: "In bourgeois society, living work is only a means of increasing the accumulated work." This is thought of as a never-ending process, with the newly created wage labor being used to acquire new property to create for the capitalist class. A strong contrast between bourgeois society, which - as far as the economy and society is concerned - is characterized by an inherent crisis-ridden nature, and an imaginary future communist society is shown. "In the communist society, the accumulated labor is only a means to expand, enrich, and promote the life process of the workers."

The bourgeoisie accuses the communists of wanting to abolish property. This is correct, that is exactly what their intention is: however, it is the property of a certain class. "But in your existing society, private property is canceled for nine tenths of its members."

The authors continue to grapple with the arguments of their opponents. The citizens' ideas of freedom, education, law, etc. are themselves products of bourgeois production and property relations. The critics accuse the communists of "abolishing the family". However, the bourgeois family would only exist for the bourgeoisie; it is based on capital and private acquisition. "[S] he finds its complement in the forced lack of family of the proletarians and in public prostitution." As far as education is concerned, the aim is "to wrest upbringing from the influence of the ruling class".

The manifesto explains the accusation that the communists wanted to introduce a “community of women” by stating that for the bourgeoisie women are “a mere instrument of production” and consequently fall under the communist demand for common property. In addition, this community already exists: "Our bourgeois, not satisfied that the wives and daughters of their proletarians are at their disposal, not to mention official prostitution , find a main pleasure in seducing their wives mutually." already a - though hypocritically hushed up - women's community for the bourgeoisie. With the abolition of the current relations of production, the ties created by these relations will also disappear, so the new society will get by without official and unofficial prostitution.

Another allegation is that the communists want to abolish the fatherland and nationality. The workers, however, have no country to take away from them. The world market, the uniformity of industrial production and living conditions are already leveling national differences. When the internal class antagonisms are abolished, the hostile confrontation of nations no longer exists, either on a spiritual or on a material level.

Regarding the accusation that the communists wanted to abolish religion and morality altogether, the authors write: “The ruling ideas of a time were always only the ideas of the ruling class. […] The ideas of freedom of conscience and religion only expressed the rule of free competition in the field of knowledge. ”This is also the reason why the revolutionary bourgeoisie in the 18th century was able to bring down feudalism . In all previous societies there has been the exploitation of a large part of society, therefore similar forms of consciousness also existed; only the communist revolution completely breaks with the traditional ideas. Marx and Engels then draw the conclusion from all of these accusations: “The history of the whole of previous society moved in class contradictions.” Elsewhere, this insight is also called historical materialism .

The first step in the workers' revolution is the elevation of the proletariat to the ruling class, "the fight for democracy". Little by little the means of production are in the hands of the state, “i. H. of the proletariat organized as the ruling class, centralized ”. This requires temporary despotic interventions in the bourgeois production relations. In the most advanced countries these are: expropriation of real estate , strong progressive taxes , abolition of the right of inheritance, confiscation of the property of "emigrants and rebels", establishment of a monopoly national bank with state capital, nationalization of the transport system, increase and improvement of the national factories, production tools and lands a common plan, equal work pressure for all, establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture, gradual elimination of the difference between town and country, public and free education of all children, abolition of child labor in its present form. It is therefore important to abolish the old conditions of production in order to abolish the class antagonisms.

"Instead of the old bourgeois society with its classes and class antagonisms, there is an association in which the free development of everyone is the condition for the free development of all."

In the preface by Marx and Engels from 1872, the aforementioned interventions are already considered out of date:

“The practical application of these principles, explains the 'Manifesto' itself, will depend everywhere and at any time on the historical circumstances, and therefore no particular emphasis is placed on the revolutionary measures proposed at the end of Section II. This passage would read differently today in many respects. "

Chapter 3: Socialist and Communist Literature

Marx and Engels present other existing approaches and differentiate themselves from them polemically. For example, “ Proudhon 's philosophy de la misère ” is assigned to “bourgeois socialism” as a “whole system”.

The reactionary socialism

Feudal socialism

Marx and Engels see a variety of reactionary socialism in what they call "feudal socialism", which English and French aristocrats developed against the bourgeoisie. In practice, however, this form of socialism supported all “violent measures against the proletariat”.

Petty-bourgeois socialism

“Petty bourgeois socialism” exists in countries in which there is a petty bourgeoisie between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie , which is threatened with decline. Sismondi is the author who describes the contradictions in the relations of production. It is true that he takes the position of the workers from the peasant and petty-bourgeois point of view. As described above, he points out the effects of modern machines and the division of labor and points to the impoverishment of the proletariat. However, he only sees a way out to restore the old means of production and means of transport, and thus also to restore the old property relations and the old society. "Guilds in the manufacture and patriarchal economy in the country, those are his last words."

German or “true” socialism

German or “true” socialism was imported from France. It would be the ideas of the French Revolution that the German writers, philosophers and “aesthetes” of the late 18th century would have eagerly embraced. Since the German situation lagged far behind the French (in Germany the triumph of the bourgeoisie was far from over, a proletariat was just developing), the German socialists, unlike their French models, are not concerned with real people with a real class background, but rather with them a merely imagined ideal person; reality disappears under the “misty sky of philosophical imagination”.

The core of German socialism was, however, always only “anti-liberal” and opposed “socialist demands” to the bourgeoisie as a political movement. In doing so, however, German socialism only proclaims “the German nation as the normal nation and the German philistine as the normal man.” It proclaims its “impartial superiority over all class struggles.” The writings in Germany that describe themselves as socialist or communist are usually "dirty, unnerving literature".

Conservative or bourgeois socialism

In order to appease the proletariat, part of the bourgeoisie considers it necessary to abolish social grievances and thus to improve the situation of the proletariat and to protect bourgeois society from the proletarian socialist revolution. So you want “the bourgeoisie without the proletariat”. Proudhon is named here as a prominent representative. To this extent, this socialism claims to act “in the interest of the working class”, but in truth only strives for purely administrative improvements in its own interest. Marx calls the demand “cell prisons - in the interest of the working class” as particularly revealing.

The critical utopian socialism and communism

Finally, Marx and Engels deal with what they call critical utopian socialism and communism. He represented the first attempts of the proletariat to develop their own outlook. Critical approaches are thoroughly praiseworthy, "they attack the foundations of the existing society". Examples are Saint Simon , Fourier , Owen . As a utopia, they also offer valuable material for educating the workers. However, the more the contradictions develop into a class struggle, the supporters of utopian socialism try to “mediate the contradictions” and thereby hinder the necessary struggle. These early socialists were revolutionary themselves in many respects, but their disciples form “ reactionary (backward-looking) sects” because they cling to the outdated principles of “the masters” unchanged when the relations of production and the class struggle have already developed further. From the correct approaches of the founders, a “fanatical superstition in the miracle effects of their social science” develops among their successors. They oppose "with bitterness all the political movement of the workers, which could only emerge from blind unbelief in the new gospel."

Chapter 4: Position of the Communists on the Various Opposition Parties

In this section, Marx and Engels explain which of the political parties in the individual countries of Europe are currently favored by the communists and for what reason. Here, too, it becomes clear that the revolutionary sequence in the sense of overthrow is clearly established: First the bourgeois revolution must take place, then the proletarian revolution must be initiated.

The communists fight for the immediate interests of the working class , but at the same time represent “the future of the movement”. They make alliances with the progressive forces in the various European countries, but without failing to recognize their contradictions. "The communists direct their main attention to Germany because Germany is on the eve of a bourgeois revolution [...] Therefore, in Germany they fight alongside the bourgeoisie against the feudal order and the petty bourgeoisie ." After the overthrow of the reactionary classes in Germany must but immediately begin the struggle against the bourgeoisie, d. i.e., begin the proletarian revolution. The communists try to bring together the democratic parties of all countries. They openly declare that they can only achieve their goals through the “violent overthrow of all previous social order”.

“May the ruling classes tremble before the communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose in it but their chains. You have a world to win. "

Dubbing

A setting of the Communist Party's manifesto comes from the Prague musician Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942), whose works were classified as degenerate music by the National Socialists . He died of tuberculosis in 1942 in the camp for citizens of other countries on the Wülzburg near Weißenburg / Bavaria, where the Nazis had taken him. His cantata from 1932 is entitled The Communist Manifesto / Nach Marx-Engels (op. 82) and is a piece of music for solo, choir and wind instruments filled with revolutionary pathos.

illustration

In 1967/68 Lea Grundig created an eleven-part picture cycle for a special edition of the Communist Party's manifesto published by Dietz Verlag. But the book did not appear. The eleven pictures were first published by the publisher May 8, 2020 .

expenditure

Contemporary German-language editions

  • Communist Party Manifesto. Published February 1848. London. Printed in the office of the Education Society for Workers by JE Burghard. 46 Liverpool Street, Bishopsgate (“Bu23”; green envelope) (London 1848)
  • Communist Party Manifesto. Published February 1848. London. Printed in the office of the "Bildungs-Gesellschaft für Arbeiter von JE Burghard". 46 Liverpool Street, Bishopsgate ("Bu30"; green envelope) (Cologne 1851)
  • Communist Party Manifesto. Published February 1848. London. Printed by R. Hirschfeld, English & Foreign Printer, 48 Clifton Street, Finbury Square. 184 (24 pages; blue cover) (London 1861)
  • Communist Party Manifesto. Published February 1848. London. Reissued by Sigfrid Meyer . 1866. Self-published. Printed by Gustav Muthschall in Berlin (30 pages)
  • The Communist Manifesto. New edition with a foreword by the authors. Leipzig 1872. Verlag der Expedition des “Volksstaats” (27 pages)
  • The Communist Manifesto. Third authorized German edition. With prefaces by the authors. Hottingen-Zürich Verlag der Schweizerische Volksbuchhandlung. 1883 (24 pages)
  • The Communist Manifesto. Fourth authorized German edition. With a new foreword by Friedrich Engels. London. German Cooperative Publishing Co. 114 Kentish Town Road NW. 1890 (Social Democratic Library XXXIII.) (32 pages)
  • The Communist Manifesto. Fifth authorized German edition. With prefaces by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Berlin 1891. Publishing house of the expedition of "Vorwärts", Berliner Volksblatt. ( Th. Glocke ) (Social Democratic Library XXXIII.) (32 pages)
  • The Communist Manifesto. Sixth authorized German edition. With prefaces by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Berlin 1894. Publishing house of the expedition of "Vorwärts", Berliner Volksblatt. (Th. Glocke) (Social Democratic Library XXXIII.) (32 pages)

Newer editions

  • Thomas Kuczynski : The Communist Manifesto (Manifesto of the Communist Party) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. From the first edition to the reading edition. With an edition report (= writings from the Karl-Marx-Haus . 49). Trier 1995, ISBN 3-86077-207-4 .
  • Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels: The Communist Manifesto. A modern edition. With an introduction by Eric Hobsbawm . Argument-Verlag, Hamburg / Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-88619-322-5 .
  • Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels: The Communist Manifesto (CD 1); Eric Hobsbawm: 150 Years of the Communist Manifesto (CD 2), read by Rolf Becker. Argument-Verlag, Hamburg / Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-88619-463-9 .
  • At the end of 2010, Red Quill Books began publishing a modern, four-part illustrated version of the Communist Manifesto as a “comic book”.
  • A translation in Low German by Hans-Joachim Meyer was published by VSA Verlag in 2012 under the title De Kommunistischespartei or Manifest .
  • Et cummenistic manifesto op Kölsch. Vum Marxens Karl and Engels Frieder . Kulturmaschinen eK, Ochsenfurt 2014. ISBN 978-3-9816710-0-1 a translation into Kölsch .
  • Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels: The Communist Manifesto. Illustrated edition, Karl Dietz Verlag Berlin , 1 facsimile and 11 woodcuts by Frans Masereel , 17th edition Berlin 2003, ISBN 978-3-320-00280-0 .

literature

  • Bert Andréas : Le Manifeste Communiste de Marx et Engels. Histoire et bibliographie 1818–1918 . Feltrinelli, Milano 1963.
  • Wolfgang Meiser: The "Manifesto of the Communist Party" from February 1848. New research results on the history of printing and transmission. In: Marx-Engels-Jahrbuch 13. Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1991, pp. 117–129.
  • Wolfgang Meiser: "The Communist Party's manifesto of February 1848: On the origin and tradition of the first editions". In: MEGA studies 1996/1. Pp. 66-107.
  • Wolfgang Meiser: Preparatory work on the text complex “Manifesto of the Communist Party” for the MEGA. In: Contributions to Marx-Engels research 22. Berlin 1987, pp. 117–127.
  • Philipp Erbentraut, Torben Lütjen : A world to be won. Context, mode of operation and narrative structure of the “Communist Manifesto” . In: Johanna Klatt, Robert Lorenz (Ed.): Manifeste. Past and present of the political appeal . transcript, Bielefeld 2011, ISBN 978-3-8376-1679-8 , p. 73-98 .
  • Richard Rorty : The Communist Manifesto 150 Years After. Failed prophecies, glorious hopes. Translated from English by Reinhard Kaiser . Reprint Edition Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-518-06529-7 .

Web links

Commons : Communist Party Manifesto  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Communist Party Manifesto (1848)  - Sources and full texts
Wikisource: Communist Party Manifesto (1850/51)  - Sources and full texts
Wikiquote: Communist Party Manifesto  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Iring Fetscher, ed. Of the study edition Marx-Engels, assumes in his foreword that the text was written by Karl Marx alone - Engels provided preliminary work (Fischer Tb. 6061, p. 9). Fetscher's view is not shared by the newer editors (e.g. Wolfgang Meiser; Thomas Kuczynski).
  2. ↑ Thomas Kuczynski, but provides evidence that it cannot be printed before March 1, 1848. Engel's later statements are therefore not entirely correct! (Thomas Kuczynski, pp. 58-63).
  3. ↑ In the US, an English-language version first appeared in December 1871 in Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly magazine.
  4. ^ Writings of Karl Marx: "The Manifesto of the Communist Party" (1848) and "Das Kapital", first volume (1867)
  5. ↑ Marx and Engels: Feuerbach (1st part of the German ideology), MEW, Volume 3, pp. 13-77.
  6. ↑ see also the extensive study by Engels: The situation of the working class in England , 1845, z. In some cases, employers, landlords and grocers were identical. (Truck system / cottage system)
  7. ↑ Marx and Engels: Feuerbach (1st part of the German ideology), MEW, Volume 3, pp. 13-77.
  8. ↑ In their early works, Marx / Engels often speak of despotism instead of the dictatorship of the proletariat .
  9. ↑ Karl Marx / Friedrich Engels - Foreword to the "Manifesto of the Communist Party (German edition 1872). In: www.mlwerke.de. Retrieved on July 8, 2016 .
  10. ↑ here: based on a famous quote from Jean-Jacques Rousseau “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”, The social contract, first book, 1st chapter
  11. ↑ Lea Grundig: Eleven-part picture cycle for the Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , Verlag 8. Mai GmbH, Berlin, 2020, ISBN 978-3-931745-41-7 .
  12. ↑ The Communist Manifesto Illustrates Chapter One: Historical Materialism Red Quill Books, accessed July 13, 2018.
  13. ^ Susan Polo: The Communist Manifesto: The Comic Book . December 20, 2010, accessed February 20, 2012.
  14. ^ Jamie Long: Communist Manifesto to get Comic Books Treatment . In: Toronto Sun , December 29, 2010, accessed July 9, 2018.
  15. ↑ Karlen Vesper: Een Speukels is owed? In: Neues Deutschland , August 31, 2012, accessed on July 9, 2018 (interview with Hans-Joachim Meyer).