Karl Marx The ForeFather of communism

Early Life

  • Karl Heinrich Marx was born on 5 May 1818 in Trier, western Germany
  • Son of a successful Jewish lawyer
  • Studied law in Bonn and Berlin, and, in 1841, he received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Jena.

200 years ahead of his time

Marx as a young man

Paris & Brussels - 1843 to 1848

  • In 1843, Marx became co-editor of a new, radical leftist Parisian newspaper, the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher
  • The newspaper was set up bring the German socialist Arnold Ruge to bring together German and French radicals, and thus Marx and his wife moved to Paris in October 1843
  • Friedrich Engels, whom Marx met in 1844; they became lifelong friends and collaborators
  • Marx engaged in an intensive study of "political economy," the French socialists and the history of France."The study of political economy is a study that Marx would pursue for the riest of his life[
  • An outline of "Marxism" had definitely formed in the mind of Karl Marx by late 1844
  • Indeed, many features of the Marxist view of the world's political economy had been worked out in great detail
  • Marx wrote The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts. These manuscripts covered numerous topics, detailing Marx's concept of alienated labour
  • Brussels: 1845–1848
  • The first edition of The Manifesto of the Communist Party, published in German in 1848
  • Unable either to stay in France or to move to Germany, Marx decided to emigrate to Brussels in Belgium in February
  • However, to stay in Belgium, Marx had to pledge not to publish anything on the subject of contemporary politics
  • In Brussels, he associated with other exiled socialists from across Europe, including Moses Hess, Karl Heinzen, and Joseph Weydemeyer

What is Marxism?

Marxism is based on several principles:

  1. Marxism believes that capitalism can only thrive on the exploitation of the working class
  2. Marxism believes that there is a real contradiction between human nature and the way that we must work in a capitalist society
  3. Marxism has a dialectic approach to life, in that everything has two sides
  4. Marxism believes that capitalism is not only an economic system, but is also a political system
Marx and Engels

Legacy

  • Although Karl Marx did not make a significant impact in his own lifetime, he left lasting influences in Germany and Russia
  • This lead to the rise of Soviet Russia
MaRx's Tomb - Highgate CEMETERY in londoN

Credits:

Created with images by BenKaden - "berlin karl marx bust"

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