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.
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:
- Marxism believes that capitalism can only thrive on the exploitation of the working class
- Marxism believes that there is a real contradiction between human nature and the way that we must work in a capitalist society
- Marxism has a dialectic approach to life, in that everything has two sides
- Marxism believes that capitalism is not only an economic system, but is also a political system
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
Credits:
Created with images by BenKaden - "berlin karl marx bust"