The Reality of the Communist Manifesto

The Reality of The Communist Manifesto

Prophetic or paranoid, was the future of Europe outlined by Marx and Engels in their Communist Manifesto realized? Had they accurately predicted the course of history taken in the late nineteenth century? Class struggles were undoubtedly a fact of life, with a growing divide between those in power and the working class. Capitalism was in full swing; modes of production were changing, and technology was growing exponentially, yet an inordinate majority of the population was seeing little in the way of profit. But perhaps Marx and Engles oversimplified it, taking too narrow an approach to understanding the growing troubles. Europe was a powder keg and beyond class struggles were the issues of changing political atmospheres, crises of national identity and power struggles between nations to assert themselves. These issues along with the effects of capitalism and class relations all fueled the fire for revolution and warfare during a tumultuous period in European history.

Written in 1847, The Communist Manifesto boils all previous conflicts in history down to struggles between the social classes, and foreshadowed, nay demanded, that a revolution was to occur and the power would be taken from the capitalist Bourgeoisie and rightfully placed in the hands of the working Proletariat. Drawing inspiration from the French Revolution of a half-century earlier, Marx and Engles envisioned the workers would band together, become the ruling class, end capitalism, and abolish private property setting the stage for the introduction of communism (Lecture 10/10).

In greater detail, Marx and Engles elaborate on how capitalism would meet its end at the hands of the Proletariat just a mere century after its inception. During its brief life, capitalism had succeeded in making unrivaled advances in technology Ð'- "machinery, steam navigation, railways, electric telegraphs (70)," but had not raised the status of the average worker, rather industrialization, with its lack of skilled jobs and easily found replacement labor, kept the wage earner living at a subsistence level (71). Marx and Engles saw the capitalism as self-defeating, for this economic system led to a gradual slipping of the middle class into the working class, fueling the tension and allowing the workers to grow strong in numbers (73). The manifesto argued the Bourgeoisie not only "forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it had also called into existence the men who are to wield those weaponsÐ'...the proletarians (71)." The marginalized majority would unite and stand in revolution and there would no doubt be bloodshed, but the subordinate class would be victorious. They foresee this transfer of power as something that will happen in every nation of Europe, civil wars will rage and takeovers will be hostile, but it is all inevitable, brought upon the capitalists by themselves and no one else. After their bloody struggle to wrestle the power from the Bourgeoisie, the Proletariat will begin the process of deconstructing capitalism, beginning with, and hinging on the abolition of private property- the cornerstone of Communist philosophy (78).

What was the fate of capitalism; did it meet its end during the years following the Manifesto's publication? Marx and Engels argued that the continuation of a capitalist society would lead most directly to class struggles, but further to the decline of the middle class, decreased wages, and a lower standard of living. They saw positively that Europe would undergo urbanization as workers flooded the cities, and there would be unionization of the workers as they grew in numbers, uniting for common causes, better aligned to challenge the Bourgeosie. Looking back on the third quarter of the nineteenth century it seems clear that capitalism did not draw its conclusion, but continued to boom. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution in continental Europe, workers did migrate to the cities and became organized in unions and associations as predicted by Marx and Engels. But with booming industry of the economy of 1848-1871 wages actually increased, as did the standard of living. Furthermore, it seemed the middle class was safe from the danger of slipping into the lower classes. Class struggles would occur, as detailed further below, but even those did not reach the magnitude imagined by the two.

Was Marx and Engels's preview of political history between the years of 1848-1871 correct? Civil wars did rage, as well as international struggles, but had economics driven it all; had a hatred for capitalism driven the working class to revolt? The major conflicts of the period- the Northern Italian War, Franco-Prussian War, and French Civil War- appeared

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