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ManifestooftheCommunistPartyKarlMarxandFrederickEngelsMarxistsInternetArchive(marxists.org)2005ManifestooftheCommunistPartyByKarlMarxandFredrickEngelsWritten:Late1847.FirstPublished:February1848.Source:Marx/EngelsSelectedWorks,VolumeOne,ProgressPublishers,Moscow,USSR,1969,pp.98-137.Translated:SamuelMooreincooperationwithFrederickEngels,1888.Transcription/Markup:ZodiacandBrianBasgenProofread:CheckedandcorrectedagainsttheEnglishEditionof1888,byAndyBlunden,2004.PublicDomain:Thisworkiscompletelyfree.Marx/EngelsInternetArchive(marxists.org)1991,2000,2004.ManifestooftheCommunistPartyKarlMarxandFrederickEngelsMarxistsInternetArchive(marxists.org)2005AspectreishauntingEurope—thespectreofcommunism.AllthepowersofoldEuropehaveenteredintoaholyalliancetoexorcisethisspectre:PopeandTsar,MetternichandGuizot,FrenchRadicalsandGermanpolice-spies.Whereisthepartyinoppositionthathasnotbeendecriedascommunisticbyitsopponentsinpower?Whereistheoppositionthathasnothurledbackthebrandingreproachofcommunism,againstthemoreadvancedoppositionparties,aswellasagainstitsreactionaryadversaries?Twothingsresultfromthisfact:I.CommunismisalreadyacknowledgedbyallEuropeanpowerstobeitselfapower.II.ItishightimethatCommunistsshouldopenly,inthefaceofthewholeworld,publishtheirviews,theiraims,theirtendencies,andmeetthisnurserytaleoftheSpectreofCommunismwithamanifestoofthepartyitself.Tothisend,CommunistsofvariousnationalitieshaveassembledinLondonandsketchedthefollowingmanifesto,tobepublishedintheEnglish,French,German,Italian,FlemishandDanishlanguages.ManifestooftheCommunistPartyKarlMarxandFrederickEngelsMarxistsInternetArchive(marxists.org)2005BourgeoisandProletarians1Thehistoryofallhithertoexistingsociety2isthehistoryofclassstruggles.Freemanandslave,patricianandplebeian,lordandserf,guild-master3andjourneyman,inaword,oppressorandoppressed,stoodinconstantoppositiontooneanother,carriedonanuninterrupted,nowhidden,nowopenfight,afightthateachtimeended,eitherinarevolutionaryreconstitutionofsocietyatlarge,orinthecommonruinofthecontendingclasses.Intheearlierepochsofhistory,wefindalmosteverywhereacomplicatedarrangementofsocietyintovariousorders,amanifoldgradationofsocialrank.InancientRomewehavepatricians,knights,plebeians,slaves;intheMiddleAges,feudallords,vassals,guild-masters,journeymen,apprentices,serfs;inalmostalloftheseclasses,again,subordinategradations.Themodernbourgeoissocietythathassproutedfromtheruinsoffeudalsocietyhasnotdoneawaywithclassantagonisms.Ithasbutestablishednewclasses,newconditionsofoppression,newformsofstruggleinplaceoftheoldones.Ourepoch,theepochofthebourgeoisie,possesses,however,thisdistinctfeature:ithassimplifiedclassantagonisms.Societyasawholeismoreandmoresplittingupintotwogreathostilecamps,intotwogreatclassesdirectlyfacingeachother—BourgeoisieandProletariat.FromtheserfsoftheMiddleAgessprangthecharteredburghersoftheearliesttowns.Fromtheseburgessesthefirstelementsofthebourgeoisieweredeveloped.ThediscoveryofAmerica,theroundingoftheCape,openedupfreshgroundfortherisingbourgeoisie.TheEast-IndianandChinesemarkets,thecolonisationofAmerica,tradewiththecolonies,theincreaseinthemeansofexchangeandincommoditiesgenerally,gaveto1Bybourgeoisieismeanttheclassofmoderncapitalists,ownersofthemeansofsocialproductionandemployersofwagelabour.Byproletariat,theclassofmodernwagelabourerswho,havingnomeansofproductionoftheirown,arereducedtosellingtheirlabourpowerinordertolive.[Engels,1888Englishedition]2Thatis,allwrittenhistory.In1847,thepre-historyofsociety,thesocialorganisationexistingprevioustorecordedhistory,allbutunknown.Sincethen,AugustvonHaxthausen(1792-1866)discoveredcommonownershipoflandinRussia,GeorgLudwigvonMaurerprovedittobethesocialfoundationfromwhichallTeutonicracesstartedinhistory,and,byandby,villagecommunitieswerefoundtobe,ortohavebeen,theprimitiveformofsocietyeverywherefromIndiatoIreland.Theinnerorganisationofthisprimitivecommunisticsocietywaslaidbare,initstypicalform,byLewisHenryMorgan's(1818-1861)crowningdiscoveryofthetruenatureofthegensanditsrelationtothetribe.Withthedissolutionoftheprimevalcommunities,societybeginstobedifferentiatedintoseparateandfinallyantagonisticclasses.IhaveattemptedtoretracethisdissolutioninTheOriginoftheFamily,PrivateProperty,andtheState,secondedition,Stuttgart,1886.[Engels,1888EnglishEditionand1890GermanEdition(withthelastsentenceomitted)]3Guild-master,thatis,afullmemberofaguild,amasterwithin,notaheadofaguild.[Engels,1888EnglishEdition]ManifestooftheCommunistPartyKarlMarxandFrederickEngelsMarxistsInternetArchive(marxists.org)2005commerce,tonavigation,toindustry,animpulseneverbeforeknown,andthereby,totherevolutionaryelementinthetotteringfeudalsociety,arapiddevelopment.Thefeudalsystemofindustry,inwhichindustrialproductionwasmonopolisedbyclosedguilds,nownolongersufficedforthegrowingwantsofthenewmarkets.Themanufacturingsystemtookitsplace.Theguild-masterswerepushedononesidebythemanufacturingmiddleclass;divisionoflabourbetweenthedifferentcorporateguildsvanishedinthefaceofdivisionoflabourineachsingleworkshop.Meantimethemarketske