¶ … Karl Marx, and his "Communist Manifesto," and "The 18th Brumaire." MARX'S WRITINGS

Marx's theories mean different things to just about everyone who reads it. There are as many definitions and deductions about his work as there are philosophers. One simple definition of his Marxist theory read, "Marxism, or Scientific Socialism, is the name given to the body of ideas first worked out by Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). In their totality, these ideas provide a fully worked-out theoretical basis for the struggle of the working class to attain a higher form of human society -- socialism" (Sewell and Woods).

Marx himself said of his basic theory, "At the same time through the division of labor inside these various branches there develop various divisions among the individuals cooperating in definite kinds of labor. The relative position of these individual groups is determined by the methods employed in agriculture, industry and commerce (patriarchalism, slavery, estates, classes). These same conditions are to be seen (given a more developed intercourse) in the relations of different nations to one another" (Marx and Bender 166).

Thus, the main theme of Marxist's theory is the struggle between classes, and how it affects each social group in turn. Ultimately, Marx would like to see the destruction of the "bourgeoisie," the upper class that dominates society because of money and position. This class was the dominant class of Marx's day, and the one he found the most destructive. To attain this goal, Marx felt that people needed to give up their private property. Everything should be owned in common, then there would be no division of classes, everyone would be the "same." The "proletariat," the workers of the world, would come to dominate society, because of the great need for workers during the Industrial Revolution and beyond.

The theories of Marxism provide the thinking worker...

Armed with this sword the worker can cut the Gordian knot which binds him to the mightiest obstacle in the way of the advancement of himself and his class -- ignorance" (Sewell and Woods).
Marx's background surely had an effect on his theories and beliefs. He was consistently at odds with the conservative, upper class of the day with his growing socialist views. "What were the characteristics of his day that Marx grasped as did none of his contemporaries and that have continued to dominate our historical epoch? The most important of these were his understanding that the industrial transformation then taking place would alter social life totally and his refusal to be blinded by his contemporaries' superficially optimistic or pessimistic assessments of these new developments" (Marx and Bender 1).

Marx realized the Industrial Revolution would create a whole new class of worker, even more oppressed than the feudal workers of medieval times, or the slaves of early times. These new workers would work in "sweat shops" for meager wages that would always keep them on the edge of poverty, and tied to their employer for their very existence. They would be the dominant force in society, and could be its ultimate destruction, if allowed.

His theories developed and changed as he watched the class struggles in Europe during his lifetime. The "Communist Manifesto" was written just on the brink of the class struggles in Europe in the 1840s, and before the "Brumaire," so Marx's ideas are put to the test in the second publication.

Marx thought the struggles would be successful, and "In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is…