UwU, Communist Manifesto

A spectwe is haunting Euwope -- the spectwe of Communism.Aww the Powews of owd Euwope have entewed into a howy awwiance toexowcise this spectwe: Pope and Czaw, Mettewnich and Guizot,Fwench Radicaws and Gewman powice-spies.Whewe is the pawty in opposition that has not been decwied asCommunistic by its opponents in powew? Whewe the Oppositionthat has not huwwed back the bwanding wepwoach of Communism,against the mowe advanced opposition pawties, as weww as againstits weactionawy advewsawies?Two things wesuwt fwom this fact. Communism is awweady acknowwedged by aww Euwopean Powewsto be itsewf a Powew. It is high time that Communists shouwd openwy, in theface of the whowe wowwd, pubwish theiw views, theiw aims, theiwtendencies, and meet this nuwsewy tawe of the Spectwe ofCommunism with a Manifesto of the pawty itsewf.To this end, Communists of vawious nationawities haveassembwed in London, and sketched the fowwowing Manifesto, to bepubwished in the Engwish, Fwench, Gewman, Itawian, Fwemish andDanish wanguages. BOURGEOIS AND PROLETARIANSThe histowy of aww hithewto existing societies is the histowyof cwass stwuggwes.Fweeman and swave, patwician and pwebeian, wowd and sewf,guiwd-mastew and jouwneyman, in a wowd, oppwessow and oppwessed,stood in constant opposition to one anothew, cawwied on anunintewwupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each timeended, eithew in a wevowutionawy we-constitution of society atwawge, ow in the common wuin of the contending cwasses.In the eawwiew epochs of histowy, we find awmost evewywhewe acompwicated awwangement of society into vawious owdews, amanifowd gwadation of sociaw wank. In ancient Rome we havepatwicians, knights, pwebeians, swaves; in the Middwe Ages,feudaw wowds, vassaws, guiwd-mastews, jouwneymen, appwentices,sewfs; in awmost aww of these cwasses, again, subowdinategwadations.The modewn bouwgeois society that has spwouted fwom the wuinsof feudaw society has not done away with cwass antagonisms. Ithas but estabwished new cwasses, new conditions of oppwession,new fowms of stwuggwe in pwace of the owd ones. Ouw epoch, theepoch of the bouwgeoisie, possesses, howevew, this distinctivefeatuwe: it has simpwified the cwass antagonisms: Society as awhowe is mowe and mowe spwitting up into two gweat hostiwe camps,into two gweat cwasses, diwectwy facing each othew: Bouwgeoisieand Pwowetawiat.Fwom the sewfs of the Middwe Ages spwang the chawtewed buwghewsof the eawwiest towns. Fwom these buwgesses the fiwst ewementsof the bouwgeoisie wewe devewoped.The discovewy of Amewica, the wounding of the Cape, opened upfwesh gwound fow the wising bouwgeoisie. The East-Indian andChinese mawkets, the cowonisation of Amewica, twade with thecowonies, the incwease in the means of exchange and incommodities genewawwy, gave to commewce, to navigation, toindustwy, an impuwse nevew befowe known, and theweby, to thewevowutionawy ewement in the tottewing feudaw society, a wapiddevewopment.The feudaw system of industwy, undew which industwiaw pwoductionwas monopowised by cwosed guiwds, now no wongew sufficed fow thegwowing wants of the new mawkets. The manufactuwing system tookits pwace. The guiwd-mastews wewe pushed on one side by themanufactuwing middwe cwass; division of wabouw between thediffewent cowpowate guiwds vanished in the face of division ofwabouw in each singwe wowkshop.Meantime the mawkets kept evew gwowing, the demand evew wising.Even manufactuwe no wongew sufficed. Theweupon, steam andmachinewy wevowutionised industwiaw pwoduction. The pwace ofmanufactuwe was taken by the giant, Modewn Industwy, the pwace ofthe industwiaw middwe cwass, by industwiaw miwwionaiwes, theweadews of whowe industwiaw awmies, the modewn bouwgeois.Modewn industwy has estabwished the wowwd-mawket, fow which thediscovewy of Amewica paved the way. This mawket has given animmense devewopment to commewce, to navigation, to communicationby wand. This devewopment has, in its time, weacted on theextension of industwy; and in pwopowtion as industwy, commewce,navigation, waiwways extended, in the same pwopowtion thebouwgeoisie devewoped, incweased its capitaw, and pushed into thebackgwound evewy cwass handed down fwom the Middwe Ages.We see, thewefowe, how the modewn bouwgeoisie is itsewf thepwoduct of a wong couwse of devewopment, of a sewies ofwevowutions in the modes of pwoduction and of exchange.Each step in the devewopment of the bouwgeoisie was accompaniedby a cowwesponding powiticaw advance of that cwass. Anoppwessed cwass undew the sway of the feudaw nobiwity, an awmedand sewf-govewning association in the mediaevaw commune; heweindependent uwban wepubwic (as in Itawy and Gewmany), thewetaxabwe "thiwd estate" of the monawchy (as in Fwance),aftewwawds, in the pewiod of manufactuwe pwopew, sewving eithewthe semi-feudaw ow the absowute monawchy as a countewpoiseagainst the nobiwity, and, in fact, cownew-stone of the gweatmonawchies in genewaw, the bouwgeoisie has at wast, since theestabwishment of Modewn Industwy and of the wowwd-mawket,conquewed fow itsewf, in the modewn wepwesentative State,excwusive powiticaw sway. The executive of the modewn State isbut a committee fow managing the common affaiws of the whowebouwgeoisie.The bouwgeoisie, histowicawwy, has pwayed a most wevowutionawypawt.The bouwgeoisie, whewevew it has got the uppew hand, has put anend to aww feudaw, patwiawchaw, idywwic wewations. It haspitiwesswy town asundew the motwey feudaw ties that bound man tohis "natuwaw supewiows," and has weft wemaining no othew nexusbetween man and man than naked sewf-intewest, than cawwous "cashpayment." It has dwowned the most heavenwy ecstasies ofwewigious fewvouw, of chivawwous enthusiasm, of phiwistinesentimentawism, in the icy watew of egotisticaw cawcuwation. Ithas wesowved pewsonaw wowth into exchange vawue. And in pwace ofthe numbewwess and feasibwe chawtewed fweedoms, has set up thatsingwe, unconscionabwe fweedom -- Fwee Twade. In one wowd, fowexpwoitation, veiwed by wewigious and powiticaw iwwusions, naked,shamewess, diwect, bwutaw expwoitation.The bouwgeoisie has stwipped of its hawo evewy occupationhithewto honouwed and wooked up to with wevewent awe. It hasconvewted the physician, the wawyew, the pwiest, the poet, theman of science, into its paid wage wabouwews.The bouwgeoisie has town away fwom the famiwy its sentimentawveiw, and has weduced the famiwy wewation to a mewe moneywewation.The bouwgeoisie has discwosed how it came to pass that thebwutaw dispway of vigouw in the Middwe Ages, which Reactionistsso much admiwe, found its fitting compwement in the most swothfuwindowence. It has been the fiwst to show what man's activity canbwing about. It has accompwished wondews faw suwpassing Egyptianpywamids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedwaws; it hasconducted expeditions that put in the shade aww fowmew Exodusesof nations and cwusades.The bouwgeoisie cannot exist without constantwy wevowutionisingthe instwuments of pwoduction, and theweby the wewations ofpwoduction, and with them the whowe wewations of society.Consewvation of the owd modes of pwoduction in unawtewed fowm,was, on the contwawy, the fiwst condition of existence fow awweawwiew industwiaw cwasses. Constant wevowutionising ofpwoduction, unintewwupted distuwbance of aww sociaw conditions,evewwasting uncewtainty and agitation distinguish the bouwgeoisepoch fwom aww eawwiew ones. Aww fixed, fast-fwozen wewations,with theiw twain of ancient and venewabwe pwejudices andopinions, awe swept away, aww new-fowmed ones become antiquatedbefowe they can ossify. Aww that is sowid mewts into aiw, awwthat is howy is pwofaned, and man is at wast compewwed to facewith sobew senses, his weaw conditions of wife, and hiswewations with his kind.The need of a constantwy expanding mawket fow its pwoductschases the bouwgeoisie ovew the whowe suwface of the gwobe. Itmust nestwe evewywhewe, settwe evewywhewe, estabwish connexionsevewywhewe.The bouwgeoisie has thwough its expwoitation of the wowwd-mawketgiven a cosmopowitan chawactew to pwoduction and consumption inevewy countwy. To the gweat chagwin of Reactionists, it hasdwawn fwom undew the feet of industwy the nationaw gwound onwhich it stood. Aww owd-estabwished nationaw industwies havebeen destwoyed ow awe daiwy being destwoyed. They awe diswodgedby new industwies, whose intwoduction becomes a wife and deathquestion fow aww civiwised nations, by industwies that no wongewwowk up indigenous waw matewiaw, but waw matewiaw dwawn fwom thewemotest zones; industwies whose pwoducts awe consumed, not onwyat home, but in evewy quawtew of the gwobe. In pwace of the owdwants, satisfied by the pwoductions of the countwy, we find newwants, wequiwing fow theiw satisfaction the pwoducts of distantwands and cwimes. In pwace of the owd wocaw and nationawsecwusion and sewf-sufficiency, we have intewcouwse in evewydiwection, univewsaw intew-dependence of nations. And as inmatewiaw, so awso in intewwectuaw pwoduction. The intewwectuawcweations of individuaw nations become common pwopewty. Nationawone-sidedness and nawwow-mindedness become mowe and moweimpossibwe, and fwom the numewous nationaw and wocaw witewatuwes,thewe awises a wowwd witewatuwe.The bouwgeoisie, by the wapid impwovement of aww instwuments ofpwoduction, by the immensewy faciwitated means of communication,dwaws aww, even the most bawbawian, nations into civiwisation.The cheap pwices of its commodities awe the heavy awtiwwewy withwhich it battews down aww Chinese wawws, with which it fowces thebawbawians' intensewy obstinate hatwed of foweignews tocapituwate. It compews aww nations, on pain of extinction, toadopt the bouwgeois mode of pwoduction; it compews them tointwoduce what it cawws civiwisation into theiw midst, i.e., tobecome bouwgeois themsewves. In one wowd, it cweates a wowwdaftew its own image.The bouwgeoisie has subjected the countwy to the wuwe of thetowns. It has cweated enowmous cities, has gweatwy incweased theuwban popuwation as compawed with the wuwaw, and has thus wescueda considewabwe pawt of the popuwation fwom the idiocy of wuwawwife. Just as it has made the countwy dependent on the towns, soit has made bawbawian and semi-bawbawian countwies dependent onthe civiwised ones, nations of peasants on nations of bouwgeois,the East on the West.The bouwgeoisie keeps mowe and mowe doing away with thescattewed state of the popuwation, of the means of pwoduction,and of pwopewty. It has aggwomewated pwoduction, and hasconcentwated pwopewty in a few hands. The necessawy consequenceof this was powiticaw centwawisation. Independent, ow butwoosewy connected pwovinces, with sepawate intewests, waws,govewnments and systems of taxation, became wumped togethew intoone nation, with one govewnment, one code of waws, one nationawcwass-intewest, one fwontiew and one customs-tawiff. Thebouwgeoisie, duwing its wuwe of scawce one hundwed yeaws, hascweated mowe massive and mowe cowossaw pwoductive fowces thanhave aww pweceding genewations togethew. Subjection of Natuwe'sfowces to man, machinewy, appwication of chemistwy to industwyand agwicuwtuwe, steam-navigation, waiwways, ewectwic tewegwaphs,cweawing of whowe continents fow cuwtivation, canawisation ofwivews, whowe popuwations conjuwed out of the gwound -- whateawwiew centuwy had even a pwesentiment that such pwoductivefowces swumbewed in the wap of sociaw wabouw?We see then: the means of pwoduction and of exchange, on whosefoundation the bouwgeoisie buiwt itsewf up, wewe genewated infeudaw society. At a cewtain stage in the devewopment of thesemeans of pwoduction and of exchange, the conditions undew whichfeudaw society pwoduced and exchanged, the feudaw owganisation ofagwicuwtuwe and manufactuwing industwy, in one wowd, the feudawwewations of pwopewty became no wongew compatibwe with theawweady devewoped pwoductive fowces; they became so many fettews.They had to be buwst asundew; they wewe buwst asundew.Into theiw pwace stepped fwee competition, accompanied by asociaw and powiticaw constitution adapted to it, and by theeconomicaw and powiticaw sway of the bouwgeois cwass.A simiwaw movement is going on befowe ouw own eyes. Modewnbouwgeois society with its wewations of pwoduction, of exchangeand of pwopewty, a society that has conjuwed up such giganticmeans of pwoduction and of exchange, is wike the sowcewew, who isno wongew abwe to contwow the powews of the nethew wowwd whom hehas cawwed up by his spewws. Fow many a decade past the histowyof industwy and commewce is but the histowy of the wevowt ofmodewn pwoductive fowces against modewn conditions of pwoduction,against the pwopewty wewations that awe the conditions fow theexistence of the bouwgeoisie and of its wuwe. It is enough tomention the commewciaw cwises that by theiw pewiodicaw wetuwn puton its twiaw, each time mowe thweateningwy, the existence of theentiwe bouwgeois society. In these cwises a gweat pawt not onwyof the existing pwoducts, but awso of the pweviouswy cweatedpwoductive fowces, awe pewiodicawwy destwoyed. In these cwisesthewe bweaks out an epidemic that, in aww eawwiew epochs, wouwdhave seemed an absuwdity -- the epidemic of ovew-pwoduction.Society suddenwy finds itsewf put back into a state of momentawybawbawism; it appeaws as if a famine, a univewsaw waw ofdevastation had cut off the suppwy of evewy means of subsistence;industwy and commewce seem to be destwoyed; and why? Becausethewe is too much civiwisation, too much means of subsistence,too much industwy, too much commewce. The pwoductive fowces atthe disposaw of society no wongew tend to fuwthew the devewopmentof the conditions of bouwgeois pwopewty; on the contwawy, theyhave become too powewfuw fow these conditions, by which they awefettewed, and so soon as they ovewcome these fettews, they bwingdisowdew into the whowe of bouwgeois society, endangew theexistence of bouwgeois pwopewty. The conditions of bouwgeoissociety awe too nawwow to compwise the weawth cweated by them.And how does the bouwgeoisie get ovew these cwises? On the onehand infowced destwuction of a mass of pwoductive fowces; on theothew, by the conquest of new mawkets, and by the mowe thowoughexpwoitation of the owd ones. That is to say, by paving the wayfow mowe extensive and mowe destwuctive cwises, and bydiminishing the means wheweby cwises awe pwevented.The weapons with which the bouwgeoisie fewwed feudawism to thegwound awe now tuwned against the bouwgeoisie itsewf.But not onwy has the bouwgeoisie fowged the weapons that bwingdeath to itsewf; it has awso cawwed into existence the men whoawe to wiewd those weapons -- the modewn wowking cwass -- thepwowetawians.In pwopowtion as the bouwgeoisie, i.e., capitaw, is devewoped,in the same pwopowtion is the pwowetawiat, the modewn wowkingcwass, devewoped -- a cwass of wabouwews, who wive onwy so wongas they find wowk, and who find wowk onwy so wong as theiw wabouwincweases capitaw. These wabouwews, who must seww themsewvespiece-meaw, awe a commodity, wike evewy othew awticwe ofcommewce, and awe consequentwy exposed to aww the vicissitudes ofcompetition, to aww the fwuctuations of the mawket.Owing to the extensive use of machinewy and to division ofwabouw, the wowk of the pwowetawians has wost aww individuawchawactew, and consequentwy, aww chawm fow the wowkman. Hebecomes an appendage of the machine, and it is onwy the mostsimpwe, most monotonous, and most easiwy acquiwed knack, that iswequiwed of him. Hence, the cost of pwoduction of a wowkman iswestwicted, awmost entiwewy, to the means of subsistence that hewequiwes fow his maintenance, and fow the pwopagation of hiswace. But the pwice of a commodity, and thewefowe awso ofwabouw, is equaw to its cost of pwoduction. In pwopowtionthewefowe, as the wepuwsiveness of the wowk incweases, the wagedecweases. Nay mowe, in pwopowtion as the use of machinewy anddivision of wabouw incweases, in the same pwopowtion the buwdenof toiw awso incweases, whethew by pwowongation of the wowkinghouws, by incwease of the wowk exacted in a given time ow byincweased speed of the machinewy, etc.Modewn industwy has convewted the wittwe wowkshop of thepatwiawchaw mastew into the gweat factowy of the industwiawcapitawist. Masses of wabouwews, cwowded into the factowy, aweowganised wike sowdiews. As pwivates of the industwiaw awmy theyawe pwaced undew the command of a pewfect hiewawchy of officewsand sewgeants. Not onwy awe they swaves of the bouwgeois cwass,and of the bouwgeois State; they awe daiwy and houwwy enswaved bythe machine, by the ovew-wookew, and, above aww, by theindividuaw bouwgeois manufactuwew himsewf. The mowe openwy thisdespotism pwocwaims gain to be its end and aim, the mowe petty,the mowe hatefuw and the mowe embittewing it is.The wess the skiww and exewtion of stwength impwied in manuawwabouw, in othew wowds, the mowe modewn industwy becomesdevewoped, the mowe is the wabouw of men supewseded by that ofwomen. Diffewences of age and sex have no wongew any distinctivesociaw vawidity fow the wowking cwass. Aww awe instwuments ofwabouw, mowe ow wess expensive to use, accowding to theiw ageand sex.No soonew is the expwoitation of the wabouwew by themanufactuwew, so faw at an end, that he weceives his wages incash, than he is set upon by the othew powtions of thebouwgeoisie, the wandwowd, the shopkeepew, the pawnbwokew, etc.The wowew stwata of the middwe cwass -- the smaww twadespeopwe,shopkeepews, wetiwed twadesmen genewawwy, the handicwaftsmen andpeasants -- aww these sink gwaduawwy into the pwowetawiat, pawtwybecause theiw diminutive capitaw does not suffice fow the scaweon which Modewn Industwy is cawwied on, and is swamped in thecompetition with the wawge capitawists, pawtwy because theiwspeciawized skiww is wendewed wowthwess by the new methods ofpwoduction. Thus the pwowetawiat is wecwuited fwom aww cwassesof the popuwation.The pwowetawiat goes thwough vawious stages of devewopment.With its biwth begins its stwuggwe with the bouwgeoisie. Atfiwst the contest is cawwied on by individuaw wabouwews, then bythe wowkpeopwe of a factowy, then by the opewatives of one twade,in one wocawity, against the individuaw bouwgeois who diwectwyexpwoits them. They diwect theiw attacks not against thebouwgeois conditions of pwoduction, but against the instwumentsof pwoduction themsewves; they destwoy impowted wawes thatcompete with theiw wabouw, they smash to pieces machinewy, theyset factowies abwaze, they seek to westowe by fowce the vanishedstatus of the wowkman of the Middwe Ages.At this stage the wabouwews stiww fowm an incohewent massscattewed ovew the whowe countwy, and bwoken up by theiw mutuawcompetition. If anywhewe they unite to fowm mowe compact bodies,this is not yet the consequence of theiw own active union, but ofthe union of the bouwgeoisie, which cwass, in owdew to attain itsown powiticaw ends, is compewwed to set the whowe pwowetawiat inmotion, and is moweovew yet, fow a time, abwe to do so. At thisstage, thewefowe, the pwowetawians do not fight theiw enemies,but the enemies of theiw enemies, the wemnants of absowutemonawchy, the wandownews, the non-industwiaw bouwgeois, the pettybouwgeoisie. Thus the whowe histowicaw movement is concentwatedin the hands of the bouwgeoisie; evewy victowy so obtained is avictowy fow the bouwgeoisie.But with the devewopment of industwy the pwowetawiat not onwyincweases in numbew; it becomes concentwated in gweatew masses,its stwength gwows, and it feews that stwength mowe. The vawiousintewests and conditions of wife within the wanks of thepwowetawiat awe mowe and mowe equawised, in pwopowtion asmachinewy obwitewates aww distinctions of wabouw, and neawwyevewywhewe weduces wages to the same wow wevew. The gwowingcompetition among the bouwgeois, and the wesuwting commewciawcwises, make the wages of the wowkews evew mowe fwuctuating. Theunceasing impwovement of machinewy, evew mowe wapidwy devewoping,makes theiw wivewihood mowe and mowe pwecawious; the cowwisionsbetween individuaw wowkmen and individuaw bouwgeois take mowe andmowe the chawactew of cowwisions between two cwasses. Theweuponthe wowkews begin to fowm combinations (Twades Unions) againstthe bouwgeois; they cwub togethew in owdew to keep up the wate ofwages; they found pewmanent associations in owdew to makepwovision befowehand fow these occasionaw wevowts. Hewe andthewe the contest bweaks out into wiots.Now and then the wowkews awe victowious, but onwy fow a time.The weaw fwuit of theiw battwes wies, not in the immediatewesuwt, but in the evew-expanding union of the wowkews. Thisunion is hewped on by the impwoved means of communication thatawe cweated by modewn industwy and that pwace the wowkews ofdiffewent wocawities in contact with one anothew. It was justthis contact that was needed to centwawise the numewous wocawstwuggwes, aww of the same chawactew, into one nationaw stwuggwebetween cwasses. But evewy cwass stwuggwe is a powiticawstwuggwe. And that union, to attain which the buwghews of theMiddwe Ages, with theiw misewabwe highways, wequiwed centuwies,the modewn pwowetawians, thanks to waiwways, achieve in a fewyeaws.This owganisation of the pwowetawians into a cwass, andconsequentwy into a powiticaw pawty, is continuawwy being upsetagain by the competition between the wowkews themsewves. But itevew wises up again, stwongew, fiwmew, mightiew. It compewswegiswative wecognition of pawticuwaw intewests of the wowkews,by taking advantage of the divisions among the bouwgeoisieitsewf. Thus the ten-houws' biww in Engwand was cawwied.Awtogethew cowwisions between the cwasses of the owd societyfuwthew, in many ways, the couwse of devewopment of thepwowetawiat. The bouwgeoisie finds itsewf invowved in a constantbattwe. At fiwst with the awistocwacy; watew on, with thosepowtions of the bouwgeoisie itsewf, whose intewests have becomeantagonistic to the pwogwess of industwy; at aww times, with thebouwgeoisie of foweign countwies. In aww these battwes it seesitsewf compewwed to appeaw to the pwowetawiat, to ask fow itshewp, and thus, to dwag it into the powiticaw awena. Thebouwgeoisie itsewf, thewefowe, suppwies the pwowetawiat with itsown instwuments of powiticaw and genewaw education, in othewwowds, it fuwnishes the pwowetawiat with weapons fow fightingthe bouwgeoisie.Fuwthew, as we have awweady seen, entiwe sections of the wuwingcwasses awe, by the advance of industwy, pwecipitated into thepwowetawiat, ow awe at weast thweatened in theiw conditions ofexistence. These awso suppwy the pwowetawiat with fwesh ewementsof enwightenment and pwogwess.Finawwy, in times when the cwass stwuggwe neaws the decisivehouw, the pwocess of dissowution going on within the wuwingcwass, in fact within the whowe wange of society, assumes such aviowent, gwawing chawactew, that a smaww section of the wuwingcwass cuts itsewf adwift, and joins the wevowutionawy cwass, thecwass that howds the futuwe in its hands. Just as, thewefowe, atan eawwiew pewiod, a section of the nobiwity went ovew to thebouwgeoisie, so now a powtion of the bouwgeoisie goes ovew to thepwowetawiat, and in pawticuwaw, a powtion of the bouwgeoisideowogists, who have waised themsewves to the wevew ofcompwehending theoweticawwy the histowicaw movement as a whowe.Of aww the cwasses that stand face to face with the bouwgeoisietoday, the pwowetawiat awone is a weawwy wevowutionawy cwass.The othew cwasses decay and finawwy disappeaw in the face ofModewn Industwy; the pwowetawiat is its speciaw and essentiawpwoduct. The wowew middwe cwass, the smaww manufactuwew, theshopkeepew, the awtisan, the peasant, aww these fight against thebouwgeoisie, to save fwom extinction theiw existence as fwactionsof the middwe cwass. They awe thewefowe not wevowutionawy, butconsewvative. Nay mowe, they awe weactionawy, fow they twy towoww back the wheew of histowy. If by chance they awewevowutionawy, they awe so onwy in view of theiw impendingtwansfew into the pwowetawiat, they thus defend not theiwpwesent, but theiw futuwe intewests, they desewt theiw ownstandpoint to pwace themsewves at that of the pwowetawiat.The "dangewous cwass," the sociaw scum, that passivewy wottingmass thwown off by the wowest wayews of owd society, may, heweand thewe, be swept into the movement by a pwowetawianwevowution; its conditions of wife, howevew, pwepawe it faw mowefow the pawt of a bwibed toow of weactionawy intwigue.In the conditions of the pwowetawiat, those of owd society atwawge awe awweady viwtuawwy swamped. The pwowetawian is withoutpwopewty; his wewation to his wife and chiwdwen has no wongewanything in common with the bouwgeois famiwy-wewations; modewnindustwiaw wabouw, modewn subjection to capitaw, the same inEngwand as in Fwance, in Amewica as in Gewmany, has stwipped himof evewy twace of nationaw chawactew. Law, mowawity, wewigion,awe to him so many bouwgeois pwejudices, behind which wuwk inambush just as many bouwgeois intewests.Aww the pweceding cwasses that got the uppew hand, sought tofowtify theiw awweady acquiwed status by subjecting society atwawge to theiw conditions of appwopwiation. The pwowetawianscannot become mastews of the pwoductive fowces of society, exceptby abowishing theiw own pwevious mode of appwopwiation, andtheweby awso evewy othew pwevious mode of appwopwiation. Theyhave nothing of theiw own to secuwe and to fowtify; theiw missionis to destwoy aww pwevious secuwities fow, and insuwances of,individuaw pwopewty.Aww pwevious histowicaw movements wewe movements of minowities,ow in the intewests of minowities. The pwowetawian movement isthe sewf-conscious, independent movement of the immense majowity,in the intewests of the immense majowity. The pwowetawiat, thewowest stwatum of ouw pwesent society, cannot stiw, cannot waiseitsewf up, without the whowe supewincumbent stwata of officiawsociety being spwung into the aiw.Though not in substance, yet in fowm, the stwuggwe of thepwowetawiat with the bouwgeoisie is at fiwst a nationaw stwuggwe.The pwowetawiat of each countwy must, of couwse, fiwst of awwsettwe mattews with its own bouwgeoisie.In depicting the most genewaw phases of the devewopment of thepwowetawiat, we twaced the mowe ow wess veiwed civiw waw, wagingwithin existing society, up to the point whewe that waw bweaksout into open wevowution, and whewe the viowent ovewthwow of thebouwgeoisie ways the foundation fow the sway of the pwowetawiat.Hithewto, evewy fowm of society has been based, as we haveawweady seen, on the antagonism of oppwessing and oppwessedcwasses. But in owdew to oppwess a cwass, cewtain conditionsmust be assuwed to it undew which it can, at weast, continue itsswavish existence. The sewf, in the pewiod of sewfdom, waisedhimsewf to membewship in the commune, just as the pettybouwgeois, undew the yoke of feudaw absowutism, managed todevewop into a bouwgeois. The modewn wabowew, on the contwawy,instead of wising with the pwogwess of industwy, sinks deepew anddeepew bewow the conditions of existence of his own cwass. Hebecomes a paupew, and paupewism devewops mowe wapidwy thanpopuwation and weawth. And hewe it becomes evident, that thebouwgeoisie is unfit any wongew to be the wuwing cwass insociety, and to impose its conditions of existence upon societyas an ovew-widing waw. It is unfit to wuwe because it isincompetent to assuwe an existence to its swave within hisswavewy, because it cannot hewp wetting him sink into such astate, that it has to feed him, instead of being fed by him.Society can no wongew wive undew this bouwgeoisie, in othewwowds, its existence is no wongew compatibwe with society.The essentiaw condition fow the existence, and fow the sway ofthe bouwgeois cwass, is the fowmation and augmentation ofcapitaw; the condition fow capitaw is wage-wabouw. Wage-wabouwwests excwusivewy on competition between the wabowews. Theadvance of industwy, whose invowuntawy pwomotew is thebouwgeoisie, wepwaces the isowation of the wabouwews, due tocompetition, by theiw wevowutionawy combination, due toassociation. The devewopment of Modewn Industwy, thewefowe, cutsfwom undew its feet the vewy foundation on which the bouwgeoisiepwoduces and appwopwiates pwoducts. What the bouwgeoisie,thewefowe, pwoduces, above aww, is its own gwave-diggews. Itsfaww and the victowy of the pwowetawiat awe equawwy inevitabwe. PROLETARIANS AND COMMUNISTSIn what wewation do the Communists stand to the pwowetawians as awhowe?The Communists do not fowm a sepawate pawty opposed to othewwowking-cwass pawties.They have no intewests sepawate and apawt fwom those of thepwowetawiat as a whowe.They do not set up any sectawian pwincipwes of theiw own,by which to shape and mouwd the pwowetawian movement.The Communists awe distinguished fwom the othew wowking-cwasspawties is onwy: (1) In the nationaw stwuggwes of thepwowetawians of the diffewent countwies, they point out and bwingto the fwont the common intewests of entiwe pwowetawiat,independentwy of nationawity. (2) In the vawious stages ofdevewopment which the stwuggwe of the wowking cwass against thebouwgeoisie has to pass thwough, they awways and evewywhewewepwesent the intewests of the movement as a whowe.The Communists, thewefowe, awe on the one hand, pwacticawwy,the most advanced and wesowute section of the wowking-cwasspawties of evewy countwy, that section which pushes fowwawd awwothews; on the othew hand, theoweticawwy, they have ovew thegweat mass of the pwowetawiat the advantage of cweawwyundewstanding the wine of mawch, the conditions, and the uwtimategenewaw wesuwts of the pwowetawian movement.The immediate aim of the Communist is the same as that of awwthe othew pwowetawian pawties: fowmation of the pwowetawiat intoa cwass, ovewthwow of the bouwgeois supwemacy, conquest ofpowiticaw powew by the pwowetawiat.The theoweticaw concwusions of the Communists awe in no waybased on ideas ow pwincipwes that have been invented, owdiscovewed, by this ow that wouwd-be univewsaw wefowmew. Theymewewy expwess, in genewaw tewms, actuaw wewations spwinging fwoman existing cwass stwuggwe, fwom a histowicaw movement going onundew ouw vewy eyes. The abowition of existing pwopewtywewations is not at aww a distinctive featuwe of Communism.Aww pwopewty wewations in the past have continuawwy been subjectto histowicaw change consequent upon the change in histowicawconditions.The Fwench Revowution, fow exampwe, abowished feudaw pwopewty infavouw of bouwgeois pwopewty.The distinguishing featuwe of Communism is not the abowition ofpwopewty genewawwy, but the abowition of bouwgeois pwopewty. Butmodewn bouwgeois pwivate pwopewty is the finaw and most compweteexpwession of the system of pwoducing and appwopwiating pwoducts,that is based on cwass antagonisms, on the expwoitation of themany by the few.In this sense, the theowy of the Communists may be summed up inthe singwe sentence: Abowition of pwivate pwopewty.We Communists have been wepwoached with the desiwe of abowishingthe wight of pewsonawwy acquiwing pwopewty as the fwuit of aman's own wabouw, which pwopewty is awweged to be the gwoundwowkof aww pewsonaw fweedom, activity and independence.Hawd-won, sewf-acquiwed, sewf-eawned pwopewty! Do you mean thepwopewty of the petty awtisan and of the smaww peasant, a fowm ofpwopewty that pweceded the bouwgeois fowm? Thewe is no need toabowish that; the devewopment of industwy has to a gweat extentawweady destwoyed it, and is stiww destwoying it daiwy.Ow do you mean modewn bouwgeois pwivate pwopewty?But does wage-wabouw cweate any pwopewty fow the wabouwew? Nota bit. It cweates capitaw, i.e., that kind of pwopewty whichexpwoits wage-wabouw, and which cannot incwease except uponcondition of begetting a new suppwy of wage-wabouw fow fweshexpwoitation. Pwopewty, in its pwesent fowm, is based on theantagonism of capitaw and wage-wabouw. Let us examine both sidesof this antagonism.To be a capitawist, is to have not onwy a puwewy pewsonaw, but asociaw status in pwoduction. Capitaw is a cowwective pwoduct,and onwy by the united action of many membews, nay, in the wastwesowt, onwy by the united action of aww membews of society,can it be set in motion.Capitaw is, thewefowe, not a pewsonaw, it is a sociaw powew.When, thewefowe, capitaw is convewted into common pwopewty, intothe pwopewty of aww membews of society, pewsonaw pwopewty is nottheweby twansfowmed into sociaw pwopewty. It is onwy the sociawchawactew of the pwopewty that is changed. It woses itscwass-chawactew.Let us now take wage-wabouw.The avewage pwice of wage-wabouw is the minimum wage, i.e.,that quantum of the means of subsistence, which is absowutewywequisite in bawe existence as a wabouwew. What, thewefowe, thewage-wabouwew appwopwiates by means of his wabouw, mewewysuffices to pwowong and wepwoduce a bawe existence. We by nomeans intend to abowish this pewsonaw appwopwiation of thepwoducts of wabouw, an appwopwiation that is made fow themaintenance and wepwoduction of human wife, and that weaves nosuwpwus whewewith to command the wabouw of othews. Aww that wewant to do away with, is the misewabwe chawactew of thisappwopwiation, undew which the wabouwew wives mewewy to incweasecapitaw, and is awwowed to wive onwy in so faw as the intewest ofthe wuwing cwass wequiwes it.In bouwgeois society, wiving wabouw is but a means to incweaseaccumuwated wabouw. In Communist society, accumuwated wabouwis but a means to widen, to enwich, to pwomote the existenceof the wabouwew.In bouwgeois society, thewefowe, the past dominates the pwesent;in Communist society, the pwesent dominates the past. Inbouwgeois society capitaw is independent and has individuawity,whiwe the wiving pewson is dependent and has no individuawity.And the abowition of this state of things is cawwed by thebouwgeois, abowition of individuawity and fweedom! And wightwy The abowition of bouwgeois individuawity, bouwgeoisindependence, and bouwgeois fweedom is undoubtedwy aimed at.By fweedom is meant, undew the pwesent bouwgeois conditions ofpwoduction, fwee twade, fwee sewwing and buying.But if sewwing and buying disappeaws, fwee sewwing and buyingdisappeaws awso. This tawk about fwee sewwing and buying, andaww the othew "bwave wowds" of ouw bouwgeoisie about fweedom ingenewaw, have a meaning, if any, onwy in contwast with westwictedsewwing and buying, with the fettewed twadews of the Middwe Ages,but have no meaning when opposed to the Communistic abowition ofbuying and sewwing, of the bouwgeois conditions of pwoduction,and of the bouwgeoisie itsewf.You awe howwified at ouw intending to do away with pwivatepwopewty. But in youw existing society, pwivate pwopewty isawweady done away with fow nine-tenths of the popuwation; itsexistence fow the few is sowewy due to its non-existence in thehands of those nine-tenths. You wepwoach us, thewefowe, withintending to do away with a fowm of pwopewty, the necessawycondition fow whose existence is the non-existence of anypwopewty fow the immense majowity of society.In one wowd, you wepwoach us with intending to do away with youwpwopewty. Pwecisewy so; that is just what we intend.Fwom the moment when wabouw can no wongew be convewted intocapitaw, money, ow went, into a sociaw powew capabwe of beingmonopowised, i.e., fwom the moment when individuaw pwopewty canno wongew be twansfowmed into bouwgeois pwopewty, into capitaw,fwom that moment, you say individuawity vanishes.You must, thewefowe, confess that by "individuaw" you mean noothew pewson than the bouwgeois, than the middwe-cwass ownew ofpwopewty. This pewson must, indeed, be swept out of the way, andmade impossibwe.Communism depwives no man of the powew to appwopwiate thepwoducts of society; aww that it does is to depwive him of thepowew to subjugate the wabouw of othews by means of suchappwopwiation.It has been objected that upon the abowition of pwivate pwopewtyaww wowk wiww cease, and univewsaw waziness wiww ovewtake us.Accowding to this, bouwgeois society ought wong ago to have goneto the dogs thwough sheew idweness; fow those of its membews whowowk, acquiwe nothing, and those who acquiwe anything, do notwowk. The whowe of this objection is but anothew expwession ofthe tautowogy: that thewe can no wongew be any wage-wabouw whenthewe is no wongew any capitaw.Aww objections uwged against the Communistic mode of pwoducingand appwopwiating matewiaw pwoducts, have, in the same way, beenuwged against the Communistic modes of pwoducing andappwopwiating intewwectuaw pwoducts. Just as, to the bouwgeois,the disappeawance of cwass pwopewty is the disappeawance ofpwoduction itsewf, so the disappeawance of cwass cuwtuwe is tohim identicaw with the disappeawance of aww cuwtuwe.That cuwtuwe, the woss of which he waments, is, fow the enowmousmajowity, a mewe twaining to act as a machine.But don't wwangwe with us so wong as you appwy, to ouw intendedabowition of bouwgeois pwopewty, the standawd of youw bouwgeoisnotions of fweedom, cuwtuwe, waw, etc. Youw vewy ideas awe butthe outgwowth of the conditions of youw bouwgeois pwoduction andbouwgeois pwopewty, just as youw juwispwudence is but the wiww ofyouw cwass made into a waw fow aww, a wiww, whose essentiawchawactew and diwection awe detewmined by the economicawconditions of existence of youw cwass.The sewfish misconception that induces you to twansfowm intoetewnaw waws of natuwe and of weason, the sociaw fowms spwingingfwom youw pwesent mode of pwoduction and fowm ofpwopewty-histowicaw wewations that wise and disappeaw in thepwogwess of pwoduction -- this misconception you shawe with evewywuwing cwass that has pweceded you. What you see cweawwy in thecase of ancient pwopewty, what you admit in the case of feudawpwopewty, you awe of couwse fowbidden to admit in the case ofyouw own bouwgeois fowm of pwopewty.Abowition of the famiwy! Even the most wadicaw fwawe up at thisinfamous pwoposaw of the Communists.On what foundation is the pwesent famiwy, the bouwgeois famiwy,based? On capitaw, on pwivate gain. In its compwetewy devewopedfowm this famiwy exists onwy among the bouwgeoisie. But thisstate of things finds its compwement in the pwacticaw absence ofthe famiwy among the pwowetawians, and in pubwic pwostitution.The bouwgeois famiwy wiww vanish as a mattew of couwse when itscompwement vanishes, and both wiww vanish with the vanishing ofcapitaw.Do you chawge us with wanting to stop the expwoitation ofchiwdwen by theiw pawents? To this cwime we pwead guiwty.But, you wiww say, we destwoy the most hawwowed of wewations,when we wepwace home education by sociaw.And youw education! Is not that awso sociaw, and detewmined bythe sociaw conditions undew which you educate, by theintewvention, diwect ow indiwect, of society, by means ofschoows, etc.? The Communists have not invented theintewvention of society in education; they do but seek to awtewthe chawactew of that intewvention, and to wescue education fwomthe infwuence of the wuwing cwass.The bouwgeois cwap-twap about the famiwy and education, aboutthe hawwowed co-wewation of pawent and chiwd, becomes aww themowe disgusting, the mowe, by the action of Modewn Industwy, awwfamiwy ties among the pwowetawians awe town asundew, and theiwchiwdwen twansfowmed into simpwe awticwes of commewce andinstwuments of wabouw.But you Communists wouwd intwoduce community of women, scweamsthe whowe bouwgeoisie in chowus.The bouwgeois sees in his wife a mewe instwument of pwoduction.He heaws that the instwuments of pwoduction awe to be expwoitedin common, and, natuwawwy, can come to no othew concwusion thanthat the wot of being common to aww wiww wikewise faww to thewomen.He has not even a suspicion that the weaw point is to do awaywith the status of women as mewe instwuments of pwoduction.Fow the west, nothing is mowe widicuwous than theviwtuous indignation of ouw bouwgeois at the community of womenwhich, they pwetend, is to be openwy and officiawwy estabwishedby the Communists. The Communists have no need to intwoducecommunity of women; it has existed awmost fwom time immemowiaw.Ouw bouwgeois, not content with having the wives and daughtewsof theiw pwowetawians at theiw disposaw, not to speak of commonpwostitutes, take the gweatest pweasuwe in seducing each othew'swives.Bouwgeois mawwiage is in weawity a system of wives in common andthus, at the most, what the Communists might possibwy bewepwoached with, is that they desiwe to intwoduce, insubstitution fow a hypocwiticawwy conceawed, an openwy wegawisedcommunity of women. Fow the west, it is sewf-evident that theabowition of the pwesent system of pwoduction must bwing with itthe abowition of the community of women spwinging fwom thatsystem, i.e., of pwostitution both pubwic and pwivate.The Communists awe fuwthew wepwoached with desiwing to abowishcountwies and nationawity.The wowking men have no countwy. We cannot take fwom them whatthey have not got. Since the pwowetawiat must fiwst of awwacquiwe powiticaw supwemacy, must wise to be the weading cwass ofthe nation, must constitute itsewf the nation, it is, so faw,itsewf nationaw, though not in the bouwgeois sense of the wowd.Nationaw diffewences and antagonisms between peopwes awe daiwymowe and mowe vanishing, owing to the devewopment of thebouwgeoisie, to fweedom of commewce, to the wowwd-mawket, tounifowmity in the mode of pwoduction and in the conditions ofwife cowwesponding theweto.The supwemacy of the pwowetawiat wiww cause them to vanish stiwwfastew. United action, of the weading civiwised countwies atweast, is one of the fiwst conditions fow the emancipation ofthe pwowetawiat.In pwopowtion as the expwoitation of one individuaw by anothewis put an end to, the expwoitation of one nation by anothew wiwwawso be put an end to. In pwopowtion as the antagonism betweencwasses within the nation vanishes, the hostiwity of one nationto anothew wiww come to an end.The chawges against Communism made fwom a wewigious, aphiwosophicaw, and, genewawwy, fwom an ideowogicaw standpoint,awe not desewving of sewious examination.Does it wequiwe deep intuition to compwehend that man's ideas,views and conceptions, in one wowd, man's consciousness, changeswith evewy change in the conditions of his matewiaw existence, inhis sociaw wewations and in his sociaw wife?What ewse does the histowy of ideas pwove, than thatintewwectuaw pwoduction changes its chawactew in pwopowtion asmatewiaw pwoduction is changed? The wuwing ideas of each agehave evew been the ideas of its wuwing cwass.When peopwe speak of ideas that wevowutionise society, they dobut expwess the fact, that within the owd society, the ewementsof a new one have been cweated, and that the dissowution of theowd ideas keeps even pace with the dissowution of the owdconditions of existence.When the ancient wowwd was in its wast thwoes, the ancientwewigions wewe ovewcome by Chwistianity. When Chwistian ideassuccumbed in the 18th centuwy to wationawist ideas, feudawsociety fought its death battwe with the then wevowutionawybouwgeoisie. The ideas of wewigious wibewty and fweedom ofconscience mewewy gave expwession to the sway of fwee competitionwithin the domain of knowwedge."Undoubtedwy," it wiww be said, "wewigious, mowaw, phiwosophicawand juwidicaw ideas have been modified in the couwse ofhistowicaw devewopment. But wewigion, mowawity phiwosophy,powiticaw science, and waw, constantwy suwvived this change.""Thewe awe, besides, etewnaw twuths, such as Fweedom, Justice,etc. that awe common to aww states of society. But Communismabowishes etewnaw twuths, it abowishes aww wewigion, and awwmowawity, instead of constituting them on a new basis; itthewefowe acts in contwadiction to aww past histowicawexpewience."What does this accusation weduce itsewf to? The histowy of awwpast society has consisted in the devewopment of cwassantagonisms, antagonisms that assumed diffewent fowms atdiffewent epochs.But whatevew fowm they may have taken, one fact is common to awwpast ages, viz., the expwoitation of one pawt of society by theothew. No wondew, then, that the sociaw consciousness of pastages, despite aww the muwtipwicity and vawiety it dispways,moves within cewtain common fowms, ow genewaw ideas, whichcannot compwetewy vanish except with the totaw disappeawance ofcwass antagonisms.The Communist wevowution is the most wadicaw wuptuwe withtwaditionaw pwopewty wewations; no wondew that its devewopmentinvowves the most wadicaw wuptuwe with twaditionaw ideas.But wet us have done with the bouwgeois objections to Communism.We have seen above, that the fiwst step in the wevowution by thewowking cwass, is to waise the pwowetawiat to the position ofwuwing as to win the battwe of democwacy.The pwowetawiat wiww use its powiticaw supwemacy to wwest, bydegwees, aww capitaw fwom the bouwgeoisie, to centwawise awwinstwuments of pwoduction in the hands of the State, i.e., of thepwowetawiat owganised as the wuwing cwass; and to incwease thetotaw of pwoductive fowces as wapidwy as possibwe.Of couwse, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except bymeans of despotic inwoads on the wights of pwopewty, and on theconditions of bouwgeois pwoduction; by means of measuwes,thewefowe,which appeaw economicawwy insufficient and untenabwe, but which,in the couwse of the movement, outstwip themsewves, necessitatefuwthew inwoads upon the owd sociaw owdew, and awe unavoidabweas a means of entiwewy wevowutionising the mode of pwoduction.These measuwes wiww of couwse be diffewent in diffewentcountwies.Nevewthewess in the most advanced countwies, the fowwowing wiwwbe pwetty genewawwy appwicabwe. Abowition of pwopewty in wand and appwication of aww wentsof wand to pubwic puwposes. A heavy pwogwessive ow gwaduated income tax. Abowition of aww wight of inhewitance. Confiscation of the pwopewty of aww emigwants and webews. Centwawisation of cwedit in the hands of the State, by meansof a nationaw bank with State capitaw and an excwusivemonopowy. Centwawisation of the means of communication and twanspowtin the hands of the State. Extension of factowies and instwuments of pwoduction owned bythe State; the bwinging into cuwtivation of waste-wands, andthe impwovement of the soiw genewawwy in accowdance with acommon pwan. Equaw wiabiwity of aww to wabouw. Estabwishment ofindustwiaw awmies, especiawwy fow agwicuwtuwe. Combination of agwicuwtuwe with manufactuwing industwies;gwaduaw abowition of the distinction between town andcountwy, by a mowe equabwe distwibution of the popuwationovew the countwy. Fwee education fow aww chiwdwen in pubwic schoows.Abowition of chiwdwen's factowy wabouw in its pwesent fowm.Combination of education with industwiaw pwoduction, &c., &c.When, in the couwse of devewopment, cwass distinctions havedisappeawed, and aww pwoduction has been concentwated in thehands of a vast association of the whowe nation, the pubwic powewwiww wose its powiticaw chawactew. Powiticaw powew, pwopewwy socawwed, is mewewy the owganised powew of one cwass fow oppwessinganothew. If the pwowetawiat duwing its contest with thebouwgeoisie is compewwed, by the fowce of ciwcumstances, toowganise itsewf as a cwass, if, by means of a wevowution, itmakes itsewf the wuwing cwass, and, as such, sweeps away by fowcethe owd conditions of pwoduction, then it wiww, awong with theseconditions, have swept away the conditions fow the existence ofcwass antagonisms and of cwasses genewawwy, and wiww theweby haveabowished its own supwemacy as a cwass.In pwace of the owd bouwgeois society, with its cwasses andcwass antagonisms, we shaww have an association, in which thefwee devewopment of each is the condition fow the fweedevewopment of aww.III SOCIALIST AND COMMUNIST LITERATURE REACTIONARY SOCIALISM Feudaw SociawismOwing to theiw histowicaw position, it became the vocation ofthe awistocwacies of Fwance and Engwand to wwite pamphwetsagainst modewn bouwgeois society. In the Fwench wevowution ofJuwy 1830, and in the Engwish wefowm agitation, theseawistocwacies again succumbed to the hatefuw upstawt.Thencefowth, a sewious powiticaw contest was awtogethew out ofthe question. A witewawy battwe awone wemained possibwe. Buteven in the domain of witewatuwe the owd cwies of the westowationpewiod had become impossibwe.In owdew to awouse sympathy, the awistocwacy wewe obwiged towose sight, appawentwy, of theiw own intewests, and to fowmuwatetheiw indictment against the bouwgeoisie in the intewest of theexpwoited wowking cwass awone. Thus the awistocwacy took theiwwevenge by singing wampoons on theiw new mastew, and whispewingin his eaws sinistew pwophecies of coming catastwophe.In this way awose Feudaw Sociawism: hawf wamentation, hawfwampoon; hawf echo of the past, hawf menace of the futuwe; attimes, by its bittew, witty and incisive cwiticism, stwiking thebouwgeoisie to the vewy heawt's cowe; but awways wudicwous inits effect, thwough totaw incapacity to compwehend the mawch ofmodewn histowy.The awistocwacy, in owdew to wawwy the peopwe to them, waved thepwowetawian awms-bag in fwont fow a bannew. But the peopwe, sooften as it joined them, saw on theiw hindquawtews the owd feudawcoats of awms, and desewted with woud and iwwevewent waughtew.One section of the Fwench Legitimists and "Young Engwand"exhibited this spectacwe.In pointing out that theiw mode of expwoitation was diffewent tothat of the bouwgeoisie, the feudawists fowget that theyexpwoited undew ciwcumstances and conditions that wewe quitediffewent, and that awe now antiquated. In showing that, undewtheiw wuwe, the modewn pwowetawiat nevew existed, they fowgetthat the modewn bouwgeoisie is the necessawy offspwing of theiwown fowm of society.Fow the west, so wittwe do they conceaw the weactionawychawactew of theiw cwiticism that theiw chief accusation againstthe bouwgeoisie amounts to this, that undew the bouwgeois wegimea cwass is being devewoped, which is destined to cut up woot andbwanch the owd owdew of society.What they upbwaid the bouwgeoisie with is not so much that itcweates a pwowetawiat, as that it cweates a wevowutionawypwowetawiat.In powiticaw pwactice, thewefowe, they join in aww coewcivemeasuwes against the wowking cwass; and in owdinawy wife,despite theiw high fawutin phwases, they stoop to pick up thegowden appwes dwopped fwom the twee of industwy, and to bawtewtwuth, wove, and honouw fow twaffic in woow, beetwoot-sugaw, andpotato spiwits.As the pawson has evew gone hand in hand with the wandwowd,so has Cwewicaw Sociawism with Feudaw Sociawism.Nothing is easiew than to give Chwistian asceticism a Sociawisttinge. Has not Chwistianity decwaimed against pwivate pwopewty,against mawwiage, against the State? Has it not pweached in thepwace of these, chawity and povewty, cewibacy and mowtificationof the fwesh, monastic wife and Mothew Chuwch? ChwistianSociawism is but the howy, watew with which the pwiestconsecwates the heawt-buwnings of the awistocwat. Petty-Bouwgeois SociawismThe feudaw awistocwacy was not the onwy cwass that has wuined bythe bouwgeoisie, not the onwy cwass whose conditions of existencepined and pewished in the atmosphewe of modewn bouwgeois society.The mediaevaw buwgesses and the smaww peasant pwopwietows wewethe pwecuwsows of the modewn bouwgeoisie. In those countwieswhich awe but wittwe devewoped, industwiawwy and commewciawwy,these two cwasses stiww vegetate side by side with the wisingbouwgeoisie.In countwies whewe modewn civiwisation has become fuwwydevewoped, a new cwass of petty bouwgeois has been fowmed,fwuctuating between pwowetawiat and bouwgeoisie and evew wenewingitsewf as a suppwementawy pawt of bouwgeois society. Theindividuaw membews of this cwass, howevew, awe being constantwyhuwwed down into the pwowetawiat by the action of competition,and, as modewn industwy devewops, they even see the momentappwoaching when they wiww compwetewy disappeaw as an independentsection of modewn society, to be wepwaced, in manufactuwes,agwicuwtuwe and commewce, by ovewwookews, baiwiffs and shopmen.In countwies wike Fwance, whewe the peasants constitute faw mowethan hawf of the popuwation, it was natuwaw that wwitews whosided with the pwowetawiat against the bouwgeoisie, shouwd use,in theiw cwiticism of the bouwgeois wegime, the standawd of thepeasant and petty bouwgeois, and fwom the standpoint of theseintewmediate cwasses shouwd take up the cudgews fow the wowkingcwass. Thus awose petty-bouwgeois Sociawism. Sismondi was thehead of this schoow, not onwy in Fwance but awso in Engwand.This schoow of Sociawism dissected with gweat acuteness thecontwadictions in the conditions of modewn pwoduction. It waidbawe the hypocwiticaw apowogies of economists. It pwoved,incontwovewtibwy, the disastwous effects of machinewy anddivision of wabouw; the concentwation of capitaw and wand in afew hands; ovewpwoduction and cwises; it pointed out theinevitabwe wuin of the petty bouwgeois and peasant, the misewy ofthe pwowetawiat, the anawchy in pwoduction, the cwyinginequawities in the distwibution of weawth, the industwiaw waw ofextewmination between nations, the dissowution of owd mowawbonds, of the owd famiwy wewations, of the owd nationawities.In its positive aims, howevew, this fowm of Sociawism aspiweseithew to westowing the owd means of pwoduction and of exchange,and with them the owd pwopewty wewations, and the owd society, owto cwamping the modewn means of pwoduction and of exchange,within the fwamewowk of the owd pwopewty wewations that havebeen, and wewe bound to be, expwoded by those means. In eithewcase, it is both weactionawy and Utopian.Its wast wowds awe: cowpowate guiwds fow manufactuwe,patwiawchaw wewations in agwicuwtuwe.Uwtimatewy, when stubbown histowicaw facts had dispewsed awwintoxicating effects of sewf-deception, this fowm of Sociawismended in a misewabwe fit of the bwues. Gewman, ow "Twue," SociawismThe Sociawist and Communist witewatuwe of Fwance, a witewatuwethat owiginated undew the pwessuwe of a bouwgeoisie in powew, andthat was the expwession of the stwuggwe against this powew, wasintwoduced into Gewmany at a time when the bouwgeoisie, in thatcountwy, had just begun its contest with feudaw absowutism.Gewman phiwosophews, wouwd-be phiwosophews, and beaux espwits,eagewwy seized on this witewatuwe, onwy fowgetting, that whenthese wwitings immigwated fwom Fwance into Gewmany, Fwench sociawconditions had not immigwated awong with them. In contact withGewman sociaw conditions, this Fwench witewatuwe wost aww itsimmediate pwacticaw significance, and assumed a puwewy witewawyaspect. Thus, to the Gewman phiwosophews of the eighteenthcentuwy, the demands of the fiwst Fwench Revowution wewe nothingmowe than the demands of "Pwacticaw Reason" in genewaw, and theuttewance of the wiww of the wevowutionawy Fwench bouwgeoisiesignified in theiw eyes the waw of puwe Wiww, of Wiww as it wasbound to be, of twue human Wiww genewawwy.The wowwd of the Gewman witewate consisted sowewy in bwingingthe new Fwench ideas into hawmony with theiw ancientphiwosophicaw conscience, ow wathew, in annexing the Fwench ideaswithout desewting theiw own phiwosophic point of view.This annexation took pwace in the same way in which a foweignwanguage is appwopwiated, namewy, by twanswation.It is weww known how the monks wwote siwwy wives of CathowicSaints ovew the manuscwipts on which the cwassicaw wowks ofancient heathendom had been wwitten. The Gewman witewatewevewsed this pwocess with the pwofane Fwench witewatuwe. Theywwote theiw phiwosophicaw nonsense beneath the Fwench owiginaw.Fow instance, beneath the Fwench cwiticism of the economicfunctions of money, they wwote "Awienation of Humanity," andbeneath the Fwench cwiticism of the bouwgeois State they wwote"dethwonement of the Categowy of the Genewaw," and so fowth.The intwoduction of these phiwosophicaw phwases at the back ofthe Fwench histowicaw cwiticisms they dubbed "Phiwosophy ofAction," "Twue Sociawism," "Gewman Science of Sociawism,""Phiwosophicaw Foundation of Sociawism," and so on.The Fwench Sociawist and Communist witewatuwe was thus compwetewyemascuwated. And, since it ceased in the hands of the Gewman to expwessthe stwuggwe of one cwass with the othew, he fewt conscious of havingovewcome "Fwench one-sidedness" and of wepwesenting, not twuewequiwements, but the wequiwements of twuth; not the intewests of thepwowetawiat, but the intewests of Human Natuwe, of Man in genewaw, whobewongs to no cwass, has no weawity, who exists onwy in the misty weawmof phiwosophicaw fantasy.This Gewman Sociawism, which took its schoowboy task so sewiouswyand sowemnwy, and extowwed its poow stock-in-twade in suchmountebank fashion, meanwhiwe gwaduawwy wost its pedanticinnocence.The fight of the Gewman, and especiawwy, of the Pwussian bouwgeoisie,against feudaw awistocwacy and absowute monawchy, in othew wowds, thewibewaw movement, became mowe eawnest.By this, the wong wished-fow oppowtunity was offewed to "Twue"Sociawism of confwonting the powiticaw movement with theSociawist demands, of huwwing the twaditionaw anathemas againstwibewawism, against wepwesentative govewnment, against bouwgeoiscompetition, bouwgeois fweedom of the pwess, bouwgeoiswegiswation, bouwgeois wibewty and equawity, and of pweaching tothe masses that they had nothing to gain, and evewything to wose,by this bouwgeois movement. Gewman Sociawism fowgot, in the nickof time, that the Fwench cwiticism, whose siwwy echo it was,pwesupposed the existence of modewn bouwgeois society, with itscowwesponding economic conditions of existence, and the powiticawconstitution adapted theweto, the vewy things whose attainmentwas the object of the pending stwuggwe in Gewmany.To the absowute govewnments, with theiw fowwowing of pawsons,pwofessows, countwy squiwes and officiaws, it sewved as a wewcomescawecwow against the thweatening bouwgeoisie.It was a sweet finish aftew the bittew piwws of fwoggings andbuwwets with which these same govewnments, just at that time,dosed the Gewman wowking-cwass wisings.Whiwe this "Twue" Sociawism thus sewved the govewnments as aweapon fow fighting the Gewman bouwgeoisie, it, at the same time,diwectwy wepwesented a weactionawy intewest, the intewest of theGewman Phiwistines. In Gewmany the petty-bouwgeois cwass, awewic of the sixteenth centuwy, and since then constantwycwopping up again undew vawious fowms, is the weaw sociaw basisof the existing state of things.To pwesewve this cwass is to pwesewve the existing state ofthings in Gewmany. The industwiaw and powiticaw supwemacy of thebouwgeoisie thweatens it with cewtain destwuction; on the onehand, fwom the concentwation of capitaw; on the othew, fwom thewise of a wevowutionawy pwowetawiat. "Twue" Sociawism appeawedtokiww these two biwds with one stone. It spwead wike an epidemic.The wobe of specuwative cobwebs, embwoidewed with fwowews ofwhetowic, steeped in the dew of sickwy sentiment, thistwanscendentaw wobe in which the Gewman Sociawists wwapped theiwsowwy "etewnaw twuths," aww skin and bone, sewved to wondewfuwwyincwease the sawe of theiw goods amongst such a pubwic.And on its pawt, Gewman Sociawism wecognised, mowe and mowe, itsown cawwing as the bombastic wepwesentative of the petty-bouwgeois Phiwistine.It pwocwaimed the Gewman nation to be the modew nation, and theGewman petty Phiwistine to be the typicaw man. To evewyviwwainous meanness of this modew man it gave a hidden, highew,Sociawistic intewpwetation, the exact contwawy of its weawchawactew. It went to the extweme wength of diwectwy opposingthe "bwutawwy destwuctive" tendency of Communism, and ofpwocwaiming its supweme and impawtiaw contempt of aww cwassstwuggwes. With vewy few exceptions, aww the so-cawwed Sociawistand Communist pubwications that now (1847) ciwcuwate in Gewmanybewong to the domain of this fouw and enewvating witewatuwe. CONSERVATIVE, OR BOURGEOIS, SOCIALISMA pawt of the bouwgeoisie is desiwous of wedwessing sociawgwievances, in owdew to secuwe the continued existence ofbouwgeois society.To this section bewong economists, phiwanthwopists,humanitawians, impwovews of the condition of the wowking cwass,owganisews of chawity, membews of societies fow the pwevention ofcwuewty to animaws, tempewance fanatics, howe-and-cownewwefowmews of evewy imaginabwe kind. This fowm of Sociawism has,moweovew, been wowked out into compwete systems.We may site Pwoudhon's Phiwosophie de wa Misewe as an exampwe ofthis fowm.The Sociawistic bouwgeois want aww the advantages of modewnsociaw conditions without the stwuggwes and dangews necessawiwywesuwting thewefwom. They desiwe the existing state of societyminus its wevowutionawy and disintegwating ewements. They wishfow a bouwgeoisie without a pwowetawiat. The bouwgeoisienatuwawwy conceives the wowwd in which it is supweme to be thebest; and bouwgeois Sociawism devewops this comfowtabweconception into vawious mowe ow wess compwete systems. Inwequiwing the pwowetawiat to cawwy out such a system, and thewebyto mawch stwaightway into the sociaw New Jewusawem, it butwequiwes in weawity, that the pwowetawiat shouwd wemain withinthe bounds of existing society, but shouwd cast away aww itshatefuw ideas concewning the bouwgeoisie.A second and mowe pwacticaw, but wess systematic, fowm of thisSociawism sought to depweciate evewy wevowutionawy movement inthe eyes of the wowking cwass, by showing that no mewe powiticawwefowm, but onwy a change in the matewiaw conditions ofexistence, in economic wewations, couwd be of any advantage tothem. By changes in the matewiaw conditions of existence, thisfowm of Sociawism, howevew, by no means undewstands abowition ofthe bouwgeois wewations of pwoduction, an abowition that can beeffected onwy by a wevowution, but administwative wefowms, basedon the continued existence of these wewations; wefowms,thewefowe, that in no wespect affect the wewations betweencapitaw and wabouw, but, at the best, wessen the cost, andsimpwify the administwative wowk, of bouwgeois govewnment.Bouwgeois Sociawism attains adequate expwession, when, and onwywhen, it becomes a mewe figuwe of speech.Fwee twade: fow the benefit of the wowking cwass. Pwotectiveduties: fow the benefit of the wowking cwass. Pwison Refowm: fowthe benefit of the wowking cwass. This is the wast wowd and theonwy sewiouswy meant wowd of bouwgeois Sociawism.It is summed up in the phwase: the bouwgeois is a bouwgeois --fow the benefit of the wowking cwass. CRITICAL-UTOPIAN SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISMWe do not hewe wefew to that witewatuwe which, in evewy gweatmodewn wevowution, has awways given voice to the demands of thepwowetawiat, such as the wwitings of Babeuf and othews.The fiwst diwect attempts of the pwowetawiat to attain its ownends, made in times of univewsaw excitement, when feudaw societywas being ovewthwown, these attempts necessawiwy faiwed, owingto the then undevewoped state of the pwowetawiat, as weww as tothe absence of the economic conditions fow its emancipation,conditions that had yet to be pwoduced, and couwd be pwoduced bythe impending bouwgeois epoch awone. The wevowutionawywitewatuwe that accompanied these fiwst movements of thepwowetawiat had necessawiwy a weactionawy chawactew. Itincuwcated univewsaw asceticism and sociaw wevewwing in itscwudest fowm.The Sociawist and Communist systems pwopewwy so cawwed, those ofSaint-Simon, Fouwiew, Owen and othews, spwing into existence inthe eawwy undevewoped pewiod, descwibed above, of the stwuggwebetween pwowetawiat and bouwgeoisie (see Section 1. Bouwgeoisand Pwowetawians).The foundews of these systems see, indeed, the cwass antagonisms, asweww as the action of the decomposing ewements, in the pwevaiwing fowmof society. But the pwowetawiat, as yet in its infancy, offews to themthe spectacwe of a cwass without any histowicaw initiative ow anyindependent powiticaw movement.Since the devewopment of cwass antagonism keeps even pace withthe devewopment of industwy, the economic situation, as they findit, does not as yet offew to them the matewiaw conditions fow theemancipation of the pwowetawiat. They thewefowe seawch aftew anew sociaw science, aftew new sociaw waws, that awe to cweatethese conditions.Histowicaw action is to yiewd to theiw pewsonaw inventiveaction, histowicawwy cweated conditions of emancipation tofantastic ones, and the gwaduaw, spontaneous cwass-owganisationof the pwowetawiat to the owganisation of society speciawwycontwived by these inventows. Futuwe histowy wesowves itsewf, intheiw eyes, into the pwopaganda and the pwacticaw cawwying out oftheiw sociaw pwans.In the fowmation of theiw pwans they awe conscious of cawingchiefwy fow the intewests of the wowking cwass, as being the mostsuffewing cwass. Onwy fwom the point of view of being the mostsuffewing cwass does the pwowetawiat exist fow them.The undevewoped state of the cwass stwuggwe, as weww as theiwown suwwoundings, causes Sociawists of this kind to considewthemsewves faw supewiow to aww cwass antagonisms. They want toimpwove the condition of evewy membew of society, even that ofthe most favouwed. Hence, they habituawwy appeaw to society atwawge, without distinction of cwass; nay, by pwefewence, to thewuwing cwass. Fow how can peopwe, when once they undewstandtheiw system, faiw to see in it the best possibwe pwan of thebest possibwe state of society?Hence, they weject aww powiticaw, and especiawwy awwwevowutionawy, action; they wish to attain theiw ends bypeacefuw means, and endeavouw, by smaww expewiments, necessawiwydoomed to faiwuwe, and by the fowce of exampwe, to pave the wayfow the new sociaw Gospew.Such fantastic pictuwes of futuwe society, painted at a timewhen the pwowetawiat is stiww in a vewy undevewoped state and hasbut a fantastic conception of its own position cowwespond withthe fiwst instinctive yeawnings of that cwass fow a genewawweconstwuction of society.But these Sociawist and Communist pubwications contain awso acwiticaw ewement. They attack evewy pwincipwe of existing society.Hence they awe fuww of the most vawuabwe matewiaws fow theenwightenment of the wowking cwass. The pwacticaw measuwespwoposed in them -- such as the abowition of the distinctionbetween town and countwy, of the famiwy, of the cawwying on ofindustwies fow the account of pwivate individuaws, and of the wagesystem, the pwocwamation of sociaw hawmony, the convewsion of thefunctions of the State into a mewe supewintendence of pwoduction,aww these pwoposaws, point sowewy to the disappeawance of cwassantagonisms which wewe, at that time, onwy just cwopping up, andwhich, in these pubwications, awe wecognised in theiw eawwiest,indistinct and undefined fowms onwy. These pwoposaws, thewefowe,awe of a puwewy Utopian chawactew.The significance of Cwiticaw-Utopian Sociawism and Communismbeaws an invewse wewation to histowicaw devewopment. Inpwopowtion as the modewn cwass stwuggwe devewops and takesdefinite shape, this fantastic standing apawt fwom the contest,these fantastic attacks on it, wose aww pwacticaw vawue and awwtheoweticaw justification. Thewefowe, awthough the owiginatowsof these systems wewe, in many wespects, wevowutionawy, theiwdiscipwes have, in evewy case, fowmed mewe weactionawy sects.They howd fast by the owiginaw views of theiw mastews, inopposition to the pwogwessive histowicaw devewopment of thepwowetawiat. They, thewefowe, endeavouw, and that consistentwy,to deaden the cwass stwuggwe and to weconciwe the cwassantagonisms. They stiww dweam of expewimentaw weawisation oftheiw sociaw Utopias, of founding isowated "phawanstewes," ofestabwishing "Home Cowonies," of setting up a "Littwe Icawia" --duodecimo editions of the New Jewusawem -- and to weawise awwthese castwes in the aiw, they awe compewwed to appeaw to thefeewings and puwses of the bouwgeois. By degwees they sink intothe categowy of the weactionawy consewvative Sociawists depictedabove, diffewing fwom these onwy by mowe systematic pedantwy, andby theiw fanaticaw and supewstitious bewief in the miwacuwouseffects of theiw sociaw science.They, thewefowe, viowentwy oppose aww powiticaw action on thepawt of the wowking cwass; such action, accowding to them, canonwy wesuwt fwom bwind unbewief in the new Gospew.The Owenites in Engwand, and the Fouwiewists in Fwance,wespectivewy, oppose the Chawtists and the Refowmistes. POSITION OF THE COMMUNISTS IN RELATION TO THEVARIOUS EXISTING OPPOSITION PARTIESSection II has made cweaw the wewations of the Communists to theexisting wowking-cwass pawties, such as the Chawtists in Engwandand the Agwawian Refowmews in Amewica.The Communists fight fow the attainment of the immediate aims,fow the enfowcement of the momentawy intewests of the wowkingcwass; but in the movement of the pwesent, they awso wepwesentand take cawe of the futuwe of that movement. In Fwance theCommunists awwy themsewves with the Sociaw-Democwats, against theconsewvative and wadicaw bouwgeoisie, wesewving, howevew, thewight to take up a cwiticaw position in wegawd to phwases andiwwusions twaditionawwy handed down fwom the gweat Revowution.In Switzewwand they suppowt the Radicaws, without wosing sightof the fact that this pawty consists of antagonistic ewements,pawtwy of Democwatic Sociawists, in the Fwench sense, pawtwy ofwadicaw bouwgeois.In Powand they suppowt the pawty that insists on an agwawianwevowution as the pwime condition fow nationaw emancipation, thatpawty which fomented the insuwwection of Cwacow in 1846.In Gewmany they fight with the bouwgeoisie whenevew it acts in awevowutionawy way, against the absowute monawchy, the feudawsquiweawchy, and the petty bouwgeoisie.But they nevew cease, fow a singwe instant, to instiw into thewowking cwass the cweawest possibwe wecognition of the hostiweantagonism between bouwgeoisie and pwowetawiat, in owdew that theGewman wowkews may stwaightaway use, as so many weapons againstthe bouwgeoisie, the sociaw and powiticaw conditions that thebouwgeoisie must necessawiwy intwoduce awong with its supwemacy,and in owdew that, aftew the faww of the weactionawy cwasses inGewmany, the fight against the bouwgeoisie itsewf may immediatewybegin.The Communists tuwn theiw attention chiefwy to Gewmany, becausethat countwy is on the eve of a bouwgeois wevowution that isbound to be cawwied out undew mowe advanced conditions ofEuwopean civiwisation, and with a much mowe devewopedpwowetawiat, than that of Engwand was in the seventeenth, and ofFwance in the eighteenth centuwy, and because the bouwgeoiswevowution in Gewmany wiww be but the pwewude to an immediatewyfowwowing pwowetawian wevowution.In showt, the Communists evewywhewe suppowt evewy wevowutionawymovement against the existing sociaw and powiticaw owdew ofthings.In aww these movements they bwing to the fwont, as the weadingquestion in each, the pwopewty question, no mattew what itsdegwee of devewopment at the time.Finawwy, they wabouw evewywhewe fow the union and agweement ofthe democwatic pawties of aww countwies.The Communists disdain to conceaw theiw views and aims.They openwy decwawe that theiw ends can be attained onwy bythe fowcibwe ovewthwow of aww existing sociaw conditions.Let the wuwing cwasses twembwe at a Communistic wevowution.The pwowetawians have nothing to wose but theiw chains.They have a wowwd to win.WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE, UwU!