Karl Marx was born in 1818 to a middle-class Jewish family in the Prussian city of Trier. Despite his relatively wealthy upbringing, Marx drifted towards leftist politics while studying philosophy and literature at the University of Berlin. He later teamed up with the German philosopher Friedrich Engels to produce the Communist Manifesto—a political document outlining the inherent problems of capitalism and the theory that societal change comes about through class struggle. The manifesto proposed a classless society structured upon the common ownership of industry and property. Marx also published a series of foundational books in economics and politics known as Das Kapital which serve as a basis for communism and remains one of the most highly cited works in the social sciences.

Marx's ideology was mostly dormant for some 50 years before it began to gain steam in the early 20th century when the communist Bolsheviks seized power in Russia during the 1917 Russian Revolution and won the subsequent civil war. A few decades later, communism had arrived in China and half of Europe was under the Bolsheviks' thumb. Marx's ideas seemed unstoppable until the late 1980s, when revolutions swept Eastern Europe and the communist regimes fell one by one.

While the end of the Cold War may have killed off most communist entities, there exist many communist states and territories today. Many of these systems, however, barely resemble their founders' visions and have opened themselves up to the free market while still remaining politically "communist"—China and Vietnam being key examples of this. This may not be communism as Marx envisioned it, but his ideas and values are still held dear.

In democratic societies, the ideology of many leftist parties, labour unions and intellectuals can trace their roots back to Marx's writings. Although his world view was not entirely unique, Marx brought class struggle and socialist philosophy to the forefront of political and economic thought. Not only do his ideas influence us but also his language: 'class struggle', 'the means of production', even 'infrastructure' and 'superstructure' are all terms popularised by marx commonly used today which have a profound effect on our way of understanding society.

Marx’s ideas have influenced the way that history is written and the way we view the role of marginalised groups in history. Historian E.P. Thompson furthered Marx’s notion that importance should be placed on issues of class and poverty and advocated for a ‘bottom up’ view of history, rather than narratives dictated by those in power. More recently, social justice movements emphasise the need to consider how characteristics such as race, gender and sexuality can also contribute to a person’s experience of oppression or marginalisation.

In the 21st Century, recognition of class conflict is rising once again. Notably, after the global economic crisis of 2008 which led to a downward trend of social mobility. This has seen the resurgence of far-left groups with intrinsically Marxist or Marxian values.

Marx reshaped the way we fundamentally understand economics and politics, like him or not, as the father of modern socialism his influence today is unquestionable