,the ,communist ,manifesto    by ,karl  
,marx and ,friedrich ,engels      ,from 
the ,english edition of #ahhh1 edited by
 ,friedrich ,engels          ,contents  
,i4 ,,bourgeois ,,and ,,proletarians    
,,ii4 ,,proletarians ,,and ,,communists 
,,iii4 ,,socialist ,,and ,,communist    
,,literature   ,,iv4 ,,position ,,of    
,,the ,,communists ,,in ,,relation ,,to 
,,the ,,various ,,existing ,,opposition 
,,parties          ,a spectre is        
haunting ,europe--the spectre of        
,communism4 ,all the ,powers  of old    
,europe have entered into a holy        
alliance to exorcise this  spectre3     
,pope and ,czar1 ,metternich and        
,guizot1 ,french ,radicals and  ,german 
police-spies4    ,where is the party in 
opposition that has not been decried as 
,communistic by its opponents in power8 
,where is the ,opposition that has  not 
hurled back the branding reproach of    
,communism1 against the more  advanced  
opposition parties1 as well as against  
its reactionary  adversaries8    ,two   

things result from this fact4    ,i4    
,communism is already acknowledged by   
all ,european ,powers to be  itself a   
,power4    ,,ii4 ,it is high time that  
,communists should openly1 in the face  
of the  whole world1 publish their      
views1 their aims1 their tendencies1 and
  meet this nursery tale of the ,spectre
 of ,communism with a ,manifesto of  the
 party itself4    ,to this end1         
,communists of various nationalities    
have assembled in  ,london1 and sketched
 the following ,manifesto1 to be        
published in the  ,english1 ,french1    
,german1 ,italian1 ,flemish and ,danish 
languages4          ,i4  ,,bourgeois    
,,and ,,proletarians      ,the history  
of all hitherto existing societies is   
the history of class  struggles4        
,freeman and slave1 patrician and       
plebeian1 lord and serf1 guild-master   
and journeyman1 in a word1 oppressor and
 oppressed1 stood in constant           
opposition to one another1 carried on an
 uninterrupted1 now hidden1 now  open   

fight1 a fight that each time ended1    
either in a revolutionary               
re-constitution of society at large1 or 
in the common ruin of the  contending   
classes4    ,in the earlier epochs of   
history1 we find almost everywhere a    
complicated arrangement of society into 
various orders1 a manifold  gradation of
 social rank4 ,in ancient ,rome we have 
patricians1 knights1  plebeians1 slaves2
 in the ,middle ,ages1 feudal lords1    
vassals1  guild-masters1 journeymen1    
apprentices1 serfs2 in almost all of    
these  classes1 again1 subordinate      
gradations4    ,the modern bourgeois    
society that has sprouted from the ruins
 of feudal  society has not done away   
with class antagonisms4 ,it has but     
established new classes1 new conditions 
of oppression1 new forms of  struggle in
 place of the old ones4 ,our epoch1 the 
epoch of the  bourgeoisie1 possesses1   
however1 this distinctive feature3 it   
has  simplified the class antagonisms4  
,society as a whole is more and more    

splitting up into two great hostile     
camps1 into two great classes1  directly
 facing each other3 ,bourgeoisie and    
,proletariat4    ,from the serfs of the 
,middle ,ages sprang the chartered      
burghers of the  earliest towns4 ,from  
these burgesses the first elements of   
the  bourgeoisie were developed4    ,the
 discovery of ,america1 the rounding of 
the ,cape1 opened up fresh  ground for  
the rising bourgeoisie4 ,the            
,east-,indian and ,chinese markets1  the
 colonisation of ,america1 trade with   
the colonies1 the increase in  the means
 of exchange and in commodities         
generally1 gave to commerce1  to        
navigation1 to industry1 an impulse     
never before known1 and thereby1  to the
 revolutionary element in the tottering 
feudal society1 a rapid  development4   
,the feudal system of industry1 under   
which industrial production was         
monopolised by closed guilds1 now no    
longer sufficed for the growing  wants  
of the new markets4 ,the manufacturing  

system took its place4 ,the             
guild-masters were pushed on one side by
 the manufacturing middle  class2       
division of labour between the different
 corporate guilds  vanished in the face 
of division of labour in each single    
workshop4    ,meantime the markets kept 
ever growing1 the demand ever rising4   
,even  manufacture no longer sufficed4  
,thereupon1 steam and machinery         
revolutionised industrial production4   
,the place of manufacture was  taken by 
the giant1 ,modern ,industry1 the place 
of the industrial middle  class1 by     
industrial millionaires1 the leaders of 
whole industrial  armies1 the modern    
bourgeois4    ,modern industry has      
established the world-market1 for which 
the  discovery of ,america paved the    
way4 ,this market has given an immense  
development to commerce1 to navigation1 
to communication by land4 ,this         
development has1 in its time1 reacted on
 the extension of industry2 and  in     
proportion as industry1 commerce1       

navigation1 railways extended1 in  the  
same proportion the bourgeoisie         
developed1 increased its capital1  and  
pushed into the background every class  
handed down from the ,middle  ,ages4    
,we see1 therefore1 how the modern      
bourgeoisie is itself the product of  a 
long course of development1 of a series 
of revolutions in the modes  of         
production and of exchange4    ,each    
step in the development of the          
bourgeoisie was accompanied by a        
corresponding political advance of that 
class4 ,an oppressed class under  the   
sway of the feudal nobility1 an armed   
and self-governing  association in the  
mediaeval commune2 here independent     
urban republic  7as in ,italy and       
,germany71 there taxable 8third estate0 
of the monarchy  7as in ,france71       
afterwards1 in the period of manufacture
 proper1  serving either the semi-feudal
 or the absolute monarchy as a          
counterpoise against the nobility1 and1 
in fact1 corner-stone of the  great     

monarchies in general1 the bourgeoisie  
has at last1 since the  establishment of
 ,modern ,industry and of the           
world-market1 conquered for  itself1 in 
the modern representative ,state1       
exclusive political sway4  ,the         
executive of the modern ,state is but a 
committee for managing the  common      
affairs of the whole bourgeoisie4       
,the bourgeoisie1 historically1 has     
played a most revolutionary part4       
,the bourgeoisie1 wherever it has got   
the upper hand1 has put an end to  all  
feudal1 patriarchal1 idyllic relations4 
,it has pitilessly torn  asunder the    
motley feudal ties that bound man to his
 8natural  superiors10 and has left     
remaining no other nexus between man and
 man  than naked self-interest1 than    
callous 8cash payment40 ,it has drowned 
the most heavenly ecstasies of religious
 fervour1 of chivalrous  enthusiasm1 of 
philistine sentimentalism1 in the icy   
water of  egotistical calculation4 ,it  
has resolved personal worth into        

exchange  value1 and in place of the    
numberless and indefeasible chartered   
freedoms1 has set up that single1       
unconscionable freedom--,free ,trade4   
,in  one word1 for exploitation1 veiled 
by religious and political  illusions1  
naked1 shameless1 direct1 brutal        
exploitation4    ,the bourgeoisie has   
stripped of its halo every occupation   
hitherto  honoured and looked up to with
 reverent awe4 ,it has converted the    
physician1 the lawyer1 the priest1 the  
poet1 the man of science1 into  its paid
 wage labourers4    ,the bourgeoisie has
 torn away from the family its          
sentimental veil1 and  has reduced the  
family relation to a mere money         
relation4    ,the bourgeoisie has       
disclosed how it came to pass that the  
brutal  display of vigour in the ,middle
 ,ages1 which ,reactionists so much     
admire1 found its fitting complement in 
the most slothful indolence4 ,it  has   
been the first to show what man's       
activity can bring about4 ,it has       

accomplished wonders far surpassing     
,egyptian pyramids1 ,roman aqueducts1   
and ,gothic cathedrals2 it has conducted
 expeditions that put in the  shade all 
former ,exoduses of nations and         
crusades4    ,the bourgeoisie cannot    
exist without constantly revolutionising
 the  instruments of production1 and    
thereby the relations of production1 and
  with them the whole relations of      
society4 ,conservation of the old modes 
of production in unaltered form1 was1 on
 the contrary1 the first  condition of  
existence for all earlier industrial    
classes4 ,constant  revolutionising of  
production1 uninterrupted disturbance of
 all social  conditions1 everlasting    
uncertainty and agitation distinguish   
the  bourgeois epoch from all earlier   
ones4 ,all fixed1 fast-frozen           
relations1 with their train of ancient  
and venerable prejudices and  opinions1 
are swept away1 all new-formed ones     
become antiquated before  they can      
ossify4 ,all that is solid melts into   

air1 all that is holy is  profaned1 and 
man is at last compelled to face with   
sober senses1 his  real conditions of   
life1 and his relations with his kind4  
,the need of a constantly expanding     
market for its products chases the      
bourgeoisie over the whole surface of   
the globe4 ,it must nestle  everywhere1 
settle everywhere1 establish connexions 
everywhere4    ,the bourgeoisie has     
through its exploitation of the         
world-market given  a cosmopolitan      
character to production and consumption 
in every  country4 ,to the great chagrin
 of ,reactionists1 it has drawn from    
under  the feet of industry the national
 ground on which it stood4 ,all         
old-established national industries have
 been destroyed or are daily  being     
destroyed4 ,they are dislodged by new   
industries1 whose  introduction becomes 
a life and death question for all       
civilised  nations1 by industries that  
no longer work up indigenous raw        
material1  but raw material drawn from  

the remotest zones2 industries whose    
products are consumed1 not only at home1
 but in every quarter of the  globe4 ,in
 place of the old wants1 satisfied by   
the productions of the  country1 we find
 new wants1 requiring for their         
satisfaction the  products of distant   
lands and climes4 ,in place of the old  
local and  national seclusion and       
self-sufficiency1 we have intercourse in
 every  direction1 universal            
inter-dependence of nations4 ,and as in 
material1  so also in intellectual      
production4 ,the intellectual creations 
of  individual nations become common    
property4 ,national one-sidedness and   
narrow-mindedness become more and more  
impossible1 and from the  numerous      
national and local literatures1 there   
arises a world  literature4    ,the     
bourgeoisie1 by the rapid improvement of
 all instruments of  production1 by the 
immensely facilitated means of          
communication1 draws  all1 even the most
 barbarian1 nations into civilisation4  

,the cheap  prices of its commodities   
are the heavy artillery with which it   
batters  down all ,chinese walls1 with  
which it forces the barbarians'         
intensely  obstinate hatred of          
foreigners to capitulate4 ,it compels   
all nations1  on pain of extinction1 to 
adopt the bourgeois mode of production2 
it  compels them to introduce what it   
calls civilisation into their midst1    
i4e41 to become bourgeois themselves4   
,in one word1 it creates a world  after 
its own image4    ,the bourgeoisie has  
subjected the country to the rule of the
 towns4 ,it  has created enormous       
cities1 has greatly increased the urban 
population  as compared with the rural1 
and has thus rescued a considerable part
 of  the population from the idiocy of  
rural life4 ,just as it has made the    
country dependent on the towns1 so it   
has made barbarian and  semi-barbarian  
countries dependent on the civilised    
ones1 nations of  peasants on nations of
 bourgeois1 the ,east on the ,west4     

,the bourgeoisie keeps more and more    
doing away with the scattered state  of 
the population1 of the means of         
production1 and of property4 ,it has    
agglomerated production1 and has        
concentrated property in a few hands4   
,the necessary consequence of this was  
political centralisation4  ,independent1
 or but loosely connected provinces1    
with separate  interests1 laws1         
governments and systems of taxation1    
became lumped  together into one nation1
 with one government1 one code of laws1 
one  national class-interest1 one       
frontier and one customs-tariff4 ,the   
bourgeoisie1 during its rule of scarce  
one hundred years1 has created  more    
massive and more colossal productive    
forces than have all  preceding         
generations together4 ,subjection of    
,nature's forces to man1  machinery1    
application of chemistry to industry and
 agriculture1  steam-navigation1        
railways1 electric telegraphs1 clearing 
of whole  continents for cultivation1   

canalisation of rivers1 whole           
populations  conjured out of the        
ground--what earlier century had even a 
presentiment  that such productive      
forces slumbered in the lap of social   
labour8    ,we see then3 the means of   
production and of exchange1 on whose    
foundation the bourgeoisie built itself 
up1 were generated in feudal  society4  
,at a certain stage in the development  
of these means of  production and of    
exchange1 the conditions under which    
feudal society  produced and exchanged1 
the feudal organisation of agriculture  
and  manufacturing industry1 in one     
word1 the feudal relations of property  
became no longer compatible with the    
already developed productive  forces2   
they became so many fetters4 ,they had  
to be burst asunder2 they  were burst   
asunder4    ,into their place stepped   
free competition1 accompanied by a      
social and  political constitution      
adapted to it1 and by the economical and
  political sway of the bourgeois class4

    ,a similar movement is going on     
before our own eyes4 ,modern bourgeois  
society with its relations of           
production1 of exchange and of property1
  a society that has conjured up such   
gigantic means of production and of     
exchange1 is like the sorcerer1 who is  
no longer able to control the  powers of
 the nether world whom he has called up 
by his spells4 ,for  many a decade past 
the history of industry and commerce is 
but the  history of the revolt of modern
 productive forces against modern       
conditions of production1 against the   
property relations that are the         
conditions for the existence of the     
bourgeoisie and of its rule4 ,it is     
enough to mention the commercial crises 
that by their periodical return  put on 
its trial1 each time more threateningly1
 the existence of the  entire bourgeois 
society4 ,in these crises a great part  
not only of the  existing products1 but 
also of the previously created          
productive  forces1 are periodically    

destroyed4 ,in these crises there breaks
 out an  epidemic that1 in all earlier  
epochs1 would have seemed an            
absurdity--the epidemic of              
over-production4 ,society suddenly finds
  itself put back into a state of       
momentary barbarism2 it appears as if a 
famine1 a universal war of devastation  
had cut off the supply of every  means  
of subsistence2 industry and commerce   
seem to be destroyed2 and  why8 ,because
 there is too much civilisation1 too    
much means of  subsistence1 too much    
industry1 too much commerce4 ,the       
productive  forces at the disposal of   
society no longer tend to further the   
development of the conditions of        
bourgeois property2 on the contrary1    
they have become too powerful for these 
conditions1 by which they are  fettered1
 and so soon as they overcome these     
fetters1 they bring  disorder into the  
whole of bourgeois society1 endanger the
 existence of  bourgeois property4 ,the 
conditions of bourgeois society are too 

narrow  to comprise the wealth created  
by them4 ,and how does the bourgeoisie  
get over these crises8 ,on the one hand 
inforced destruction of a mass  of      
productive forces2 on the other1 by the 
conquest of new markets1 and  by the    
more thorough exploitation of the old   
ones4 ,that is to say1 by  paving the   
way for more extensive and more         
destructive crises1 and by  diminishing 
the means whereby crises are prevented4 
,the weapons with which the bourgeoisie 
felled feudalism to the ground  are now 
turned against the bourgeoisie itself4  
,but not only has the bourgeoisie forged
 the weapons that bring death to        
itself2 it has also called into         
existence the men who are to wield      
those weapons--the modern working       
class--the proletarians4    ,in         
proportion as the bourgeoisie1 i4e41    
capital1 is developed1 in the  same     
proportion is the proletariat1 the      
modern working class1  developed--a     
class of labourers1 who live only so    

long as they find  work1 and who find   
work only so long as their labour       
increases capital4  ,these labourers1   
who must sell themselves piece-meal1 are
 a commodity1  like every other article 
of commerce1 and are consequently       
exposed to  all the vicissitudes of     
competition1 to all the fluctuations of 
the  market4    ,owing to the extensive 
use of machinery and to division of     
labour1 the  work of the proletarians   
has lost all individual character1 and  
consequently1 all charm for the workman4
 ,he becomes an appendage of the        
machine1 and it is only the most simple1
 most monotonous1 and most  easily      
acquired knack1 that is required of him4
 ,hence1 the cost of  production of a   
workman is restricted1 almost entirely1 
to the means of  subsistence that he    
requires for his maintenance1 and for   
the  propagation of his race4 ,but the  
price of a commodity1 and therefore     
also of labour1 is equal to its cost of 
production4 ,in proportion  therefore1  

as the repulsiveness of the work        
increases1 the wage  decreases4 ,nay    
more1 in proportion as the use of       
machinery and division  of labour       
increases1 in the same proportion the   
burden of toil also  increases1 whether 
by prolongation of the working hours1 by
 increase of  the work exacted in a     
given time or by increased speed of the 
machinery1 etc4    ,modern industry has 
converted the little workshop of the    
patriarchal  master into the great      
factory of the industrial capitalist4   
,masses of  labourers1 crowded into the 
factory1 are organised like soldiers4   
,as  privates of the industrial army    
they are placed under the command of a  
perfect hierarchy of officers and       
sergeants4 ,not only are they slaves  of
 the bourgeois class1 and of the        
bourgeois ,state2 they are daily and    
hourly enslaved by the machine1 by the  
over-looker1 and1 above all1 by  the    
individual bourgeois manufacturer       
himself4 ,the more openly this          

despotism proclaims gain to be its end  
and aim1 the more petty1 the  more      
hateful and the more embittering it is4 
,the less the skill and exertion of     
strength implied in manual labour1  in  
other words1 the more modern industry   
becomes developed1 the more is  the     
labour of men superseded by that of     
women4 ,differences of age and  sex have
 no longer any distinctive social       
validity for the working  class4 ,all   
are instruments of labour1 more or less 
expensive to use1  according to their   
age and sex4    ,no sooner is the       
exploitation of the labourer by the     
manufacturer1 so  far at an end1 that he
 receives his wages in cash1 than he is 
set upon  by the other portions of the  
bourgeoisie1 the landlord1 the          
shopkeeper1  the pawnbroker1 etc4       
,the lower strata of the middle         
class--the small tradespeople1          
shopkeepers1 retired tradesmen          
generally1 the handicraftsmen and       
peasants--all these sink gradually into 

the proletariat1 partly because  their  
diminutive capital does not suffice for 
the scale on which ,modern  ,industry is
 carried on1 and is swamped in the      
competition with the  large capitalists1
 partly because their specialized skill 
is rendered  worthless by the new       
methods of production4 ,thus the        
proletariat is  recruited from all      
classes of the population4    ,the      
proletariat goes through various stages 
of development4 ,with its  birth begins 
its struggle with the bourgeoisie4 ,at  
first the contest is  carried on by     
individual labourers1 then by the       
workpeople of a  factory1 then by the   
operatives of one trade1 in one         
locality1 against  the individual       
bourgeois who directly exploits them4   
,they direct their  attacks not against 
the bourgeois conditions of production1 
but against  the instruments of         
production themselves2 they destroy     
imported wares  that compete with their 
labour1 they smash to pieces machinery1 

they  set factories ablaze1 they seek to
 restore by force the vanished status   
of the workman of the ,middle ,ages4    
,at this stage the labourers still form 
an incoherent mass scattered  over the  
whole country1 and broken up by their   
mutual competition4 ,if  anywhere they  
unite to form more compact bodies1 this 
is not yet the  consequence of their own
 active union1 but of the union of the  
bourgeoisie1 which class1 in order to   
attain its own political ends1 is       
compelled to set the whole proletariat  
in motion1 and is moreover yet1  for a  
time1 able to do so4 ,at this stage1    
therefore1 the proletarians  do not     
fight their enemies1 but the enemies of 
their enemies1 the  remnants of absolute
 monarchy1 the landowners1 the          
non-industrial  bourgeois1 the petty    
bourgeoisie4 ,thus the whole historical 
movement is  concentrated in the hands  
of the bourgeoisie2 every victory so    
obtained  is a victory for the          
bourgeoisie4    ,but with the           

development of industry the proletariat 
not only increases  in number2 it       
becomes concentrated in greater masses1 
its strength  grows1 and it feels that  
strength more4 ,the various interests   
and  conditions of life within the ranks
 of the proletariat are more and  more  
equalised1 in proportion as machinery   
obliterates all distinctions  of labour1
 and nearly everywhere reduces wages to 
the same low level4  ,the growing       
competition among the bourgeois1 and the
 resulting  commercial crises1 make the 
wages of the workers ever more          
fluctuating4  ,the unceasing improvement
 of machinery1 ever more rapidly        
developing1  makes their livelihood more
 and more precarious2 the collisions    
between  individual workmen and         
individual bourgeois take more and more 
the  character of collisions between two
 classes4 ,thereupon the workers  begin 
to form combinations 7,trades ,unions7  
against the bourgeois2 they  club       
together in order to keep up the rate of

 wages2 they found  permanent           
associations in order to make provision 
beforehand for these  occasional        
revolts4 ,here and there the contest    
breaks out into riots4    ,now and then 
the workers are victorious1 but only for
 a time4 ,the real  fruit of their      
battles lies1 not in the immediate      
result1 but in the  ever-expanding union
 of the workers4 ,this union is helped  
on by the  improved means of            
communication that are created by modern
 industry and  that place the workers of
 different localities in contact with   
one  another4 ,it was just this contact 
that was needed to centralise the       
numerous local struggles1 all of the    
same character1 into one national       
struggle between classes4 ,but every    
class struggle is a political  struggle4
 ,and that union1 to attain which the   
burghers of the ,middle  ,ages1 with    
their miserable highways1 required      
centuries1 the modern  proletarians1    
thanks to railways1 achieve in a few    

years4    ,this organisation of the     
proletarians into a class1 and          
consequently  into a political party1 is
 continually being upset again by the   
competition between the workers         
themselves4 ,but it ever rises up again1
  stronger1 firmer1 mightier4 ,it       
compels legislative recognition of      
particular interests of the workers1 by 
taking advantage of the  divisions among
 the bourgeoisie itself4 ,thus the      
ten-hours' bill in  ,england was        
carried4    ,altogether collisions      
between the classes of the old society  
further1  in many ways1 the course of   
development of the proletariat4 ,the    
bourgeoisie finds itself involved in a  
constant battle4 ,at first with  the    
aristocracy2 later on1 with those       
portions of the bourgeoisie  itself1    
whose interests have become antagonistic
 to the progress of  industry2 at all   
times1 with the bourgeoisie of foreign  
countries4 ,in  all these battles it    
sees itself compelled to appeal to the  

proletariat1 to ask for its help1 and   
thus1 to drag it into the  political    
arena4 ,the bourgeoisie itself1         
therefore1 supplies the  proletariat    
with its own instruments of political   
and general  education1 in other words1 
it furnishes the proletariat with       
weapons  for fighting the bourgeoisie4  
,further1 as we have already seen1      
entire sections of the ruling classes   
are1 by the advance of industry1        
precipitated into the proletariat1 or   
are at least threatened in their        
conditions of existence4 ,these also    
supply the proletariat with fresh       
elements of enlightenment and  progress4
    ,finally1 in times when the class   
struggle nears the decisive hour1 the   
process of dissolution going on within  
the ruling class1 in fact within  the   
whole range of society1 assumes such a  
violent1 glaring character1  that a     
small section of the ruling class cuts  
itself adrift1 and joins  the           
revolutionary class1 the class that     

holds the future in its hands4  ,just   
as1 therefore1 at an earlier period1 a  
section of the nobility  went over to   
the bourgeoisie1 so now a portion of the
 bourgeoisie goes  over to the          
proletariat1 and in particular1 a       
portion of the bourgeois  ideologists1  
who have raised themselves to the level 
of comprehending  theoretically the     
historical movement as a whole4    ,of  
all the classes that stand face to face 
with the bourgeoisie today1  the        
proletariat alone is a really           
revolutionary class4 ,the other  classes
 decay and finally disappear in the face
 of ,modern ,industry2 the  proletariat 
is its special and essential product4   
,the lower middle  class1 the small     
manufacturer1 the shopkeeper1 the       
artisan1 the  peasant1 all these fight  
against the bourgeoisie1 to save from   
extinction their existence as fractions 
of the middle class4 ,they are          
therefore not revolutionary1 but        
conservative4 ,nay more1 they are       

reactionary1 for they try to roll back  
the wheel of history4 ,if by  chance    
they are revolutionary1 they are so only
 in view of their  impending transfer   
into the proletariat1 they thus defend  
not their  present1 but their future    
interests1 they desert their own        
standpoint  to place themselves at that 
of the proletariat4    ,the 8dangerous  
class10 the social scum1 that passively 
rotting mass  thrown off by the lowest  
layers of old society1 may1 here and    
there1 be  swept into the movement by a 
proletarian revolution2 its conditions  
of  life1 however1 prepare it far more  
for the part of a bribed tool of        
reactionary intrigue4    ,in the        
conditions of the proletariat1 those of 
old society at large are  already       
virtually swamped4 ,the proletarian is  
without property2 his  relation to his  
wife and children has no longer anything
 in common with  the bourgeois          
family-relations2 modern industrial     
labour1 modern  subjection to capital1  

the same in ,england as in ,france1 in  
,america as  in ,germany1 has stripped  
him of every trace of national          
character4 ,law1  morality1 religion1   
are to him so many bourgeois prejudices1
 behind  which lurk in ambush just as   
many bourgeois interests4    ,all the   
preceding classes that got the upper    
hand1 sought to fortify  their already  
acquired status by subjecting society at
 large to their  conditions of          
appropriation4 ,the proletarians cannot 
become masters of  the productive forces
 of society1 except by abolishing their 
own  previous mode of appropriation1 and
 thereby also every other previous  mode
 of appropriation4 ,they have nothing of
 their own to secure and to  fortify2   
their mission is to destroy all previous
 securities for1 and  insurances of1    
individual property4    ,all previous   
historical movements were movements of  
minorities1 or in  the interests of     
minorities4 ,the proletarian movement is
 the  self-conscious1 independent       

movement of the immense majority1 in the
  interests of the immense majority4    
,the proletariat1 the lowest stratum  of
 our present society1 cannot stir1      
cannot raise itself up1 without  the    
whole superincumbent strata of official 
society being sprung into  the air4     
,though not in substance1 yet in form1  
the struggle of the proletariat  with   
the bourgeoisie is at first a national  
struggle4 ,the proletariat  of each     
country must1 of course1 first of all   
settle matters with its  own            
bourgeoisie4    ,in depicting the most  
general phases of the development of the
  proletariat1 we traced the more or    
less veiled civil war1 raging within    
existing society1 up to the point where 
that war breaks out into open           
revolution1 and where the violent       
overthrow of the bourgeoisie lays the   
foundation for the sway of the          
proletariat4    ,hitherto1 every form of
 society has been based1 as we have     
already  seen1 on the antagonism of     

oppressing and oppressed classes4 ,but  
in  order to oppress a class1 certain   
conditions must be assured to it  under 
which it can1 at least1 continue its    
slavish existence4 ,the serf1  in the   
period of serfdom1 raised himself to    
membership in the commune1  just as the 
petty bourgeois1 under the yoke of      
feudal absolutism1  managed to develop  
into a bourgeois4 ,the modern laborer1  
on the  contrary1 instead of rising with
 the progress of industry1 sinks deeper 
and deeper below the conditions of      
existence of his own class4 ,he  becomes
 a pauper1 and pauperism develops more  
rapidly than population  and wealth4    
,and here it becomes evident1 that the  
bourgeoisie is unfit  any longer to be  
the ruling class in society1 and to     
impose its  conditions of existence upon
 society as an over-riding law4 ,it is  
unfit  to rule because it is incompetent
 to assure an existence to its slave    
within his slavery1 because it cannot   
help letting him sink into such a       

state1 that it has to feed him1 instead 
of being fed by him4 ,society  can no   
longer live under this bourgeoisie1 in  
other words1 its  existence is no longer
 compatible with society4    ,the       
essential condition for the existence1  
and for the sway of the  bourgeois      
class1 is the formation and augmentation
 of capital2 the  condition for capital 
is wage-labour4 ,wage-labour rests      
exclusively on  competition between the 
laborers4 ,the advance of industry1     
whose  involuntary promoter is the      
bourgeoisie1 replaces the isolation of  
the  labourers1 due to competition1 by  
their revolutionary combination1 due  to
 association4 ,the development of       
,modern ,industry1 therefore1 cuts  from
 under its feet the very foundation on  
which the bourgeoisie  produces and     
appropriates products4 ,what the        
bourgeoisie1 therefore1  produces1 above
 all1 is its own grave-diggers4 ,its    
fall and the victory  of the proletariat
 are equally inevitable4          ,,ii4 

,,proletarians ,,and ,,communists       
,in what relation do the ,communists    
stand to the proletarians as a  whole8  
,the ,communists do not form a separate 
party opposed to other  working-class   
parties4    ,they have no interests     
separate and apart from those of the    
proletariat  as a whole4    ,they do not
 set up any sectarian principles of     
their own1 by which to  shape and mould 
the proletarian movement4    ,the       
,communists are distinguished from the  
other working-class parties  by this    
only3 7#a7 ,in the national struggles of
 the proletarians of the  different     
countries1 they point out and bring to  
the front the common  interests of the  
entire proletariat1 independently of all
 nationality4  7#b7 ,in the various     
stages of development which the struggle
 of the  working class against the      
bourgeoisie has to pass through1 they   
always  and everywhere represent the    
interests of the movement as a whole4   
,the ,communists1 therefore1 are on the 

one hand1 practically1 the most         
advanced and resolute section of the    
working-class parties of every  country1
 that section which pushes forward all  
others2 on the other  hand1             
theoretically1 they have over the great 
mass of the proletariat  the advantage  
of clearly understanding the line of    
march1 the  conditions1 and the ultimate
 general results of the proletarian     
movement4    ,the immediate aim of the  
,communist is the same as that of all   
the other  proletarian parties3         
formation of the proletariat into a     
class1  overthrow of the bourgeois      
supremacy1 conquest of political power  
by  the proletariat4    ,the theoretical
 conclusions of the ,communists are in  
no way based on  ideas or principles    
that have been invented1 or discovered1 
by this or  that would-be universal     
reformer4 ,they merely express1 in      
general  terms1 actual relations        
springing from an existing class        
struggle1 from  a historical movement   

going on under our very eyes4 ,the      
abolition of  existing property         
relations is not at all a distinctive   
feature of  ,communism4    ,all property
 relations in the past have continually 
been subject to  historical change      
consequent upon the change in historical
 conditions4    ,the ,french            
,revolution1 for example1 abolished     
feudal property in favour  of bourgeois 
property4    ,the distinguishing feature
 of ,communism is not the abolition of  
property generally1 but the abolition of
 bourgeois property4 ,but modern        
bourgeois private property is the final 
and most complete expression of  the    
system of producing and appropriating   
products1 that is based on  class       
antagonisms1 on the exploitation of the 
many by the few4    ,in this sense1 the 
theory of the ,communists may be summed 
up in the  single sentence3 ,abolition  
of private property4    ,we ,communists 
have been reproached with the desire of 
abolishing the  right of personally     

acquiring property as the fruit of a    
man's own  labour1 which property is    
alleged to be the groundwork of all     
personal  freedom1 activity and         
independence4    ,hard-won1             
self-acquired1 self-earned property6 ,do
 you mean the property  of the petty    
artisan and of the small peasant1 a form
 of property that  preceded the         
bourgeois form8 ,there is no need to    
abolish that2 the  development of       
industry has to a great extent already  
destroyed it1 and  is still destroying  
it daily4    ,or do you mean modern     
bourgeois private property8    ,but does
 wage-labour create any property for the
 labourer8 ,not a bit4  ,it creates     
capital1 i4e41 that kind of property    
which exploits  wage-labour1 and which  
cannot increase except upon condition of
  begetting a new supply of wage-labour 
for fresh exploitation4 ,property1  in  
its present form1 is based on the       
antagonism of capital and  wage-labour4 
,let us examine both sides of this      

antagonism4    ,to be a capitalist1 is  
to have not only a purely personal1 but 
a social  status in production4 ,capital
 is a collective product1 and only by   
the united action of many members1 nay1 
in the last resort1 only by the  united 
action of all members of society1 can it
 be set in motion4    ,capital is1      
therefore1 not a personal1 it is a      
social power4    ,when1 therefore1      
capital is converted into common        
property1 into the  property of all     
members of society1 personal property is
 not thereby  transformed into social   
property4 ,it is only the social        
character of  the property that is      
changed4 ,it loses its class-character4 
,let us now take wage-labour4    ,the   
average price of wage-labour is the     
minimum wage1 i4e41 that  quantum of the
 means of subsistence1 which is         
absolutely requisite in  bare existence 
as a labourer4 ,what1 therefore1 the    
wage-labourer  appropriates by means of 
his labour1 merely suffices to prolong  

and  reproduce a bare existence4 ,we by 
no means intend to abolish this         
personal appropriation of the products  
of labour1 an appropriation that  is    
made for the maintenance and            
reproduction of human life1 and that    
leaves no surplus wherewith to command  
the labour of others4 ,all that  we want
 to do away with1 is the miserable      
character of this  appropriation1 under 
which the labourer lives merely to      
increase  capital1 and is allowed to    
live only in so far as the interest of  
the  ruling class requires it4    ,in   
bourgeois society1 living labour is but 
a means to increase  accumulated labour4
 ,in ,communist society1 accumulated    
labour is but a  means to widen1 to     
enrich1 to promote the existence of the 
labourer4    ,in bourgeois society1     
therefore1 the past dominates the       
present2 in  ,communist society1 the    
present dominates the past4 ,in         
bourgeois society  capital is           
independent and has individuality1 while

 the living person  is dependent and has
 no individuality4    ,and the abolition
 of this state of things is called by   
the bourgeois1  abolition of            
individuality and freedom6 ,and rightly 
so4 ,the abolition  of bourgeois        
individuality1 bourgeois independence1  
and bourgeois  freedom is undoubtedly   
aimed at4    ,by freedom is meant1 under
 the present bourgeois conditions of    
production1 free trade1 free selling and
 buying4    ,but if selling and buying  
disappears1 free selling and buying     
disappears also4 ,this talk about free  
selling and buying1 and all the  other  
8brave words0 of our bourgeoisie about  
freedom in general1 have a  meaning1 if 
any1 only in contrast with restricted   
selling and buying1  with the fettered  
traders of the ,middle ,ages1 but have  
no meaning when  opposed to the         
,communistic abolition of buying and    
selling1 of the  bourgeois conditions of
 production1 and of the bourgeoisie     
itself4    ,you are horrified at our    

intending to do away with private       
property4  ,but in your existing        
society1 private property is already    
done away  with for nine-tenths of the  
population2 its existence for the few is
  solely due to its non-existence in the
 hands of those nine-tenths4 ,you       
reproach us1 therefore1 with intending  
to do away with a form of  property1 the
 necessary condition for whose existence
 is the  non-existence of any property  
for the immense majority of society4    
,in one word1 you reproach us with      
intending to do away with your          
property4 ,precisely so2 that is just   
what we intend4    ,from the moment when
 labour can no longer be converted into 
capital1  money1 or rent1 into a social 
power capable of being monopolised1     
i4e41 from the moment when individual   
property can no longer be  transformed  
into bourgeois property1 into capital1  
from that moment1  you say individuality
 vanishes4    ,you must1 therefore1     
confess that by 8individual0 you mean no

 other  person than the bourgeois1 than 
the middle-class owner of property4     
,this person must1 indeed1 be swept out 
of the way1 and made impossible4        
,communism deprives no man of the power 
to appropriate the products of  society2
 all that it does is to deprive him of  
the power to subjugate  the labour of   
others by means of such appropriation4  
,it has been objected that upon the     
abolition of private property all  work 
will cease1 and universal laziness will 
overtake us4    ,according to this1     
bourgeois society ought long ago to have
 gone to the  dogs through sheer        
idleness2 for those of its members who  
work1 acquire  nothing1 and those who   
acquire anything1 do not work4 ,the     
whole of this  objection is but another 
expression of the tautology3 that there 
can no  longer be any wage-labour when  
there is no longer any capital4    ,all 
objections urged against the            
,communistic mode of producing and      
appropriating material products1 have1  

in the same way1 been urged  against the
 ,communistic modes of producing and    
appropriating  intellectual products4   
,just as1 to the bourgeois1 the         
disappearance of  class property is the 
disappearance of production itself1 so  
the  disappearance of class culture is  
to him identical with the  disappearance
 of all culture4    ,that culture1 the  
loss of which he laments1 is1 for the   
enormous  majority1 a mere training to  
act as a machine4    ,but don't wrangle 
with us so long as you apply1 to our    
intended  abolition of bourgeois        
property1 the standard of your bourgeois
 notions  of freedom1 culture1 law1 etc4
 ,your very ideas are but the outgrowth 
of  the conditions of your bourgeois    
production and bourgeois property1  just
 as your jurisprudence is but the will  
of your class made into a  law for all1 
a will1 whose essential character and   
direction are  determined by the        
economical conditions of existence of   
your class4    ,the selfish             

misconception that induces you to       
transform into eternal  laws of nature  
and of reason1 the social forms         
springing from your  present mode of    
production and form of                  
property--historical relations  that    
rise and disappear in the progress of   
production--this  misconception you     
share with every ruling class that has  
preceded you4  ,what you see clearly in 
the case of ancient property1 what you  
admit in  the case of feudal property1  
you are of course forbidden to admit in 
the case of your own bourgeois form of  
property4    ,abolition of the family6  
,even the most radical flare up at this 
infamous proposal of the ,communists4   
,on what foundation is the present      
family1 the bourgeois family1 based8    
,on capital1 on private gain4 ,in its   
completely developed form this  family  
exists only among the bourgeoisie4 ,but 
this state of things  finds its         
complement in the practical absence of  
the family among the  proletarians1 and 

in public prostitution4    ,the         
bourgeois family will vanish as a matter
 of course when its  complement         
vanishes1 and both will vanish with the 
vanishing of  capital4    ,do you charge
 us with wanting to stop the            
exploitation of children by  their      
parents8 ,to this crime we plead guilty4
    ,but1 you will say1 we destroy the  
most hallowed of relations1 when we     
replace home education by social4       
,and your education6 ,is not that also  
social1 and determined by the  social   
conditions under which you educate1 by  
the intervention1 direct  or indirect1  
of society1 by means of schools1 etc48  
,the ,communists have  not invented the 
intervention of society in education2   
they do but seek  to alter the character
 of that intervention1 and to rescue    
education  from the influence of the    
ruling class4    ,the bourgeois         
clap-trap about the family and          
education1 about the  hallowed          
co-relation of parent and child1 becomes

 all the more  disgusting1 the more1 by 
the action of ,modern ,industry1 all    
family ties  among the proletarians are 
torn asunder1 and their children        
transformed  into simple articles of    
commerce and instruments of labour4     
,but you ,communists would introduce    
community of women1 screams the  whole  
bourgeoisie in chorus4    ,the bourgeois
 sees in his wife a mere instrument of  
production4 ,he  hears that the         
instruments of production are to be     
exploited in common1  and1 naturally1   
can come to no other conclusion than    
that the lot of  being common to all    
will likewise fall to the women4    ,he 
has not even a suspicion that the real  
point is to do away with the  status of 
women as mere instruments of production4
    ,for the rest1 nothing is more      
ridiculous than the virtuous indignation
  of our bourgeois at the community of  
women which1 they pretend1 is to  be    
openly and officially established by the
 ,communists4 ,the ,communists  have no 

need to introduce community of women2 it
 has existed almost  from time          
immemorial4    ,our bourgeois1 not      
content with having the wives and       
daughters of their  proletarians at     
their disposal1 not to speak of common  
prostitutes1  take the greatest pleasure
 in seducing each other's wives4        
,bourgeois marriage is in reality a     
system of wives in common and thus1  at 
the most1 what the ,communists might    
possibly be reproached with1 is  that   
they desire to introduce1 in            
substitution for a hypocritically       
concealed1 an openly legalised community
 of women4 ,for the rest1 it is         
self-evident that the abolition of the  
present system of production  must bring
 with it the abolition of the community 
of women springing  from that system1   
i4e41 of prostitution both public and   
private4    ,the ,communists are further
 reproached with desiring to abolish    
countries and nationality4    ,the      
working men have no country4 ,we cannot 

take from them what they  have not got4 
,since the proletariat must first of all
 acquire political  supremacy1 must rise
 to be the leading class of the nation1 
must  constitute itself the nation1 it  
is1 so far1 itself national1 though  not
 in the bourgeois sense of the word4    
,national differences and antagonisms   
between peoples are daily more and  more
 vanishing1 owing to the development of 
the bourgeoisie1 to freedom  of         
commerce1 to the world-market1 to       
uniformity in the mode of  production   
and in the conditions of life           
corresponding thereto4    ,the supremacy
 of the proletariat will cause them to  
vanish still  faster4 ,united action1 of
 the leading civilised countries at     
least1 is  one of the first conditions  
for the emancipation of the proletariat4
    ,in proportion as the exploitation  
of one individual by another is put  an 
end to1 the exploitation of one nation  
by another will also be put  an end to4 
,in proportion as the antagonism between

 classes within the  nation vanishes1   
the hostility of one nation to another  
will come to an  end4    ,the charges   
against ,communism made from a          
religious1 a philosophical1  and1       
generally1 from an ideological          
standpoint1 are not deserving of        
serious examination4    ,does it require
 deep intuition to comprehend that man's
 ideas1 views  and conceptions1 in one  
word1 man's consciousness1 changes with 
every  change in the conditions of his  
material existence1 in his social       
relations and in his social life8       
,what else does the history of ideas    
prove1 than that intellectual           
production changes its character in     
proportion as material production  is   
changed8 ,the ruling ideas of each age  
have ever been the ideas of  its ruling 
class4    ,when people speak of ideas   
that revolutionise society1 they do but 
express the fact1 that within the old   
society1 the elements of a new  one have
 been created1 and that the dissolution 

of the old ideas keeps  even pace with  
the dissolution of the old conditions of
 existence4    ,when the ancient world  
was in its last throes1 the ancient     
religions  were overcome by             
,christianity4 ,when ,christian ideas   
succumbed in the  #ahth century to      
rationalist ideas1 feudal society fought
 its death  battle with the then        
revolutionary bourgeoisie4 ,the ideas of
 religious  liberty and freedom of      
conscience merely gave expression to the
 sway of  free competition within the   
domain of knowledge4    8,undoubtedly10 
it will be said1 8religious1 moral1     
philosophical and  juridical ideas have 
been modified in the course of          
historical  development4 ,but religion1 
morality philosophy1 political science1 
and  law1 constantly survived this      
change40    8,there are1 besides1       
eternal truths1 such as ,freedom1       
,justice1 etc4  that are common to all  
states of society4 ,but ,communism      
abolishes  eternal truths1 it abolishes 

all religion1 and all morality1 instead 
of  constituting them on a new basis2 it
 therefore acts in contradiction to  all
 past historical experience40    ,what  
does this accusation reduce itself to8  
,the history of all past  society has   
consisted in the development of class   
antagonisms1  antagonisms that assumed  
different forms at different epochs4    
,but whatever form they may have taken1 
one fact is common to all past  ages1   
viz41 the exploitation of one part of   
society by the other4 ,no  wonder1 then1
 that the social consciousness of past  
ages1 despite all  the multiplicity and 
variety it displays1 moves within       
certain common  forms1 or general ideas1
 which cannot completely vanish except  
with the  total disappearance of class  
antagonisms4    ,the ,communist         
revolution is the most radical rupture  
with traditional  property relations2 no
 wonder that its development involves   
the most  radical rupture with          
traditional ideas4    ,but let us have  

done with the bourgeois objections to   
,communism4    ,we have seen above1 that
 the first step in the revolution by the
  working class1 is to raise the        
proletariat to the position of ruling as
  to win the battle of democracy4       
,the proletariat will use its political 
supremacy to wrest1 by degrees1  all    
capital from the bourgeoisie1 to        
centralise all instruments of           
production in the hands of the ,state1  
i4e41 of the proletariat  organised as  
the ruling class2 and to increase the   
total of productive  forces as rapidly  
as possible4    ,of course1 in the      
beginning1 this cannot be effected      
except by means of  despotic inroads on 
the rights of property1 and on the      
conditions of  bourgeois production2 by 
means of measures1 therefore1 which     
appear  economically insufficient and   
untenable1 but which1 in the course of  
the movement1 outstrip themselves1      
necessitate further inroads upon the    
old social order1 and are unavoidable as

 a means of entirely  revolutionising   
the mode of production4    ,these       
measures will of course be different in 
different countries4    ,nevertheless in
 the most advanced countries1 the       
following will be  pretty generally     
applicable4    #a4 ,abolition of        
property in land and application of all 
rents of land  to public purposes4      
#b4 ,a heavy progressive or graduated   
income tax4    #c4 ,abolition of all    
right of inheritance4    #d4            
,confiscation of the property of all    
emigrants and rebels4    #e4            
,centralisation of credit in the hands  
of the ,state1 by means of a  national  
bank with ,state capital and an         
exclusive monopoly4    #f4              
,centralisation of the means of         
communication and transport in the      
hands of the ,state4    #g4 ,extension  
of factories and instruments of         
production owned by the  ,state2 the    
bringing into cultivation of            
waste-lands1 and the  improvement of the

 soil generally in accordance with a    
common plan4    #h4 ,equal liability of 
all to labour4 ,establishment of        
industrial  armies1 especially for      
agriculture4    #i4 ,combination of     
agriculture with manufacturing          
industries2 gradual  abolition of the   
distinction between town and country1 by
 a more  equable distribution of the    
population over the country4    #aj4    
,free education for all children in     
public schools4     ,abolition of       
children's factory labour in its present
 form4     ,combination of  education   
with industrial production1 c41 c4      
,when1 in the course of development1    
class distinctions have  disappeared1   
and all production has been concentrated
 in the hands of a  vast association of 
the whole nation1 the public power will 
lose its  political character4          
,political power1 properly so called1 is
 merely the  organised power of one     
class for oppressing another4 ,if the   
proletariat  during its contest with the

 bourgeoisie is compelled1 by the force 
of  circumstances1 to organise itself as
 a class1 if1 by means of a  revolution1
 it makes itself the ruling class1 and1 
as such1 sweeps away  by force the old  
conditions of production1 then it will1 
along with  these conditions1 have swept
 away the conditions for the existence  
of  class antagonisms and of classes    
generally1 and will thereby have        
abolished its own supremacy as a class4 
,in place of the old bourgeois society1 
with its classes and class  antagonisms1
 we shall have an association1 in which 
the free  development of each is the    
condition for the free development of   
all4          ,,iii4  ,,socialist ,,and 
,,communist ,,literature    #a4         
,,reactionary ,,socialism    ,a4 ,feudal
 ,socialism      ,owing to their        
historical position1 it became the      
vocation of the  aristocracies of       
,france and ,england to write pamphlets 
against modern  bourgeois society4 ,in  
the ,french revolution of ,july #ahcj1  

and in the  ,english reform agitation1  
these aristocracies again succumbed to  
the  hateful upstart4 ,thenceforth1 a   
serious political contest was           
altogether out of the question4 ,a      
literary battle alone remained          
possible4 ,but even in the domain of    
literature the old cries of the         
restoration period had become           
impossible4    ,in order to arouse      
sympathy1 the aristocracy were obliged  
to lose  sight1 apparently1 of their own
 interests1 and to formulate their      
indictment against the bourgeoisie in   
the interest of the exploited  working  
class alone4 ,thus the aristocracy took 
their revenge by singing  lampoons on   
their new master1 and whispering in his 
ears sinister  prophecies of coming     
catastrophe4    ,in this way arose      
,feudal ,socialism3 half lamentation1   
half lampoon2  half echo of the past1   
half menace of the future2 at times1 by 
its  bitter1 witty and incisive         
criticism1 striking the bourgeoisie to  

the  very heart's core2 but always      
ludicrous in its effect1 through total  
incapacity to comprehend the march of   
modern history4    ,the aristocracy1 in 
order to rally the people to them1 waved
 the  proletarian alms-bag in front for 
a banner4 ,but the people1 so often as  
it joined them1 saw on their            
hindquarters the old feudal coats of    
arms1  and deserted with loud and       
irreverent laughter4    ,one section of 
the ,french ,legitimists and 8,young    
,england0 exhibited  this spectacle4    
,in pointing out that their mode of     
exploitation was different to that  of  
the bourgeoisie1 the feudalists forget  
that they exploited under  circumstances
 and conditions that were quite         
different1 and that are  now antiquated4
 ,in showing that1 under their rule1 the
 modern  proletariat never existed1 they
 forget that the modern bourgeoisie is  
the necessary offspring of their own    
form of society4    ,for the rest1 so   
little do they conceal the reactionary  

character of  their criticism that their
 chief accusation against the           
bourgeoisie  amounts to this1 that under
 the bourgeois regime a class is being  
developed1 which is destined to cut up  
root and branch the old order of        
society4    ,what they upbraid the      
bourgeoisie with is not so much that it 
creates a  proletariat1 as that it      
creates a revolutionary proletariat4    
,in political practice1 therefore1 they 
join in all coercive measures  against  
the working class2 and in ordinary life1
 despite their high  falutin phrases1   
they stoop to pick up the golden apples 
dropped from  the tree of industry1 and 
to barter truth1 love1 and honour for   
traffic  in wool1 beetroot-sugar1 and   
potato spirits4    ,as the parson has   
ever gone hand in hand with the         
landlord1 so has  ,clerical ,socialism  
with ,feudal ,socialism4    ,nothing is 
easier than to give ,christian          
asceticism a ,socialist tinge4  ,has not
 ,christianity declaimed against private

 property1 against  marriage1 against   
the ,state8 ,has it not preached in the 
place of these1  charity and poverty1   
celibacy and mortification of the flesh1
 monastic  life and ,mother ,church8    
,christian ,socialism is but the holy   
water with  which the priest consecrates
 the heart-burnings of the aristocrat4  
,b4 ,petty-,bourgeois ,socialism        
,the feudal aristocracy was not the only
 class that was ruined by the           
bourgeoisie1 not the only class whose   
conditions of existence pined and       
perished in the atmosphere of modern    
bourgeois society4 ,the mediaeval       
burgesses and the small peasant         
proprietors were the precursors of the  
modern bourgeoisie4 ,in those countries 
which are but little developed1         
industrially and commercially1 these two
 classes still vegetate side by  side   
with the rising bourgeoisie4    ,in     
countries where modern civilisation has 
become fully developed1 a  new class of 
petty bourgeois has been formed1        

fluctuating between  proletariat and    
bourgeoisie and ever renewing itself as 
a supplementary  part of bourgeois      
society4 ,the individual members of this
 class1  however1 are being constantly  
hurled down into the proletariat by the 
action of competition1 and1 as modern   
industry develops1 they even see  the   
moment approaching when they will       
completely disappear as an  independent 
section of modern society1 to be        
replaced1 in manufactures1  agriculture 
and commerce1 by overlookers1 bailiffs  
and shopmen4    ,in countries like      
,france1 where the peasants constitute  
far more than  half of the population1  
it was natural that writers who sided   
with the  proletariat against the       
bourgeoisie1 should use1 in their       
criticism of  the bourgeois regime1 the 
standard of the peasant and petty       
bourgeois1 and from the standpoint of   
these intermediate classes should  take 
up the cudgels for the working class4   
,thus arose petty-bourgeois  ,socialism4

 ,sismondi was the head of this school1 
not only in ,france but  also in        
,england4    ,this school of ,socialism 
dissected with great acuteness the      
contradictions in the conditions of     
modern production4 ,it laid bare the    
hypocritical apologies of economists4   
,it proved1 incontrovertibly1 the       
disastrous effects of machinery and     
division of labour2 the  concentration  
of capital and land in a few hands2     
overproduction and  crises2 it pointed  
out the inevitable ruin of the petty    
bourgeois and  peasant1 the misery of   
the proletariat1 the anarchy in         
production1 the  crying inequalities in 
the distribution of wealth1 the         
industrial war  of extermination between
 nations1 the dissolution of old moral  
bonds1  of the old family relations1 of 
the old nationalities4    ,in its       
positive aims1 however1 this form of    
,socialism aspires either to  restoring 
the old means of production and of      
exchange1 and with them  the old        

property relations1 and the old society1
 or to cramping the  modern means of    
production and of exchange1 within the  
framework of the  old property relations
 that have been1 and were bound to be1  
exploded  by those means4 ,in either    
case1 it is both reactionary and        
,utopian4    ,its last words are3       
corporate guilds for manufacture1       
patriarchal  relations in agriculture4  
,ultimately1 when stubborn historical   
facts had dispersed all  intoxicating   
effects of self-deception1 this form of 
,socialism ended in  a miserable fit of 
the blues4    ,c4 ,german1 or 8,true10  
,socialism      ,the ,socialist and     
,communist literature of ,france1 a     
literature that  originated under the   
pressure of a bourgeoisie in power1 and 
that was  the expression of the struggle
 against this power1 was introduced into
  ,germany at a time when the           
bourgeoisie1 in that country1 had just  
begun  its contest with feudal          
absolutism4    ,german philosophers1    

would-be philosophers1 and beaux        
esprits1  eagerly seized on this        
literature1 only forgetting1 that when  
these  writings immigrated from ,france 
into ,germany1 ,french social conditions
  had not immigrated along with them4   
,in contact with ,german social         
conditions1 this ,french literature lost
 all its immediate practical            
significance1 and assumed a purely      
literary aspect4 ,thus1 to the ,german  
philosophers of the eighteenth century1 
the demands of the first ,french        
,revolution were nothing more than the  
demands of 8,practical ,reason0 in      
general1 and the utterance of the will  
of the revolutionary ,french            
bourgeoisie signified in their eyes the 
law of pure ,will1 of ,will as it  was  
bound to be1 of true human ,will        
generally4    ,the world of the ,german 
literati consisted solely in bringing   
the new  ,french ideas into harmony with
 their ancient philosophical conscience1
  or rather1 in annexing the ,french    

ideas without deserting their own       
philosophic point of view4    ,this     
annexation took place in the same way in
 which a foreign language  is           
appropriated1 namely1 by translation4   
,it is well known how the monks wrote   
silly lives of ,catholic ,saints  over  
the manuscripts on which the classical  
works of ancient  heathendom had been   
written4 ,the ,german literati reversed 
this  process with the profane ,french  
literature4 ,they wrote their           
philosophical nonsense beneath the      
,french original4 ,for instance1        
beneath the ,french criticism of the    
economic functions of money1 they  wrote
 8,alienation of ,humanity10 and beneath
 the ,french criticism of the  bourgeois
 ,state they wrote 8dethronement of the 
,category of the  ,general10 and so     
forth4    ,the introduction of these    
philosophical phrases at the back of the
  ,french historical criticisms they    
dubbed 8,philosophy of ,action10 8,true 
,socialism10 8,german ,science of       

,socialism10 8,philosophical ,foundation
 of  ,socialism10 and so on4    ,the    
,french ,socialist and ,communist       
literature was thus completely          
emasculated4 ,and1 since it ceased in   
the hands of the ,german to express  the
 struggle of one class with the other1  
he felt conscious of having  overcome   
8,french one-sidedness0 and of          
representing1 not true  requirements1   
but the requirements of truth2 not the  
interests of the  proletariat1 but the  
interests of ,human ,nature1 of ,man in 
general1 who  belongs to no class1 has  
no reality1 who exists only in the misty
 realm  of philosophical fantasy4       
,this ,german ,socialism1 which took its
 schoolboy task so seriously and        
solemnly1 and extolled its poor         
stock-in-trade in such mountebank       
fashion1 meanwhile gradually lost its   
pedantic innocence4    ,the fight of the
 ,german1 and especially1 of the        
,prussian bourgeoisie1  against feudal  
aristocracy and absolute monarchy1 in   

other words1 the  liberal movement1     
became more earnest4    ,by this1 the   
long wished-for opportunity was offered 
to 8,true0  ,socialism of confronting   
the political movement with the         
,socialist  demands1 of hurling the     
traditional anathemas against           
liberalism1  against representative     
government1 against bourgeois           
competition1  bourgeois freedom of the  
press1 bourgeois legislation1 bourgeois 
liberty and equality1 and of preaching  
to the masses that they had  nothing to 
gain1 and everything to lose1 by this   
bourgeois movement4  ,german ,socialism 
forgot1 in the nick of time1 that the   
,french  criticism1 whose silly echo it 
was1 presupposed the existence of modern
  bourgeois society1 with its           
corresponding economic conditions of    
existence1 and the political            
constitution adapted thereto1 the very  
things whose attainment was the object  
of the pending struggle in  ,germany4   
,to the absolute governments1 with their

 following of parsons1  professors1     
country squires and officials1 it served
 as a welcome  scarecrow against the    
threatening bourgeoisie4    ,it was a   
sweet finish after the bitter pills of  
floggings and bullets  with which these 
same governments1 just at that time1    
dosed the ,german  working-class        
risings4    ,while this 8,true0         
,socialism thus served the governments  
as a weapon for  fighting the ,german   
bourgeoisie1 it1 at the same time1      
directly  represented a reactionary     
interest1 the interest of the ,german   
,philistines4 ,in ,germany the petty    
bourgeois class1 a relique of the       
sixteenth century1 and since then       
constantly cropping up again under      
various forms1 is the real social basis 
of the existing state of  things4    ,to
 preserve this class is to preserve the 
existing state of things in  ,germany4  
,the industrial and political supremacy 
of the bourgeoisie  threatens it with   
certain destruction2 on the one hand1   

from the  concentration of capital2 on  
the other1 from the rise of a           
revolutionary proletariat4 8,true0      
,socialism appeared to kill these two   
birds with one stone4 ,it spread like an
 epidemic4    ,the robe of speculative  
cobwebs1 embroidered with flowers of    
rhetoric1  steeped in the dew of sickly 
sentiment1 this transcendental robe in  
which the ,german ,socialists wrapped   
their sorry 8eternal truths10 all  skin 
and bone1 served to wonderfully increase
 the sale of their goods  amongst such a
 public4 ,and on its part1 ,german      
,socialism recognised1  more and more1  
its own calling as the bombastic        
representative of the  petty-bourgeois  
,philistine4    ,it proclaimed the      
,german nation to be the model nation1  
and the ,german  petty ,philistine to be
 the typical man4 ,to every villainous  
meanness of  this model man it gave a   
hidden1 higher1 ,socialistic            
interpretation1  the exact contrary of  
its real character4 ,it went to the     

extreme length  of directly opposing the
 8brutally destructive0 tendency of     
,communism1  and of proclaiming its     
supreme and impartial contempt of all   
class  struggles4 ,with very few        
exceptions1 all the so-called ,socialist
 and  ,communist publications that now  
7#ahdg7 circulate in ,germany belong to 
the domain of this foul and enervating  
literature4    #b4 ,,conservative1 ,,or 
,,bourgeois1 ,,socialism    ,a part of  
the bourgeoisie is desirous of          
redressing social grievances1  in order 
to secure the continued existence of    
bourgeois society4    ,to this section  
belong economists1 philanthropists1     
humanitarians1  improvers of the        
condition of the working class1         
organisers of charity1  members of      
societies for the prevention of cruelty 
to animals1  temperance fanatics1       
hole-and-corner reformers of every      
imaginable  kind4 ,this form of         
,socialism has1 moreover1 been worked   
out into  complete systems4    ,we may  

cite ,proudhon's ,philosophie de la     
,misre as an example of this  form4     
,the ,socialistic bourgeois want all the
 advantages of modern social  conditions
 without the struggles and dangers      
necessarily resulting  therefrom4 ,they 
desire the existing state of society    
minus its  revolutionary and            
disintegrating elements4 ,they wish for 
a bourgeoisie  without a proletariat4   
,the bourgeoisie naturally conceives the
 world in  which it is supreme to be the
 best2 and bourgeois ,socialism develops
  this comfortable conception into      
various more or less complete systems4  
,in requiring the proletariat to carry  
out such a system1 and thereby to  march
 straightway into the social ,new       
,jerusalem1 it but requires in  reality1
 that the proletariat should remain     
within the bounds of  existing society1 
but should cast away all its hateful    
ideas concerning  the bourgeoisie4    ,a
 second and more practical1 but less    
systematic1 form of this  ,socialism    

sought to depreciate every revolutionary
 movement in the eyes  of the working   
class1 by showing that no mere political
 reform1 but  only a change in the      
material conditions of existence1 in    
economic  relations1 could be of any    
advantage to them4 ,by changes in the   
material conditions of existence1 this  
form of ,socialism1 however1 by  no     
means understands abolition of the      
bourgeois relations of  production1 an  
abolition that can be effected only by a
 revolution1 but  administrative        
reforms1 based on the continued         
existence of these  relations2 reforms1 
therefore1 that in no respect affect the
 relations  between capital and labour1 
but1 at the best1 lessen the cost1 and  
simplify the administrative work1 of    
bourgeois government4    ,bourgeois     
,socialism attains adequate expression1 
when1 and only when1  it becomes a mere 
figure of speech4    ,free trade3 for   
the benefit of the working class4       
,protective duties3  for the benefit of 

the working class4 ,prison ,reform3 for 
the benefit of  the working class4 ,this
 is the last word and the only seriously
 meant  word of bourgeois ,socialism4   
,it is summed up in the phrase3 the     
bourgeois is a bourgeois--for the       
benefit of the working class4    #c4    
,,critical-,,utopian ,,socialism ,,and  
,,communism    ,we do not here refer to 
that literature which1 in every great   
modern  revolution1 has always given    
voice to the demands of the proletariat1
  such as the writings of ,babeuf and   
others4    ,the first direct attempts of
 the proletariat to attain its own ends1
  made in times of universal excitement1
 when feudal society was being          
overthrown1 these attempts necessarily  
failed1 owing to the then  undeveloped  
state of the proletariat1 as well as to 
the absence of the  economic conditions 
for its emancipation1 conditions that   
had yet to be  produced1 and could be   
produced by the impending bourgeois     
epoch alone4  ,the revolutionary        

literature that accompanied these first 
movements of  the proletariat had       
necessarily a reactionary character4 ,it
 inculcated  universal asceticism and   
social levelling in its crudest form4   
,the ,socialist and ,communist systems  
properly so called1 those of            
,saint-,simon1 ,fourier1 ,owen and      
others1 spring into existence in the    
early undeveloped period1 described     
above1 of the struggle between          
proletariat and bourgeoisie 7see        
,section #a4 ,bourgeois and             
,proletarians74    ,the founders of     
these systems see1 indeed1 the class    
antagonisms1 as  well as the action of  
the decomposing elements1 in the        
prevailing form  of society4 ,but the   
proletariat1 as yet in its infancy1     
offers to them  the spectacle of a class
 without any historical initiative or   
any  independent political movement4    
,since the development of class         
antagonism keeps even pace with the     
development of industry1 the economic   

situation1 as they find it1 does  not as
 yet offer to them the material         
conditions for the emancipation  of the 
proletariat4 ,they therefore search     
after a new social science1  after new  
social laws1 that are to create these   
conditions4    ,historical action is to 
yield to their personal inventive       
action1  historically created conditions
 of emancipation to fantastic ones1 and 
the gradual1 spontaneous                
class-organisation of the proletariat to
 the  organisation of society specially 
contrived by these inventors4 ,future   
history resolves itself1 in their eyes1 
into the propaganda and the  practical  
carrying out of their social plans4     
,in the formation of their plans they   
are conscious of caring chiefly  for the
 interests of the working class1 as     
being the most suffering  class4 ,only  
from the point of view of being the most
 suffering class  does the proletariat  
exist for them4    ,the undeveloped     
state of the class struggle1 as well as 

their own  surroundings1 causes         
,socialists of this kind to consider    
themselves far  superior to all class   
antagonisms4 ,they want to improve the  
condition  of every member of society1  
even that of the most favoured4 ,hence1 
they  habitually appeal to society at   
large1 without distinction of class2    
nay1 by preference1 to the ruling class4
 ,for how can people1 when once  they   
understand their system1 fail to see in 
it the best possible plan  of the best  
possible state of society8    ,hence1   
they reject all political1 and          
especially all revolutionary1  action2  
they wish to attain their ends by       
peaceful means1 and  endeavour1 by small
 experiments1 necessarily doomed to     
failure1 and by  the force of example1  
to pave the way for the new social      
,gospel4    ,such fantastic pictures of 
future society1 painted at a time when  
the  proletariat is still in a very     
undeveloped state and has but a         
fantastic conception of its own position

 correspond with the first  instinctive 
yearnings of that class for a general   
reconstruction of  society4    ,but     
these ,socialist and ,communist         
publications contain also a critical    
element4 ,they attack every principle of
 existing society4 ,hence they  are full
 of the most valuable materials for the 
enlightenment of the  working class4    
,the practical measures proposed in     
them--such as the  abolition of the     
distinction between town and country1 of
 the family1  of the carrying on of     
industries for the account of private   
individuals1 and of the wage system1 the
 proclamation of social  harmony1 the   
conversion of the functions of the      
,state into a mere  superintendence of  
production1 all these proposals1 point  
solely to the  disappearance of class   
antagonisms which were1 at that time1   
only just  cropping up1 and which1 in   
these publications1 are recognised in   
their  earliest1 indistinct and         
undefined forms only4 ,these proposals1 

therefore1 are of a purely ,utopian     
character4    ,the significance of      
,critical-,utopian ,socialism and       
,communism bears an  inverse relation to
 historical development4 ,in proportion 
as the modern  class struggle develops  
and takes definite shape1 this fantastic
  standing apart from the contest1 these
 fantastic attacks on it1 lose  all     
practical value and all theoretical     
justification4 ,therefore1  although the
 originators of these systems were1 in  
many respects1  revolutionary1 their    
disciples have1 in every case1 formed   
mere  reactionary sects4 ,they hold fast
 by the original views of their         
masters1 in opposition to the           
progressive historical development of   
the  proletariat4 ,they1 therefore1     
endeavour1 and that consistently1 to    
deaden the class struggle and to        
reconcile the class antagonisms4 ,they  
still dream of experimental realisation 
of their social ,utopias1 of  founding  
isolated 8phalansteres10 of establishing

 8,home ,colonies10 of  setting up a    
8,little ,icaria0--duodecimo editions of
 the ,new  ,jerusalem--and to realise   
all these castles in the air1 they are  
compelled to appeal to the feelings and 
purses of the bourgeois4 ,by  degrees   
they sink into the category of the      
reactionary conservative  ,socialists   
depicted above1 differing from these    
only by more systematic  pedantry1 and  
by their fanatical and superstitious    
belief in the  miraculous effects of    
their social science4    ,they1         
therefore1 violently oppose all         
political action on the part of  the    
working class2 such action1 according to
 them1 can only result from  blind      
unbelief in the new ,gospel4    ,the    
,owenites in ,england1 and the          
,fourierists in ,france1 respectively1  
oppose the ,chartists and the           
8,rformistes40          ,,iv4           
,,position ,,of ,,the ,,communists ,,in 
,,relation ,,to ,,the ,,various         
,,existing  ,,opposition ,,parties      

,section ,,ii has made clear the        
relations of the ,communists to the     
existing working-class parties1 such as 
the ,chartists in ,england and  the     
,agrarian ,reformers in ,america4       
,the ,communists fight for the          
attainment of the immediate aims1 for   
the  enforcement of the momentary       
interests of the working class2 but in  
the  movement of the present1 they also 
represent and take care of the  future  
of that movement4 ,in ,france the       
,communists ally themselves with  the   
,social-,democrats1 against the         
conservative and radical bourgeoisie1   
reserving1 however1 the right to take up
 a critical position in regard  to      
phrases and illusions traditionally     
handed down from the great  ,revolution4
    ,in ,switzerland they support the   
,radicals1 without losing sight of the  
fact that this party consists of        
antagonistic elements1 partly of        
,democratic ,socialists1 in the ,french 
sense1 partly of radical  bourgeois4    

,in ,poland they support the party that 
insists on an agrarian revolution  as   
the prime condition for national        
emancipation1 that party which  fomented
 the insurrection of ,cracow in #ahdf4  
,in ,germany they fight with the        
bourgeoisie whenever it acts in a       
revolutionary way1 against the absolute 
monarchy1 the feudal  squirearchy1 and  
the petty bourgeoisie4    ,but they     
never cease1 for a single instant1 to   
instil into the working  class the      
clearest possible recognition of the    
hostile antagonism  between bourgeoisie 
and proletariat1 in order that the      
,german workers  may straightaway use1  
as so many weapons against the          
bourgeoisie1 the  social and political  
conditions that the bourgeoisie must    
necessarily  introduce along with its   
supremacy1 and in order that1 after the 
fall  of the reactionary classes in     
,germany1 the fight against the         
bourgeoisie itself may immediately      
begin4    ,the ,communists turn their   

attention chiefly to ,germany1 because  
that  country is on the eve of a        
bourgeois revolution that is bound to be
  carried out under more advanced       
conditions of ,european civilisation1   
and with a much more developed          
proletariat1 than that of ,england was  
in  the seventeenth1 and of ,france in  
the eighteenth century1 and because  the
 bourgeois revolution in ,germany will  
be but the prelude to an  immediately   
following proletarian revolution4    ,in
 short1 the ,communists everywhere      
support every revolutionary  movement   
against the existing social and         
political order of things4    ,in all   
these movements they bring to the front1
 as the leading question  in each1 the  
property question1 no matter what its   
degree of  development at the time4     
,finally1 they labour everywhere for the
 union and agreement of the  democratic 
parties of all countries4    ,the       
,communists disdain to conceal their    
views and aims4 ,they openly  declare   

that their ends can be attained only by 
the forcible overthrow  of all existing 
social conditions4 ,let the ruling      
classes tremble at a  ,communistic      
revolution4 ,the proletarians have      
nothing to lose but their  chains4 ,they
 have a world to win4    ,,working ,,men
 ,,of ,,all ,,countries1 ,,unite6