Manifesto of the Communist Party

A spectre of Communism is haunting Europe.
- All powers of old Europe have formed an alliance to exorcise this spectre.
- Parties involved: Pope, Czar, Metternich, Guizot, French Radicals, German police-spies.
Every party in opposition has been branded as communistic by the ruling powers.
Resulting facts:
1. Communism is recognized as a power by all European states.
2. It is necessary for Communists to openly publish their views and intentions in a manifesto.
Communists of various nationalities gathered in London to draft the manifesto in multiple languages.

The entirety of past societies is characterized by class struggle.
- Historical examples include: freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf.
The struggle is characterized by a continuous opposition between oppressors and oppressed.
- This struggle often results in either a revolutionary change in societal structure or the mutual destruction of the competing classes.

In ancient societies, class arrangements included:
- Ancient Rome: Patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves.
- Middle Ages: Feudal lords, vassals, guildmasters, apprentices, serfs; subordinate classes existed within these layers.
The modern bourgeois society that emerged from feudalism has not resolved class antagonisms.
- Instead, it has established new classes and forms of struggle while simplifying the class struggle to two main classes: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

The bourgeoisie arose from the towns' chartered burghers, who were previously serfs.
Factors contributing to the rise:
- Discovery of America, conducive to trade, and new markets.
- The collapse of the feudal system led to the emergence of manufacturing systems.
As the bourgeoisie grew, their political power increased, culminating in modern representative states.
- They served as the groundwork for new state mechanisms, shifting from feudal ties to individual economic interests.
The bourgeoisie has historically played a revolutionary role, altering all existing social relationships founded on age-old traditions.

The bourgeoisie has trivialized previously revered professions (doctors, lawyers, poets).
The family structure has become commodified, reducing relationships to economic exchanges.
Technological advancements under modernity necessitate constant innovation in production methods, leading to instability within bourgeois society.
- As a result, traditional beliefs and relationships have been dismantled, revealing the stark realities of social life.
The need for markets has forced the bourgeoisie to expand globally, fostering international dependencies.

Industrial development has led to the urbanization of populations, creating significant disparities between urban and rural life.
The concentration of wealth has shifted power dynamics, establishing dependence of peasant societies on bourgeois urban centers.
Political centralization followed economic concentration, resulting in a unified state with common laws and interests.
The bourgeoisie has, within a mere century, generated forces of production that surpass the total output of previous societies.

Current crises result from a revolt of productive forces against the conditions of bourgeois production.
- Overproduction leads to cyclical crises that threaten bourgeois society's stability.
The bourgeoisie's initial methods of securing their dominance are now turned against them, birthing the modern working class (the proletariat).

Communists relate to the proletarians as follows:
1. Do not form an independent party opposed to other working-class factions.
2. Communists promote the common interests of the proletariat across national boundaries.
3. Identify and represent the overall interests and aims of the proletarian movement.

Immediate goals mirror that of proletarian parties:
- Forming the proletariat as a class, overthrowing bourgeois governance, and gaining political power.
The abolition of bourgeois property represents not merely a radical standpoint but a historical necessity given current conditions.

Private property, according to Communism, should not disappear universally but should particularly eliminate bourgeois property that exploits wage labor.
Wage-labor under capitalism does not create wealth for the laborer but instead feeds the exploitation cycle of capital.

Abolition of existing conditions must occur during a revolutionary shift, wherein the proletariat seizes the means of production.
Transform capitalist production into a collective entity, leading to competitive elimination of bourgeois obstacles.

Feudal Socialism:
- Aristocrats who criticize bourgeois society, failing to understand their legacy resulted in the current proletariat development.
Their political power diminishes as they attempt to associate their issues with the workers' interests without genuine advocacy.

The merging historical classes of back-end participants who oppose their anticipated decline in the face of industrial growth.
Such individuals often invoke the middle-class perspective to protect their interests in light of changing socio-economic frameworks.

German intellectuals misconstrue French socialist ideologies through the lens of prevailing German conditions, leading to an emasculation of revolutionary potential.

A segment of the bourgeoisie seeks social reforms that would allow capitalistic structures to persist while diminishing class tensions.
This form relies on superficial changes rather than genuine evolution of social conditions conducive to the working class.

Early socialist theories and communities reflect societal anticipations without practical realities, usually failing to recognize anticipated class struggles.

The Communists support all revolutionary movements and aim to unify democratic parties on a global scale.
They explicitly declare their intent to overthrow current societal structures, emphasizing that the proletariat has nothing to lose but their chains.
Final appeal: WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!