Karl Marx

Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary.

Marx was born in Trier, Germany and studied philosophy. His political publications would cause him to lose citizenship and be stateless. Due to this, he lived in exile on London with his wife and children. His best-known titles were The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, two central works to the theory of Communism, which he would advocate for. Marx's writings would lead to the creation of a global movement in support of Communism which would have long-term and short-term effects, such as the Russian Revolution, the Cold War, and multiple other historical events.

Marx's critical theories about society, economics and politics – collectively understood as Marxism – hold that human societies develop through class struggle. In capitalism, this manifests itself in the conflict between the ruling classes (known as the bourgeoisie) that control the means of production and the working classes (known as the proletariat) that enable these means by selling their labour power in return for wages. Employing a critical approach known as historical materialism, Marx predicted that, like previous socio-economic systems, capitalism produced internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system known as socialism.

For Marx, class antagonisms under capitalism, owing in part to its instability and crisis-prone nature, would eventuate the working class' development of class consciousness, leading to their conquest of political power and eventually the establishment of a classless, communist society constituted by a free association of producers. Marx actively pressed for its implementation, arguing that the working class should carry out organised revolutionary action to topple capitalism and bring about socio-economic emancipation.

Following the death of his wife Jenny in December 1881, Marx developed a catarrh that kept him in ill health for the last 15 months of his life. It eventually brought on the bronchitis and pleurisy that killed him in London on 14 March 1883, when he died a stateless person at age 64.

Marx would go down in history as the founder of the modern Communist and Marxist movements. Followers of Marx often debated among themselves over how to interpret Marx's writings and apply his concepts to the modern world.

Related articles

 * Communism
 * Socialism
 * Capitalism
 * Anarchism
 * Egoist anarchism
 * Max Stirner
 * Vladimir Lenin