The Communists and Various Opposition Parties

by Karl Marx Icon

3 minutes • 457 words

The Communists:

fight for:
- the attainment of the immediate aims
- the enforcement of the momentary interests of the working class
take care of the future of that movement.

In France, the Communists:

ally with the Social-Democrats* against the conservative and radical capitalists.
reserve the right to take up a critical position on the phases and illusions handed down from the French Revolution.

Note

*The party then represented in Parliament by Ledru-Rollin, in literature by Louis Blanc, in the daily press by the Réforme. The name of Social-Democracy signifies, with these its inventors, a section of the Democratic or Republican Party more or less tinged with socialism. [Engels, English Edition 1888]

In Switzerland, they support the Radicals even if the Radicals have antagonistic elements as Democratic Socialists and radical capitalist.

In Poland, they support the party that:

fomented the insurrection of Cracow in 1846.
demands agrarian revolution

In Germany, they fight with the revolutionary capitalists against:

the absolute monarchy
the feudal squirearchy
the petty capitalists.

But they never cease to instill into the working class the hostile antagonism between capitalists and proletariat.

This is to let the German workers use so many weapons against the capitalists so that their fight can begin.

The Communists now focus chiefly to Germany because:

it is on the eve of a capitalist revolution.
the capitalist revolution in Germany will be the prelude to a proletarian revolution immediately afterwards*.

Superphysics Note

According to our social cycles model, Germany at that time was already leaving its Merchant (Capitalist) Cycle and was entering a Democratic cycle.

In short, the Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things.

In all these movements, they bring to the front, as the leading question in each, the property question, no matter what its degree of development at the time.

Finally, they labour everywhere for the union and agreement of the democratic parties of all countries.

The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims.

They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.

Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution.

The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.

They have a world to win.

Working Men of All Countries, Unite!*

Note

*The famous final phrase of the Manifesto, “Working Men of All Countries, Unite!”, in the original German is: “Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch!” Thus, a more correct translation would be “Proletarians of all countries, Unite!” “Workers of the World, Unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains!” is a popularisation of the last three sentences, and is not found in any official translation. Since this English translation was approved by Engels, we have kept the original intact.