Carl Marx, 1818-1883 was a philosopher, social scientist, historian and revolutionary. He was mostly ignored by scholars during his lifetime, however, after his death, his social, economic and political ideas gained acceptance in the Socialist Movement. (Kreis) Friedrich Engels, 1820-1895 was a German philosopher, social scientist and journalist that founded the Marxist Theory with Karl Marx. In 1848, he co-authored the Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx (Lenin). The Communist Manifesto is divided into four (4) sections. The first section discusses the Communists' theory of history and the relationship proletarians and bourgeoisie. .
The second section explains the relationship between the Communists and the proletarians. The third section addresses the flaws in previous socialist literature. The final section discusses the relationship between the Communists and other parties. Marx and Engels argue that all changes in society, political institutions, and in history are driven by a process of collective struggle on the part of groups of people with similar economic situations in order to realize their material or economic interests. The driving force of history is class struggles. "These struggles, occurring throughout history from ancient Rome through the Middle Ages to the present day, have been struggles of economically subordinate classes against economically dominant classes who opposed their economic interests-slaves against masters, serfs against landlords, and so on" (Lenin). The opposing forces of the class struggle in the middle of the nineteenth century according to Marx and Engels were the capitalist bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie were considered the upper or middle class of society, landowners, those with cultural and financial capitol. The proletariats were the working class, common people or lower class. According to Marx and Engels, the proletariats will eventually rise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie.
