Karl Marx
1818 – 1883 German philosopher, economist
The theorist of communism whose ideas reshaped the modern world.
- Religion
- Born to a Jewish family that converted to Lutheranism; he became an atheist and called religion the opium of the people.
- Affiliations
- Co-founder of the International Workingmen's Association. No secret society.
Marx argued that history is driven by class struggle and that capitalism would give way to a workers' society. With Engels he wrote The Communist Manifesto, and in Das Kapital he dissected the workings of capital. His ideas inspired revolutions, states, and social movements across the globe.
Connections
- associate of Friedrich Engels — Lifelong collaborator and financial patron; co-wrote the Manifesto and completed Das Kapital after Marx's death.
- influenced Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel — He inverted Hegel's dialectic into a materialist theory of history.
- influenced Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel — Marx adopted his dialectic while rejecting his idealism.
- influenced Vladimir Lenin — Lenin built the Bolshevik revolution on Marx's theory, adapting it for an agrarian Russia Marx never expected to revolt first.
In the timeline
- 1848 Publication of the Communist Manifesto author
- 1848 Publication of the Communist Manifesto author
- 1850 Marx formulates the class struggle, about 1850 mentioned
- 1864 Founding of the First International mentioned
- 1867 Publication of Das Kapital author
- 1867 Marx and Engels publish Das Kapital mentioned