Manifesto of the Communist Party

Also known as The Communist Manifesto. The programme drafted by Marx and Engels for the first communist organization in the world—the Communist League, and the first programmatic document of the international communist movement. First appeared on February 21, 1848, as a single edition in London, and it was officially published on February 24. It was translated from Japanese to Chinese by Chen Wangdao in 1920 and published in Shanghai for the first time.

In the first half of the 19th century, capitalism in Western Europe developed rapidly, social contradictions in capitalism intensified, economic crises erupted frequently, and the struggle of the proletariat against bourgeois oppression climbed up incessantly. From the 1830s to the 1840s, three major worker movements broke out successively in Europe, which marked that the proletariat began to enter the arena of history as an independent political actor. But the defeat of the three major workers’ movements also showed that the proletarian revolutionary movement urgently needed the guidance of scientific theory. In November 1847, the Communist League, which had completed its reorganization under the guidance of Marx and Engels, held its second congress in London, which commissioned Marx and Engels to draw up a programme for the Communist League. According to the principles adopted by the Congress, Marx and Engels wrote this Manifesto “in a narrative form”. In February 1848, the Manifesto was officially published in six languages in London in a single edition, but anonymously; it was not officially signed until it was published in the Red Republican in the year of 1850.

Manifesto of the Communist Party includes an introduction and four main chapters. The introduction mainly introduces the historical background and purpose of the Manifesto. Chapter 1, “Bourgeois and Proletarians,” expounded the Marxist theory of class struggle and clarified that the fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat is an objective law of history; Chapter 2, “Proletarians and Communists,” explained the nature, characteristics, aims and tasks of the proletarian political party, as well as the theory and programme of the Communist Party, and expounded fundamental ideas of the proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat; Chapter 3, “Socialist and Communist Literature,” applied the materialist conception of history to make an anatomy of the historical conditions for the emergence of the various socialist schools, their essential features, and their harms and to analyze and criticize utopian socialism; Chapter 4, “Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties,” elaborated the tactical principles of the revolutionary struggle of the Communists. Later, between 1872 and 1893, when different versions of the Manifesto were published, Marx and Engels wrote a total of seven prefaces. Among them, the first two were co-written by Marx and Engels, and the last five were written and completed by Engels alone. The seven prefaces briefly explained the basic ideas of the Manifesto, supplemented and revised the Manifesto according to the experience and lessons of the proletarian revolution, and pointed out the correct attitude towards the Manifesto.

The main contents clarified by the work are as follows: First, it elaborated that that the politics and culture of each epoch are based on the economic foundation of that epoch and are subject to the level of development of the productive forces of society. Therefore, in order to grasp the essence of the politics and spirit of each epoch, one must first understand the economic foundation of that epoch. In the preface to the 1883 German edition of the Manifesto, Engels pointed out: “The basic thought running through the Manifesto—that economic production, and the structure of society of every historical epoch necessarily arising therefrom, constitute the foundation for the political and intellectual history of that epoch.” This is the world outlook and methodological basis of the Manifesto, and the contradictory movement between productive forces and the relations of production, between the economic foundation and the superstructure is the fundamental driving force of the development of human society. Second, it demonstrated that “the fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable”, or what is commonly known as the principle of “Two Inevitables”. Using the viewpoint and method of historical materialism, the Manifesto profoundly analysed the contradictory movement and class relations in the capitalist society, and pointed out that although the capitalist system promoted the great progress of productive forces in history, it contained negative factors in its own development process. The cruel exploitation of workers by capitalists forced the proletariat of all countries to unite and overthrow the capitalist system. The inevitable fall of capitalism and the inevitable victory of communism is the objective law of the development of human society. Third, it analyzed the conditions of the existence of classes and class struggle in capitalist society. Based on the understanding of human history at that time, the Manifesto opens with the statement that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” The Manifesto analyzed the condition of class antagonism in capitalist society and pointed out that, in order to achieve its emancipation, the proletariat must conquer the political power, establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, and use its “political supremacy”, “to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the State, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible.” Of course, the dictatorship of the proletariat is not the end of the social system of mankind; when the level of the productive forces of society has developed to a very high degree and the conditions for the existence of classes have disappeared, there will inevitably be a transition to a society devoid of class antagonisms, parties and state. Fourth, it expounded the basic features of the communist society. The Manifesto scientifically elaborated the general law of the emergence, development and withering-away of private property, and pointed out that the property question is the leading question in the contradictory movement of society. Only by abolishing capitalist private property can the proletariat and all mankind be liberated. “The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property”, and the realization of the full and free development of man. The Manifesto asserted: “In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” Fifth, it elaborated the doctrine of party building of proletarian political parties. For the first time, the Manifesto systematically put forth Marxist theory of party building, scientifically expounded the nature, aim, programme and tactical principles of the Communist Party, and laid the foundation of Marxist doctrine of party building. The Manifesto pointed out that the nature of the Communist Party is a proletarian party, and that “they have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole” and “they do not set up any sectarian principles of their own, by which to shape and mold the proletarian movement.” The Communists are the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others, and the Communist Party upholds the guidance of scientific communist theory and the fundamental principles of internationalism. The Communist Party’s minimum programme is the overthrow of the rule of the bourgeoisie and the conquest of political power by the proletariat; its maximum programme is the abolition of all classes, the abolition of private property and the realiziation of communism.

The publication of The Manifesto of the Communist Party marked the birth of Marxism. Since its publication, The Manifesto of the Communist Party has been translated into more than 200 languages with hundreds of editions, and it is the earliest Marxist document translated into Chinese, with the largest number of Chinese versions, the largest number of copies, the widest dissemination and the greatest influence. The Manifesto of the Communist Party comprehensively and systematically elaborated the theory of scientific socialism, embodied the scientific value and great significance of Marxism in a concentrated manner, has epoch-making significance and strong vitality in human thought, and had a great impact on the course of development of human society. As Lenin said: “With the clarity and brilliance of genius, this work outlines a new world-conception, consistent materialism, which also embraces the realm of social life; dialectics, as the most comprehensive and profound doctrine of development; the theory of the class struggle and of the world-historic revolutionary role of the proletariat—the creator of a new, communist society.” “This book is not much in length, but its value is equivalent to many great works: its spirit still inspires and promotes all the organized and struggling proletariat in the civilized world.”