Friedrich Engels

Vocation

Notable

German co-founder, with Karl Marx, of modern Communism and Socialism After Marx, Engels was the finest scholar and teacher of the modern proletariat in the whole civilized world. From the time that the two men met, they devoted their life's work to a common cause, that of the antagonism between the interests of the bourgeoisie and those of the proletariat Engels was the son of a textile manufacturer. In 1838, without having completed his high-school studies, he was forced by family circumstances to enter a commercial house in Bremen as a clerk. He had come to hate autocracy and the tyranny of bureaucrats while still at high school Already a liberal activist, he pursued his scientific and political education. The study of philosophy led him further. At that time Hegel's teaching dominated German philosophy, and Engels became his follower. He developed his thought that the social evils of the time were the inevitable result of the institution of private property and could be eliminated only through a class struggle culminating in a communist society. These conclusions were embodied in a historical study, "Condition of the Working Class in England." Neither before 1845 nor after has there appeared so striking and truthful a picture of the misery of the working class. In 1844, while on his way back to Germany, he became acquainted in Paris with Marx, with whom he had already started to correspond. Under the influence of the French socialists and French life, Marx had also become a socialist. The two men found that they had arrived independently at identical views and undertook to work together. They began a lifelong collaboration which had two principal aspects: systematic exposition of the principles of communism, later known as Marxism; and the organization of an international Communist movement. From 1845 to 1847 Engels lived in Brussels and Paris, combining scientific work with practical activities among the German workers in Brussels and Paris. Out of the friendship and mutual concerns of the two men there arose the famous "Manifesto of the Communist Party," published in 1848, along with other works that predicted the inevitable triumph of the working class. When the Revolutions of 1848 failed, Engels settled in England. He and Marx collaborated in the research and writing of "Das Capital," the fundamental textbook of modern communism. "The Communist Manifesto," which influenced all subsequent Communist literature and is regarded as a classic exposition of modern Communist views, appeared in 1848. It was written by Marx, partly on the basis of a draft that Engels prepared. During the 1870s, the unifying role of Marx and Engels did not cease. On the contrary, it may be said that their importance as the spiritual leaders of the working class movement grew continuously because the movement itself grew uninterruptedly. After the death of Marx in 1883, Engels continued alone as the counselor and leader of the European socialists. His advice and directions were sought for by the German socialists, whose strength, despite government persecution, grew rapidly and steadily. Engels died 8/05/1895 NS, London. Link to Wikipedia biography