The Revolutions of 1848

Political Writings #1

by Karl Marx, Tariq Ali (Contributor), David Fernbach (Editor)

Karl Marx was not only the great theorist of capitalism; he was above all else a revolutionary. In Paris in 1844 he made the connection between radical philosophy and the proletariat that would guide his future work, first with the Communist League and later with the International Workingmen’s Association. Marx’s Political Writings display a profound understanding of history and politics that is still relevant to the very different conditions of today. Volume 1: The Revolutions of 1848 : Marx and Engels had already sketched out the principles of scientific communism by 1846. Yet it was from his intense involvement in the abortive German revolution of 1848 that Marx developed a profound practical understanding he would draw on throughout his later career. This volume includes his great call to arms—The Communist Manifesto—and also demonstrates Marx’s unsuccessful attempt to spur the German bourgeoisie to decisive action against absolutism. His articles offer trenchant analyses of events in France, Poland, Prague, Berlin and Vienna, while speeches set out changing communist tactics.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Philosophy, Economics, Journalism, Essays

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1972

About the author

With the help of Friedrich Engels, German philosopher and revolutionary Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867-1894), works, which explain historical development in terms of the interaction of contradictory economic forces, form many regimes, and profoundly influenced the social sciences.

German social theorist Friedrich Engels collaborated with Karl Marx on The Communist Manifesto in 1848 and on numerous other works.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin in London opposed Communism of Karl Marx with his antithetical anarchy.

Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).

The Prussian kingdom introduced a prohibition on Jews, practicing law; in response, a man converted to Protestantism and shortly afterward fathered Karl Marx.

Marx began co-operating with Bruno Bauer on editing Philosophy of Religion of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (see Democritus and Epicurus), doctoral thesis, also engaged Marx, who completed it in 1841. People described the controversial essay as "a daring and original piece... in which Marx set out to show that theology must yield to the superior wisdom." Marx decided to submit his thesis not to the particularly conservative professors at the University of Berlin but instead to the more liberal faculty of University of Jena, which for his contributed key theory awarded his Philosophiae Doctor in April 1841. Marx and Bauer, both atheists, in March 1841 began plans for a journal, entitled Archiv des Atheismus (Atheistic Archives), which never came to fruition.

Marx edited the newspaper Vorwärts! in 1844 in Paris. The urging of the Prussian government from France banished and expelled Marx in absentia; he then studied in Brussels. He joined the league in 1847 and published.

Marx participated the failure of 1848 and afterward eventually wound in London. Marx, a foreigner, corresponded for several publications of United States.
He came in three volumes. Marx organized the International and the social democratic party.

Marx in a letter to C. Schmidt once quipped, "All I know is that I am not a Marxist," as Warren Allen Smith related in Who's Who in Hell .

People describe Marx, who most figured among humans. They typically cite Marx with Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, the principal modern architects.

Bertrand Russell later remarked of non-religious Marx, "His belief that there is a cosmic ... called dialectical materialism, which governs ... independently of human volitions, is mere mythology" ( Portraits from Memory , 1956).

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bi...
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/...
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic...
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

Reviews

[armin · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book in a series of three, it is a really good collection of Marx’s political observations of the 1848 revolutions across Europe. It includes Manifesto, Demands of the German Communist Party, Observations on Poland and articles written by Marx (and sometimes by Engles) in Neue Rheinische Zeitung which are actually analysis of the revolution. Furthermore it includes the analysis after the uprisings were cracked down, so Marx and Engles self-assessing their own failures. If you want to read it, you need to be a bit familiar with the 1848 period and how the revolution went on in France, Germany, Austria, how each of the European powers dealt with it in its own manner and how the uprisings in various countries interacted with one another. There is also a very good introduction to the series which is both analytic and simple and gives a better insight to the history of the period. The "Foreword by Tariq Ali" is a bit misleading though! There is a very short text that is actually about why they decided to publish the series again and has nothing to do with Marx or whatever!

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's incredible how prescient and relevant the Manifesto is 170~ years later, though the rest of the collected texts here were varied.

[Declan Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

As fascinating as it is to read Marx’s journalistic output, this is definitely a case where a bit of prior reading on the finer details of mid-C19th European politics would pay dividends. I found myself overly reliant on the footnotes, such that the depth of political insight was sometimes lost on me. But these are personal grievances. The intro by Fernbach is excellent, and the Manifesto speaks for itself.

[Nabilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of speeches by Karl Marx about the failures of the 1848 revolutions. It also contained the Communist Manifesto. I think this volume is great entry to Marx's thoughts for people who want to move beyond the Manifesto. Kinda like the midway before you hit the Capital. You might need to google a bit about the 1848 revolution though.

[Elliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good volume of Marx’s political writings surrounding the years of the European Revolutions of 1848. This is of course the period that the Communist Manifesto was published (at the end of January 1848, right before the outbreak of the revolution in Paris in February 1848). David Fernbach’s essay introducing the volume is quite good and does a great job of situating Marx historically in this early period of his writing (and of reminding anyone who sacralizes Marx that he was, like anyone, a person who shifted, changed their mind, admitted when he got things wrong, made mistakes, etc.). Some of the highlights of this volume were seeing how Marx handles the specifics of the Prussian/German revolutions of 1848, how Marx theorizes the German national question and the movement from absolutism/feudalism to bourgeoise democracy, and how Marx theorizes defeat and handles his ultimate exile from Germany.

This volume is actually part of a 3 volume collected work published through Verso that spans the late 1840s through the early 1870s. Excited to get into Volume 2 which covers the 50s and early 60s. I definitely recommend these for anyone who prioritizes Marx’s economic writings (as I have in my studies) as they provide a prescient reminder that Marx remained a political thinker throughout the entirety of his life.

[Molsa Roja(s) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los artículos de la gaceta renana, compilación de algo más de 300 páginas de los escritos de Marx durante su escaso año como editor del periódico renano, constituyen una curiosidad, la oportunidad de conocer el pensamiento y raciocinio del Marx más joven. Además, son interesantes en cuanto a retrato de la época, mediados del s. XIX, para mejor ubicar el surgimiento del movimiento comunista.

[Peter Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most well known piece of Marx's earlier political writings and journalism included in this selection is the Communist Manifesto, which is as resonant as ever. The remainder primarily consists of a selection of articles from the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, the newspaper Marx edited in Germany during the 1848 revolution before being tried, acquitted, and going into exile. With a basic yet insightful introduction from the translator David Fernbach to set the context, these articles chart the revolution and Marx's changing interpretation of what was going on. There are still some significant insights here on the tactics of the left towards the middle class parties, nationalism, and a surprising amount on what a working class seizure of power might look like.

Just occasionally the writing feels a little too wrapped up in the moment to have wider relevance, and therefore only of historical interest - not surprising as they were written in the heat of a specific political moment. They are nonetheless very readable for all that, and with insight into Marx's developing thinking.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though Marx actively sought to wed philosophy and action, the philosophical community rarely takes up his role as an organizer, propagandist, editor and agitator. This volume gives a nice introductory survey of Marx's interpretation and political prescriptions for the contemporary European scene in which he lived. Rarely would one think of Karl Marx leading a tax revolt or successfully defending himself in court for refusal to pay taxes. But these editorials and his defense are in this volume, along with a picture of a theorist whose view of the emerging bourgeiosie led to a strong pragmatic streak and a keen eye for both economic and social developments. Honestly, the volume is dry at times, I could have skipped the discussion of the North American cotton and corn crops in 1848-49, but it provided great insights at other times and helped in giving an eyewitness account of a turbulent period of European history.

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of a series of 3 trade paperbacks originally sold in the 1970's as a boxed set. Mine are yellowed w age now, and they still contain the eager notations and underlinings.

If you are interested in the writings of Marx and have already read the clearest, briefest statement of his political philosophy, The Communist Manifesto, this set, if you can get it, is a good next step. Very clear, manageable, but more complete; not as incredibly complex as Kapital. Well worth having for the serious political student of the Left.

The other 2 volumes are Surveys From Exile (in which is placed his commentary on the North American Civil War, to which I now return) and The First International and After.

[xDEAD ENDx · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's like Marx in blog form... Short couple-page entries about current events that seem entirely irrelevant, especially today.