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1Communist Manifesto

By Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote their <i>Manifesto</i> in December 1847, as a guide to the fundamental principles and practices of Communists. The <i>Manifesto</i> also predicted the ultimate downfall of the capitalist system.<br />(Summary written by Gesine) <br /><br /> A recording in the original <em>German</em> language is available <a href="http://librivox.org/manifest-der-kommunistischen-partei-von-karl-marx-und-friedrich-engels/">here</a>

2Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei

By Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx

Karl Marx und Friedrich Engels schrieben ihr <i>Manifest</i> im Dezember 1847, als Leitfaden fuer die grundsaetzlichen Prinzipien und Praktiken des Kommunismus. Das <i>Manifest</i> sagte ausserdem den Untergang des Kapitalistismus’ voraus.<br>(Zusammenfassung von Gesine) <br><br> Eine Aufnahme in <em>englischer</em> Übersetzung gibt es <a href="http://librivox.org/the-communist-manifesto-by-karl-marx-and-friendrich-engels/">hier</a>

Capital, Volume I is the first of three volumes in Karl Marx’s monumental work, Das Kapital, and the only volume to be published during his lifetime, in 1867.<br /><br />Marx’s aim in Capital, Volume I is to uncover and explain the laws specific to the capitalist mode of production and of the class struggles rooted in these capitalist social relations of production. Marx said himself that his aim was “to bring a science [i.e. political economy] by criticism to the point where it can be dialectically represented”, and in this way to “reveal the law of motion of modern society”. By showing how capitalist development was the precursor of a new, socialist mode of production, he aimed to provide a scientific foundation for the modern labour movement. In preparation for his book, he studied the economic literature available in his time for a period of twelve years, mainly in the British Museum in London. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Originally written as a series of newspaper articles in 1847, Wage-Labour and Capital was intended to give an overview of Marx’s central theories regarding the economic relationships between workers and capitalists. These theories outlined include the Marxian form of the Labour Theory of Value, which distinguishes “labour” from “labour-power”, and the Theory of Concentration of Capital, which states that capitalism tends towards the creation of monopolies and the disenfranchisement of the middle and working classes. These theories were later elaborated in Volume 1 of Capital, published in 1867. <br /><br />This edition of Wage-Labour and Capital, published in 1891, was edited and translated by Friedrich Engels, and remains one of the most widely read of Marx’s works. (Description by Carl Manchester).

The “Theses on Feuerbach” are eleven short philosophical notes written by Karl Marx in 1845. They outline a critique of the ideas of Marx’s fellow Young Hegelian philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. The theses form a basis for the activism emphasised by Marx’s work, and this short text is perhaps best know for its ending - a Eureka for revolutionary socialism. The theses were written in 1845, but not published until 1888 (five years after Marx’s death), with slight modifications by Friedrich Engels. The original text was published in 1924. This translation is based on the 1888 version. (Wikipedia/Carl Manchester)<br /><br />Translated into the public domain by Carl Manchester.

6Communist Manifesto (version 2)

By Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx

The Communist Manifesto was conceived as an outline of the basic beliefs of the Communist movement. The authors believed that the European Powers were universally afraid of the nascent movement, and were condemning as "communist," people or activities that did not actually conform to what the Communists believed. This Manifesto, then, became a manual for their beliefs.<br><br>In it we find Marx and Engel's rehearsal of the idea that Capital has stolen away the work of the artisan and peasant by building up factories to produce goods cheaply. The efficiency of Capital depends, then, on the wage laborers who staff the factories and how little they will accept in order to have work. This concentrates power and money in a Bourgeois class that profits from the disunity of workers (Proletarians), who only receive a subsistence wage.<br><br>If workers unite in a class struggle against the bourgeois, using riot and strikes as weapons, they will eventually overthrow the bourgeois and replace them as a ruling class. Communists further believe in and lay out a system of reforms to transform into a classless, stateless society, thus distinguishing themselves from various flavors of Socialism, which would be content to have workers remain the ruling class after the revolution.<br><br>The Manifesto caused a huge amount of discussion for its support for a forcible overthrow of the existing politics and society. (Summary by Mark F. Smith)

Vous n'avez jamais eu le temps de lire <em>Les Misérables</em> ? Eh bien, en voici l'occasion. Ces misérables-ci sont très concis.<br /><br />Here is your chance to listen to the whole story in less than an hour.<br />(by Ezwa)

8Revolution and Counter-Revolution, or: Germany in 1848

By Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx

Revolution and Counter-Revolution is an account of what happened in Prussia, Austria and other German states during 1848, describing the impact on both middle-class and working-class aspirations and on the idea of German unification. Events in Austria and Prussia are discussed, along with the role of the Poles and Czechs and Panslavism, which Engels was against. (Summary by Wikipedia)

This work is a scathing criticism of the economic and philosophical arguments of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's <i>The Philosophy of Poverty</i>. (Summary by TriciaG)

Manifest Komunistyczny, napisany przez Karla Marxa oraz Friedricha Engelsa, przedstawia krytykę głównego sytemu ekonomicznego państw Europy XIX wieku - kapitalizmu. Analizując społeczeństwo pod kątem teorii krytycznej, Marx i Engels ukazują problemy i sprzeczności obecnej w tamtych czasach hierarchii społecznej, poprzez zwrócenie uwagi na antagonizm klasowy pomiędzy burżuazją, klasą panującą, a proletariatem, klasą robotniczą. Filozofia przedstawiona przez obu autorów miała ogromny wpływ na reformy polityczne, które poprawiły standardy pracy robotników państw rozwiniętych, od zakazania pracy dzieci po ustanowienie weekendu. Mimo upływu czasu, teorie Marxa i Engelsa używane do analiz socjologicznych do dziś, potrafiąc odkryć problemy naszego społeczeństwa, na które wcześniej nie zwróciliśmy uwagi.

As a precursor to Capital, Marx outlines his analysis of capitalism and critiques classical economic theories. - Summary by Tray