Marx and Engels Publish The Communist Manifesto

In February 1848, a modest twenty-three-page pamphlet was published anonymously in London, printed at the office of the German Workers' Educational Association at 46 Liverpool Street. Printed in German under the title Manifest der kommunistischen Partei, the document was commissioned by the Communist League, an international organization that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had joined the previous year. The text represented an effort to translate their theories of historical materialism into an accessible, combative statement of intent, famously asserting that the record of all existing society was defined by class struggles between oppressors and oppressed.

The preparation of the text unfolded through multiple stages during the latter half of 1847. Engels produced early drafts structured as catechisms, first composing a confession of faith in June and then the Principles of Communism in the autumn. By late November, Engels urged Marx to abandon the question-and-answer format in favor of a narrative manifesto that could incorporate a broader historical sweep. After debates at the League's Second Congress in London in late 1847, Marx took charge of the drafting. When Marx delayed, the League's central committee issued an ultimatum in late January 1848 demanding the manuscript by the start of February. Marx finished the final draft under that immediate deadline, drawing directly upon the shared body of ideas he and Engels had developed.