Research Paper: Historical Figures
Marx is among the most devoted and intellectual founding figures of communism. Max’s critical theories about politics, society, and economics, coolly known as Marxism, are founded on the idea that human societies cause conflict and that class should not exist in communities. His works have laid a foundation on political leaders, labor unions, intellectuals, among others who have been influenced by his work. For example, his writings on economics have laid the basis and shed light on the current knowledge about labor and its relationship to capital and other economic consequences. This paper looks into the life of Karl Max and the significant events that happened in the course of his life.
KARL MAX BIBLIOGRAPHY
Karl Max was a capitalist revolutionist, German philosopher, economist, political theorist historian, and journalist. His works, the “Communist Manifesto” and “Das Kapital,” are some of the writings that form the basis and foundation on Marxism. He began working on his sociopolitical ideologies back in university as a member of the Young Hegelian. He has been outlined as one of the most influential figures whose work has been applauded and criticized.
Early Life. Karl Heinrich Max was the third child among Heinrich, and Henrietta Max’s children were born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, Prussia, Germany. Max’s dad was a prosperous lawyer who admired Kant and Voltaire’s writings. He was also an enthusiastic reformist and participated in activism for Prussia. Even though both of Max’s parents were Jewish, Marx’s father became a Christian in 1816, possibly a professional compromise in response to the 1815 ban against Jewish from getting into the high society. When Max attained the age of 6, he was baptized into Christianity following his dad’s footsteps.
Education. Karl was a par student who studied at home until the age of 12 years then later attended Jesuit school for secondary education from 1830 to 1835. In October 1835, Karl joined the University of Bonn to pursue Jurisprudence. During his time at Bonn, Max joined different student associations such as the Poet’s club and the Trier tavern club, where he, at some point, became the vice-president. Max was also involved in disagreements, some of which were pretty serious. For instance, he was part of a fight with one of the university’s Borrusian Korps members. Though he had perfect grades during his first term, they later deteriorated that led to his transfer to the University of Berlin, where he studied philosophy and law.
Hegelianism and Early Journalism. After Karl joined the University of Berlin, although he studying both law and philosophy, he was more fascinated with the later and tried to look in ways of combining the two. He became interested in the works of the late German philosopher Friedrich Hegel whose concepts became widely discussed among philosophical circles. He then joined Doctor’s club, a student association to discuss Hegel ideas that then created a platform to become part of another group – the radical thinkers known as Young Hegelians in 1837. During the same year, Max had already started writing fictional and nonfictional novels such as “Oulanem,” “Scorpion and Felix,” and several poetic writings, some of which were dedicated to her wife, Jenny von Westphalen. He also assisted in co-editing Hegel’s “Philosophy of Religion” and also got involved in writing his doctoral thesis with Bruno Bauer. In 1842, Max moved to cologne to become a journalist after the academic career he aspired to be barred due to the constant opposition of the government to classical literature.
Paris. Karl, located in Paris, was considered the heart of politics in Europe in 1843. Together with Arnold Ruge, Karl founded a politically radical newspaper, the “Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher,” that united German and French radicals. The two only managed to publish a single issue that was somewhat successful before they part ways. After the collapse of this venture, Marx met Friedrich Engels in August 1844, which marked the start of a lifetime friendship and collaboration. Together, they both started on a critic of Bruno Bauer, Marx’s former friend, and a young Hegelian, which led to the publication of “Holy Family” in 1845. Marx also involved himself in learning the political economy, which would later shape his life and also be the foundation of his major three-volume series known as capital. These studies, together with his earlier concepts of Hegelianism, became a basis for his significant works on Marxism. For instance, “The Economical and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844″ was initially written by August 1844. In 1845, Marx moved to Brussels, Belgium, to continue his capitalism and political economy after a radial paper he was writing on, “vowarts” was shut down.
Brussels. In Brussels, Marx associated with other communists, including Moses Hess, Karl Heinzman, and Joseph Weydemeyer.His. His longtime friend Engels also moved to Brussels, and together they worked on “The German Ideology,” where Marx first materialized his idea of historical materialism. In this work, Marx finally broke from his young Hegelians entirely and some of the socialists whose ideologies were still partly based on idealism. At the start of 1846, Marx established a communist association to link socialists from across Europe, which became known as the “Communist League. “In 1847, both Marx and Engel began working on what would become their most famous work, the “communist manifesto,” published in February 1848 that laid out the new communist league’s beliefs. This manifesto also contained the reasons why the new league was acting with the interests of overthrowing capitalism and instead of replacing it with socialism. In 1848, there was the emergence of rebellions and a series of protests referred to as the “revolution of 1848,” which Marx was supportive. These activities led to the arrest and deportation of Max from Belgium. He later moved to France, looking forward to a social revolution but was exiled from there as well.
London. In June 1849, Marx located in London, where he would live for the remaining part of his life. He helped reestablish the new main offices for the Communist League; however, between 1849 and 1850, a split occurred within the ranks that August Willich and Karl Scahpper wanted to initiate an uprise they believed would result in a revolution all over Europe. Still, Karl and Engels were against this unplanned move. Max maintained that a reform in the society would not be achieved overnight but instead through a scientific analysis of the prevailing economic conditions that prevail towards a revulsion brought by various stages of social development. After a persistent struggle, Max’s idea prevailed while Willich group left the league. Also, during this time, Marx founded the “German’s Workers Educational Society.” He also continued with his Capitalism and economist theory and later published his first volume of “Das Capital” in 1887. The remaining years were spent working on manuscripts for other volumes, some of which he did not complete Engels later published that.
Death. Marx died on March 14, 1883, after developing pleurisy after the death of his wife. Though his initial grave only has a non-exceptional stone, a larger tombstone was set up by Britain’s communist party. It is engraved with the ending sentence of the Communist Manifesto, “Workers of all lands Unite.”