Quotation
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“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
Karl Marx · Historical materialism · Modern · 1848
What does it mean?
The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, guild-master and journeyman, bourgeois and proletarian: the Manifesto starts with a fight, not with an idea. A rival reading says this erases politics, law, and religion, or that later history of consensus has refuted it. Engels's footnote already narrows 'all history' toward written history, which is a sign the sentence is a hammer and not a careful anthropology. Another reading treats it as a prophecy that has failed, and stops.
Did Karl Marx really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. Samuel Moore's 1888 English, authorised by Engels. Engels's later footnote says that written history is what is meant: prehistory's social organisation is a further question. The sentence is the Manifesto's opening move, not a summary of Capital.
Where it comes from
Manifesto of the Communist Party, opening, in Samuel Moore's translation
Approximate date: 1848.
How to use it
A dispute in a distribution centre in the Midlands is described as a misunderstanding between persons. The opening sentence tells you to ask who owns the place and who works it before you call it a misunderstanding. The ask can come back empty, in which case the sentence has not earned its keep that day. The habit of asking is what the Manifesto thinks history requires. It is not a script for the outcome of the dispute.
A mindset reading
The footnote matters. Quoting the sentence against Engels's own narrowing is how a manifesto becomes a dogma. He wanted a manifesto. He also, later, marked the sentence. Both facts belong in the citation.
Understand the philosophy
The Manifesto is a political pamphlet, co-authored in the sense that Engels is part of it, and published under both names. Samuel Moore's translation is the standard English. Capital is a different kind of book. Do not make this sentence do Capital's work.
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FAQ
What does it mean?
The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, guild-master and journeyman, bourgeois and proletarian: the Manifesto starts with a fight, not with an idea. A rival reading says this erases politics, law, and religion, or that later history of consensus has refuted it. Engels's footnote already narrows 'all history' toward written history, which is a sign the sentence is a hammer and not a careful anthropology. Another reading treats it as a prophecy that has failed, and stops.
Did Karl Marx really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. Samuel Moore's 1888 English, authorised by Engels. Engels's later footnote says that written history is what is meant: prehistory's social organisation is a further question. The sentence is the Manifesto's opening move, not a summary of Capital.
Which work is it in?
Manifesto of the Communist Party, opening, in Samuel Moore's translation Approximate date: 1848.