Hello, Mudalovers, this time we will discuss Karl Marx. Who does n’t know this father of socialism?
This figure is known for his revolutionary thoughts, especially regarding his very famous socialism and communism. It is not surprising that he is called the Father of Socialism and the Founding Father of Communists , along with his friend Friedrich Engels .
Karl Marx was a teacher of communism whose teachings are still used as a government system in several countries around the world. This could happen, because Marx’s ideas began to show a big influence in the development of the world of work after he died. This influence continued to grow after being encouraged by the victory of the Marxist Bolsheviks in the Russian October Revolution.
However, did you know that the figure of Karl Marx was very unique and rebellious because of his thoughts at that time. Even so, in the history of his life, he is known as a philosopher, sociologist, expert in political economy and social theory.
Mudalovers is becoming increasingly curious about what the life story of Karl Marx is like, right? How come you have an idea about the concept of communism and what do you actually mean by communism itself? So that you are no longer curious, let’s look at the article below.
Karl Marx’s Childhood
Born on May 5, 1818 in the city of Trier, southeastern Germany, which at that time was still part of the Lower Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia. Marx was born into a Jewish family with middle class economic conditions.
He was the third of nine children born to Heinrich Marx and Henrietta Marx. Even though he came from a family of Jewish descent, his father decided in 1816 to be baptized as a Christian at the age of 36.
Heinrich was a quite successful lawyer in Prussia. Marx’s father was also a reform activist in his time. His father’s decision to convert to Christianity was because in 1815, there was a regulation that prohibited Jews from occupying crucial positions in society.
Even so, his father was baptized by a Lutheran, not a Catholic who was the main faith in Trier. The reason was because Marx’s father was someone with beliefs that equated Protestantism with intellectual freedom.
Karl Marx himself was baptized when he was 6 years old, along with his siblings. Meanwhile, his mother was only baptized after his father died. Even though Trier was known as one of the Catholic cities in Germany at that time. However, the influence of liberal ideas was easier to enter because of its location on the border with France.
Until the age of 12, Karl Marx studied at home, aka homeschooling . However, in the end he continued his education at the Jesuit school, Trier, which at that time was known as the Friedrich-Wilhelm Gymnasium. Marx attended school for 5 years, from 1830 to 1835. During school, Marx himself was just an ordinary student, like most students in general.
One unexpected thing about his new school. It turned out that the principal at that time was a friend of his father who was a person with liberal views. The principal was a Kantian respected by the Rhinelanders, but suspected by the authorities.
Because of the existing suspicions. Finally the school came under surveillance and was raided in 1832.
Karl Marx’s Youth
Well, when he entered campus, Marx began to show his rebellious attitude . After studying at the Jesuits, Marx continued studying at the University of Bonn, Germany. You could say, he is an active student in academic life on campus and is also known as a rebel.
During the first two semesters, Marx spent his days making trouble, getting drunk, and even fighting. His father was furious and forced Marx to move to another, more serious school, namely the University of Berlin, majoring in philosophy and law.
This is where Marx learned about philosophy from GWF Hegel, a professor in Berlin. Even though he was initially not very enamored with Hegel’s theory, he was still heavily involved with Hegelian youth groups. In this group of radical students, among them were Bruno Bauer and Ludwig Feuerbach. They usually criticize issues of political and religious progress at that time.
In 1836, when Marx became more enthusiastic about becoming politically involved. Marx was secretly engaged to Jenny von Westphalen, a woman from a respectable family in Trier who was four years his senior. Seeing the child’s increasingly radical behavior. In a series of letters, Marx’s father expressed his concern at seeing his son go crazy like that.
Heinrich also reprimanded him for not taking the responsibility of marriage seriously enough, especially since his future wife came from an upper-class family. His father also asked Marx to stop his marriage to Jenny.
5 years passed, Marx finally received a doctorate from the University of Jena in 1841. Unfortunately, because of the radical politics he brought. This prevented him from getting a teaching position there.
He then turned to looking for a new job. In 1842, he began working as a journalist, and within 10 months he became editor-in-chief of a liberal newspaper in Cologne, called the Rheinische Zeitung. It didn’t last long, one year later, Marx resigned on March 18, 1843. After his resignation, coincidentally, the local government ordered the closure of all newspapers starting April 1, 1843.
Three months later, exactly 7 years after Karl Marx became secretly engaged to Jenny von Westphalen. In June 1843, Marx married her and in October, they moved to Paris.
They were blessed with six children, but because of extreme poverty, only three of the children survived to adulthood. Karl Marx’s children as adults were also actively involved in political activities.
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Marx’s Life in Paris
In Paris, Marx met Arnold Ruge who was also active in politics. They even founded a political journal entitled Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher . Unfortunately, both of them have different philosophies from each other. Even so, this journal actually brought Marx and Friedrich Engels together in August 1844 in a famous Paris cafe at that time. Bringing them together as collaborators and lifelong friends.
Friedrich Engels was the son of a textile factory owner who became a socialist and criticized the living conditions faced by working class people. Much of Marx’s pity and working class misery stemmed from his exposure to Engels and his own ideas.
The two of them began writing criticism of the philosopher Bruno Bauer, a Young Hegelian and former friend of Marx’s while studying in Berlin. The results of Marx and Engels’ first collaboration were later published in 1845 as The Holy Family.
In the same year, he was caught writing for the radical newspaper Vorwärts. Marx was expelled from France and moved to Belgium. Vorwärts himself had strong ties to the organization that became the Communist League.
Marx’s Life in Brussels
Move country, change philosophy. Karl Marx was again reunited with another figure who introduced him to experts in socialism, until he completely broke away from Young Hegelian philosophy. That figure is Moses Hess.
While in Brussels, Marx wrote The German Ideology and first developed his theory of historical materialism. However, he could not find a publisher willing to publish his work. Until his death, the manuscript of German Ideology had never been published.
Then early in 1846, Marx founded the Committee of Communist Correspondence in an effort to connect socialists from across Europe. Inspired through his ideas, especially from his writings in the radical newspaper Vorwärts . Socialists in England also held a conference and formed the Communist League.
A year passed, the Communist League finally held a centralized meeting in London in 1847. The organization asked Marx and Engels to write the Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei (Communist Party Manifesto) which was published in 1848.
Again, in 1849 Marx was expelled from Belgium. Anticipating a socialist revolution, he returned to France, but he was also deported from there. His hometown, Prussia, also refused to re-naturalize Karl Marx. He finally moved to London. Although the British denied him citizenship, Marx remained in London until his death.
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Marx’s Life in London
Even though it’s not a good new start. In London, Marx helped found the German Workers’ Educational Society and the new headquarters of the Communist League.
He continued to work as a journalist, including a 10-year stint as a correspondent for the New York Daily Tribune from 1852 to 1862. However, he never earned a living wage and was largely supported by Engels. Marx became increasingly focused on capitalism and economic theory, until in 1867, he published the first volume of Das Kapital.
The remainder of his life was spent writing and revising the manuscript for an additional volume of Das Kapital, which was not completed. The remaining two volumes were collected and published posthumously by Engels.
Karl Marx’s Works during His Life
During his lifetime, Karl Marx experienced deportation from various countries from year to year. He still regularly writes down his thoughts and publishes them in journals, the newspaper where he works, and even publishes a book.
It was not uncommon for Karl Marx to work with his friend, Friedrich Engels. According to the marxist.org site , here are several important works by Karl Marx himself and works he created with Engels.
- Theses on Feuerbach (Marx, 1845)
- The Poverty of Philosophy (Marx, 1847)
- Wage Labor and Capital (Marx, 1847)
- Principles of Communism (Engels, 1847)
- Manifesto of the Communist Party (Marx and Engels, 1848)
- Wages Prices and Profits (Marx, 1865)
- The Housing Problem (Engels, 1872)
- Capital I, Capital II, Capital III (Marx, 1867 – 1894)
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Marx and His Factory School Idea
After the problems that occurred due to the Communist Party Manifesto he made. While spending his life in London. Karl Marx was also very active in forming a better curriculum for the children of workers there, you know .
At that time, children aged 9-12 years were required to work in factories. For this reason, Marx expressed his ideas for creating a part-time system for children of workers in his book entitled Capital. Marx hopes that the children can work, but can still continue their education.
But unfortunately, the capitalists and government of that time were not indifferent to Marx’s part-time ideas. They said it would cost more just to hire 2 shifts of child laborers. As a result, many workers’ children were fired if they were found to be working while at school.
The curriculum proposed by Marx at that time was actually not much different from conventional schools. Starting with mental education, physical education (a combination of gymnastics and military training), and there is also polytechnic education which teaches general principles of all production processes.
In essence, Marx wanted to emphasize education for the children and teenagers of workers, so that they could develop into individuals who were capable of bringing about social change around them. Marx supported a combination of education and work, rather than an education system that required children to study all day long.
According to Marx, with this part-time work and school system, workers’ children and teenagers can practice directly. They also know what is causing the errors made so far in the production system. This can also make them individuals who are willing to make changes for the sake of their people.
Death of Karl Marx
Not many people know that Marx actually had many health problems for most of his life. This problem is related to insomnia, rheumatism, headaches, toothache, and even heart disease.
Marx died of pleurisy on March 14 1883. He was buried in London and only marked with a simple stone. Then in 1954, the British Communist Party erected a large monument decorated with a statue of Marx.
Until now, there is a large tombstone that you can see if Mudalovers visits England. Written on the tombstone are the complementary sentences from the Communist Manifesto, namely ” Workers of the World Unite “, as well as a quote from Feuerbach’s Theses.
Well, Mudalovers, that’s a brief biography of Karl Marx and his works. It turns out that Karl Marx’s life at that time was the same as other scientists, right? Even though Karl Marx was just an ordinary human being, his thoughts were what made him extraordinary, like a scientist.
We can also take an example from Karl Marx’s good intentions in wanting to make changes, such as the curriculum and his attention to the world of education. To balance the learning activities of many children. Then they will be able to become better individuals. Don’t just learn from theory, but also practice producing something. Hopefully Mudalovers can also be inspired to make better changes, okay ?
For Mudalovers who are still curious about Karl Marx. You can really read the book Biography of Karl Marx by Isaiah Berlin which you can find at mudabicara.com. You can also understand Karl Marx’s views clearly and straightforwardly in a concise version in the book Karl Marx, A Short Introduction by Peter Singer.
Then, if Mudalovers is interested in understanding and studying the thoughts of the Father of Socialism, of course you can read the book Karl Marx’s Thoughts written by Frans Magnis Suseno. In his book, Frans explains the main points of Marx’s thinking objectively and critically.
You can find the three books about Karl Marx, from biographies to explanations of his thoughts and views, at your favorite Mudalovers or via mudabicara.com.