Why new ideas about work appeared
In the 1800s factories and railways spread across Europe. Many people left farms to work for wages (money paid for work). Factory owners (the bourgeoisie, the property-owning class) became rich. Workers (the proletariat, people with only their work to sell) often lived in crowded towns with long hours and low pay.
Thinkers asked: is this fair, and can it change? Some wanted small reforms. Others, called socialists, wanted the main factories and land to be owned by everyone together. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels gave socialism a detailed, scientific-sounding plan. Their ideas are called Marxism.
The Communist Manifesto (1848)
Marx (a German thinker who lived in exile) and Engels (a factory owner's son who studied workers' lives in Manchester) wrote a short pamphlet in 1848 for a small group, the Communist League. It was published in February 1848, just before revolutions swept Europe.
- Class struggle: the pamphlet says that history is the story of fights between groups: masters and slaves, lords and serfs, now owners and workers.
- Capitalism: an economy where owners of money and factories hire workers to make goods for profit. The authors said capitalism grew fast but created a large working class that would one day challenge it.
- Means of production: factories, land and machines. The authors wanted these to become common property in the long run.
- Last line: "Workers of all countries, unite!"
Few people read it at first. It became famous only later, as workers' movements grew.
The First International (1864–1876)
On 28 September 1864 trade unionists and socialists from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and other lands met in London. They formed the International Working Men's Association, now called the First International. Marx wrote its founding address.
- Aim: to help workers in different countries support each other, for example by stopping owners from bringing in strike-breakers from abroad.
- Congresses: yearly meetings in cities such as Geneva, Lausanne, Brussels and Basel.
- Problem: members disagreed. Marx wanted workers to form parties and win political power. The anarchists, followers of Mikhail Bakunin, wanted to abolish the state at once.
- End: after the 1872 meeting at The Hague the group split. It moved to New York and closed in 1876.
It failed as an organisation but proved that workers could think across borders.
The Paris Commune (1871)
Background. In 1870 France lost a war with Prussia. Paris was surrounded and short of food. The national government moved to Versailles. On 18 March 1871 troops tried to take the cannons that Parisian volunteers (the National Guard) had paid for. The people refused and took control of the city.
The Commune. A council chosen by Parisians, the Commune, ran the city for 72 days. Its decisions included:
- separating church and state and opening schools to all;
- handing workshops left empty by their owners to workers' co-operatives;
- banning night work in bakeries;
- taking part of the work of government into the hands of elected, recallable officials. Women such as Louise Michel played a big role.
End. From 21 to 28 May, "Bloody Week", government troops entered Paris and defeated the Commune. Thousands of people died or were executed, and many more were jailed or exiled.
Why it mattered. Marx wrote The Civil War in France about it. Supporters saw an early attempt at a government of workers. Critics saw disorder and violence. Both sides argued about it for decades.
Try it: build the timeline
Draw a line with three marks: 1848, 1864, 1871. Under each, write one word: idea, team, test. Then in the 3D, use the day slider: pick any day and say aloud what the Commune did on that day. Finish by asking, "Which event was the most important, and why?" There is no single right answer; you must give a reason.
Key formulas and definitions
- Bourgeoisie: the class that owns factories, land and money
- Proletariat: the class of wage workers who have only their work to sell
- Class struggle: the fight between classes with opposite interests
- Capitalism: an economy where owners hire workers to make goods for profit
- Socialism: the idea that main factories and land should be owned in common
- Communist Manifesto (1848): pamphlet by Marx and Engels, ends 'Workers of all countries, unite!'
- First International (1864–1876): the first international organisation of workers, founded in London
- Paris Commune (18 March–28 May 1871): the council that ruled Paris for 72 days
Worked examples
1. Who wrote the Communist Manifesto, and when?
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote it. It was published in February 1848.
2. A friend says: 'The First International failed, so it did not matter.' How can you reply?
It ended in 1876, so as an organisation it failed. But it brought workers of different countries together for the first time, spread ideas about the 8-hour day and unions, and later groups copied its idea. So it mattered even though it did not last.
3. The Commune began on 18 March 1871 and ended on 28 May. Show that it lasted 72 days.
From 18 March to 31 March is 13 days after the start, April has 30 days, May up to the 28th adds 28 days. 13 + 30 + 28 = 71 days after the start, which is 72 days counting the first day.
4. Put three events in order: Paris Commune, Manifesto, First International. Give one idea that links them.
Manifesto (1848), First International (1864), Paris Commune (1871). Link: all three come from the belief that workers should act together to change their lives, at first as an idea, then as an organisation, then as a rule over a city.
Common mistakes
- Thinking Marx and Engels invented socialism. Socialist ideas existed before them; they gave them a detailed plan and a theory of history.
- Saying the Manifesto was a bestseller in 1848. It was read by few at first and became famous later.
- Mixing up dates: the Manifesto is 1848, the First International 1864, the Commune 1871.
- Writing that the Commune ruled France. It ruled only Paris, for 72 days.