On this day...

Highly influential political work 'The Communist Manifesto'. was published in 1848. It was supposedly authored by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, yet the latter himself somewhat disputed this, saying; ' the basic thought... belongs solely and exclusively to Marx...Marx was a genius; we others were at best talented'. Published in London by a group of German refugees in 1848, its popularity spread to the extent that within a few years, the work had been translated into numerous European languages, most notably an English edition two years later. The manifesto itself, is divided into three sections, with a conclusion:

• Bourgeois and Prolaterians 

                                               
details how the Proletarians will one day rise to power through creation of unions
'The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles'  

• Proletarians and Communists  

defends communism from various attacks and outlines short-term demands 
'Political power... is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another'

• Socialist and Communist Literature

distinguishes communism from other socialist doctrines which fail to recognise the role of working class

• Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties

briefly discusses communist positions in countries such as France, Switzerland, Poland, and Germany 
'Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution'