Karl Marx's philosophical and economic works influenced almost every aspect of the European society in some or the other way. In his works, Marx focused on economic ideas, historical materialism and philosophy. In the early nineteenth century, Europe was under the influence of industrialization. The population saw a rapid growth like ever before. Several political parties emerged across the European continent. Trade took new shape with the improvements in the technology of production and transport. During the early nineteenth century, agriculture was the major source of employment and wealth in almost all the countries of Europe . Industry and commerce was mutually dependent. Industrialization boosted the capitalists to economic and political power and led to a drastic shift in attitude towards wealth. Marx argued in a letter to his friend that the industrialization led to the emergence of two classes, namely, the manufacturing interest consisting of the owners of capital, such as factories, shipyards and coalmines, and the landless labors consisting of the people working in these factories .
The emergence of the classes created various movements for democratic government across the European continent. The old feudal restrictions developed during the early centuries limited the income of the peasants. In the factories, the workers had to work for long working hours under inhumane conditions. The living standards and education levels deteriorated in several areas. Industry and empire became the dominant aspects of most of the countries in the European continent. Several wars that happened during the period affected the people in their lives, careers, health and expectations. The connection between the growing population, European colonial empires and industrialization existed at all levels in the society . Throughout Europe, industrial development was small-scale and rural in the early nineteenth century. The spectacular growth in the iron, cotton and coal mining industries led to main source employment. Sea transport depended mainly on wind power until the nineteenth century. However, the improvements in the ship design enhanced the capacity of the merchant ships enabling the volume of trade to expand significantly both within the European continent and between the other continents . In the nineteenth century, the European continent was dependent on agriculture.
Improvements in agriculture, industry, communications and financial management brought enormous wealth to the European continent. The rising population in Europe provided a growing market for the industrial products and surplus workers to fill the jobs created by the industrial revolution. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx expresses his view on the capitalist economy in the economic doctrine. He argues that capitalists make huge profits by paying wages less than the value of the labor. Marx believes that migrating from capitalism to socialism is the only way to end the misery and exploitation of the working class . In the inaugural address of the First International or the Working Men’s International Association founded in the year 1894, Marx says that the working class needs to unite and fight against the capitalists through various means, such as unions, political parties, and finally, revolutions. Marx devoted much of his energy to oppose the capitalists for exploiting the working class. The Marxists organized a meet in 1889 in the presence of 400 delegates from around twenty countries to discuss on improving the working conditions of the working class .
Anarchism and Syndicalism emerged in most of the countries of Europe during the nineteenth century . Anarchism called for self-governed voluntary institutions as it felt that the involvement of government was undesirable, harmful and unnecessary. On the other hand, syndicalism called for the organization of industries into syndicates that the working class owns and manages. Europe saw a dramatic breakthrough in the political sphere with the emergence of national parties. For example, the German national party, namely, Socialdemokratische Partei Deutschland took on new life with the adoption of the Marxist critique of capitalism . The party mentioned one of its objectives as to protect the industrial workers. Unlike Germany, French political parties lacked a disciplined organization and doctrinal unity. Several other socialist parties also developed all over the continent and adopted the Marxist approach.
Thousands of political radical across the European continent embraced Marx’s theory of socialist revolution in the nineteenth century. During this period, political revolutions and uprisings erupted in several countries across Europe, such as France, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Hungary and the Italian states, especially in the year 1848 in which Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto. According to Marx’s theory the ruling class in every society controls its capital or resources. Marx notion of revolution meant that the majority of the society should seize the power from the capitalists for the common goodness of all . Marx contended the exploitation of the workers as the side-effect of capitalism. His writings not only focused on the contemporary scenario of the nineteenth century, but also looked at the human development in the future years. Marx identified several phases of history that are under the control of capital. Marx was able to permeate the European trade union movement . Thus, Marx brought a dramatic change to the social, political and economic environment of Europe with his ideas, which mainly focused on economic doctrine, historical materialism and philosophy.
Works Cited
Rius. Marx for beginners. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1979.
Simpson, William and Martin Desmond Jones. Europe, 1783-1914. Psychology Press, 2000.
