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On 18 March 1871, the people of Paris opened the door to utopia. Over 72 days, the workers built new institutions and advanced the practice of democracy. The forces of counterrevolution regrouped, marched on the city, and defeated the Commune on 28 May. Two days later, Karl Marx delivered an address to the International Workingmen's Association, a text later published as The Civil War in France. Almost fifty years later, as the Soviet Republic was being formed, Lenin reflected on Marx's text to consider how to smash the inherited state institutions and to build socialist institutional forms. The Commune was reborn in a higher form as the Soviet. This book collects Marx's address, Lenin's chapter in State and Revolution on the Commune, Bertolt Brecht's poem on the communards, and Manifesto of the Paris Commune's Federation of Artists.
About the author
Karl Marx, born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, Prussia, was a philosopher, economist, and revolutionary socialist. He studied law and philosophy at the universities of Bonn and Berlin, developing a keen interest in Hegelian philosophy. In 1841, Marx earned his doctorate from the University of Jena.In 1843, Marx moved to Paris, where he became involved in radical political circles and met Friedrich Engels, who would become his lifelong collaborator. Together, they co-authored "The Communist Manifesto" in 1848, articulating the principles of communism and advocating for the proletariat's uprising. Marx's critical analysis of capitalism culminated in his seminal work, "Das Kapital," published in 1867.Marx spent his later years in London, continuing his writing and political activism despite enduring financial hardship and health issues. He was actively involved in the International Workingmen's Association, promoting international socialism. Marx passed away on March 14, 1883, in London, leaving a profound legacy that influenced various political movements and ideologies worldwide.
