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Primary sourceBook1850; republished 1895

The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850

Karl Marx · 1850; republished 1895

Marx's series of articles analysing why the 1848 revolution in France failed, collected and republished by Engels in 1895.

Marx wrote this analysis of the revolution he had personally witnessed, applying his theory of class conflict to recent events.

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Title page of the 1895 Berlin German edition of Karl Marx's 'Die Klassenkämpfe in Frankreich 1848 bis 1850', with a handwritten library mark at top left and a pencilled call number at right. Text reads 'Von Karl Marx', 'Mit Einleitung von Friedrich Engels', and 'Berlin 1895'.
Karl Marx, Die Klassenkämpfe in Frankreich 1848 bis 1850, Berlin 1895 edition. Title page.

About this source

What it is

This is a set of articles Karl Marx wrote for the Neue Rheinische Zeitung in 1850, analysing the 1848 revolution in France. The articles were later collected and republished in 1895 by Friedrich Engels.

Why it matters

Marx argues the real conflict in 1848 was not simply workers against the bourgeoisie, but a split within the bourgeoisie itself between industrial and financial interests, with the working class used as a tool and then pushed aside. It shows Marx applying his class theory to events he had just witnessed, and reveals how he connected economic crises across countries to political upheaval.

Look closer

  • Why might Marx focus on divisions within the bourgeoisie rather than only on workers versus owners?
  • What does it tell us that Engels republished this work decades later — why might that matter for how it was read?
  • What evidence does Marx use to connect an economic crisis in England to a revolution in France?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Karl Marx on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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