The Paris Commune with Engels's Introduction and the International's Manifestoes

What it is

This is a book collecting three manifestoes issued by the International Workingmen's Association in 1870 and 1871, written by Karl Marx. Friedrich Engels added an introduction to the collection twenty years after the events. The book's editor was L. Sanial, and it deals with the Franco-Prussian War. The archive copy shows only a plain dark brown cloth cover in the media available to us, so the title and details come from the library record.

Why it matters

The manifestoes respond to the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune of 1871. Engels described Marx as his life-long friend and co-worker, and his introduction shows how he looked back on those events. Reading the book helps students see how two close collaborators understood a turning point for European workers.

Look closer

• Who was the audience for these manifestoes, and what did they want that audience to do?
• Why might Engels have written an introduction twenty years after the events he describes?
• What might a book like this leave out about the Commune and the people who lived through it?