The Transition to Communism in the Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels was originally written in the nineteenth century for the Communist League to explain its aims and tendencies. It has become throughout history one of the most influential political manuscripts. The Manifesto analyses class struggles and determines the problems within a capitalist system and the approaches to creating an eventual communist state, free of class and social antagonisms. Marx and Engels suggest that the proletarians must revolt in order to take control of state owned property developing a socialist society and eventually abolish class and work towards Communism. Marx and Engels define the relationship of Socialism and Communism as Socialism being a transitional stage, from Capitalism, in reaching a Communist state.

The Communist Manifesto states that in order to achieve Socialism, there must be a revolution of the proletariat. "The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with social antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones" . This revolution would be different from those of the past which only managed to replace ownership of property and means of production within another group. This revolution would form the proletarians into their own class and "their mission is to destroy all previous securities for, and insurance of, individual property" . Once political supremacy is achieved all instruments of production will be centralized in the possession of the State, the proletariat organised as the ruling class . One reason for the creation of a State would be ensure those who do not like uprooting the inequalities between classes, those who wish to resist the changes, do not fight to take back control. A State would be necessary in forming a militia to stop anyone who benefits from the current system from taking back power. A Sate is necessary in actually implementing policies to overcome