Commemoration of Friedrich Engels, 129 Years Since His Death
Today marks the 129th anniversary of the passing of Friedrich Engels, a towering figure in the history of our movement and equal partner to Karl Marx in the foundation of Marxism as the revolutionary ideology that guides our struggle for a better world. Engels’ and Marx’s collaboration was not only one of friendship, but an extended intellectual collaboration that culminated in the co-authorship of the Communist Manifesto in 1848, a text that went on to spark a wave of working class revolutionary movements worldwide to this very day. Engels’ financial and intellectual support was vital to Marx throughout his life, providing him the time and resources to develop his ideas most notably Das Kapital. Without Engels’ support, Marx may never have been able to produce and consolidate the work which serves as the basis for our entire communist movement.
Engels' theoretical contributions extended beyond his work with Marx, demonstrating his profound intellectual depth and commitment to the socialist cause. In The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State (1884), Engels explored the emergence of class society, family structures, and class struggle itself, arguing that the evolution of family and private property relations were interlinked to the birth of class society. This work was pioneering in its analysis of the role of women in society and its critique of the patriarchal structures that are part and parcel of the capitalist mode of production. Another of Engels' significant contributions, Anti-Dühring (1878), provided a comprehensive critique of the contemporary opportunist “socialist” theories of Eugen Dühring, providing the entire socialist movement after him with a powerful elucidation of the worldview of Marxism, dialectical materialism. Engels' contributions also included works like Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (1880), which clarified and popularized Marxist theory for a broader audience, and The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845), a searing indictment of industrial capitalism's effects on workers.
He also played an active role in the 1848 German Revolution, participating directly in the armed struggles that swept across the region. He fought in the streets in various uprisings, putting his life on the line for the cause as an aide-de-camp to August Willich and carrying a rifle in Elberfeld. Engels’ experiences during the revolution, including his involvement in the Baden and Palatinate campaigns, deepened his practical understanding of the class struggle, insights that would later influence his theoretical work on revolutionary movements. Just as with Marx, Engels was more than just a theorist, he was also practically involved on the frontlines of the struggle.
Without Friedrich Engels' theoretical contributions, support for Marx, and unwavering commitment to the socialist revolution our movement today would be severely impoverished. He rightly deserves his place in our tradition shoulder-to-shoulder with Marx. Today, we remember Engels not only as Marx's collaborator but as a behemoth in his own right and an exemplary revolutionary whose life and work we communists are eternally indebted to.