What Happens

The conclusion of the manifesto directly challenges readers to take action to further the communist agenda. It is a call to work together for the betterment of the laborer. Marx and Engels are even in support of working with other political parties as long as its results will favor communism. Because a revolution cannot be brought about peaceably, however, communism’s “ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.” This is a threat to let “ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution,” for “proletarians have nothing to lose.”

Germany is communism’s first and main focus because it is already on the edge of a “bourgeois revolution.” Once conquered, though, communism will be spread everywhere. The first step, the authors write, is to have a unification of like-minded people. Thus, The Communist Manifesto ends with “WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!”

Why It Matters

This final section, hardly more than a page or two in length, affirms the communist political agenda and outlines predictions of how a revolution will pan out. In laying out how a communist takeover will unfold, Marx and Engels may hope to kickstart the process and watch it begin to play out immediately.

The writers of this communist theory appear unwavering in their beliefs and confident that a revolution will take place. They believe that the working class abhors their position of oppression and will unhesitatingly join their cause. Marx and Engels have such a strong assurance in the ultimate goodness of their agenda that they are willing to admit to a necessary “forcible overthrow.” Though violent means are not explicitly stated, it is implied that the communists will not shy away from such means if the need arises. They believe the staging of a revolt to be temporary and worth any initial struggle.

Most notably, the final call to action – “WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!” – is to be read as if shouted. It is a war cry as much as yelling “CHARGE!” in a physical battle of swords. Even if not the intent of the authors, it is a direct allusion to the carnage that will be left in the wake of the establishment of a communist society.

Also, considering the text’s previous claim in the second section that “The working men have no country,” it is ironic that the final line uses the same wording. According to Marx and Engels, the proletariat are the ones that must revolt, yet their idea of separation and unity is disjointed. It is a contradiction. The working men are told they do not belong to a country so that they feel a sense of oneness, but they are later called to action from these same countries of which they are connected.