Letters from Tomis

My Socialist Hall of Fame

During this chaotic era of vile rhetoric and manipulative tactics from our so-called bourgeois leaders, I am invigorated by the opportunity to reflect on Socialists, Revolutionaries, Philosophers, Guerrilla Leaders, Partisans, and Critical Theory titans, champions, and martyrs who paved the way for us—my own audacious “Socialism’s Hall of Fame.” These are my heroes and fore-bearers. Not all are perfect, or even fully admirable, but all contributed in some way to our future–either as icons to emulate

Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) was a German philosopher, political economist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist whose contributions to Marxist theory were foundational. As the co-author of The Communist Manifesto and the lifelong collaborator and supporter of Karl Marx, Engels played a crucial role in the development and dissemination of dialectical materialism, the critique of political economy, and the theory of historical materialism. Although often overshadowed by Marx in popular and academic discourse, Engels’s own writings—particularly on class, the family, the state, and military strategy—exerted substantial influence on socialist thought in the 19th and 20th centuries. Moreover, Engels’s editorial stewardship of Marx’s unpublished works, especially Das Kapital, ensured their posthumous publication and global circulation.

This biography presents an overview of Engels’s life and thought, emphasizing his intellectual formation, his collaboration with Marx, his independent theoretical contributions, and his enduring legacy in socialist and Marxist traditions.

Early Life and Political Awakening

Friedrich Engels was born on November 28, 1820, in Barmen, in the Prussian Rhineland, into a wealthy Calvinist family of textile manufacturers. Raised in a milieu of industrial capitalism, he received a classical education and was exposed early to liberal Protestantism and Romanticism. Though his family intended him for a career in business, Engels developed a critical attitude toward bourgeois society and the exploitation he witnessed within his father’s factories.

Engels’s intellectual and political radicalization occurred during his time in Bremen and later Manchester, where he worked as a clerk in his family’s textile firm. In Manchester, he observed the grim living and working conditions of the English working class, experiences that informed his seminal study The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845). This empirical work combined direct observation with a critique of political economy and marked Engels as an emerging socialist theorist. It also foreshadowed key themes of Marxist analysis, such as alienation, exploitation, and class struggle.

Partnership with Marx

Engels met Karl Marx for the second and decisive time in Paris in 1844, initiating a collaboration that would last four decades. Their shared philosophical and political concerns—particularly their break with the Young Hegelians and commitment to proletarian revolution—led to the co-authorship of The German Ideology (written 1845–46, unpublished in their lifetimes), in which they laid the foundations of historical materialism. In 1848, the two co-wrote The Communist Manifesto, commissioned by the Communist League. The Manifesto famously declared, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles,” crystallizing their belief that capitalism’s internal contradictions would ultimately lead to its overthrow by the proletariat.

During the revolutionary upheavals of 1848–49, Engels was active in armed struggles in Germany, serving as a military leader and correspondent. His writings on military strategy, including his articles for Neue Rheinische Zeitung and later theoretical treatments, showcased his analytical acuity and deep understanding of warfare—an often-overlooked dimension of his legacy.

After the revolutions failed, Engels relocated to Manchester and resumed work in his family’s business, financing Marx and his family for the next two decades. His financial support enabled Marx to devote himself to writing Capital, while Engels continued to publish theoretical works and maintain correspondence with socialist and workers’ movements across Europe.

Independent Contributions

Though Engels is frequently cast as the “second fiddle” to Marx, his independent contributions to Marxist theory are substantial and far-reaching. Among the most significant is The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884), in which he applied historical materialism to the evolution of social institutions. Drawing on the anthropological work of Lewis Henry Morgan, Engels argued that the rise of private property and patriarchal family structures marked a turning point in human history, entrenching class divisions and gender oppression. While some of his conclusions have since been revised by anthropologists, the work remains a landmark in Marxist feminism and social theory.

Engels also wrote extensively on dialectics, nature, and science. In Dialectics of Nature (unfinished and published posthumously), he attempted to extend dialectical materialism to the natural sciences, a move that would later influence Soviet Marxism. In Anti-Dühring (1878), Engels defended the core tenets of Marxist philosophy and political economy against the eclectic theories of Eugen Dühring, offering a systematic exposition of dialectical materialism, historical materialism, and socialist political theory. A portion of this work was later excerpted as the influential pamphlet Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.

Engels also played a pivotal role in shaping Marxist conceptions of the state, class dictatorship, and revolution. In The Housing Question (1872) and his prefaces to various editions of The Communist Manifesto, he emphasized the necessity of revolutionary struggle, criticized reformist illusions, and stressed the importance of proletarian internationalism.

Legacy and Influence

After Marx’s death in 1883, Engels devoted himself to editing and publishing the remaining volumes of Das Kapital, a task that required deep theoretical insight and painstaking archival work. Without Engels’s editorial labor, the full scope of Marx’s critique of political economy might never have been completed.

In his later years, Engels remained a key figure in the international socialist movement. His correspondence with leading members of the Second International and his critiques of reformism laid the groundwork for debates that would shape Marxist politics into the 20th century. Though some later Marxist thinkers (including Lenin, Lukács, and Althusser) debated or criticized certain aspects of Engels’s thought—particularly his views on dialectics and science—his role in codifying and disseminating Marxism is undeniable.

Engels’s legacy includes not only his theoretical works but also his commitment to praxis: he was a scholar, agitator, organizer, and combatant who consistently integrated theory with revolutionary action. His multifaceted contributions continue to inspire debates within Marxist thought on issues ranging from gender and the family to ecology, science, and revolutionary strategy.

Conclusion

Friedrich Engels was not merely the “sidekick” to Marx; he was a formidable thinker, revolutionary strategist, and theoretician in his own right. His deep understanding of political economy, his pioneering work on the sociology of the family and state, and his defense of dialectical materialism have made him a central figure in the canon of socialist thought. Engels exemplifies the fusion of intellectual rigor and revolutionary commitment that defines classical Marxism. As capitalism continues to evolve, Engels’s analyses and questions—about exploitation, social reproduction, ideology, and political transformation—remain as pertinent as ever.

Bibliography

• Engels, Friedrich. The Condition of the Working Class in England. Translated by Florence Kelley Wischnewetzky. London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1892.

• Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. New York: International Publishers, 1972.

• Engels, Friedrich. Anti-Dühring: Herr Eugen Dühring’s Revolution in Science. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976.

• Engels, Friedrich. Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. New York: International Publishers, 1970.

• Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Translated by Samuel Moore. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1964.

• Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. Collected Works. 50 vols. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1975–2005.

• Hunt, Tristram. The Frock-Coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2009.

• Carver, Terrell. Engels: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

• McLellan, David. Engels. London: Fontana Press, 1977.

• Stedman Jones, Gareth. Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016. (contains extended sections on Engels)