An Exploration of the Idea of the Masses in The Communist Manifesto

Abstract

The publication of The Communist Manifesto in 1848 marked the birth of Marxism, and with it the formation of the Marxist idea of the masses, which is embedded in the Manifesto : the idea that the people are the backbone of the proletariat; the emphasis on the Communist Party as the party representing the people; and the idea that the aim of revolution is the liberation of all mankind. Although the Manifesto was published in a very different era than today, the idea of the masses highlighted in the text is still an important guideline for the Chinese Communist Party in its go-vernance today. In the process of socialist modernisation, it is all the more important to highlight the main role of the people in development and to exert a powerful force.