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History Daily

The Communist Manifesto

History Daily

History Daily

History

4.42.5K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

February 21, 1848. In London, a small publishing house releases the first edition of a book that will change the world: The Communist Manifesto.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:10.6

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0:31.9

Okay. It's the afternoon of March 4, 1848, at the Amigo Prison in Brussels, Belgium.

0:39.3

30-year-old Carl Marks walks through the winding halls flanked by two guards holding him tightly by the arms.

0:44.8

As he's marched past locked cells, he sees prisoners turn to inspect a new arrival,

0:49.9

feeling their eyes on him. Marks holds his head up high, refusing to be intimidated.

0:54.9

Coming to an open cell door, the guard stop and then shove marks inside.

0:58.8

The doors then slam shut and the guards saunter away,

1:03.4

leaving Marks alone in the cold darkness of the cell with only rats for company.

1:06.5

He has no idea how long he'll be here.

1:10.1

All Marks knows is that he's been accused of supplying weapons to the organizers of a planned

1:11.8

workers' revolt. But the only evidence against him is a sum of 6,000 francs that Marx

1:17.5

recently received from Germany. He told the police it was an inheritance from his father,

1:22.7

but they didn't believe him. With nothing else to do, Marx takes in his cramp surroundings. The only light in the

1:29.6

cell comes from a narrow window, set high in the wall, where he can see only a sliver of the sky.

1:35.2

Amigo prison has seen over 300 years of inmates, but Marx wonders whether the building will remain

1:40.8

standing much longer. So much has changed in the last two decades,

1:45.1

it feels like all of Europe is on edge, a powder keg ready to explode. All it needs is a spark,

1:51.6

and Karl Marx intends to provide it. The next morning, the guards return to fetch Carl

2:00.5

Marks from his cell. He and his family

...

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