Summary
The Manifesto concludes with a discussion about the role of the Communists as
they work with other parties. The Communists fight for the immediate aims of
workers, but always in the context of the entire Communist movement. Thus, they
work with those political parties that will forward the ends of Communism, even
if it involves working with the bourgeoisie. However, they never stop trying to
instill in the working class a recognition of the hostile antagonism between
bourgeoisie and proletariat, and to help them gain the weapons to eventually
overthrow the bourgeoisie.
Thus, "the Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against
the existing social and political order of things." They openly declare that
their ends can be attained only by forcibly overthrowing all existing social
conditions. The Manifesto ends with this rallying cry: "Let the ruling classes
tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but
their chains. They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!"
Commentary
This final section reveals the political agenda of the Communists. Their final
goal is always a proletariat revolution and the abolition of private property
and class antagonism. Because they believe that history must go through a set
of stages, however, this may mean sometimes supporting the bourgeoisie, in order
to eventually make a workers' revolution possible. While the Communists have a
strong theoretical foundation, integrating observations and predictions, they
are also advocating those predictions, and attempting to accelerate their
realization. Thus, they do not simply declare that workers shall one day unite.
Rather, they call on workers to unite, promising them freedom and a better
world. How separable are the political and theoretical messages of the
Communists? Is the Communists' theory of history an essential part of its
revolutionary message? Consider from a rhetorical perspective how the Communist
cause might be helped or harmed by the claim that revolution is inevitable.
