Author: Karl Marx was a German socialist whose theories about society laid the foundation for Communism. Marx believed that countries progress from a class divided society into a communist one through revolutions.
Context: Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848, at which point the Industrial Revolution had exploded. Great Britain’s economy was booming, and other countries were starting to see similar advancements. However, the time period was mired by poor working conditions, and a lack of humanitarian care.
Language: Marx used simple language in this section of the Communist Manifesto. Other parts of the document employ more complicated language, but the sections that describe Marx’s core ideas are easily read.
Audience: Marx targeted industrial workers with this section. Other sections of the document targeted more educated members of industrial societies, but because the goal of this one was to insight labor revolutions, it targeted the laborers.
Intent: Marx saw communism as the best form of society, and wanted to spread communism throughout Europe. Communism is based off the working class, so he wanted to inspire industrial workers to follow his ideas.
Message: The class division between factory workers and factory owners is the most recent instance of a never ending class struggle. The workers must rise up against the owners and establish a new, classless, communist society. This new society will be healthier, more stable, and completely egalitarian.
Why: Like other communists, Marx feared the impending capitalist domination of Europe. He acknowledged that the Industrial Revolution was spreading from country to country like wildfire, and saw that communism would be stamped out if it did not have a more prominent voice in Europe. So, in order to spread Communism, and keep the movement alive, he wrote the Communist Manifesto.
He also saw the terrible conditions most people were living in during the Industrial Revolution. Marx thought communism was the way to fix those problems, and prevent them from happening again.
I have two additions I would like to make to your ACLAIM analysis:
1.) Frederick Engels co-wrote the manifesto with Marx.
2.) Not only did Marx and Engels want the working class to rise up in a revolution, but they believed that such a revolution was inevitable and that the history of the class struggle led to this point.