Originally published in 1848 as a political pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels would become one of the most influential works of the era. Written as a summary of the authors' political thought, the manifesto is also a reflection of the unrest and the revolutions of the time.

The manifesto analyzes the struggle due to social inequality and the problems presented by a capitalist society. This work also speculates on the limited future of a totally capitalist-driven economy, predicting that eventually the world would turn to communism.

By 1860 the manifesto had fallen into obscurity and was not as important as it once was, but that would change in the latter part of the 19th century, when Karl Marx grew more influential in communist circles. Russia became the world's first communist state, with the manifesto being its primary outline for the new social order.