Philosopher Friedrich Engels: biography and activities

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Friedrich Engels, whose biography is of great interest to many researchers, came from a family of a textile manufacturer, quite successful in his time. His mother was intelligent, kind, had a good sense of humor, loved art and literature. Friedrich had 8 sisters and brothers. Most of all he was attached to Mary. Consider further what Friedrich Engels is known for. Biography, creativity, ideas will also be described in the article.

Youth

Friedrich Engels (years of life 1820-1895) was born in the city of Barmen. In this city, he went to school until the age of 14, and then to the Elberfeld gymnasium. At the insistence of his father, in 1837 he left his studies and began working in a trading company owned by the family. In August 1838 until April 1841, Friedrich Engels, whose photo is presented in the article, continued to study in a trade speci alty. This education he received in Bremen. There he worked as a correspondent. At the age of 18, Friedrich Engels (his birthday is November 28) wrote his first article. From September 1841 he served in Berlin. There he had the opportunity to visituniversity lectures and meet the Young Hegelians.

Friedrich Engels: biography (summary of stay in England from 1842 to 1844)

In November 1842, he was passing through Cologne. In this city, his first meeting with Marx took place. It took place in the editorial office of the Rhine Gazette. It should be said that the new acquaintance received him rather coldly. This was due to the fact that Marx considered him a Young Hegelian. And their ideas were not supported by them. After that, Friedrich Engels went to Manchester. There he was going to complete his education in his father's cotton mill. He spent almost two years in England. Here he met with the Irish women Lydia and Mary Burns. Warm relations remained with both of them until the end of his days. At the same time, Mary was the first, and Lydia was the second wife. With both of them he lived in civil relations. But both with the first and the second, stepping over the principles, before the death of each, Engels entered into an official marriage.

Revolutionary steps

Friedrich Engels, whose biography and activities are inextricably linked with the events that took place in the working environment, in England was able to get acquainted with the life and life of workers, which subsequently had a significant impact on his worldview. Here began his interaction with the "Union of the Just" (a revolutionary organization of that time), as well as with the Chartists in Leeds. In England, his articles for the Owenisten publication began to appear, which were also published in the North Star. In addition, there was a correspondence with the "Rhine newspaper". In November1843 Friedrich Engels wrote articles about the communist regime on the European continent. In February, from 1844, letters appeared in the German-French annuals. During his stay in England, he met the poet and trade manager Werth. Later, he would become head of the column for feuilletons in revolutionary times in the New Rhine Gazette.

Friedrich Engels: biography from 1844 to 1845

The first significant result of the study of political economy was the article of 1844. In it, Friedrich Engels tried to illustrate the inconsistency of capitalist society. He accused bourgeois science of apologetics for the real state of affairs. In a sense, it was this article that led Marx to take up economics textbooks. In 1844, the first articles appeared in the German-French Yearbook. It was published by Marx and Ruge in Paris. New articles became the occasion for a lengthy correspondence. On the way to Germany, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx met for the second time. This time the atmosphere was more friendly. They both came to the conclusion that their views are absolutely the same. From that moment, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx began a close collaboration.

New stage

In 1845, returning to Germany, Friedrich Engels wrote an extensive work on the condition of workers in England. By that time, he began to have problems in his relationship with his father. In addition, there were difficulties with the police (he was monitored). Marx also experienced some difficulties with French legislation. Allthis forced the friends to move to Belgium. This country was considered at that time the freest in Europe. In July 1845, friends went to England. There they met with representatives of the "Union of the Just" and with many Chartists. After returning to Brussels in 1846, they created the Communist Committee. It was a virtual body that carried out postal communication between the socialists of all European states. Until the summer of 1846, they developed dialectical-materialist views, which were later expressed in their common work, The German Ideology. In this work, their views were opposed to the materialism of Feuerbach, as well as to the idealism of the Young Hegelians. At the end of the summer of 1846, Friedrich Engels began to write for the French edition of La Réforme, and from 1847 for the German-Brussels newspaper. In the same year, the Union of the Just received a proposal to join it. Engels and Marx accepted it. Subsequently, they contributed to the renaming of the organization into the Union of Communists. The First Congress instructed Marx to develop the text of the draft "Communist Creed". It later formed the basis of the Communist Manifesto.

Revolution 1948-1949

By that time, many circles knew who Friedrich Engels was. During the revolution, he, together with his colleague, wrote materials for the newly created Rhine newspaper. In their work, expressing the demands of the Communist Party in Germany, they opposed the export of revolutionary events to the country. In 1848, as part of a group of activists, Engels moved to Cologne. Here he wrote several articlesabout the June uprising in Paris. He called this event the first war between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. In September 1848 he had to leave Germany. This time he stayed in Lausanne (Swiss city). From there, an active correspondence with the Neue Rheinische Gazeta continued. In Lausanne, Engels took part in the labor movement. In January 1949 he returned to Cologne. There he wrote a series of articles about the national liberation struggle of the Italian and Hungarian population.

Civil War

It began in southwestern and western German territory in May 1849. In June of this year, Engels joined the People's Army of the Palatinate and Baden. He took part in the battles against Prussia and the Elbertfeld uprising. At the same time, he met Becker. The latter led the Baden popular resistance. Over time, strong friendships will develop between them. After the revolutionary army was defeated, Engels left first for Switzerland and then for England.

Work in the Union of Communists

In November 1849, Engels arrived in London. There he continued his work in the Union. Over the following years, he writes many different articles. In particular, one of the first was the results of the revolutionary events. Speaking as a member of the Central Committee of the Union, Engels prepared an article-appeal to the members of the organization. At the same time, there was a struggle with Schapper and Willich, who were in the Union. They called for an immediate revolution. Engels spoke of adventurismthese statements, feared a split in the Union. The division of the organization did happen in the autumn of 1850.

Journalistic work

In 1850, Engels arrived in Manchester. There he worked in the trading company of his father, who left his son a share in the enterprise. After a while, Engels sold his share. His income, including from writing, was sufficient to deny himself nothing. In addition, from his own funds, he provided financial assistance to Marx. The latter was in an extremely difficult position at that time. Engels wrote for the New York Daily Tribune. Part of the articles was devoted to the revolution in Germany. They de alt with questions of the tactics of leading the armed struggle. Since that time, Friedrich Engels has been the founder of Marxism.

Military theme

Engels had a fairly rich service experience. This helped him become an expert on the army. He wrote many articles on military topics. Among them were notes on the situation in China and India, in the United States. Articles were also devoted to the Italo-French-Austrian and Franco-Prussian wars. The entries "Navy" and "Army" were published in the American Encyclopedia. During the Italian war, Engels published an anonymous pamphlet en titled Po and Rhine. At the end of the war, an article was written about Savoy, Nice and the Rhine. In 1865, a pamphlet was published on the Prussian military question and the German Workers' Party. Many of his articles were taken by readers for works written by a Prussian general. The government of Prussia itself unsuccessfully tried several times to extradite Marx and Engels.

International

From the end of September 1864, Engels is one of its leaders. He began an active collaboration with Liebknecht and Bebel. Together they waged a struggle against the formation of the SDLP in Germany and Lassalianism. In October 1870, Engels moved to London. Since 1871, he has been a member of the General Council of the International, a corresponding secretary for Spain and Belgium, and then for Italy. At a conference in London, Engels calls for the formation of a revolutionary party of workers in every state. In the same place, he put forward the thesis about the need to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Own work

From 1873 he began to write as a German philosopher. Friedrich Engels began work "Dialectics of Nature". This work was supposed to give a dialectical-materialist generalization of all the achievements of the natural sciences. The writing of the manuscript continued for 10 years. But Engels never completed this work. In 1872-73. he described the housing issue, authority, émigré literature. In 1875, joint work began with Marx on criticism of the Lassallean proposals for the program of the German Workers' Party. In 1877-78. several materials against Dühring were published. Subsequently, they came out in one edition. This work is considered the most complete of all that he has ever created. Marx died in March 1883. From that moment, a rather difficult period began.

Further work

After the death of Marx, the entire responsibility for the completion and preparation for publication of the second and third volumes of "Capital" fell on Engels. This is exactly what he did until his death. Along with this, however, he also published his own works. In 1884, the work was completed, which became one of the key in understanding Marxism. It described the origin of the state, private property and the family. In 1886, another significant work dedicated to Feuerbach was published. In 1894, a work was published on the peasant question in Germany and France. It touched upon the problems of mass pauperization of the population.

Interaction with Russian revolutionaries

Engels watched the situation in the country with particular interest. He managed to establish contacts with Lopatin, Lavrov, Volkhovsky and other leaders. They highly appreciated the works of Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky. Engels noted the firmness of their character, endurance, selflessness. At the same time, their populist illusions were criticized by him. He corresponded systematically with Zasulich and Plekhanov. The news of the formation in Russian social circles of the association "Emancipation of Labor" was greeted with great joy. Engels hoped that he could live to see the moment when tsarism was overthrown in Russia and the socialist revolution won.

Special role in the movement

Engels is rightfully considered the founder of the materialistic understanding of the historical process. He, together with hiscolleague, carried out the processing of bourgeois political economy. Together with Marx, he created dialectical materialism, scientific communism. In a series of his works, he outlined the new worldview in a strict systematized form, highlighted its key elements and theoretical sources. All this greatly contributed to the victory of the ideas of Marxism in the international labor movement at the end of the 19th century. During the development of the doctrine of socio-economic formations, several special patterns of development of the primitive communal system of the ancient and feudal era were revealed. The emergence of private property, the formation of classes, the creation of the state were explained. During the last years of his life, Engels paid great attention to the problems of the relationship between the economic basis, ideological and political superstructures. Especially in his works, the need to concretize the great impact on public life of the political concepts of certain classes, their struggle for dominance, as well as ideology and legal relations, is emphasized. Engels also played an enormous role in the development of the Marxist theory of art and literature. Some areas of science have become more the result of his own contribution to the teachings. Among them is the theory of dialectical patterns in natural science and nature, military affairs and the army.

Contribution to the labor movement

Engels and Marx insisted on the unity of the theoretical and practical aspects. They jointly developed a scientific program, tacticsand strategy for the proletariat. They were able to substantiate the role of the working class as the creator of a new society, the need for the formation of a revolutionary party, the conduct of a socialist revolution in order to establish the dictatorship of the working people. Engels and Marx became propagandists of internationalism. They organized the first international associations of workers.

Work before death

In recent years, the merits of Engels are especially great. During this time, he was able to develop Marxist science, enrich tactics and strategy with fresh theoretical generalizations. In addition, he launched a struggle against left-wing sectarianism and opportunism, dogmatism within the socialist parties. In recent years he has been working on the third volume of Capital. In his additions, he pointed out some features characteristic of imperialism - a new stage in the development of capitalism. In the course of all his activities, Engels, together with his colleague and co-author, considered violent anti-capitalist transformations as the final stage of the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. But after the events of 1848-49. they began to more soberly assess the daily struggle of workers for their rights. In 1894, Engels' he alth deteriorated significantly. Doctors diagnosed him with cancer in the esophagus. In 1895, on August 5, he died. According to his last will, the body was cremated. The urn with the ashes was lowered into the sea off Eastbourne.