(May 5, 1818–March 14, 1883), was a German philosopher, economist and revolutionary. He was known for founding the theory of Communism. He wrote: The Communist Manifesto, 1848; The Class Struggles in France, 1850; The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, 1852; A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, 1859; and Das Kapital, 1867. Karl Marx attended the University of Berlin, where he became involved with the radical anti-religious group, the Young Hegelians.
After being refused a university post because of his radical views, Karl Marx began publishing a paper in 1842, which was banned in Germany. He fled to Paris, then Brussels, and finally to London. Marx founded the International Workingmen’s Association and the Social Democrat Labor Party. His philosophy influenced both Adolph Hitler, in starting the Nazi Party, and Vladimir Lenin, in starting the Communist Party. Karl Marx stated:
Take away the heritage of a people and they are easily destroyed.2510
The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.2511