KARL MARX

i6o KARL MARX: A BIOGRAPHY
'The present age' he continued, in a passage that summarised conclusions
reached in the first part of The German Ideology, was unique in
that class antagonisms had been so simplified that there were now two
hostile camps facing each other: bourgeoisie and proletariat. The bourgeoisie,
from its origins in feudal society, helped by the discovery of
America, the development of a world market and modern industry, had
everywhere imposed the domination of its class and its ideas. In a wellknown
phrase that fitted contemporary France more than any other
country, Marx described the modern state as merely 'a committee for
managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie'. 149 Historically,
the bourgeoisie had been a most revolutionary class: 'it has accomplished
wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts and Gothic
cathedrals; it has conducted expeditions that put in the shade all former
Exoduses of nations and crusades'. 150 But this progress had to continue:
the bourgeoisie could not exist without constantly revolutionising the
means of production. And just as the bourgeoisie had caused the downfall
of feudal society, so now they were preparing their own downfall 'like
the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether
world whom he has called up by his spells'. 151 For the bourgeoisie had
not only forged the weapons of their destruction: they had also created
in the proletariat the men who were to wield those weapons.
Marx then described the revolutionary nature of the proletariat.
Workers had become mere appendages of machines. To the extent that
the use of machinery and division of labour increased, so the wages of the
workers got less in spite of the longer hours they worked. The lowermiddle
class was forced down into the proletariat:
The lower strata of the middle-class - the small tradespeople, shopkeepers,
and retired tradesmen generally, the handicraftsmen and peasants
- all these sink gradually into the proletariat, partly because their
diminutive capital does not suffice for the scale on which Modern
Industry is carried on, and is swamped in the competition with the large
capitalists, pardy because their specialised skill is rendered worthless by
new methods of production. Thus the proletariat is recruited from all
classes of the population. 152
The proletariat itself went through several stages: at first their principal
aim had been to restore to the working man the status he had lost since
the Middle Ages; with increase of numbers they began to form trade
unions; finally the class struggle became a political struggle. As the
struggle neared its decisive hour, a process of dissolution set in within
the ruling class, and a small section (of bourgeois ideologists in particular)
went over to the proletariat. No other class in society could fulfil the