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'''Marxism''' is a political theory of [[social science|social studies]] that began as a revolutionary movement characterised by [[Karl Marx]], a German scholar and his cowriter [[Friedrich Engels]].  Marx's approach is indicated by the opening line of the [[Communist Manifesto]] (1848): "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Marx believed that [[capitalism]], like previous socioeconomic systems, would produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism supposedly replaced [[feudalism]], capitalism itself will be displaced by [[communism]], a classless society which would emerge after a transitional period in which the state would be nothing else but the revolutionary dictatorship of the [[proletariat]]. Marxists are said to await "the [[revolution]]" with a religious fervor reminiscent of [[Christian]]s awaiting the [[Rapture]].

'''Marxism''' is a political theory of [[social science|social studies]] that began as a revolutionary movement characterised by [[Karl Marx]], a German scholar and his cowriter [[Friedrich Engels]].  Marx's approach is indicated by the opening line of the [[Communist Manifesto]] (1848): "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Marx believed that [[capitalism]], like previous socioeconomic systems, would produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism supposedly replaced [[feudalism]], capitalism itself will be displaced by [[communism]], a classless society which would emerge after a transitional period in which the state would be nothing else but the revolutionary dictatorship of the [[proletariat]]. Marxists are said to await "the [[revolution]]" with a religious fervor reminiscent of [[Christian]]s awaiting the [[Rapture]].

Though inspired by French socialist and sociological thought,[220] Marx criticised utopian socialists, arguing that their favoured small-scale socialistic communities would be bound to marginalisation and poverty and that only a large-scale change in the economic system can bring about real change. In his article "The Victory of the Counter-Revolution in Vienna" in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung (No. 136, 7 November 1848), Karl Marx wrote that there is only one means to shorten, simplify and concentrate the murderous death throes of the old society and the bloody birth pangs of the new, only one means—revolutionary terrorism.

Though inspired by French socialist and sociological thought, Marx criticised utopian socialists, arguing that their favoured small-scale socialistic communities would be bound to marginalisation and poverty and that only a large-scale change in the economic system can bring about real change. In his article "The Victory of the Counter-Revolution in Vienna" in the Neue Rheinische Zeitung (No. 136, 7 November 1848), Karl Marx wrote that there is only one means to shorten, simplify and concentrate the murderous death throes of the old society and the bloody birth pangs of the new, only one means—revolutionary terrorism.

Marx's work has been foundational to the ideologies of many governments in the 20th century, including China, the Soviet Union, Cuba and Chile.

Marx's work has been foundational to the ideologies of many governments in the 20th century, including China, the Soviet Union, Cuba and Chile.