Pamphlet written in 1848 by Friedrich Engels to serve as the platform of the Communist League.
It argued that industrialization had exacerbated the divide between the capitalist ruling class and the {{link=proletariat">proletariat , which had become impoverished, and called on the proletariat to overthrow the capitalists, abolish private property, and take over the means of production. It predicted an eventual classless society and the gradual elimination of the need for a state. It ends by stating, "The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite."