Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels fell in love with Mary Burns during his stay at Manchester. She was an uneducated Irish working girl. They never got married but lived as husband and wife.

It is believed that due to Engels’ closeness to Mary, he was able to have a close look at the shameful and horrible side of British Imperialism. She was somewhere responsible in changing his mindset towards the working class.

Mary died in 1863 and Engels found solace in her younger sister Lizzy. Engels never intended to marry Lizzy like Mary Burns. However, he married Lizzy on 11th September 1878, but only because it was her dying wish.

Friedrich Engels was born in Barmen, Prussia, which is now a part of Germany, on 28 November 1820. He was the eldest son of Friedrich Sr. and Elisabeth Franziska Mauritia von Haar, and had by seven siblings. Barmen was an industrial hub and Friedrich Sr. was a wealthy textile manufacturer.

Though Engels’ parents were Pietistic Protestant and he too was raised as per their principles, eventually Engels grew up to be an atheist. His mother was highly disappointed with his way of life and feared for him.

At the age of 17, Engels dropped out of high school because of family problems. His parents expected him to join their family business which he did few years later. He had begun reading many philosophical books and also started writing newspaper articles.

In 1838, he was sent by his father to work as a nonsalaried office clerk at a commercial house in Bremen. While in Bremen, Engels began reading more of banned work of many authors like Ludwig Borne, Karl Gutzkow, Heinrich Heine and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Of all the authors, Hegel inspired Engels the most.

After embracing Hegelian society, Engels joined the ‘Young Hegelians’ society along with Bruno Bauer and Max Stiner. This society converted Engels into an atheist which wasn’t difficult since Engels was against his own religion.

Engels started reading philosophy of Hegel and was heavily inspired by the German philosophy. In September 1838, he wrote a poem ‘The Bedouin’ which was his first published work in Bremisches Conversationsblatt No. 40.

When in Bremen, Engels started writing newspaper articles where he spoke about the societal harms of industrialisation. He also adopted a pseudonym, Friedrich Oswald, due to his confrontational writings which might have caused problems for his Pietistic family.

In 1841, while serving in the Prussian Army, Engels attended university lectures at University of Berlin and met group of Young Hegelians.

While Friedrich Engels has penned down many articles and books in his lifetime, few of his books are still considered to be masterpiece. ‘The Communist Manifesto’ is still studied and read worldwide.

‘The Condition of Working Class in England’ was another notable work by Engels. In this book, he has analyzed the living conditions of the working class in Britain. This book was written during Engels’ stay at Manchester. The book also reflected Engels’ thoughts on socialism and its development. It was a huge hit among German readers and was considered to be a classic of its time. It is still influential with historians of British Industrialization.