How did Marx and Engels view the state as an instrument of class power?

In the context of political philosophy, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels viewed the state primarily as an "apparatus of oppression". They argued that its fundamental function is to serve the interests of the ruling social class by repressing lower classes and maintaining the existing economic order.123

According to their analysis, the state is not a neutral entity but an instrument of class power. In a capitalist society, this means the state acts to protect the economic supremacy of the propertied class. Marx and Engels posited that this political structure is an outgrowth of the underlying "mode of production"—the economic system that determines the social and institutional organization of society.314

Their theory suggests that following a revolution, the proletariat would seize the state and the means of production, establishing a temporary "dictatorship of the proletariat". Once this transition eliminates class antagonisms, the state would lose its purpose as a repressive tool and would eventually "wither away," leading to a classless society.5621