The Condition of the Working Class in England

work by Engels

Also known as: “Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England”

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June 24, 2026

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Friedrich Engels's The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845) is a seminal work that details the harsh realities faced by the industrial working class in England during the Industrial Revolution. Engels, who managed his father's cotton factory in Manchester, observed firsthand the poverty, disease, and squalor that characterized the lives of these workers.123

The book serves as a critique of industrial capitalism, highlighting its social consequences and the systemic injustices faced by the proletariat. Engels argued that these conditions were not isolated incidents but were endemic to the capitalist system itself. This work laid foundational groundwork for the broader critique of capitalism that he and Karl Marx would later develop in works like The Communist Manifesto.432

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Marxism
The contributions of Engels
…arbeitenden Klassen in England (The Condition of the Working Class in England), published in 1845 in Leipzig. This work was an analysis of the evolution of industrial capitalism and its social consequences. He collaborated with Marx in the writing of The Holy Family, The German Ideology, and The Communist…
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…arbeitenden Klassen in England (The Condition of the Working Class in England), published in 1845 in Leipzig. This work was an analysis of the evolution of industrial capitalism and its social consequences. He collaborated with Marx in the writing of The Holy Family, The German Ideology, and The Communist…
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Friedrich Engels
Partnership with Marx
…arbeitenden Klasse in England (1845; The Condition of the Working Class in England), a classic in a field that later became Marx’s specialty. Their first major joint work was Die deutsche Ideologie (1845; The German Ideology), which, however, was not published until more than 80 years later. It was a…
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…arbeitenden Klasse in England (1845; The Condition of the Working Class in England), a classic in a field that later became Marx’s specialty. Their first major joint work was Die deutsche Ideologie (1845; The German Ideology), which, however, was not published until more than 80 years later. It was a…
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Manchester
Evolution of the modern city
…Manchester, and his influential book Condition of the Working Class in England (1845) was based on his experiences there. Among its other intellectual achievements were John Dalton’s development of the atomic theory as the foundation of modern chemistry and the work of the “Manchester school” in the application of economic…
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…Manchester, and his influential book Condition of the Working Class in England (1845) was based on his experiences there. Among its other intellectual achievements were John Dalton’s development of the atomic theory as the foundation of modern chemistry and the work of the “Manchester school” in the application of economic…
Read More