The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

essay by Marx

Also known as: “Der Achtzehnte Brumaire des Louis Bonaparte”

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June 17, 2026

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Karl Marx's essay, "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte", analyzes the rise of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte to power in France. It critiques how Louis-Napoléon, through propaganda and exploiting political instability, was elected president and then seized dictatorial powers, eventually becoming Emperor Napoleon III.1

The essay examines the formation of a bureaucratic, absolutist state supported by the peasant class. It also touches upon the broader Bonapartist movement, which supported Napoleon I and Napoleon III, advocating for autocratic rule with the presumed consent of the people. Marx's work offers a sharp analysis of the political machinations and social conditions that allowed for such a consolidation of power.21

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Karl Marx
Early years in London of Karl Marx
…Brumaire des Louis Napoleon” (The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte), with its acute analysis of the formation of a bureaucratic absolutist state with the support of the peasant class. In other respects the next 12 years were, in Marx’s words, years of “isolation” both for him and for Engels…
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…Brumaire des Louis Napoleon” (The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte), with its acute analysis of the formation of a bureaucratic absolutist state with the support of the peasant class. In other respects the next 12 years were, in Marx’s words, years of “isolation” both for him and for Engels…
Read More

historiography
Marxist historiography
…Brumaire des Louis Napoleon (1852; The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte), several classes, not just two, played important roles, and the political skill of Napoleon III is acknowledged—albeit grudgingly—as significant. Although some Marxist historians may still maintain a residual allegiance to the notion that ideas are a mere “superstructural” reflection…
Read More
…Brumaire des Louis Napoleon (1852; The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte), several classes, not just two, played important roles, and the political skill of Napoleon III is acknowledged—albeit grudgingly—as significant. Although some Marxist historians may still maintain a residual allegiance to the notion that ideas are a mere “superstructural” reflection…
Read More