l commune(d), here independent urban republic
(as in Italy and Germany), there taxable "third estate" of the monarchy
(as in France), afterwards, in the period of manufacture proper,
serving either the semi-feudal or the absolute monarchy as a
counterpoise against the nobility, and, in fact, corner-stone of the
great monarchies in general, the bourgeoisie has at last, since the
establishment of Modern Industry and of the world's market, conquered
for itself, in the modern representative State, exclusive political
sway. The executive of the modern State is but a committee for
managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.

The bourgeoisie, historically, has played a most revolutionary part.

The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to
all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn
asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his "natural
superiors," and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man
than naked self-interest, callous "cash payment." It has drowned the
most heavenly ecstacies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm,
of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical
calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and
in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up
that single, unconscionable freedom--Free Trade. In one word, for
exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has
substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.

The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto
honored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the
physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into
its paid wage laborers.

The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and
has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.

The bourgeoisie has disclosed how it came to pass that the brutal
display of vigor in the middle ages, which Reactionists so much admire,
found its fitting complement in the most slothful indolence. It has
been the first to show what man's activity can bring about. It has
accomplished wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts,
and Gothic cathedrals; it has conducted expeditions that put in the
shade all former Exoduses of nations and crusades.

The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the
instruments of production, and thereby the rela