Marx, Karl
Karl (1818-1883), a German socialist. He was educated at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin. He is regarded as the father of German socialism. In 1842 he became the editor of the Rheinische Zeitung (Rhine Times), a paper of democratic tendencies. It was suppressed by the government in the following year. He went to Paris and engaged again in journalism. In 1845 he was expelled from France and went to Brussels where he organized a German workingmen's association. In 1848 he returned to Germany and revived his Zeitung. He took part in the socialistic revolution of that year, and was again banished. He went to Paris, then to London, where he remained during the rest of his life, writing books and articles for newspapers. He was a correspondent for a time of the New York Tribune. His articles, afterward published in book form, aimed to give an idea of industrial conditions in Germany. In 1864 he was instrumental in organizing the International Working Men's Association. In 1873 his first serious work, Capital, appeared. While it is not practicable to go into a detailed statement of his arguments, it may be said that he believed in the management of industries by the state, not by individuals. He went farther than municipal and government ownership of railroads, telegraph lines, gas works, waterworks, and the like. He believed that manufactures and all other productive industries requiring capital should be owned by the government and managed for the benefit of workingmen. Wage earners should have all the profits, if any. In that case, there would be no opportunity for private individuals to amass fortunes, and capitalists as a class would cease to exist. He held that with a more equal distribution of earnings, a more general opportunity for education, compulsory industry on the part of the able-bodied, and state care for those who were unable to work, poverty and distress would disappear in civilized countries. See Socialism
Capital is the most terrible scourge of humanity; . . . it fattens on the misery of the poor, the degradation of the worker, and the brutalizing toil of his wife and children: just as capital grows, so grows also pauperism . . . the revolting cruelties of our factory system, the squalor of great cities, and the presence of deep poverty seated hard by the gates of enormous wealth.
Our objects can only be attained by a violent subversion of the social order.
We must appeal to force to establish the rule of the laborers.
Mary I (1516-1558), queen of England. She was born in London and died there. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. During her young womanhood she was treated as a bastard, and was even required by her brutal father to sign a document declaring her mother's marriage illegal and her own birth illegitimate. She was restored to the order of succession three years before her father's death. Her mother brought her up as a Roman Catholic. She was not treated particularly well by her father, and had reason to complain during the short reign of her brother, Edward VI. Although the Protestants aimed to set her aside in favor of Lady Jane Grey, she ascended the throne July 16, 1553. She married Philip II of Spain, a Catholic monarch, and restored the Catholic prelates of England to the positions from which they had been dismissed by her father. Protestant insurrections broke out, leading her to consent to the execution of her Protestant rival, Lady Jane Grey. Under the leadership of the Catholic prelates the Church of England returned to the papal field. Persecutions were instituted against those who held out. About 200 Protestants are said to have been executed. The most notable of these were Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley. Mary united with her Spanish husband in declaring war against France. The chief result, so far as England was concerned, was the loss of Calais, which the English had held for two centuries. Though known in English history as the "Bloody Mary," she is deserving of sympathy. From her earliest childhood she was the hope of the Catholic party, and could not be permitted to grow up with an independence of her own. Her marriage was arranged without consulting her preferences. On her accession to the throne she was supported by but a small portion of her subjects. She lived a life of suspicion and unhappiness. Her troubles are believed to have shortened her life. She was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth, Queen Bess of English history.
Mary II (1662-1694), queen of England. She was the daughter of James II. In 1677, while her father was still Duke of York, she married William, Prince of Orange. Although her father was a Catholic she was attached to the Church of England. When her father was dethroned by the English revolution of 1688 Mary and her husband, William of Orange, were declared joint possessors of the throne. The actual government devolved on William, except when he was absent from the island on military expeditions. William and Mary College in Virginia was named for herself and husband.