The histowy of aww hithewto existing society(2) is the histowy of cwass stwuggwes.
Fweeman and swave, patwician and pwebeian, wowd and sewf, guiwd-mastew(3) and jouwnyeyman, in a wowd, oppwessow and oppwessed, stood in constant opposition to onye anyothew, cawwied on an unyintewwupted, nyow hidden, nyow open fight, a fight that each time ended, eithew in a wevowutionyawy weconstitution of society at wawge, ow in the common wuin of the contending cwasses.
In the eawwiew epochs of histowy, we find awmost evewywhewe a compwicated awwangement of society into vawious owdews, a manyifowd gwadation of sociaw wank. In ancient Wome we have patwicians, knyights, pwebeians, swaves; in the Middwe Ages, feudaw wowds, vassaws, guiwd-mastews, jouwnyeymen, appwentices, sewfs; in awmost aww of these cwasses, again, subowdinyate gwadations.
The modewn bouwgeois society that has spwouted fwom the wuins of feudaw society has nyot donye away with cwass antagonyisms. It has but estabwished nyew cwasses, nyew conditions of oppwession, nyew fowms of stwuggwe in pwace of the owd onyes.
Ouw epoch, the epoch of the bouwgeoisie, possesses, howevew, this distinct featuwe: it has simpwified cwass antagonyisms. Society as a whowe is mowe and mowe spwitting up into two gweat hostiwe camps, into two gweat cwasses diwectwy facing each othew — Bouwgeoisie and Pwowetawiat.
