Yuan Qun and Wang Enming: Foreign Left-wing Commemoration and Reflection on the 200th Anniversary of Engels' Birth
Friedrich Engels was the greatest revolutionary, thinker, theorist, and leading figure in the international communist movement during the second half of the 19th century after Karl Marx. Throughout his seventy-five-year life and over half a century of revolutionary career, he co-founded, enriched, and developed Marxism, guided the course of the international workers' movement, and made indelible historical contributions to the world socialist movement as it sought breakthroughs while upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground. However, since Marx's death in 1883, controversies regarding Engels, and particularly his late-period thought, have persisted. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Engels’ birth, the world faces great changes unseen in a century [1], and the world socialist movement is at a vital historical turning point, transitioning from a gradual emergence from its low ebb toward a state of revitalization. Against this periodic background, foreign left-wing parties, organizations, and scholars have held various forms of online and offline activities to solemnly commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great mentor to the global proletariat and working people. They have comprehensively reviewed Engels’ revolutionary and combative life, highly appraised his major contributions to the founding, persistence, and development of Marxism—as well as his role in guiding the international workers’ movement and advancing the world socialist movement—and profoundly explicated the epochal significance and contemporary value of his theoretical works. They have also used this opportunity to propagate the basic theories of Marxism and clarify the theoretical ideas and programmatic propositions of their respective parties.
I. Foreign Leftists Solemnly Commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Engels’ Birth
The year 2020 coincided with the 200th anniversary of Engels’ birth, a date of great historical significance for disciplines such as the history of Marxist development, scientific socialism, the international communist movement, and foreign Marxist studies. Since the second half of 2020, foreign left-wing parties, organizations, and scholars have mobilized, continuously building a crescendo of commemorations for Engels’ bicentenary through various means.
(1) Organizing commemorative seminars and conferences On September 27, 2020, the Portuguese Communist Party held a meeting in Lisbon to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Engels’ birth with the theme “Engels and Today’s Struggle for Socialism,” where General Secretary Jerónimo de Sousa delivered a speech. On November 26, various sectors in Laos held an academic seminar titled “Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Engels’ Birth: Engels’ Theory and the Lao Renovation and Opening-up” [2] at the National Academy of Politics and Administration. On November 27, the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, in conjunction with the Propaganda and Education Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the Central Theoretical Council, and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, jointly held a scientific seminar in Hanoi titled “Engels’ Ideological Legacy: New Values and Vitality for the Era.” On the same day, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation also held a webinar featuring keynote reports from representatives of left-wing parties, including the leader of the Left Party (Die Linke) parliamentary group in the German Bundestag and the head of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which is affiliated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany. On November 28, the Keio Economic Society in Japan held an online academic seminar on “Engels’ Contribution to Marxism and Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Engels’ Birth,” attended by more than 40 scholars from Japan and China. Additionally, the German Communist Party held online commemorative activities and video conferences with the Communist Party of Britain and the Communist Party of the Donetsk People’s Republic, respectively.
(2) Issuing commemorative manifestos and statements On November 27, 2020, five Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties, including the Communist Workers’ Union (MLM) of Colombia and the Maoist Communist Party of Italy, jointly issued a statement: “Joint Statement Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Friedrich Engels: Long Live Friedrich Engels! Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism!” The statement summarized Engels’ great achievements for the development of human civilization and the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat, emphasizing that honor and glory belong to the great mentor of the world proletariat—Friedrich Engels—and calling on Communists, the proletariat, and oppressed peoples everywhere to unite in proletarian internationalism. On November 28, the Communist Party of the Philippines issued a “Statement on the 200th Birth Anniversary of Friedrich Engels,” emphasizing the cherishing of Engels’ proletarian theory and revolutionary political legacy and advancing along the path of New Democratic and socialist revolution. On November 29, eleven Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties and organizations, including the Communist Party of Peru, the Committee for the Construction of the Maoist Communist Party of Austria, and the Maoist Committee of Finland, jointly signed an international manifesto. The manifesto reviewed Engels’ intellectual journey and the great friendship between Marx and Engels through three aspects—“the eternal struggle for unity between Marx and Engels,” “Engels’ contribution as one of the founders of Marxism,” and “Engels’ legacy”—while deeply exploring his unique contributions to Marxism and the contemporary implications of his thought.
(3) Writing commemorative articles On the bicentenary of Engels’ birth, the foreign left wrote numerous commemorative articles to express their remembrance of the great revolutionary mentor. Representative works include Gennady Zyuganov’s (Chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation) “The Three Great Feats of Engels,” published in Pravda; “Engels: An Exemplary Theorist Inseparable from Marx,” published in People’s March (an organ of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)); Brinda Karat’s (Member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)) “Engels and Women’s Liberation”; Pakistani social scientist Raza Naeem’s “The Ragged Philanthropist: Friedrich Engels’ The Condition of the Working Class in England”; “Engels and Marriage” and “Friedrich Engels and a Poetic Sculpture of his Partner Mary Burns” by Jenny Farrell, columnist for Unity (the newspaper of the Communist Party of Ireland); “Friedrich Engels is Becoming More Important on the 200th Anniversary of His Birth” by Marcello Musto, Associate Professor of Political Science at York University, Canada; Michael Roberts’ “Engels’ Pause and the Condition of the Working Class in England”; Indian leftist scholar Prabir Purkayastha’s “Three Questions on Reading Engels and Why”; Adam Booth’s “The Life and Thought of Friedrich Engels”; “Great Scientist, Great Teacher” by Dmitry Novikov, Deputy Chairman of the CPRF Central Committee; historian Doug Enaa Greene’s “Engels Against Reformism in Germany and France”; “Thought Leader,” “In Engels’ Footsteps,” and “Presenting the Truth” published on the official website of the German Communist Party’s newspaper; Thomas Riggins’ “Engels at 200: Intellectual Giant and Rebel”; and the article “Continuing to Inherit, Innovate, and Develop Engels’ Great Ideological Legacy” published in Nhan Dan, the central organ of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
(4) Other commemorative activities The Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) held political meetings in 11 cities across Germany and hosted the premiere of the new film Friedrich Engels: The Most Underrated Classic. Engels’ birthplace, the city of Wuppertal (formed in 1929 by the merger of Barmen and other towns), declared 2020 the “Year of Engels,” not only reopening the Engels House but also launching a dedicated website and unveiling a sculpture of Engels. The official website of the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist), the American leftist website “Liberation News,” and People’s Democracy (the organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)) specially republished the commemorative article titled “Friedrich Engels” written by Lenin in September 1895. The CPB (ML) stated that to recognize Engels’ immense contribution to the cause of the working class and to commemorate and spread the revolutionary content of his brilliant ideas, every worker should be familiar with the name and contributions of this great revolutionary fighter and proletarian mentor. People’s Democracy also published a detailed chronology recording Engels’ life, works, and major events. Unsere Zeit, the newspaper of the German Communist Party (DKP), published a letter from a German Communist to Engels, in which the author used simple language to recall Engels’ subtle influence and recounted their own journey from an impulsive youth to a revolutionary fighter. The American leftist organization “Political Movements” continuously posted quotes from Engels in poster form on its official website. Furthermore, in coordination with COVID-19 prevention and control measures, several left-wing organizations, including the DKP, held commemorative demonstrations in Wuppertal. Representatives of the DKP and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) laid flowers at the sculpture of Engels presented by the Chinese government in 2014 in Wuppertal. In Moscow, representatives of Communists, Komsomol members [3], and their supporters from across Russia also laid baskets of flowers at the Engels monument.
In addition, the websites of parties and organizations such as the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party USA, the Communist Party of Brazil, the Communist Party of Austria, the Communist Party of Paraguay, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (USA), the Engels Alliance (Germany), the International Committee of the Fourth International, and the League for the Fifth International, as well as publications like Socialist Appeal, the PCP’s official organ Avante!, the Communist Party of Ireland’s organ Socialist Voice, and the CPUSA’s People’s World, along with Euro-American leftist magazines such as Jacobin, Monthly Review, and New Left Review, and numerous websites like Solidnet, Defend Communism, Marxists.org, Left Voice, Against the Current, Peoples Dispatch, the World Socialist Web Site, Maoist Road, and New Era Media, all published a series of commemorative articles by left-wing parties, organizations, and scholars centered on the theme of Engels’ bicentenary, while providing continuous news coverage.
II. Fully Affirming Engels’ Noble Historical Position as the Indispensable “Second Fiddle”
Together with Marx, Engels achieved a high degree of unity between thinker and revolutionary in practice. As a classic Marxist writer, Engels co-founded Marxism and scientific socialism with Marx; as a great mentor of the proletariat, he co-guided the world workers’ movement and the international communist movement. Foreign left-wing parties, organizations, and scholars have taken a clear-cut stand against historical nihilism [4]. Focusing on themes such as Engels’ classic works and international socialist alliance, they have highly appraised his important historical contributions and profound international influence in terms of theoretical contribution, practical struggle, and spiritual qualities.
(1) Engels’ status as a co-founder of Marxism and scientific socialism is unshakeable
Major German media outlets published various articles to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Engels’ birth. Die Zeit described Engels as "one of the most influential and multifaceted thinkers of the 19th century, a theorist and practitioner of proletarian revolution, the earliest sociologist, and an outstanding journalist." Süddeutsche Zeitung stated that Engels changed the course of history through his writing. Deutschlandfunk (German Public Radio) published a piece stating that Engels led a "double life" as both an entrepreneur and a philosopher, communist, and revolutionary. "Engels provided Karl Marx with economic and intellectual support, and their friendship profoundly influenced him. Together with Marx, he wrote one of the most influential texts in history." As Werner Plumpe, a historian at Frankfurt University, put it: "Without Friedrich Engels, the majority of Karl Marx's works might never have seen the light of day." Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), agreed, arguing that "after Marx's death, the international working class and the people of the world came to know the rich writings and theoretical foundations of Marxism primarily through Engels." He noted that "it is clear that in almost every field of human activity and life, Engels made pioneering contributions, either independently or together with Marx. Engels' discourse on the dialectics of man and nature in fields ranging from natural science, anthropology, and history to political economy and philosophy made outstanding contributions to the development of the revolutionary movement and its theoretical basis. Furthermore, it must be emphasized that every work completed by Marx and Engels, whether jointly or independently, was enriched by their mutual discussions." Ariane Díaz, a member of the Socialist Workers' Party of Argentina, stated in her article Engels at 200: Engels is Still Alive that "Engels' theoretical work was able to broaden the battlefield of Marxism, entering fields where Marx did not participate, or more accurately, the works of Marx's friend provided him with nourishment." Rob Sewell, editor-in-chief of Socialist Appeal, emphasized: "Although Marxism is named after Marx, we should never forget the vital contributions made by Engels and the organic connection between their life paths. Undoubtedly, Engels was an encyclopedic thinker and polymath whose theories covered philosophy, economics, history, physics, linguistics, and military science; his knowledge of military theory earned him the title of 'The General.'"
2. Engels' historical contributions to guiding the world workers' movement and the international communist movement cannot be erased
Mahir Ali, a columnist for the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, pointed out in the article Marx’s Deputy: "There [in Europe], he was regarded as a great sage of European socialism, particularly influential in leading the process of German Social Democracy. Compared to Marx, he is more closely associated with terms such as 'dialectical materialism' and 'scientific socialism.'" Stanislav Grospič, Chairman of the Trade Union Association of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, emphasized that as one of the most influential revolutionary thinkers, although Engels spent most of his life in the shadow of his friend and collaborator Karl Marx, he remained a great theorist and revolutionary activist. "Thanks to Anti-Dühring, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, and other works, he became one of the most influential and thorough revolutionaries." Les Doherty, Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain’s Manchester Area, noted during an online commemorative event hosted by the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester: "Engels went deep into the slums many times to understand the living conditions of the working class, wrote the highly influential The Condition of the Working Class in England, and worked with Marx to conceive and complete classic works such as the Communist Manifesto. Engels' contributions to developing Marxism and promoting the progress of human history are invaluable and should be recognized by more people." Walter Smolarek, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the United States, cited Engels’ thesis in Dialectics of Nature regarding "the part played by labor in the transition from ape to man," pointing out that "besides the key texts co-authored with Marx, Engels' own writings have likewise stood the test of time, becoming a fundamental guide for generations of revolutionaries who hope to understand and transform the world. In all his works, such as Dialectics of Nature, Engels showed a foresight capable of identifying the most important laws and trends influencing the development of human society. Today, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, Engels remains a figure in the history of the socialist struggle who is difficult to surpass." The Communist Workers League (Colombia) emphasized: "As a passionate revolutionary fighter, Engels was a staunch defender of proletarian interests, a fierce critic of false socialisms, and the finest supporter and tireless mentor of the working class; he always maintained a close friendship with the working class, and the people of many countries looked to Engels for guidance and support."
3. Engels’ perseverance in his original aspiration and founding mission for the liberation of the proletariat and all humanity, as well as his sense of responsibility, are worthy of praise
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) highly evaluated Engels' great character and qualities, praising the "sincere friendship and comradeship between Engels and Marx." They stated that "Engels' revolutionary spirit, work perseverance, modest character, and cooperative spirit in the revolutionary struggle serve as a shining example," noting that "for the CPV, the working class, and the laborers of Vietnam—and indeed for the working class and laborers of the world—Engels’ life, career, noble character, and excellent style of work have always been a major driving force for revolution." Gennady Zyuganov, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, believes that Engels’ primary moral achievement and merit was that, while he had every opportunity from birth to achieve success in the world of capitalist exploitation, he did so at the cost of his personal happiness, transcending class interests intellectually and spiritually while discarding social conventions. Compared to capitalist personal happiness, he preferred to stand with the highest humanistic values—justice, equality, and solidarity. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) further pointed out that Engels, despite his bourgeois origins, chose the philosophy of the working class, stood with the working class against industrial capitalists, and provided the working class with the ideological weapons needed to transform their lives.
III. Highly evaluating the world significance of Engels and his intellectual works
As the co-founder of Marxism and scientific socialism, Engels not only co-authored and independently wrote numerous classic works, but also devoted a great deal of energy between 1883 and 1895 to organizing and publishing Marx’s posthumous works, thereby leaving his own intellectual and theoretical imprint. The foreign Left highly evaluates Engels and his writings for their role in upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground in Marxist philosophy, their major contributions to Marxist political economy, their inheritance and development of scientific socialism, and their foundation of proletarian military science.
(1) Engels’ role in upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground in Marxist philosophy
In a report titled Engels' Contribution to Marx's Philosophy, Hiroyoshi Makino, Professor Emeritus at Hannan University, explained Engels’ important contributions to scientific socialism, materialist dialectics, and Marxist philosophy from several perspectives: the relationship between Marx and Engels; how the "second violin" [5] served as a prelude to the "first violin"; the ensemble of the first and second violins; and the independence (variations) of the second violin as seen in Anti-Dühring, Dialectics of Nature, and Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy. CPI(M) General Secretary Yechury pointed out: "The theoretical contributions made by Engels in the evolution and elaboration of the Marxist worldview are of extreme importance for understanding the unfolding of dialectics and the discovery of the laws governing the development of matter in the universe, the development of life, evolution, and all the laws of development of human society. In commemorating his life and thoughts, one usually re-examines these contributions and the profound impact they have had on human thought, intellect, and the progress of civilization." Nhan Dan (The People), the official organ of the Central Committee of the CPV, noted in an editorial: "Engels and Marx protected and developed materialist philosophy, realized the innovation of dialectical materialism, established a fundamental turning point for philosophy, and provided a brand-new perspective and accurate method for explaining, understanding, and transforming the world; historical materialism is a great achievement of scientific thought, discovering the regularity of social development and the necessity of transitioning from one economic-social system to a higher one."
(2) Engels’ major contributions to Marxist political economy
Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK and former Shadow Secretary of State for Education for the Labour Party, pointed out: "Engels is a figure of profound historical and philosophical significance. He not only played a role in shaping 20th-century Marxism, but his views on socialism, compared to Marx's pure political economy, are more relevant to our contemporary era. Similarly, through his early analysis of imperialism as a core component of Western capitalism, Engels pioneered the Marxist conception of colonial liberation." CPI(M) General Secretary Yechury argued that Engels’ Outlines of a Critique of Political Economy, published in 1844, laid down the basic principles for critiquing bourgeois political economy. He noted that "Engels demonstrated that all important phenomena in the bourgeois economic system inevitably arise from the private ownership of the means of production, and a society without poverty can only be a society without private ownership of the means of production," which had a significant influence on Marx. An editorial in the CPV’s Nhan Dan pointed out: "Engels and Marx relied on classical political economy to create a new economic doctrine, bringing historical changes to political economy; by virtue of researching and discovering the law of surplus value, Engels and Marx identified the capitalist mode of exploitation and provided a scientific demonstration of the inevitable demise of capitalism and the victory of communism."
(3) Engels’ inheritance and development of scientific socialism
Shozo Iwanaga, a professor at Kyushu University, in a report titled Examining Engels' "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State" from Japanese Ancient History, explained from a historical perspective the theories of antagonistic state formation in classical doctrine, the formation of state apparatuses in East Asian countries, the relationship between changes in kinship structures and state formation, the societies of early state development stages, the handling of transition periods, and related theoretical issues, thereby demonstrating the significance of this classic work. Sumanasiri Liyanage, a retired professor of political economy at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, wrote: "Engels' contribution to Marxism can be reflected under four interrelated headings: the development of historical realism and its application to actual historical events; the development and defense of dialectical realism; the link between the family, private property, and the Marxist theory of the state; and the contribution to eco-communism." An editorial in the CPV’s Nhan Dan pointed out: "Engels and Marx analyzed capitalism to discover its laws of motion and development; they affirmed that class struggle is the driving force of development in class societies and pointed out that the working classled by the Communist Party is the only force capable of building a new society. Therefore, the socialist views of Marx and Engels are scientific socialism."
(4) Engels' foundation of proletarian military science
The editorial of Nhan Dan (People's Daily), the central organ of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), emphasized that the sum total of Engels's thought provided, alongside Marx, the key for humanity to open the door to a New Era. Marxism-Leninism, which includes Engels's thought, is identified as the ideological foundation of the Vietnamese revolution. It has been flexibly applied by President Ho Chi Minh and the CPV to brilliantly complete the tasks of national liberation, national unification, and the comprehensive promotion of Doi Moi [6] (Renovation) toward a socialist orientation. In the past struggles for independence and current national defense, Engels’s military thought and theory have exerted a massive influence on the CPV’s perspectives regarding the establishment of a national defense front of the whole people, the line of people's war, and the people's armed forces. It has assisted the CPV in analyzing and grasping the causes, essence, and nature of war, and has proven conducive to resolving the relationship between humanity and weaponry, affirming the role of the people and the political spirit in warfare. Mahir Ali, a columnist for Pakistan's Dawn newspaper, noted in the article "Marx’s Deputy" that: "It would be more accurate to view him as a complementary intellectual, being more active than Marx in fields such as natural science and military strategy, leaving behind many substantial results closely related to them. While viewing him as Marx's deputy is not inaccurate, it is worth remembering that due to his military expertise and active participation in the 1848 revolutions, he was affectionately called 'The General' by his close relatives and loved ones, including the Marx family."
IV. Profoundly interpreting the contemporary value and guiding significance of Engels’s thought
As a great achievement in the history of human thought, the Marxist theory co-founded by Engels and Marx, once born, was "like a magnificent sunrise, illuminating the path for humanity to explore the laws of history and seek its own liberation." For over a century, various arguments to negate, attack, slander, and spread rumors about the scientific and truthful nature of Engels and his thought have frequently appeared in different guises through politicization, labeling, and stigmatization. Representative examples include "the theory of opposition between Marx and Engels," the claim that "in his later years, Engels abandoned proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, gave up communist theory, and advocated for the parliamentary road, thereby degenerating into a social democrat," the "theory of opposition between the young and old Engels," and the "theory of Engels's self-negation in his later years." In response, the foreign Left recognizes and resolutely defends the status of Engels’s thought, pointing out that "its importance is reflected not only in the development of Marxism but also in the epochal themes of his revolutionary ideas," believing that Engels’s intellectual legacy still possesses practical guiding significance today.
(1) Engels’s thought remains the theoretical weapon for the working class to overthrow the old capitalist world and lead toward a new communist world. The CPV affirms: "Engels’s thought and theoretical legacy have become a beacon for the struggle for peace, national independence, democracy, and socialism"; "Engels’s ideas on philosophy, political economy, and scientific socialism remain relevant and are of great significance to our country's cause of Doi Moi. They provide a basis for recognizing and clarifying the necessary laws of development of the Vietnamese revolution—skipping the capitalist stage to move toward socialism while inheriting the scientific and technological achievements humanity attained during the capitalist era—and help to more fully realize the relationship between revolutionary goals and economic development modes." Rob Sewell, editor-in-chief of Socialist Appeal, believes: "There is no doubt that Engels's revolutionary spirit continues to exist in the Marxist tendency that defends his intellectual legacy and fights for world socialism." The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) further points out: "We should be proud of following the ideas of Marx and Engels and realize that we bear a special responsibility for this. This responsibility urges us to maintain principledness and dauntlessness in the process of fighting for communism, thereby creatively mastering the rich scientific ideas left by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They not only left us outstanding scientific results and political achievements but also set for us the highest example of moral strength and spirit of dedication." The New Communist Party of the Netherlands and its youth wing, the Communist Youth Movement, stated in a joint declaration: "Engels made fundamental contributions to Marxist theory in dialectical materialistic philosophy, Marxist political economy, and revolutionary tactics of class struggle. Many of his works continue to inspire people worldwide to fight for a better society and provide indispensable guidance for this struggle." They added, "The insights of Engels and Marx remain of great importance today, providing guidance to everyone fighting for a better communist society who refuses to accept current capitalist relations of production and the uncertainty, poverty, war, and exploitation they cause."
(2) Engels’s conclusions regarding capitalist relations of production and the concentration of capitalist wealth have been continuously corroborated by social realities since the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Gennady Zyuganov, Chairman of the Central Committee of the CPRF, pointed out: More than 150 years have passed since the creation of the major works of Marx and Engels. During this time, capitalism has become more cruel, immoral, and destructive. The profound and irreversible crisis of the bourgeois system has never been as evident as it is today. The world is increasingly clearly discovering the correctness of what Engels exposed regarding bourgeois economic theories concerning the interests of capital and labor, and the false foresight regarding harmony, general welfare, and free competition. Indeed, the ugly nature of the unbridled spread of capitalist profiteering and exploitation has become even more apparent in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stanislav Grospič, Chairman of the Trade Union Association of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, believes: "Engels and Marx predicted in their analysis that capital accumulation would concentrate in the hands of as few people as possible; therefore, we should not be surprised that during this COVID-19 pandemic, while the working class has become poorer, the wealth of billionaires has increased by 27.5%." Peter Schwarz, International Secretary of the International Committee of the Fourth International, further pointed out: "Financial markets are completely out of control; trade wars threaten to trigger a third world war; brutal neo-colonial wars will destroy the entire world; the democratic disintegration of the most important capitalist country—the United States; the imminent environmental disaster; the hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by the global spread of COVID-19; the increasing concentration of world wealth and intensifying social inequality, where the 26 richest billionaires own as much wealth as the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of the planet's population. All of this validates what Marx and Engels wrote in the Manifesto of the Communist Party in 1848: 'Modern bourgeois society' is 'like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells.'"
(3) Engels’s strategies regarding proletarian revolution, working-class struggle, and women's liberation continue to possess important guiding significance today. Stanislav Grospič believes: "Engels's ideas still guide the working class in their struggle for better conditions to eliminate the roots of capitalism and oligarchy—exploitation, injustice, and oppression. Friedrich Engels's ideas are a better fit for the current situation than the so-called 'modern left's' defeatism, social democratic politics, politics of promises, and radical discourse. This is not a return to Engels’s history, but a step forward!" Brinda Karat, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), in her article "Engels and Women's Liberation," argued for the scientific nature of The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State from three aspects: the root causes of the oppression of women and child labor, the family situation under capitalist conditions, and the gender-based division of labor. She emphasized: "The historic contribution of Marx's co-founder Friedrich Engels’s theory and practice of scientific socialism to the cause of women's liberation has not faded with the passage of time. It continues to illuminate the path of struggle for hundreds of thousands of women worldwide against systemic discrimination and violence, which prevail even in the most developed capitalist societies." Engels "pointed the way forward for the world’s women by bringing together all the work on historical materialism done by Marx and himself and advancing it into a concrete analysis of the material basis of women's subordinate status." Christian Hogsbjerg, a lecturer at the University of Brighton, in his article "Friedrich Engels at 200: The Revolutionary Historian," praised the pioneering and far-reaching contributions of this revolutionary historian and German revolutionary philosopher to modern social and political theory. He argued that Engels played a key role in the founding and development of classical Marxism and that the commemoration of Engels’s birth will clarify the new significance of many of his perspectives in the late capitalist world. Hogsbjerg pointed out that today, everyone inspired by the radical historical tradition, people's history, and history from below (grassroots historiography) should take the opportunity of Engels’s bicentenary to acknowledge the intellectual debt owed to him. The vagrants and outcasts of the lowest strata of society deserve and demand to be recognized and recorded as "major elements."
V. Continuously seizing new victories in the Great Struggle of the New Era under the guidance of Engels’s thought and Marxism
The enduring vitality of Engels’s thought and Marxism lies not only in their penetrating and profound critique of capitalism and imperialism but also in providing a powerful ideological weapon and scientific guide to action for the proletariat and its political parties in all countries to persist in struggle and strive for socialism, anchoring the navigational markers for the transition of human society toward socialism and communism. In commemorating and reflecting on Engels, the foreign Left pays tribute to one of the great thinkers in human history while strengthening faith in the scientific truth of Marxism and actively contemplating strategies and tactics to promote the gradual revitalization of world socialism from its low ebb.
(1) Promoting and strengthening the establishment and development of proletarian revolutionary party organizations. The Workers Revolutionary Party (UK) pointed out: "Today, as economic and political crises of the capitalist world break out everywhere—leading to revolutionary uprisings and struggles by workers for their rights and for the establishment of Marxist leadership—the urgent task is to move toward victory by smashing the dictatorship of the capitalist state apparatus and realizing the dictatorship of the proletariat. Engels fought alongside Marx to establish revolutionary parties of the working class, which fearlessly led the struggle for rights. The way to commemorate Engels’s life today is to advance the revolutionary cause for which he fought all his life by establishing proletarian revolutionary party organizations in various countries and leading the world socialist revolution to victory."
(2) Practically strengthening the study, research, dissemination, and education of Marxist theory. The editorial of the CPV’s Nhan Dan emphasized that materialist dialectics and scientific methodological principles have always required us to identify Marxism-Leninism as an open system. The application of Marxist-Leninist principles should be combined with practical activities. Research should continue to fill the scientific foundation, conducting theoretical research and summarizing practice to further clarify theories regarding socialism and our country's path toward socialism. This will consolidate the spiritual foundation and enable the whole Party and the entire people to strive for the goal of "prosperous people, a strong country, democracy, justice, and civilization." Nguyen Xuan Thang, member of the Secretariat of the CPV Central Committee, President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, and Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, further affirmed that Vietnam will "unwaveringly follow the path chosen by the CPV on the basis of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought; resolutely refute misleading remarks that distort facts, and focus on protecting the scientific and revolutionary value of Marxist-Leninist doctrine." The Communist Party of Mexico and the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain reached a consensus that, in today's increasingly intensified ideological struggle, it is necessary to expand the influence of Marx and Engels's thought and strengthen the ideological armament of the proletariat, communist workers, and youth worldwide. They believe the publication of Marxist works is an urgent need of the contemporary class struggle; thus, the two parties decided to take the 200th anniversary of Engels’s birth as an opportunity to jointly publish a new edition of the Selected Works of Marx and Engels. Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the CPI(M), also stated that if Engels's contributions were depicted as a canvas, no single article could annotate them clearly. Within its existing scope, the party will continue to conduct a year-long program of research activities on Engels's contributions to humanity.
(3) Under the slogan “Proletarians of the World, Unite!”, establishing a united front to oppose war and achieve peace, and building the broadest possible working-class alliance and revolutionary united front.
Lenny Shail, a member of the National Committee of the Socialist Party (UK), pointed out in his article Friedrich Engels: A Revolutionary Who Played a Key Role in the Development of Socialism: “Only through the socialist revolution for which Engels and Marx fought can humanity begin to utilize and plan the abundant technological wealth possessed by the historical labor of workers in class society. Then, when the ‘proletarians of the world unite,’ it will be possible to create a harmonious world and sweep the horrors of capitalism into the dustbin of history [7].” During a speech at a demonstration in Wuppertal, the Socialist German Workers’ Youth (SDAJ) noted: “Engels's ideas and his great example remain the winning weapons in our struggle for socialism. In the multifaceted struggle for socialism, militarism is a very important issue among the many social problems in capitalist countries like Germany. Politicians in Berlin are working toward military escalation at an alarming rate; the entire German government supports the US-led NATO expansion of armaments by spending 2% of GDP, while we socialists resolutely oppose any incitement to war and reject war, death, suffering, and hunger.”
VI. Conclusion
The 2020 commemoration of the bicentenary of Engels’s birth represents a heritage, continuation, deepening, and supplementation of the 2018 commemoration of the bicentenary of Marx’s birth. The profound interpretations provided by the foreign Left demonstrate that Engels’s entire integrated doctrine regarding the basic principles of scientific socialism, the development of the workers' movement and the tactics of proletarian struggle, the theory of building working-class political parties, and the Marxist theory of the state remain instructive today as the scientific theory for the proletariat’s pursuit of class liberation and the liberation of all humanity. These theories can continue to guide the contemporary world socialist movement as it gradually emerges from its low ebb and moves toward revitalization, fulfilling the historical mission of liberating oneself and all of humanity.
In the face of a new and intensifying round of imperialist anti-communist and anti-Marxist offensives since the COVID-19 pandemic, the foreign Left has proposed new struggle strategies and action plans. These are based on affirming and remembering Engels’s monumental achievements, actively evaluating his great ideological contributions, and highly praising his noble spiritual character, emphasizing the need to persist in struggle under the guidance of Engels’s thought and Marxism. For those on the foreign Left who have long fought in the heartlands and centers of imperialism, the political ecosystem and the severe, complex situation of struggle imbue their commemorations and understanding of Engels with a unique connotation and profound enlightenment—one that is both rich in revolutionary optimism and insistent on an objective, prudent stance. This commemorative activity is, moreover, a vivid practice of Marxist-Leninist education.