Karl Marx was born on May 5th， 1818 in the city of Trier， Germany to a comfortable middle-class， Jewish family. Marx enjoyed a broad， secular education under his father， and found an intellectual mentor， a Prussian nobleman with whom Marx discussed the great literary and philosophical figures of his day. Notably， it was him who introduced the young Marx to the ideas of the early French socialist Saint-Simon.
As a student in Bonn and Berlin， Marx was greatly influenced by the philosophy of Hegel. While Marx was impressed with the Hegelian professors under whom he studied， he ultimately found himself attracted to a group of students known as the “Young Hegelians”. This group were inspired by Hegel and determined to champion① the more radical aspects of the old master’s system. Although Marx desired a career as an academic at the time， his political sympathies prevented him from receiving a position in the state-controlled university system. Instead， Marx turned to journalism where his radical politics attracted the attention of Prussian censors. The publication for which he worked was shut down for its politically incorrect commentary， and the frustrated Marx traveled to Paris.
Paris in 1843 was an international center of social， political， and artistic activity and the gathering place of radicals and revolutionaries from all over Europe. In Paris Marx became involved with socialists and revolutionaries. Most significantly， though， it was in Paris that Marx met Friedrich Engels. Together， they began to develop the ideas which became Revoultionary Proletarian Socialism， or， as it is better known， Communism. Eventually， Marx was exiled from France in 1845 at the behest② of the Prussian government for antiroyalist writings.
After leaving Paris， Marx traveled to Belgium where he became involved with the Communist League. In 1847 the Communist League commissioned③ Marx and Engels to pen a statement of their beliefs and aims. This statement became the Communist Manifesto， which Marx zealously④ composed in anticipation the revolutions of 1848. When the revolution failed， Marx returned to Paris but soon left for London where he would remain for the rest of his life.
Things began to turn around for Marx in 1863 when French workers traveled to England in order to establish a federation of workingmen pledged to overthrow the economic status. Although Marx disagreed with many of the ideological factions in the group， he recognized the significance of this event and left his self-imposed exile to join them. Marx successfully insinuated⑤ himself into the leadership of the group. At last Marx had what he had desired since 1847； he had provided the intellectual foundation for a socialist movement over which he exercised full organizational control.
Marx’s satisfaction soon ended， however， as the Paris Commune of 1871， the first true instance⑥ of workers achieving power for themselves， turned into a bloody disaster. The anarchist supporters of Bakunin tried to wrest control of the International from Marx， and the struggle between Marx and the anarchists finally lead to the dissolution of the group in 1876.
Marx died in London in April 3， 1883， still awaiting the inevitable revolution which he had predicted.
① championv. 拥护，支持，为……而战
② behestn. 命令，指示
③ commissionn. (权限、任务等的)委任，委托
④ zealouslyadv. 热心地，积极地
⑤ insinuatev. 使逐渐而巧妙地取得，使迂回地
⑥ instancen. 例子，实例
卡尔·马克思
1818年5月5日，卡尔·马克思出生于德国的特里尔城一个宽裕的犹太人律师家庭里。马克思在父亲的引导下，享受着一种宽广的非宗教式的教育，并且找到了自己在知识方面的良师益友，他是一个普鲁士贵族，马克思时常和他一起，共同探讨着那个时代在文学和哲学方面的伟大人物。很显然的，正是他将早期法国的社会主义者圣西门的思想介绍给了年幼的马克思。
作为一名波恩大学和柏林大学的学生，马克思受到了黑格尔哲学思想的重大影响。在当时，马克思非常崇敬他所学习的一位黑格尔派教授，最终他发现自己对由一伙年轻学生组成的名为“青年黑格尔派”的团体甚感兴趣。这个组织深受黑格尔的鼓舞，决定为旧体制能够有一些更多激进方面的改变而战斗。虽然此时马克思渴望在学术方面谋取一个职业，但是他的政治立场，使他没有接受来自于州管大学辖管下的一个职位。取而代之的是，他转向了新闻工作，在那里，他那激进的政治主张引起了普鲁士检察官的注意。他为之工作的出版社，也因为它不合时宜的评论而倒闭了，沮丧的马克思只好去了巴黎。
1843年的巴黎，当时正是社会、政治和艺术活动的中心，也是来自全欧洲的激进者以及改革者们聚集的场所。在巴黎，马克思加入了社会主义者和革命者的队伍。更加重要的是，也正是在巴黎，马克思和恩格斯相遇了。他们在一起逐渐形成了后来演变成社会主义革命宣言的思想，亦即举世著名的共产主义思想。最终，在1845年，由于反皇家方面的文章，马克思在普鲁市政府的追击之下从法国流亡而去。
离开巴黎以后，马克思去了比利时，在那里，他加入了共产主义者同盟。1847年，共产主义者同盟委派马克思和恩格斯起草一个有关他们信念和目标方面的声明。这个声明后来成为了《共产党宣言》，这是在1848年革命前夕马克思积极创作而成的。当革命失败以后，马克思回到了巴黎，但是不久就去了伦敦，在那里他度过了余生。
1863年，对于马克思来说，似乎一切事情都有好转，当时，法国的工人们来到了英国，为了建立一个工人的联盟，誓言推翻经济现状。尽管马克思不赞成在这个组织内有如此多的小思想团体，但是他认识到这一事件的重要性，所以他甘冒流放的风险加入了他们。马克思很成功地让自己成了这一组织的领导者。最后，马克思得到了他自从1847年以来就渴望的东西，为可以充分行使组织控制的社会主义者运动提供了智力基础。
但是，不久，当1871年第一个属于工人自己的政权组织——巴黎公社演变成了一次悲惨的血案之后，马克思的得志之时便结束了。巴库宁无政府主义者试图从马克思手中夺取国际政权，马克思和无政府主义者之间的斗争，最终导致了这个组织在1876年解体。
1883年3月14日，马克思于伦敦去世，此时，他仍旧在等待一场必然的革命到来，正如他所期望的那样。