SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



The compelling motive for the ideal aims of the 

 proletariat is the class struggle. The evolution 

 of capitalist production determines the form and 

 trend of this class struggle. And the slogan of 

 the revolutionary proletariat is henceforth no 

 longer " Lord help us ! " but " Proletarians of all 

 countries, unite ! " 



In 1848, it was only a small group of proleta- 

 rians who responded to this cry. The hour for 

 the realization of the proletarian revolution had 

 not yet come. This revolution flared up in a few 

 fitful outbreaks, and then settled down to its 

 logical historical course. But a few far-seeing 

 men welcomed the new message with enthusiasm 

 and devoted themselves to its propagation in the 

 spirit of its authors. 



One of the first to realize the importance of 

 'the Marxian theories was Ferdinand Lassalle, a 

 German lawyer, who, significantly enough, had 

 also oriented himself first by a study of the 

 Grecian philosophers. He hailed Marx as a 

 " socialist Ricardo and an economist Hegel," and 

 sprang into the political arena of Germany with 

 all the impetuousness of youth, to carry these 

 theories into practice and realize the union be- 

 tween science and the working class. His " Open 

 Letter," written in reply to a request for informa- 



