Karl Marx posited that the economic base of society shapes its superstructure, including ideology. He argued that the ruling class uses this dominant ideology to justify their position and maintain control over the proletariat, effectively obscuring the reality of exploitation.

Karl Marx used the term 'alienation' (Entfremdung) to describe the condition of workers in a capitalist society. He argued that the division of labor and the nature of industrial production separate individuals from the products they create, the process of production, their fellow human beings, and ultimately from their own human essence.

Marx argued that in capitalist societies, the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat by paying them less than the value of the goods they produce. This difference, known as surplus value, is the source of profit for the capitalist class, distinguishing capitalist exploitation from the direct labor extraction found in feudal or slave-based systems.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a profound influence on Karl Marx. Marx adopted Hegel's dialectical method, which posits that history progresses through the conflict of opposing forces (thesis and antithesis resulting in synthesis). However, Marx famously 'turned Hegel on his head' by shifting the focus from the dialectic of ideas (idealism) to the dialectic of material conditions and economic structures (materialism).

The 'relations of production' refer to the social and economic relationships that people enter into as they acquire and use the means of production. In capitalist societies, this specifically defines the relationship between the bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (workers).

Marx argued that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. He posited that the inherent contradiction between the bourgeoisie (who own the means of production) and the proletariat (who sell their labor) creates a fundamental conflict that drives social change and historical evolution.

Marxist theory posits that human history is defined by class struggle. Marx argued that capitalism, characterized by the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie, contains internal contradictions that will inevitably lead to its collapse. He predicted that this would be followed by a transition to socialism and eventually communism, a classless society where the means of production are collectively owned, thereby ending the cycle of class-based oppression.

In Marxist theory, the proletariat refers to the working class who do not own the means of production (factories, land, tools). Consequently, they must sell their labor power to the bourgeoisie, the ruling class who own the means of production, in exchange for wages.

The Communist Manifesto, authored by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was published in February 1848. It serves as one of the world's most influential political manuscripts, outlining the history of class struggle and the inevitable rise of the proletariat.

Marx theorized that capitalism contains inherent contradictions that would eventually lead to its downfall. He predicted that the proletariat would overthrow the bourgeoisie, resulting in a transition to socialism, a system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and the eventual elimination of class distinctions.