Karl Marx

These efforts and those of his many collaborators culminated in 1864 when the First International was established in London. Marx made the inaugural address, wrote the statutes of the International and subsequently directed the work of its general council or governing body. After the suppression of the Commune, in which members of the First International participated, the International declined, and Marx recommended moving its headquarters to the United States. The last eight years of his life were marked by an incessant struggle with physical ailments that impeded his political and literary labors. Manuscripts and notes found after his death revealed that he had projected a fourth volume of Das Kapital to comprise a history of economic doctrines; these fragments were edited by the German socialist Karl Johann Kautsky and published under the title Theories of Surplus Value (4 volumes, 1905-1910; translated 1952). Other works planned and not executed by Marx included mathematical studies, studies embodying applications of mathematics to economic problems, and studies on the historical aspects of various technological developments.
             V Influence .
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             Marx's influence during his life was not great. After his death it increased with the growth of the labor movement. Marx's ideas and theories came to be known as Marxism, or scientific socialism, which constitutes one of the principal currents of contemporary political thought. His analysis of capitalist economy and his theories of historical materialism, the class struggle, and surplus value have become the basis of modern socialist doctrine. Of decisive importance with respect to revolutionary action are his theories on the nature of the capitalist state, the road to power, and the dictatorship of the proletariat. These doctrines, revised by most socialists after his death, were revived in the 20th century by Vladimir Ilich Lenin, who developed and applied them.