The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte is a long essay by Karl Marx about the December 1851 coup that ended the Second Republic of France, turning President Louis Bonaparte into Emperor Napoleon III. It was originally written and published in 1852, just a year after Napoleon III came to power. The title refers to the new calendar that was used for several years after the French Revolution of 1789 and the day of the coup. In the essay, Marx mocks the newly crowned emperor while at the same time offering an explanation for why the Revolution of 1848—which created the Second Republic—eventually led instead to a new imperial monarchy within a few years. By describing this story, Marx also lays out his own ideas of how economics and production drive society and history.

Other works by this author include Das Kapital, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, and Wage Labour and Capital & Value, Price and Profit.

This guide is based on the 1972 Progress Publishers edition.

Summary

Karl Marx opens his essay with one of his most famous quotes: “Hegel remarks somewhere that all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice.