Friedrich Engels (inventor of Communism) Lied

The inventor of Communism 'exaggerated' class divides in Victorian Britain before condemning the 'cruelty' of capitalism, study finds

It is an ideology that continues to grip millions, not least because of its piercing critique of capitalism.

And Communism's founders, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, used the social conditions they saw in Britain to form the theory that still entices so many despite the blood spilled in its pursuit. 

But now, a study has found Engels was wide of the mark when he said that Victorian Manchester typified the 'cruelty' of Capitalism.

University of Cambridge historian Emily Chung discovered that the city was not nearly as divided into rich and poor enclaves as Engels had suggested.

Instead, the so-called 'slums' in Manchester housed wealthy doctors and engineers who lived alongside poorer neighbours.

Engels, who lived and worked in Manchester on and off for more than 20 years, had described a commercial core encircled by 'unmixed working-peoples' quarters, then the 'middle bourgeoisie' and further beyond, the upper classes. 

But Ms Chung said: 'Manchester's wealthier classes did not confine themselves to town houses in the city centre and suburban villas, as we've been led to believe.

'I found doctors, engineers, architects, surveyors, teachers, managers and shop owners living in the same buildings as poor weavers and spinners.' 

A study has found that the co-founder of Communism 'exaggerated' class divides in Victorian Britain. Above: An 1838 print showing people in and outside a terraced house in Manchester, above and below street level

She added in additional comments to The Guardian: 'I wouldn't go as far to as to say Engels was wrong. I think what my research shows is that Engels exaggerated and took creative liberties.' 

Many historians had relied on Engels' account, which he laid out in his 1844 book The Condition of the Working-Class in England.

Engels went on to co-write The Communist Manifesto with Marx. The book, published in 1848, ended with the now-famous words: 'Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains'.

Ms Chung used ordnance survey maps, commercial directories and data from the digitised 1851 census to precisely map where people from different social classes actually lived in Manchester. 

Her study, published in The Historical Journal,  shows that more than 60 per cent of buildings housing the wealthiest classes also housed unskilled labourers.

And more than 10 per cent of the population in Manchester's 'slums' belonged to wealthier employed classes.

Ms Chung, a PhD researcher at St John's College, Cambridge, continued: 'Segregation in cities remains a major concern in many parts of the world, including Britain, so understanding what people experienced in Manchester, one of the world's first industrialised cities, is really important.

'It teaches us that where we live matters, but other factors can be even more influential.

Engels was wide of the mark when he said that Victorian Manchester typified the 'cruelty' of Capitalism

'How people work, shop and relax divides social groups and can even make them invisible.'

Ms Chung spent eight months pinpointing buildings using known landmarks, including pubs, to guide her, mapping up to 700 buildings per day - which AI technology isn't yet capable of doing accurately.

She also found that the commercial district to Manchester's south-west was 'significantly more socially diverse' than residential zones of the city to the north and east.

But even in 'notorious' Ancoats - the main working-class slum which appalled Engels - around 10 per cent of the population belonged to the wealthier employed classes.

Across the city, the working-class represented an average of 79.3 per cent of the population.

When she zoomed in on individual buildings, she found that more than 60 per cent which housed the wealthiest occupational classes also housed unskilled labourers.

Ms Chung said: 'This was a big surprise.

'I started with the city centre and I thought the pattern might end there but as I moved onto the next part of Manchester, I kept finding this mixing.

Union Street Mill, Ancoats, Manchester. Ancoats appalled Engels, but Ms Chung's research found around 10 per cent of the population in the area belonged to the wealthier employed classes

'The most exciting moment was discovering that one in 10 people living in Ancoats, the notorious working-class slum, were middle-class.'

She added: 'Middle-class Mancunians might have seen their homes as stepping stones to something better.

'But architects and shop owners also valued the convenience of living close to where they worked. Commuter trains weren't popular yet.'

Ms Chung's research does show though that people of different classes were separated by lifestyles.

Semi-skilled and unskilled workers put in twelve-hour days, six days a week, meaning they were often trapped inside, while wealthier people were free to move around the city working, shopping and socialising

And the middle classes were increasingly drawn to church while the city's 600 pubs had a far greater pull on the working classes.

Ms Chung says one mystery that remains is how multiple families from different classes shared outdoor 'privvy' toilets.

She said 'Annoyingly, this isn't something that people wrote about at the time.

'I suspect that the middle classes still used chamber pots so they weren't so reliant on shared privvies.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15215637/The-inventor-Communism-exaggerated-class-divides-Victorian-Britain-condemning-cruelty-capitalism-study-finds.html