The Peasant War in Germany

Interesting Facts

• The book is one of the first Marxist analyses of historical events, specifically the peasant wars in 16th-century Germany.
• Engels views the Peasant War as an early form of class struggle, analyzing the social and economic causes that led to the uprising.
• The book details the role of Thomas Müntzer, one of the leaders of the peasant movement, and his radical ideas that anticipated many principles of socialism.
• Engels uses historical material to illustrate the theory of historical materialism, showing how economic conditions influence social and political changes.
• The book was written in 1850, a period when revolutionary movements in Europe had failed, and Engels sought historical examples to analyze the reasons for the revolutions' failures.