Introduction Karl Marx (1818-1883) and the scientific socialism associated with him is a comprehensive worldview that emerged from the social, economic, and political upheavals of 19th century Europe, transforming philosophical depth into a political action program. This process has intertwined with the exiles, poverty, and intellectual struggles in Marx's personal life. His thought has been shaped as a critical synthesis of German idealist philosophy, French revolutionary politics, and English classical political economy; after his death, it was systematized by his followers, notably Friedrich Engels, turning into a global movement. This narrative examines this multilayered establishment and rise process periodically. 1st Period: Philosophical and Political Formation (1818-1843) This first period is a painful formation phase in which Marx's intellectual journey, which began as a radical democrat and young Hegelian, evolved into an original materialist understanding through a confrontation with existing philosophical and political systems. Family, Education, and Early Intellectual Environment: Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in the city of Trier in Prussia, as the child of a lawyer father and an intellectual mother. The family, originally Jewish, had converted to Protestantism before Marx's birth due to the anti-Semitic laws of the time. This situation indirectly influenced Marx's early reflections on the social function of religion and the state. While studying law at the University of Bonn and later at the University of Berlin, he turned to philosophy and history. In Berlin, he joined the Young Hegelians (Doctor's Club), a circle that interpreted Hegel's legacy in a radical direction after his death. Prominent figures of this group, Bruno Bauer and Karl Friedrich Köppen, engaged in heated debates linking religious criticism to the criticism of the existing state. Doctoral Thesis and Journalism: Marx's doctoral thesis titled The Difference Between the Natural Philosophies of Democritus and Epicurus completed in 1841, shows his position within idealist philosophy. In the thesis, he implied a philosophical challenge against the existing order by addressing the themes of self-determination and individual freedom. When the conservative transformation in Prussia hindered his academic career, he began writing for a liberal opposition newspaper in Cologne, the Rheinische Zeitung , and soon became its editor-in-chief (1842-1843). This experience was a turning point in his life. For the first time, he faced the world of "material interests" directly through the practice of journalism: Discussions on Forest Theft: While commenting on the discussions in the Ren province assembly, he saw how laws that considered the collection of dry wood traditionally gathered by poor peasants as "theft" actually legitimized the interests of private property owners. He realized that the state, which Hegel viewed as a universal and rational entity, had transformed into an apparatus of concrete class interests. Writings on Mosel Vine Growers: Investigating the poverty of the vine growers in the region, Marx concluded that the source of the problem was not the malice of bureaucrats, but rather the structure of the state and property relations themselves. These practical experiences convinced him that it was impossible to comprehend the relationship between state and society through the abstract categories of Hegelian idealism. With the closure of the newspaper by the Prussian government in 1843, Marx reached both a personal and intellectual crossroads. During this period, he married his childhood love, Jenny von Westphalen. Despite coming from an aristocratic family, Jenny became Marx's greatest supporter and companion throughout his life. Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right (1843): This text, written during this turbulent period but not published during his lifetime, is the theoretical manifesto of Marx's transition from idealism to materialism. Here, he overturns Hegel's approach, which sees the family and civil society as determinations of the state. According to Marx, the state does not descend "from the sky to the earth"; rather, it is a product of civil society (that is, the realm of material life relations and conflicts of interest). The equality of man in political life is an illusion that covers the material inequality in civil society. This text concludes with the realization that it needs to analyze the "anatomy of economics" and determines the intellectual route that drags him to Paris, the heart of capitalism. 2nd Period: Transition to Revolutionary Materialism and Manifesto (1843-1848) This five-year stormy period is the most productive era in which Marx wrote the founding texts of modern socialism and systematized historical materialism together with Friedrich Engels. Paris: Encounter with the Proletariat and Engels Partnership: At the end of 1843, Marx left Germany and settled in Paris, where he made direct contact with the most vibrant labor movements of the time and various socialist/communist groups. He published the short-lived Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher magazine. Two articles published in this magazine herald his new worldview: "On the Jewish Question": By criticizing Bruno Bauer, he argued that political emancipation (the separation of the state from religion) is not the same as human emancipation, and that the real issue is the alienation in practical life, that is, the alienation in civil society where money and selfishness prevail. "Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Introduction": In this text, he proclaimed the material power of philosophy. When theory envelops the masses, it becomes a material power. While searching for the subject of a radical revolution in Germany, he discovered the proletariat, which "has nothing to lose but its chains" and represents universal suffering. Philosophy would be the spiritual weapon of the proletariat, and the proletariat would be the material weapon of philosophy. One of the most important events of this period is the initiation of a lifelong friendship and intellectual partnership with Friedrich Engels, who, like him, was German and vividly described the brutality of industrial capitalism in England in his work titled The Condition of the Working Class in England . 1844 Manuscripts and the Theory of Alienation: Known as the 1844 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts , these fragments, which were not published during his lifetime, represent Marx's first major confrontation with political economy. Here, he accepts the English political economists (Adam Smith, David Ricardo) but criticizes them for their assumption that private property is ahistorical and natural. He analyzes the four-dimensional alienation (Entfremdung) of labor under capitalism with philosophical depth: Alienation from the Product: The object produced by the worker becomes foreign to him and turns into a power that rules over him. Alienation from the Act of Production: Labor transforms into a forced, external, and painful activity; the worker does not feel at home while working. Alienation from Species-Being: The free and conscious productive activity that distinguishes humans from animals is reduced to a mere means of survival. Alienation from Other Humans: The social relationship between individuals turns into a conflict of interests and a relationship of alienated property owners. This work defines communism as "the complete abolition of the alienation of man from man" and the full realization of humanism, providing a profound ethical-philosophical foundation for Marx's later, more "scientific" works. Brussels and the Formulation of Historical Materialism: After being expelled from the French government, Marx and Engels moved to Brussels, where they wrote the massive unpublished work titled "The German Ideology" in 1845-46. This work represents a final confrontation with the Young Hegelians and particularly the intuitive materialism of Ludwig Feuerbach, offering the first comprehensive expression of new worldviews. Its fundamental propositions are as follows: It Is Not Consciousness That Determines Life, But Life That Determines Consciousness: The first historical action of humans is to produce their material lives. Thoughts, ideologies, religions, and forms of government stem from this material production process and the social relations it creates. Division of Labor and Forms of Property: Different stages of history (tribal, ancient, feudal, capitalist) are based on a certain level of division of labor and corresponding forms of property. Each mode of production carries its own internal contradictions. Class Struggle: The engine of history is the struggle between classes defined by their relationships to the means of production. The state is nothing but a form of managing the common interests of the ruling class. The Necessity of Revolution: The contradiction between productive forces and existing production relations necessitates the overthrow of the existing class through a revolution. Communism is not an ideal but a real movement that abolishes the current situation. Communist Manifesto (1848): The Poverty of Philosophy (1847) in which Marx criticizes Proudhon and clarifies his understanding of political economy, he was tasked with writing the program of the newly established Communist League. Published in February 1848, just before the revolutions that would shake all of Europe, the Communist Manifesto is the founding document of scientific socialism. This short but dense text consists of four main sections: Bourgeois and Proletarians: "The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles" opens with this sentence. It describes how the bourgeoisie has historically played an extremely revolutionary role, developing the productive forces to an unprecedented extent, but now has become unable to control these forces it has created and has produced its own gravediggers (the proletariat) through periodic crises. Proletarians and Communists: It states that the communists are not a separate party, but represent the general interests of the proletariat and theoretically carry their advantages. In this section, concrete goals such as the abolition of private property in a communist society and the end of the bourgeois family are listed. Socialist and Communist Literature: It ruthlessly criticizes other socialist movements of the time (reactionary, conservative bourgeois, critical-utopian socialism). It particularly criticizes utopians like Saint-Simon, Fourier, and Owen for rejecting class struggle and the independent political action of the proletariat. The Position of Communists Against Various Opposition Parties: It emphasizes the international character of the revolution and declares that while supporting tactical alliances suitable for specific conditions in each country, the ultimate goal is the political seizure of power. The last sentence of the manifesto becomes the strongest slogan of socialism: "Workers of the world, unite!" 3. Period: Years of Exile and the Anatomy of Capital (1849-1867) When the bourgeois character of the 1848 revolutions prevailed and failed throughout Europe, Marx went into exile in London, where he would live until the end of his life. This period was a time of terrible poverty for him, the death of his children, and relentless intellectual labor. Material Poverty and Theoretical Deepening: Living in poverty with his family in a two-room apartment in Soho, Marx was largely dependent on Engels' regular financial assistance during this period. Engels, reluctantly, continued to work at the family factory in Manchester to provide this support. Despite these financial difficulties, Marx began to investigate the laws of capitalism's operation in detail by isolating himself in the reading room of the British Museum. New York Tribune and other newspapers to make a living and analyzed glo