This
paper explains that Karl Marx's character came from his experiences as a child. As a convert, a lofty Christian idealism
paved his way into philosophical study, but the Prussian authorities' unwarranted suspicion of his father, who was a lawyer, a constitutionalist, a democrat, and a Jew, led young Karl to consider, with discontent, the structure of government. The author points out that, although Marx studied under Hegel, the greatest influence in his life was his longtime friend, Friedrich Engels, who introduced Marx to many of the works of influential economists of the time, which would help him shape his economic and human philosophy. The
paper relates that Vladimir Lenin extended Marxism and made it more comprehensible for the
masses, augmenting it into Marxist-Leninism. Without Karl Marx, there probably would never have been a Russian Revolution.