Teaching Karl Marx in World History

Resources for introducing Karl Marx and communism in world history courses

5 May 2025 — 3 min read

Graffiti of Marx from Oaxaca Mexico. Source: Vice.

From page 107 of the AP World History Course and Exam Description.

Teaching Karl Marx and Communism in World History courses can be challenging. Both students and teachers bring many assumptions about who Marx was and what Communism means. It also doesn’t help that the English translations of the Communist Manifesto are often challenging for many high school students. Given that today (May 5) is Karl Marx’s birthday, I want to share a few resources to help teachers make teaching Marx and Communism more accessible for students.

The Resources

Afroeurasian Exchange Networks and the Spread of Religions before 1450

Extensive trade networks crisscrossed Afroeurasia before 1500. These networks facilitated more than the movement of goods; cultural traditions and technologies also spread through the networks. We can easily see this through the spread of the four most popular universal religions. The Source