The Leader

The German philosopher Karl Marx is the subject of The Leader, which centers on his relationships with Jenny von Westphalen and Friedrich Engels, as well as his political and economic views. Marx was referred to as "a great man standing upright between heaven and earth, whose ideological system developed during his entire life aroused all sleeping proletariat around the world and greatly influenced the historical evolution of the world" in a press statement. He was also described as "an ordinary man of flesh and blood," whose relationship with Engels and affection for Jenny "became legendary." Marx's life is portrayed in the series up until his college years, when his ideology switches from Kantianism to Hegelianism, after he graduates from Trier High School in 1835. The portrayal includes his early involvement with the Young Hegelians and his work for the Rheinische Zeitung. Also depicted are Marx's exiles and conflicts over ideas with Ludwig Feuerbach, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and others. Marx's involvement in the International Workingmen's Association and his clashes with Mikhail Bakunin are highlighted, along with an examination of his family's poverty. His passing and the effects of his ideals on the entire planet are the series' climax.