The Communist Manifesto the Prussian police. At their trial in Cologne 18 months later in late 1852 they were sentenced to 3–6 years' imprisonment. For Engels, the revolution was "forced into the background by the reaction that began with the defeat of the Paris workers in June 1848, and was finally excommunicated 'by law' in the conviction of the Cologne Communists in November 1852". After the defeat of the 1848 revolutions the "Manifesto" fell into obscurity, where it remained throughout the 1850s and 1860s. Hobsbawm says that by November 1850 the "Manifesto" "had become sufficiently scarce for Marx to think it worth reprinting
The Christian Manifesto urges Christians to accept the new communist reality, rather than to denounce their faith. The manifesto adopts the propagandistic language of the Chinese revolution resulting in overly optimistic and naive terms. It however failed to give the Chinese church any guidance concerning its future in China under the CPC. The manifesto implied that compliance would be rewarded and Chinese Christianity would prosper. In truth, the government would soon engage in persecution of many Christians. The manifesto was intended for both domestic and foreign audiences. The covering letter accompanying it states that its target audience is people outside the church and