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For significance during his life you could look at historical newspapers (there might be some free somewhere or your school might have a way to access) - I know for one that he was pretty unknown in Britain during his lifetime. But he may still get mentioned. (I am a historian of 1880s-1920s Britain, after he died, so I don’t know this super well but have some awareness) The last one I would google - I seem to remember there being an article in the guardian recently about the communist manifesto.

The first question would I imagine be answerable by reading some secondary sources on Marx and his life