Karl Marx's quote suggests that democracy is a required action in the procedure of achieving socialism. He believed that democracy was a necessary part of the transition from industrialism to socialism, as it would enable the people to have a say in the choices that impact their lives. He likewise thought that democracy was a needed part of the struggle for social justice and equality.
"Britain, which in the years immediately before this war was rapidly losing such democratic virtues as it possessed, is now being bombed and burned into democracy"