Letter to the Editor of La Liberté, March 12, 1872

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 12 March 1872


First published in La Liberté No. 11, March 17, 1872
Printed according to the newspaper
Translated from the French
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 23
Collection(s): La Liberté

London, March 12, 1872

Dear Sir,

In the book by Citizen G. Lefrançais, Sur le mouvement communaliste, which only came to my attention a few days ago, I find on page 92 the following passage:

"The letter subsequently written to Citizen Serraillier by Karl Marx, the principal inspirer of the German section of the International, on the subject of the elections of February 8, in which he criticises with some bitterness the intervention of the French section in these elections, is sufficient evidence that rightly or wrongly the International was then reluctant to become involved in active politics."

Immediately after the publication of my alleged letter to Serraillier I declared in The Times, the Courrier de l'Europe, the Zukunft of Berlin, etc., that this letter was a fabrication of the Paris-Journal[1] From his part, Serraillier publicly denounced the police journalist who was the true author of this letter. Since almost all the organs of the International and even some Parisian newspapers have taken note of our statements, I am really astonished to see Citizen Lefrançais publicly endorse the falsehood circulated by Henri de Pêne.

Yours faithfully,

Karl Marx

  1. ↑ On March 14, 1871, the French reactionary Paris-Journal stated in its article "Le Grand Chef de l'International" that it had at its disposal Marx's letter to Auguste Serraillier which testified to the contradictions between the French and German members of the International; on March 19, the forged letter was published in the newspaper. The libel of the French press was taken up by the London newspapers, The Times included. It was refuted at the General Council meeting of March 21, 1871, and also in a special letter to the editor of The Times drafted by Marx and Engels (see present edition, Vol. 22, p. 285) and Marx's statement to the editor of Der Volksstaat (ibid., pp. 288-90). Moreover, the Paris-Journal provocative fiction was exposed in the Courrier de l'Europe on March 18 by Serraillier.