Letter to Johann Philipp Becker, December 21, 1876

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 21 December 1876


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVI, Moscow 1935
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 45


ENGELS TO JOHANN PHILIPP BECKER

IN GENEVA

London, 21 December 1876
122 Regent's Park Road

Dear Becker,

Have received your post card, the Précurseurs and two copies of the French address.[1] If you could send a few more copies of the same, they would be most welcome (in French,—we'd be sending them on to Paris); we shall be glad to pay for them as soon as we know how much, say, 20 copies would cost.

Herewith money order for 15 francs, of which 9 fr. for the amount still outstanding on the Stunden der Andachth and 6 fr. for two half-year subscriptions to the Précurseur for Marx and myself. You can send me both the numbers as this saves postage, and I can give Marx his. It's a very good thing that we have a French paper in Switzerland again; the Jurassians are hopelessly addicted to cliquism and calumny, and it will enable us to demonstrate that peace with them is an impossibility. I couldn't send you articles regularly because I don't want to tell lies, and all that can be said of the workers' movement here is that it has degenerated into Trades Unionism of the pettiest variety, and the self-styled leaders, not excepting Eccarius, are tailing after the liberal bourgeoisie in order to tout their services as agitators against the alleged Turkish atrocities,[2] and advocate the betrayal of the Balkan peninsula to the Russians in the interests of humanity and freedom.

The fact that De Paepe attended the Berne Congress[3] is wholly consistent with his previous attitude. Since the time of the Hague Congress[4] he had officially remained with the seceded Belgians,[5] but as leader of the opposition, and is now really doing some good by persuading the Flemings to come out in favour of universal suffrage and factory legislation. This is the first sensible thing that has been done in Belgium. Now the Walloon braggarts will also have to co-operate. But for our people in Germany to have fallen into the Jurassian trap was inexcusable. Bakuninist organs everywhere exulted to high heaven when it became known that the Germans would be sending delegates to the Congress.[6] Liebknecht knew exactly what he was doing; in reply to a question as to what we thought of the proffered conciliation and what position we would adopt, I had told him: no position at all[7] ; the fellows were just the same as they had always been, and if anyone wished to burn his fingers by having any truck with them, let him do so. And then they went and acted in this silly, gullible way, as though they were dealing with the most noble, honest men.

Have you had the New York, or rather Philadelphia, resolutions regarding the dissolution of the General Council[8] ? In case you haven't I am sending you a few copies; it might provide you people with fresh grounds for taking the thing in hand.

In Geneva an Italian and French paper is appearing under the aegis of the Terzaghi of whom we drew a character-sketch in our Alliance de la Démocratie Socialiste.[9] This person is now said to be abusing the Bakuninists. For, having long tolerated him, although he had already been denounced by us as a police spy, they were nevertheless eventually compelled to throw him out as such. He is simply a mouchard[10] while his henchman Bastelica is a Bonapartist agent—in Strasbourg he published an invocation to the French workers to restore the Empire.

There's nothing to be done in Italy, Bakuninists everywhere, and in Spain I no longer have any address, but may soon be sent one.

Kindest regards,

Your

F. Engels

  1. ↑ Johann Philipp Becker evidently sent Engels two copies of the circular 'Association Internationale des travailleurs. Réponse du Comité central des sections de langue allemande en Suisse à une lettre de la section de Zurich, concernant le congrès international de la secte des antiautoritaires, du 26 Octobre 1876 à Berne'. Engels received the German edition of the pamphlet containing this circular in October or November 1876 (see Note 219).
  2. ↑ In April 1876, a national liberation uprising began in Bulgaria. It was brutely suppressed by Turkish troops in May. The press in many countries expressed its indignation at the 'Turkish atrocities'.
  3. ↑ On the proposal of the anarchist Jura Federation, which withdrew from the International since it refused to recognise the resolutions of the Hague Congress (see Note 20), a congress of representatives of some workers' and socialist organisations (mostly anarchist and Proudhonist) took place in Berne from 26 to 30 October 1876. Since the International Working Men's Association had officially ceased to exist by decision of the conference held in Philadelphia in the summer of 1876, one of the issues discussed in Berne was the so-called solidarity pact that, or so the congress organisers hoped, would resurrect the International on the basis of their programme. In this connection, the participants in the Berne congress made an attempt to involve representatives of the German Social-Democrats in its work (see Note 192). A decision on this question was postponed until the next congress. However, the international socialist congress convened in Ghent in 1877 (see Note 324) turned down the anarchists' proposals and confirmed the resolutions of the Hague Congress.
  4. ↑ The Hague Congress (2-7 September 1872) of the International Working Men's Association was the most representative in its history. Present at the congress were 65 delegates from 15 countries. It took stock of the campaign against Bakuninism within the International and mapped out a programme of action suited to the new conditions that had emerged after the Paris Commune. Its main decision was to endorse the London Conference (1871) resolution on the political action of the working class concisely formulated as Art. 7 of the International's Rules. The congress also reached a number of decisions aimed at consolidating the Association's organisational structure.
    After the congress, the Bakuninists declared their disagreement with its resolutions, causing what amounted to a split in the International. The Hague Congress laid the foundation for future political parties of the working class in various countries.
  5. ↑ On 25 and 26 December 1872, Brussels was the venue for the congress of the International's Belgian Federation, at which the Bakuninists and Proudhonists had the majority. The congress rejected the resolutions of the Hague Congress (see Note 20) and declared its refusal to maintain relations with the General Council in New York. It further decided to accede to the resolutions passed by the international anarchist congress in St Imier (15 September 1872), which had openly declared a split in the International. In a resolution passed on 30 May 1873, the General Council stated that the Belgian Federation had thus placed itself outside the International Working Men's Association.
  6. ↑ The Berne anarchists sent an invitation to the Gotha Congress of the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany held in August 1876 to take part in their congress to be convened that October. The anarchists expressed their hope for a 'reconciliation' and co-operation with the German Social-Democrats. However, as Liebknecht wrote to Marx on 9 October, the Gotha Congress turned down the proposal that official representatives be sent to Berne. Julius Vahlteich was present at the anarchist congress as a guest from Germany (see Note 200).
  7. ↑ Engels' letter has not been found.
  8. ↑ The resolution to dissolve the General Council and the International Working Men's Association was adopted at the latter's conference held in Philadelphia on 15 July 1876. The documents of the conference were published as a pamphlet entitled Internationale Arbeiter-Association. Verhandlungen der Delegirten-Konferenz zu Philadelphia, 15. Juli 1876, New York, 1876.
  9. ↑ K. Marx and F. Engels, The Alliance of Socialist Democracy and the International Working Men's Association (see present edition, Vol. 23, pp. 499-501).
  10. ↑ informer