Letter to Johann Philipp Becker, July 1, 1879

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 1 July 1879


First published in: F. Engels, Vergessene Briefe (Briefe Friedrich Engels' an Johann Philipp Becker), Berlin, 1920
Extract published in Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Correspondence (Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1975).
Published in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 45

Johann Philipp Becker (1809-1886) – prominent figure in German and international working-class movement, brush-maker, in 1830s and 1840s took part in democratic movement in Germany and Switzerland, was active in 1848-49 revolution, after defeat of Baden-Palatinate insurrection fled from Germany, in 1860s one of outstanding figures in First International, attended all its congresses, editor of Verbote, friend and close associate of Marx and Engels – Progress Publishers.

To Johann Philipp Becker in Geneva

London, 1 July 1879

Dear Old Man,

The new half year has brought me in some money and I therefore hasten to notify you that I have sent off a money order to you for £4 sterling=100 francs 80 centimes; you will doubtless get it straight after receipt of this letter. I hope it will be enough to relieve your chronic ill-luck, if only for a short spell. I wish we could do more than just offer you an occasional helping hand, but as you know, recent events have led to heavier demands from all sides.

It is quite understandable that Liebknecht's untimely meekness in the Reichstag[1] should have created a very unfavourable impression in Latin Europe as well as among Germans everywhere. And we expressed this immediately in our letter. The old comfortable way of leisurely agitation with an occasional six weeks' to six months' term in jail has come to an end in Germany once and for all. No matter how the present state of affairs may end, the new movement begins on a more or less revolutionary basis and must therefore be much more resolute in character than the first period of the movement, now past. The phrase about the peaceable attainment of the goal will either be no longer necessary or it will not be taken seriously any longer. By making this phrase impossible and thrusting the movement in the revolutionary direction Bismarck has rendered us a great service, outweighing the bit of damage occasioned by his interference with agitation.

On the other hand, as a result of the tame speech in the Reichstag the knights of the revolutionary phrase are again on their high horses and seek to disorganise the Party by cliquism and intrigues. The Workers Association here is the hub of all these machinations.[2] At the hub of these machinations is our local Workers' Society which still harbours braggarts of '49 vintage, à la Weber, Neustadt an der Hardt and family. After the revival of the movement in Germany, the people over here had lost such significance as they may still have possessed in the years 1840-62; now they see an opportunity of pushing their way to the top. Even in recent years young Weber, one Kaufmann and others have constituted themselves the central committee of the European-American working men's movement on at least six occasions, but have always been obstinately ignored by the irreverent world. Now they intend to force it through and have discovered an ally in Most. The Freiheit is shouting for revolution by fire and sword which, for the worthy Most, is, of course, a quite unprecedented pleasure in which he could never before have allowed himself to indulge. Moreover, it has grossly exaggerated the goings-on in the Reichstag and made them a pretext for disrupting the party and forming a new one. This is to exploit the present exigency and enforced silence in Germany for the benefit of a few nitwits whose ambition is notably disproportionate to their capabilities—and if, as we have heard, Most has let it be known that he has our support, then he is lying. Since he embarked on this role he's kept well out of sight. Au fond it's as well that he should unmask himself like this, thus ruining any prospects he might subsequently have in Germany; he is not without talent, but horribly vain, undisciplined and ambitious, and so it's better that he should go and put his foot in it. Come to that, the Freiheit won't, presumably, survive much longer, and then all this will quietly relapse into oblivion.

With most cordial regards from Marx and

Your

F. E.

  1. ↑ Engels is alluding to the speech which Liebknecht made in the Reichstag on 17 March 1879, when a minor state of siege was imposed on Berlin and environs. In the course of the speech Liebknecht said that the Socialist Workers Party would keep within the limits of the Anti-Socialist Law since it intended to attain its aim by reforms, adding that a 'violent' revolution was an absurdity. The speech reflected the uncertainty with which some of the German Social-Democratic leaders approached tactical questions in the first months following the introduction of the Anti-Socialist Law. The Anti-Socialist Law (Exceptional Law against the Socialists) was introduced by Bismarck and approved by the majority in the Reichstag on 21 October 1878. The law banned all organisations of the Socialist Workers Party of Germany and all working-class mass organisations as well as the socialist and workers' press. But during the period the Anti-Socialist Law was in force the party, with the help of Marx and Engels, was able to overcome opportunist and leftist trends within its ranks, and succeeded in strengthening and extending its influence among the masses by combining underground work with a wide use of the legal opportunities. The growing workers' movement compelled the government to repeal the Exceptional Law on 1 October 1890 – Progress Publishers.
  2. ↑ The reference is to the London German Workers Educational Association founded in February 1840 by Schapper, Moll and other members of the League of the Just. When the First International was formed the Association became its German section – Progress Publishers.