Letter to Karl Kautsky, October 17, 1888

Author(s)	Friedrich Engels
Written	17 October 1888

First published in: Aus der Frühzeit des Marxismus. Engels Briefwechsel mit Kautsky, Prag, 1935
Published in England in full for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48

ENGELS TO KARL KAUTSKY

IN VIENNA

London, 17 October 1888

Dear Kautsky,

In reply to your letter, I can only begin by repeating what I have already written and told Louise,^[1] that my mind reels at the thought of what has happened between you two. If there had been any serious discord, this must have been apparent, however slightly, to us over here, particularly when you were at Dodwell with the Avelings. But no one noticed a thing—except Ede.

You yourself say that Louise likewise refused to admit as much and, in view of the remarkable magnanimity of which she has given proof throughout, I can only assume that she feels and believes what she says. However, it could be that you are both right. According to you, your dissatisfaction began over a year ago. That takes you back more or less to your time in Ventnor. Your relations never approved of your marriage. From my experience of my own family I know how difficult and, for a time, impossible, it is for parents to do justice to a daughter- or son-in-law who has come into the family against their wishes. For all that, the parents are conscious of having the best of intentions, the only result of which is, as a rule, to pave the streets of hell for their son- or daughter-in-law and, indirectly, for their own child. Every husband has something to criticise in his wife, and vice versa; that is as it should be. But as a result of well-meaning Ingerentz^[2] by third parties, this critical attitude may be exacerbated to the point of resentment if not lasting discord. If this is what has happened in your case, you are both of you right: Louise in saying that there is no cause for discord between you, you in saying that your relationship is, in fact, discordant.

But if the discord—no matter what the reason for it—was so grave that you seriously contemplated divorce, what you should have borne in mind above all was, I should say, the differing status of husband and wife in present-day conditions. No social stigma whatever attaches to the husband as a result of divorce; his position in life remains intact and he simply reverts to bachelorhood. The wife loses her status altogether; she has got to begin all over again and do so under more difficult circumstances. Hence, if a wife speaks of a divorce, the husband may beg or implore or do anything else he likes without demeaning himself, whereas if the husband so much as hints at a divorce, the wife, if she has any self-respect, is all but compelled to take him instantly at his word. It follows that only in an extreme case, only after mature reflection and when he is absolutely clear in his mind as to its necessity, should the husband take this extreme step, and then only in the most considerate manner possible.

Again, profound discord cannot occur without both parties being aware of it. And you know Louise well enough to realise that in such an event she would have been the first to release both herself and you. If, however, you were intent on making the first move, then surely you owed it to Louise to do so while in full command of your faculties and not in a state of euphoria such as you were in at St Gilgen, and which was destined to evaporate so soon.

Enough. As I have said, the thing's utterly inconceivable to all of us except Ede. While you were becoming dissatisfied with Louise, she was acquiring one friend after another here, and we were growing fonder of her every day, and envying you for being married to her. And I still maintain that this is the silliest thing you have ever done.

You say you think that you'll have to stay in Vienna. Of that you are, of course, the best judge. In your place I should feel impelled to withdraw for the time being into relative solitude, away from all the interested parties, in order to get a clear idea of the nature and implications of what has happened.

And that's enough of that. Your news about the state of the party in Austria is not particularly edifying, although hardly unexpected. Strife between nationalities is still too deeply engrained, even in the mass of the workers, to permit of a general surge forward, and that will take time. Of the 3 groups you mention, the Alpine provinces hardly come into it—except for Vienna, which I do not count. The chaps in Brno have the great advantage of being an international group. Finally, the bickering about leadership only goes to show—just as it does over here—that the masses as a whole are not yet in process of going over to the party, that everything's proceeding too slowly, which is why everyone tries to put the blame on someone else, while hoping that this or that panacea will produce better results.^[3] Your only course is to be patient, and I'm glad that I needn't have anything to do with the business.

I must now get down seriously to Volume III^[4] . Otherwise I'd do you something for the Neue Zeit about my experiences in America^[5] ; but I am unlikely to find the time—I have already spent more than a fortnight over correspondence, going through what has come in, etc. My sight has temporarily improved, but what it will be like when I have to go back into harness remains to be seen. I shall be seeing the eye specialist again tomorrow.

Your

F.E.

↑ See this volume, pp.223-25
↑ intervention
↑ Following their abortive attempts in the 1870s to form a party of their own, the Austrian Socialists remained split into several groups for many years. There were also anarchist and moderate radical groups besides the adherents of scientific socialism among them. The above groups were divided on such issues as the significance and nature of workers' political activity (specifically, the parliamentary struggle), the makeup of the party, ethnic problems, and so on. A reunification attempt was undertaken in Vienna in the first half of 1887. Of much significance in this respect was a party congress of the Czechoslovak Socialists late in 1887 which passed a decision on forming a single Social Democratic Party. The Austrian Social Democrats held their unity congress from 31 December 1888 to 1 January 1889 at Hainfeld. They put an end to the party's division into organisations representing separate lands and separate ethnic groups. The party programme adopted by the congress relied on Marxist postulates.
↑ of Capital
↑ Engels intended to write travel notes of his tour of the United States, as shown by an excerpt from Notes on My Journey Through America and Canada (see present edition Vol. 26), as well as by rough notes which Engels wrote in the latter half of September 1888, evidently, aboard the steamship City of New York. In them Engels planned to give his assessment of the country's social and political life. This intention was not realised.

[1] See this volume, pp.223-25

[2] tervention

[3] Following their abortive attempts in the 1870s to form a party of their own, the Austrian Socialists remained split into several groups for many years. There were also anarchist and moderate radical groups besides the adherents of scientific socialism among them. The above groups were divided on such issues as the significance and nature of workers' political activity (specifically, the parliamentary struggle), the makeup of the party, ethnic problems, and so on. A reunification attempt was undertaken in Vienna in the first half of 1887. Of much significance in this respect was a party congress of the Czechoslovak Socialists late in 1887 which passed a decision on forming a single Social Democratic Party. The Austrian Social Democrats held their unity congress from 31 December 1888 to 1 January 1889 at Hainfeld. They put an end to the party's division into organisations representing separate lands and separate ethnic groups. The party programme adopted by the congress relied on Marxist postulates.

[4] Capital

[5] Engels intended to write travel notes of his tour of the United States, as shown by an excerpt from Notes on My Journey Through America and Canada (see present edition Vol. 26), as well as by rough notes which Engels wrote in the latter half of September 1888, evidently, aboard the steamship City of New York. In them Engels planned to give his assessment of the country's social and political life. This intention was not realised.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]