ENGELS TO EMMA ADLER
IN VIENNA
London, 22 July 1891
Dear Mrs Adler,
This year, alas, nothing is likely to come of the trip to the Continent which I should dearly like to make, if only to come and see you at Lunz and convince you that I can indeed eat Austrian food, and with very good appetite, as Louise can testify; she never dresses a salad for me save after the Viennese fashion. But if I don't come and see you, there is, after all, another alternative. Perhaps you will accompany Victor to Brussels,[1] in which case we could make one another's acquaintance just as well here in London. Brussels is but a stone's throw from here, so what do you think? If, however, you should not go to Brussels, could you not authorise your husband to spend a few days over here to recuperate from the wear and tear of the world congress? That sort of thing is a tremendous strain, and spending a few days in London after it would greatly benefit his health.
The African Chief Justice, Sam Moore, has just arrived, and I must stop—do please come. Louise is sure to coax you into it—but if you cannot, then send your deputy.
Kisses to your dear children about whom Louise has told me so much.
Very sincerely yours,
F. Engels
- ↑ The International Socialist Workers' Congress met in Brussels, 16-22 August 1891. The 337 delegates represented the socialist parties and organisations and numerous trades unions in many European countries and the USA. By a majority vote the congress debarred the anarchists from taking part in its deliberations. Representatives of British trades unions attended. The American delegates included trades unionists, as well as socialists. The congress discussed labour legislation, strike action and boycott, militarism and the celebration of May Day. The resolution on the first question called on workers the world over to join forces for the fight against capitalist rule and, where workers possessed political rights, to use these to free themselves from wage slavery. The resolution on strikes and boycott recommended the workers to make use of these methods of struggle and stressed that trades unions were absolutely essential to the workers. The attitude of the working class to militarism was in the centre of the congress deliberations. Wilhelm Liebknecht's and Edouard Vaillant's reports on this issue and the draft resolution tabled by Liebknecht pointed out that militarism was an inevitable product of the capitalist system, that socialist society alone could put an end to it and bring about international peace and that the socialists were the true party of peace. The leader of the Dutch Social-Democrats, Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, who took a semi-anarchist stand, tabled an alternative resolution, under which socialists in all countries should, in the event of war, call on their respective people to proclaim a general strike. The vast majority of the delegates voted for the resolution tabled by Liebknecht. Referring to the resolutions of the Brussels Congress, Engels pointed out that 'in matters of principle as of tactics the Marxists have been victorious all along the line' (Engels to F.A. Sorge, 2 September 1891).