ENGELS TO FRIEDRICH ADOLPH SORGE
IN HOBOKEN
[London,] 29 October 1891
I was interrupted when on the point of asking you in my letter of Saturday 24 October[1] if you would from time to time send me a women's paper or magazine — from the bourgeois female's movement, needless to say. For the good of the working women's movement in Germany, Austria and over here, Louise is obliged to pay some slight heed to this stuff, too, and hence would very much like to take an occasional look at what these little ladies are up to in America.— Lafargue's prospects are rosy: 5,005 votes. Dépasse, Opportunist, 2,928; Bère (read Beer), also Opportunist, 1,246; Roche, Radical, 2,272. The latter stepped down in favour of Lafargue who has the support of the extreme Radicals in the Chamber.[2] — In Germany the party congress takes pride of place over everything.[3] The few intriguers who were chucked out will attract no one save a number of stuck-up little students — GOOD RIDDANCE!
Regards to your wife.[4]
Your
F.E.
- ↑ See this volume, p. 264.
- ↑ Engels means the 'Independent Socialists' in the Chamber of Deputies. Led by Etienne-Alexandre Millerand, the group consisted mostly of bourgeois radicals (see note 147) who had joined the socialist movement following the events in Fourmies (see Note 243) and formed the opportunist wing of the socialist faction in parliament. The 'Independent Socialists' supported Lafargue's candidature and demanded his release from prison (see this volume, pp. 269 and 274-75).
- ↑ The Erfurt Congress of the Social-Democratic Party of Germany met from 14 to 21 October 1891. It was attended by 258 delegates.
The congress was preceded by a sharp ideological struggle between the party's revolutionary hard core and the Right- and Left-wing opportunists, who had stepped up their activities and created the atmosphere of a party crisis in German Social-Democracy.
There had been sharp debates at meetings and in the press on the party's programme and tactics, set off by the public pronouncements of Georg von Vollmar, leader of the Bavarian Social-Democrats, who sought to impose an opportunist reformist tactics and lead the party away from class proletarian positions (see Note 270).
Vollmar's campaign provided a pretext for fresh attacks on the party (summer and autumn 1891) by the Jungen, a petty-bourgeois semi-anarchist opposition group within German Social-Democracy formed in 1890. Their stronghold being the Social-Democratic organisation of Berlin, they were also known as the Berlin opposition. The group's specific character was determined by students and young literati claiming the role of the party's theoreticians and leaders. Foremost among them were Paul Ernst, Hans Müller, Paul Kampffmeyer, Bruno Wille, Karl Wilderberger and Wilhelm Werner. The Jungen ignored the fact that the repeal of the Anti-Socialist Law had changed the conditions the party was operating in. They denied the need to employ legal forms of struggle, opposed Social-Democracy's participation in parliamentary elections and use of the parliamentary platform and demagogically accused the party and its Executive of protecting the interests of the petty bourgeoisie, of opportunism and of violating party democracy. The leaders of the Berlin opposition levelled especially fierce attacks at the party's leaders— Bebel and Liebknecht. The sectarian anarchist activities of the Jungen held a grave danger to the party's unity. The paramount task facing the Erfurt Congress was to overcome the crisis in the party and consolidate its ranks.
The congress discussed the report of the party Executive, the activities of Social-Democratic deputies in the Reichstag, the party's tactics, the draft of its new programme, and various organisational questions.
The ideological struggle continued at the congress too, especially over party tactics. A report on this issue was presented by Bebel. He — in his report and speeches — as well as other speakers (above all Singer, Liebknecht and Fischer) gave a resolute rebuff both to the Left and to the Right opportunist elements. By a majority vote the congress endorsed Bebel's draft resolution on tactics. It pointed out that the main objective of the working-class movement was the conquest of political power by the proletariat and that this end would be attained not through a chance concatenation of circumstances but through persevering work with the masses and skillful employment of every form and method of proletarian class struggle. The resolution emphasised that the German Social-Democratic Party was a fighting party employing the traditional revolutionary tactics. Vollmar and his supporters, finding themselves in isolation, were forced to retreat. The congress expelled two leaders of the Jungen — Werner and Wilderberger — from the party for their splitting activities and slander; a number of other Jungen leaders announced their resignation from the party and walked out of the congress.
The main achievement of the congress was the adoption of a new programme for German Social-Democracy. A report on it was presented by Liebknecht.
The Erfurt Programme being essentially Marxist, was an important step forward compared with the Gotha Programme. The Lassallean reformist dogmas had been dropped. The new programme scientifically substantiated the inevitability of the collapse of capitalism and its replacement with socialism, and pointed out that, in order to be able to restructure society along socialist lines, the proletariat must win political power.
At the same time, the programme had serious shortcomings, the principal one being its failure to state that the dictatorship of the proletariat was the instrument of the socialist transformation of society. Also missing were propositions concerning the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a democratic republic, the remoulding of Germany's political system and other important matters. In this respect, the criticisms made by Engels in A Critique of the Draft Social-Democratic Programme of 1891 (see present edition, Vol. 27, pp. 217-34) also apply to the version of the programme adopted in Erfurt.
The resolutions of the Erfurt congress showed that Marxism had firmly taken root in Germany's working-class movement.
- ↑ Katharina Sorge