Letter to Karl Marx, December 3, 1863

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 3 December 1863


First published in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 3, Stuttgart, 1913
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 41


ENGELS TO MARX

IN LONDON

Manchester, 3 December 1863

Dear Moor,

Herewith U/O 16055 & 56, two fivers, in all £10, dated Manchester, 13 Jan. '63, for your trip to Trier. I trust our compatriots' Schleswig-Holstein enthusiasm won't spoil your visit too much. I've swotted up the whole question[1] and have come to the conclusion

1. that the Schi.-Holst, theory is a lot of rubbish; 2. that in Holstein the Augustenburg fellow would certainly seem to be in the right[2] ;

3. that in Schleswig it's difficult to say who is entitled to succeed—but the male line, if at all, only as Denmark's vassal;

4. that the London Protocol is certainly valid in Denmark, but is certainly not so in Schleswig and Holstein because the Estates were not consulted;

5. that the German right to Schleswig is confined to the south, which is German by nationality and free choice, so that Schleswig would have to be partitioned;

6. that at present Germany's only chance of liberating the Duchies lies in our starting a war against Russia for the benefit of Poland. Then Louis Napoleon would be our obedient servant, Sweden would instantly throw herself into our arms, and England, hoc est[3] Pam, would be hamstrung; then we could take anything we liked from Denmark with impunity.

THEM IS MY SENTIMENTS. I'd like to enlarge upon them in a pamphlet, if you could find a publisher for it in Germany.

Needless to say, I'd put my name to it. Qu'en dis-tu?[4]

Lupus is better, but still a bit unsteady on his pins. Many regards to the FAMILY. I was damned glad to see your scratchy scrawl again.

Your

F. E.

  1. ↑ The Schleswig-Holstein question was prominent in nineteenth-century European diplomacy. The Congress of Vienna (1815) recognised the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to be possessions of Denmark in personal union with the Danish King. At the same time, Holstein was declared a member of the German Confederation. During the 1848-49 revolution, an anti-Danish national liberation movement developed in the duchies which was, however, defeated.
    At a conference in London attended by representatives of Austria, Britain, Denmark, France, Russia and Sweden, a protocol on the Danish succession was signed on 2 August 1850 which proclaimed the indivisibility of the Danish Crown possessions, including the two duchies. This document formed the basis for the London Protocol of 8 May 1852 on the integrity of the Danish monarchy (see Note 380).
    Denmark's attempts to fully subject the duchies aggravated Danish-Prussian relations and were exploited as a pretext for intervention by Prussia, which regarded the reunification of Schleswig and Holstein with Germany as the first step towards the union of Germany under Prussia's aegis.
  2. ↑ This refers to Friedrich of Augustenburg. On 30 December 1852 his father, Christian of Augustenburg, renounced the Danish throne in favour of Christian IX. However, after the death of Frederick VII (see Note 557) Friedrich of Augustenburg on 16 November 1863 proclaimed himself Duke of Schleswig and Holstein as Frederick VIII.
  3. ↑ in other words
  4. ↑ What do you say to that?