Letter to Natalie Liebknecht, December 19, 1870

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 19 December 1870


First published in Die Neue Zeit, Bd. 2, Nr. 6, Stuttgart, 1915
Printed according to the original
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44


ENGELS TO NATALIE LIEBKNECHT

IN LEIPZIG

London, 19 December 1870 122 Regent's Park Road, N.W.

Dear Mrs Liebknecht,

We have just received the news that Liebknecht, Bebel and Hepner were arrested yesterday.[1] It is the revenge of the Prussians for the moral defeats suffered by the Prussian Empire at the hands of Liebknecht and Bebel even before it was born. We all rejoiced here at the courageous behaviour of both of them in the Reichstag under circumstances where it was really no small achievement to put forward our views freely and defiantly. We suppose that their arrest was motivated above all by petty revenge and the wish to destroy the paper[2] as well as to make their re-election impossible. The indictment for high treason will turn out to be pure moonshine. But the Prussian gentlemen may well be greatly mistaken, for in view of the really admirable reaction of the German workers which has even compelled that swine Schweitzer to acknowledge the leadership of Liebknecht and Bebel, this coup de force may well completely miss the target, and rather provoke the opposite to what was intended. The German workers have displayed an understanding and energy during the war which puts them at the head of the European workers' movement at a stroke, and you will appreciate the sense of pride with which we witness it.

However, we also have the duty to make sure, as best we can, that our arrested friends and their families in Germany do not suffer need, especially at this time when the approaching Christmas season is in any case being so bitterly spoilt for them. We have therefore taken the liberty of enclosing a £5 note of the Bank of England 'B/10, 04841, London, 12 October 1870' and would ask you to share it with Mrs Bebel.

We also enclose 7 thalers collected by the local German Workers' Educational Society[3] and intended for the families of the Brunswickers who have been arrested. Might I ask you to sign and return the enclosed receipt for the latter, so that it may be returned to the Society as proof that Marx has duly forwarded it.

My wife[4] is a revolutionary Irishwoman and so you can imagine the rejoicings at home here yesterday on hearing the news that the condemned Fenians had been amnestied—albeit in the shabbiest, most Prussian of ways.[5] And then to have to hear of the arrest of our friends in Germany immediately afterwards!

Farewell, dear Mrs Liebknecht, and do not lose heart. The Prussians, and the Russians, their masters, have started something that they will be unable to finish.

With my warmest sympathy,

Yours,

Frederick Engels

The Marx family sends its best regards to you and fond greetings to the children.

  1. ↑ On 26 November 1870, when the North German Reichstag discussed the question of granting credits for the continuation of the war against France, Bebel and Liebknecht spoke against credits and for a speedy peace treaty with the French Republic without annexations. On 17 December, after the Reichstag session had drawn to a close, Bebel, Liebknecht and Hepner were arrested and charged with high treason.
  2. ↑ Der Volksstaat
  3. ↑ The German Workers' Educational Society in London was founded in February 1840 by Karl Schapper, Joseph Moll and other members of the League of the Just. The Society's leaders played a prominent part in founding the Communist League (1847). In 1847 and 1849-50, Marx and Engels took an active part in the Society's work, but on 17 September 1850 Marx, Engels and a number of their followers temporarily withdrew because the sectarian and adventurist faction led by August Willich and Karl Schapper had increased its influence in the Society. In the late 1850s Marx and Engels resumed their work in the Society. When the International was established the Society became its German Section in London and from late 1871 it was a section of the British Federation. The German Workers' Educational Society in London existed until 1918, when it was closed down by the British Government.
  4. ↑ Lydia Burns
  5. ↑ On 19 December 1870 The Times published Gladstone's letter, dated 15 December, which announced an amnesty of the condemned Fenians. However, this amnesty was hedged round with numerous reservations, which caused Engels to compare it with the shabby amnesty of political prisoners announced in Prussia in January 1861 on the occasion of William I's accession to the throne.