Letter to Paul Lafargue, December 9, 1871

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 9 December 1871


First published in: F. Engels, P. et L. Lafargue, Correspondance, t. I, Paris, 1956
Published in English for the first time in: Frederick Engels, Paul and Laura Lafargue, Correspondence, Vol. I: 1868-1886, Moscow, 1959
Published in English in: Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 44


ENGELS TO PAUL LAFARGUE

IN SAN SEBASTIAN

London, 9 December 1871
122 Regent's Park Road, N.W.

My dear Lafargue,

Herewith a line or two on matters in Spain. There must have been internal struggles within the Spanish International, struggles that were finally decided in our favour. That, in my view, explains their continued silence and the resolution finally taken to break it. I had written to Mora on the 25th,[1] on the 28th Mesa wrote to you[2] and on the 29th Mora wrote me a letter saying they knew nothing about the calumnies and intrigues against the General Council I had mentioned to him, etc. However, the first of the two issues of La Federation that subsequently reached us carried the resolutions passed at the Conference,[3] and the second an article on resolution No. IX reprinted from the Emancipaciôn, and with this we have every reason to be satisfied.[4] Mesa's letter is even more explicit. In Spain, then, we have won our case. I replied to Mora immediately and trust that everything will go well from now on.

Come to that, the others had done their work well and, as usual, had had recourse to some pretty vile methods. La Revolution sociale of 23 November published an article which had appeared in the Barcelona Federaci&n of 19 November to the effect that the emissary of the Swiss dissidents, etc., had arrived down there and that the Barcelona sections, having satisfied themselves of the revolutionary character of the dissidents' principles, etc., had accepted the offer of alliance made by these people. We have looked through the relevant issue of La Federation but cannot find the article. The issue of 3 December provides the explanation: it says that the article did not reflect the opinion of the sections or even of one section, but only that of one solitary editor of the paper, who had slipped it in behind the backs of the editorial committee!

The victory won in Spain has much reduced the field of conflict. There remain only the French branch, which is not recognised here (15 members),[5] the Geneva branch, the Jurassians, who are avowed adversaries, and the Italians, whose attitude is doubtful. But I have been working hard at Italy and we have now begun to shift the battleground; from private intrigue and correspondence we are moving into the public arena. Mazzini has given us an excellent opportunity, for in an article in his paper he has made the International responsible for Bakunin's words and deeds. So here was a chance to attack Mazzini and disavow Bakunin at one and the same time. I did so forthwith and sent the article to all our Italian journals.[6] Some at least will publish it, but others are, I fear, too much hand-in-glove with Bakunin to do so. But with this article I have advised all of them of the adherence of the Spaniards to the Conference and of the progress of the International in Spain reported by Mesa. That will have an effect; they will see that the others have been telling them nothing but lies about Spain. In fact their policy was to win Spain over by telling her that Italy was unanimously on their side and vice versa. We may still have a few unpleasantnesses in Italy, but the decision of the Spaniards to come over to our side will decide the matter—UPON THE WHOLE—all along the line. As to the CANTANKEROUS Jurassians, we shall go for them in the very near future.[7]

I shall be much relieved when all this business has been settled once and for all. You wouldn't believe how much work, correspondence, etc., all this has caused us. For weeks past Moor, Serraillier and I have been unable to turn to anything else. And I, poor devil, have had to write long letters, one after the other, in Italian and Spanish, two languages I scarcely know!

In France we are doing famously. Twenty-six journals have offered to publish our documents.

It is devilish cold here and you should be glad to be spending the winter in a warm climate. Otherwise we are keeping well, likewise the Marx family. Compared with their condition last winter, Moor's health, as also Jenny's,[8] has greatly improved. Moor is no longer coughing so much; he has had a small abscess below the shoulder but the carbunculosis has cleared up and not returned. His liver will never revert to a normal condition at his age, but is working a good deal better than before, and Moor, and this is the main thing, is leading a more sensible existence. Jenny, after the repeated attacks of pleurisy she has been through, will probably suffer permanently from mild emphysema, but she is beginning to understand that she must cosset herself a little and not try to harden herself, in good time, as she used to say, to the cold and the bad weather. She is singing again and her voice is stronger and clearer than ever before.

I learned with great pleasure of the recovery of little Schnaps.[9]

Give him a kiss from me—likewise one for your wife.[10]

Yours ever,

F. E.

  1. ↑ This letter by Engels has not been found.
  2. ↑ Mesa's letter to Lafargue of 28 November 1871 was forwarded by Lafargue to Marx on 3 December. Mesa wrote that the Spanish Federal Council regarded abstention from voting at elections as the only possible way for the proletariat to separate from the bourgeoisie and to form its own, independent party.
  3. ↑ K. Marx and F. Engels, 'Resolutions of the Conference of Delegates of the International Working Men's Association Assembled at London from 17th to 23rd September 1871'.
  4. ↑ A reference to the article 'La politica de la Internacional', published in La Emancipation, No. 24, 27 November 1871. In the article the editorial board approved the London Conference resolution 'Political Action of the Working Class', but said that the policy of abstaining from political struggle was, for a time, a necessary measure in Spain. The article was reproduced in La Federation on 3 December 1871 (No. 120), and, slighdy abridged, in L'Egalité, No. 24, 24 December 1871.
  5. ↑ The French Section of 1871 was formed in London in September of that year by French refugees. The leaders of the Section established close contacts with Bakuninists in Switzerland. The Rules of the French Section of 1871, published in Qui Vivel, its official newspaper, were submitted to the General Council at its extraordinary meeting on 16 October 1871 and referred to a special commission (see Note 341). At the General Council meeting of 17 October Marx tabled a resolution on behalf of the commission (present edition, Vol. 23, pp. 24-27), recommending that the Section bring several paragraphs of its Rules into line with the Rules of the International. In its letter of 31 October signed by Augustin Avrial, the Section rejected the General Council resolution. This reply was discussed in the commission and at the General Council meeting of 7 November 1871. Auguste Serraillier, Corresponding Secretary for France, submitted a resolution written by Marx, which was adopted unanimously by the Council (see present edition, Vol. 23, pp. 37-42). In December 1871 the French Section of 1871 split up into a number of groups. In some of his letters Marx called this section French Section No. 2 to distinguish it from the French Section in London, established in 1865 (see Note 50).
  6. ↑ A reference to the 'Declaration Sent by the General Council to the Editors of Italian Newspapers Concerning Mazzini's Articles about the International' written by Engels (see present edition, Vol. 23). It was written in reply to Mazzini's articles 'Documenti sull'internazionale' published in La Roma del Popolo, No. 38, 16 November; No. 39, 23 November, and No. 41, 7 December 1871.
  7. ↑ From mid-January to early March 1872 Marx and Engels wrote 'Fictitious Splits in the International. Private Circular from the General Council of the International Working Men's Association' (see present edition, Vol. 23). Marx set forth its principal propositions at the meeting of the General Council on 5 March 1872.
    The circular was issued as a pamphlet in French at the end of May 1872; it was signed by all members of the General Council and sent to all federations of the International.
  8. ↑ Marx's daughter
  9. ↑ Charles Etienne Lafargue
  10. ↑ Laura Lafargue