Letter to Paul Lafargue, May 1, 1889

Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 1 May 1889


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXVIII, Moscow, 1940
Translated from the French
Published in English in Frederick Engels, Paul and Laura Lafargue. Correspondence. 1887-1890, Vol. 2, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1960 and in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 48

TO PAUL LAFARGUE AT LE PERREUX

London, 1 May 1889

My dear Lafargue,

Since my letter of yesterday,[1] Bernstein has received the following from Liebknecht:

'In the present circumstances the congress can be saved only if the French act in such a way as to present a fait accompli; they should therefore convene the congress—seeing that the Belgian resolution[2]

has made combined action on the part of members of the Hague conference[3] impossible—and without the assent of the Germans, Austrians, Swiss (Danes, etc.) which, at this late date, cannot be ascer- tained in advance.

It is essential that the congress be convened for precisely the same day as that of the Possibilists (14 July) and strictly in accordance with the procedure laid down at The Hague, while expressly stating that the

date, 14 July, was chosen, not in any spirit of competition with the other congress, but in the firm hope that feelings of solidarity would compel the two congresses to hold their sittings jointly.'

This would be foolish; we, too, anticipate such an outcome, but to say so would be to play into the hands of the Possibilists, who would there- upon dictate their own conditions. You might, perhaps, say that the two congresses, by holding parallel sessions, might themselves resolve all their differences.

'At the same time, of course, a short exposé of the situation should be given, comprising recent events (the congresses at Troyes[4] and Bordeaux,[5] negotiations with a view to achieving a merger, the conference, etc.)—but omitting any kind of anti-Possibilist polemic.

'It should further be said: We would ask working-class and Socialist groups in other countries to indicate their assent to our convocation address by appending their signatures, there having been no time to obtain that assent beforehand.

'If there is no fait accompli, there will be no congress; the Belgian vote has restored freedom of action to our French friends. Once presented with a fait accompli, people will come to the congress.'

There you are—that's Liebknecht all over. He is capable of heroic determination, but only after he himself has so clouded the issue that nothing else will serve.

For that matter, I agree with what he says, with the exception of what I have noted above. In drawing up your Convocation you cannot be too mealy-mouthed, not that this need prevent your saying that the raison- d'être of your congress is the Possibilists' refusal to recognise the full and absolute sovereignty of that congress.

After Liebknecht's letter, you have no reason whatever to hesitate. So do something, hold your national congresses and, if you can, get all the delegates who attend them to go to the international congress that is to result therefrom.

As soon as your circular[6] comes out, we shall begin to agitate, first to promote your congress, and next to ensure that those delegates whom we cannot prevent from attending the Possibilist congress—Belgians, etc.,—be told that they must insist on a merger of the two congresses.

But now that you have a free hand, don't hesitate, do not lose a moment; if your circular reaches us by Monday, or Tuesday morning

even, it will go into the Sozialdemokrat and be advertised in the Labour Elector. As soon as the date of your congress has been settled, there may be something further to be done over here, although the dishonourable action of the Belgians has done us untold harm.

Yours ever,

F. E.

  1. ↑ See previous letter
  2. ↑ This refers to a congress of the Workers' Party of Belgium on 22 April 1889 at Jolimont, which decided to send delegates both to the International Working Men's Congress convened by Marxists in Paris and to the congress convened by the Possibilists, contrary to the opinion of the Ghent delegation that opposed the convocation.
  3. ↑ The International Socialist Conference was held in the Hague on 28 February 1889. It was attended by representatives of the socialist movement of Germany, France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland. The conference was convened at the suggestion of the Social Democratic faction in the German Reichstag with the aim of framing the conditions for the calling of an International Socialist Working Men's Congress in Paris. The Possibilists refused to attend the conference despite the invitation and did not recognise its decisions. The conference defined the powers of the forthcoming congress, its date and agenda. The International Working Men's Congress took place on 14 July 1889.
  4. ↑ The convention of the French Workers' Party held in Troyes in December 1888 (see note 322) passed a decision on nominating a socialist as an independent candidacy for the by-election of 27 January 1889. The candidature of Boule, a labourer and stonemason, was nominated accordingly. This convention also decided to hold an International Socialist Working Men's Congress in Paris in 1889, thus confirming the decision of the National Congress of the French trade unions (see note 331).
  5. ↑ The National Congress of the French Trade Unions took place on 23 October-4 November 1888. It represented 272 labour unions - the workers' syndical chambers and industrial groups. Most of the delegates belonged to the revolutionary wing of the French workers' movement. The congress had been opened in Bordeaux, but its sessions had to be transferred to Le Bouscat after the police declared the congress disbanded because of a red banner over its rostrum. The congress passed a decision to convene an International Socialist Working Men's Congress in Paris in 1889 to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution Also discussed was a general strike, considered to be the only revolutionary way.
  6. ↑ The circular was written with P. Lafargue's active participation so as to inform the working-class and socialist organisations of all countries about the decision of the Hague Socialist Conference (February 1889) (see note 385) and about the International Working Men's Congress due on 6 May 1889. Lafargue sent the text of the circular to Engels who approved it and translated it into German. Engels also saw about it being published in English. In German the circular was published, in the Engels translation, by the newspaper Der Sozialdemokrat on 11 May and, in Wilhelm Liebknecht's translation, by the newspaper Berliner Volksblatt on 10 May; in English, the text of the circular came cut in the form of a leaflet, published by the newspapers Labour Elector on 18 May and by Reynold's Newspaper on 19 May under the heading 'International Workmen's Congress', as well as by The Commonweal on 25 May.