| Author(s) | Friedrich Engels |
|---|---|
| Written | 8 June 1889 |
London, 8 June 1829
Dear Sorge,
I am almost sorry that you should have taken the Wischnewetzkys seriously enough to break with them. I was glad to let them have the satisfaction of conveying to me her most august displeasure through his failure to call; I can only assume, however, that he forced your hand by the uncouthness of his behaviour vis-à-vis yourself.
The mood re the congress in which you wrote your letter was also mine from mid-March until nearly mid-May. Now, miraculously, all is saved, as you will see from the second circular we sent you containing the convocation with signatures from almost everywhere in Europe (brought up to date in the appendix to Bernstein's No. II,[1] sent off today).
The first pamphlet, signed by Bernstein,[2] was edited by me, like everything else that appeared in English on the subject. Such of it as you are able to find fault with was necessary from a local point of view. Particularly the explanations concerning the Possibilists which you see as attacks. But most necessary of all was the publication of the Hague resolutions[3] which, in their wisdom, the chaps at The Hague had decided to keep secret, and ad infinitum at that. Fortunately no one either here or in Paris knew of this canny decision and we therefore let fly, since the Possibilists and their supporters over here were daily harping on those very resolutions, telling the most whopping lies about them, etc.
Prompt action ought, of course, to have been taken after the Possibilists' refusal. But the Belgians, who were, after all, supposed to be convening the congress along with the Swiss, didn't lift a finger—they wanted to put the matter off until their congress at Easter in Jolimont,[4] and take refuge behind such resolutions as might be adopted there. And of the Swiss, Scherrer, too, was a wee bit dilatory on the pretext that, with Liebknecht's assent, he would lure the bulk of the Possibilists onto our side 'over the heads of Brousse & Co.'!! Liebknecht, however, was making commensurate speeches in Switzerland,[5] and Bebel was insufficiently acquainted with the terrain to go ahead independently in his absence.
The real battlefield was here. The impact of Bernstein's pamphlet No. I here was that of a thunderbolt. People realised they had been outrageously hoodwinked by Hyndman & Co. Had our congress been convoked straight away, they would all have rallied to us, and Hyndman and Brousse would have found they were on their own. The discontented elements in the Trades Unions here[6] appealed to us, to the Germans, the Dutch, the Belgians and the Danes. But from no one did they obtain any information about our congress—when, where or how it would be held. Their main concern, however, was with opposing Broadhurst, Shipton & Co. by sending delegates to a congress, no matter which, and they therefore came down in favour of the one that had been convoked.
Thus, step by step, we lost ground here, and our foothold in this country's radical press grew distinctly precarious, on top of which came the resolution of the Belgian congress whereby one delegate was to be sent to each of the two congresses. And, even in the German party press, Auer and Schippel declared themselves in favour of attending that of the Possibilists,[7] if only to show that the Germans weren't Francophobes and chauvinists. In short, I gave the thing up for lost, at any rate so far as England was concerned.
However, I at once wrote to the French[8] (who from the start had insisted that the congress must be held on 14/21 July, alongside that of the Possibilists, if it was to be worth holding at all) and told them that the Belgian resolution had restored their liberty of action and that they should immediately convene the congress for that time. And Monsieur Liebknecht, galvanised by Auer's and Schippel's articles, tendered the same advice to the French,[9] having suddenly discovered that he had been dragging his feet long enough and rapid action was now called for. The convocation followed—and the impact it made exceeded all expectations. Letters of adhesion came flooding in and continue to do so. And even over here we have scored more than a succès d'estime, while the sensation created by the publication of the signatures has still not died down. Even in this country everything outside the (very down-at-heel) Social Democratic Federation is ours, as is, morally speaking, part of what's still inside it. For John Burns, the socialist London County Councillor,[10] is probably going to resign, along with the entire Battersea Branch,[11] and may already have done so. He and Parnell (who signed our circular) have already been selected as delegates to the Possibilist congress and, while there, will be working for us.
With the exception of the Social Democratic Federation, the Possibilists haven't got a single socialist organisation anywhere in Europe. Hence they are falling back on the nonsocialist Trades Unions and would do anything in the world to get hold of even the old Trades Unions, Broadhurst and Co., but the latter had their fill of that last November here in London.[12] From America they'll be getting one Knight of Labor.[13]
The point of all this—and the reason why I've thrown myself into it I have done—is that what we are now witnessing is the re-enactment of the old rift in the International, the old battle of the Hague.[14] The antagonists are the same, save only that the anarchist flag has been exchanged for the Possibilist—principles sold to the bourgeoisie in return for concessions on minor points, more particularly in return for well-paid positions for the leaders (Municipal Council, Labour Exchange, etc.). And the tactics are identical. The manifesto of the Social Democratic Federation, which has clearly been written by Brousse, is a new version of the Sonvillier circular.[15] And Brousse knows it full well: He still uses the same lies and calumnies in attacking le Marxisme autoritaire, and Hyndman apes him—his chief sources of information about the International and Marx's political activities being the malcontents of the General Council here, i.e. Eccarius, Jung and Co.
The alliance between the Possibilists and the Social Democratic Federation was meant to constitute the nucleus of the new International which was to be founded in Paris—with the Germans as the third party in the alliance,[16] provided they toed the line, otherwise in opposition to them. Hence the series of little congresses, each one larger than the last, hence the aloofness towards all other French and English tendencies, which were treated as though nonexistent by the allies, and hence the clique-forming, notably with the small nations, which had also been the mainstay of Bakunin. But these goings-on were rudely interrupted when the Germans naïvely—and in absolute ignorance of what was happening elsewhere—also entered the congress stakes with their St Gallen resolution.[17] And since the fellows preferred to oppose rather than co-operate with the Germans—whom they regarded as altogether too Marxified—a struggle was inevitable. But you have no idea how naïve the Germans are. I had to go to immense pains to make even Bebel see what was really at stake, although the Possibilists were very well aware of, and constantly proclaim, it. And because of all these mistakes I had little hope that things would turn out well, that the immanent reason, which throughout this affair has gradually been gaining awareness of itself, would triumph so soon. I am all the more glad to receive proof that what happened in 1873 and 1874 is no longer possible today.[18] The intriguers have already been beaten, and the significance of the congress—whether or not it absorbs the other—lies in the fact that the concord of the socialist parties of Europe will be plain for all the world to see, while the handful of intriguers, should they refuse to toe the line, will be left out in the cold.
Otherwise the congress is of no great significance. I, of course, shall not attend it, being unable to throw myself into agitation again for any length of time. But if the chaps are intent on playing at congresses once more, it's better that these shouldn't be directed by Brousse and Hyndman. For it is high time a spoke was put in their wheel.
I am curious to see what effect Bernstein's No. II will have.[19] Let's hope it will be the concluding document in this affair.
In other respects, things here are so-so. I have had to give up smoking because of its effect on my nerves, and this has cost me surprisingly little effort; every 2 or 3 days I smoke about one-third of a cigarette, but next year I think I shall take it up again. Sam Moore is going to Africa as Chief Justice in the Niger territory. Leaves Liverpool next Saturday and will come back for six months after serving a year and a half; will translate Volume III[20] while out there. Kind regards to your wife,
Your
F. Engels
First published, slightly abridged, in Briefe und Auszüge aus Briefen von Joh. Phil. Becker, Jos. Dietzgen, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx u. A. an F. A. Sorge und Andere, Stuttgart, 1906
Printed according to the original
Published in English in full for the first time