Disillusioned with the Labour Movement: Late Marx and the Prospects of Revolution in Western Europe

ABSTRACT

Recent research has emphasised how Marx’s views underwent profound change after 1870. Its major focus has been on how Marx’s increasing interest in developments in Russia culminated in his adoption of the Russian populists' belief that the country might reach socialism without passing through the stage of capitalism. Less attention has been devoted to Marx’s later attitude towards the prospects of proletarian revolution in Western Europe. This paper attempts a more detailed explanation of Marx’s approach to the development of the labour movement in Britain, France and Germany during the 1870s. It also aims to show that he no longer expected a forthcoming revolution carried out by the organised working class in the most advanced Western European countries. First, Marx complained of the lack of revolutionary spirit in the British proletariat; moreover, he criticised the immaturity of the French labour movement; finally, he rejected the eclectic ideology of German social democracy, which was on the rise.

KEYWORDS:

• Karl Marx
• revolution
• Britain
• France
• Germany

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on Contributor

Nicola D’Elia is an independent scholar. His main fields of research are the history of socialism and the labour movement between the end of the nineteenth century and the First World War, and the history of German–Italian cultural relations in the interwar period. He has published the books Democrazia e “modello inglese”: Eduard Bernstein scrittore politico nell’esilio di Londra (1890–1901) (Florence, 2005) and Delio Cantimori e la cultura politica tedesca (1927–1940) (Rome, 2007).

Notes

1. On this point, see Anderson (2010, 194–195).

2. Marx’s articles on Ireland have been thoroughly analysed by Anderson (2010, 119–124).

3. On these developments, see Collins and Abramsky (1965, 199–223). The address, drafted by Marx himself, was published as a pamphlet entitled The Civil War in France.

4. The interview was published on July 18, 1871.

5. In June 1881, Hyndman founded the Democratic Federation. In the following period, this organisation moved towards a socialist programme and in 1884 assumed the name Social-Democratic Federation (Cf. Tsuzuki [1961, 31–56]).

6. The interview was published on September 6, 1880.

7. This reason explains, according to Collins and Abramsky (1965, 194), why Marx and the General Council of the International, during the Commune’s two months’ existence, “remained completely silent without issuing an appeal for solidarity or even an expression of sympathy and support.” For a good account of Marx’s attitude to the Commune, see Avineri (1968, 239–249).

8. It is worth noting that Marx welcomed the different position adopted by the middle classes from that held during the Revolution of 1848, when they had sided with the capitalists against the proletariat:

For the first time in history the petty and moyenne middle class has openly rallied round the workmen’s Revolution, and proclaimed it as the only means of their own salvation and that of France! It forms with them the bulk of the National Guard, it sits with them in the Commune, it mediates for them in the Union Républicaine! (Marx and Engels 1986, 496)

9. Marx himself participated in drafting this document, which was adopted by the new party as its official programme at the Fourth French Socialist Workers’ Congress, meeting at Le Havre from 16 to 22 November, 1880. On these events, see the detailed discussion in Derfler (1991, 186–191).

10. Such circumstances were the following: Bismarck’s increasing anti-socialist hostility in the aftermath of the Paris Commune; the resignation of the successor of Lassalle, Johann Baptist von Schweitzer, from the presidency of the Lassallean party; the impact of the economic depression beginning in 1873, which drove rank-and-file members of both parties to apply pressure for coordinated action between them. On the developments leading to the birth of the unified Social Democratic Party in Germany, see Stedman Jones (2016, 551–555).

11. This document, which became known as the Critique of the Gotha Programme, was published only in 1891 in Die Neue Zeit, the theoretical journal of German social democracy, with a foreword by Engels.

12. Höchberg was a wealthy supporter of German social democracy and based socialism on ethical principles (cf. Steinberg [1972, 96–97]).

13. The interview was first published on January 5, 1879. The Chicago Tribune traditionally supported the Republican Party. At that time, its editor was Joseph Medill, who had been a friend of Abraham Lincoln. The Chicago Tribune’s average daily circulation was quite large: the morning edition sold around 25,000 copies. It is likely that Marx, by accepting to be interviewed by a newspaper whose line was anything but sympathetic to socialism, wanted to take the opportunity to reach a larger audience. The labour movement in the United States had its own media, yet—and this is significant—he ignored them. In this regard, see the article by Andréas (1965), which includes a German translation of Marx’s interview.

14. On the diffusion of Marxism in German social democracy during the anti-socialist legislation, see Steinberg (1972, 27–40).

15. The well-researched and captivating book by Cinnella, which focuses on Marx’s attitude toward Russia and his relations with Russian revolutionaries, offers a broad perspective on his intellectual development during the final decade of his life.

16. The British politician had been requested by the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, to meet Marx and give her his opinion of him. The talk took place on January 31, 1879.