In this article Liebknecht schools President Grant on Bismark’s reality, illuminates the scale of corruption under Prussian ‘Caesarism,’ and gives initial results from the recent elections.

‘Letter from Leipzig, XII’ by Wilhelm Liebknecht from Workingman’s Advocate (Chicago). Vol. 7 No. 35. April 22, 1871.

Leipzig, March 12, 1871

To the Editor of the WORKINGMAN’S ADVOCATE:

So we have peace then-on paper. Cannons were fired, when the glorious news came, bells set in motion, illuminations arranged and no popular enthusiasm produced. The peace, like the taking of Paris, had been discounted in advance, and when the slow fact reached the goal where swift wish had arrived long before, the illusions were either gone already, or not in their first bloom any more. And one thought was uppermost in every mind: this peace cannot last! In every mind. This is no exaggeration, it is the simple, plain truth, which you may see reflected in our newspapers. You know the part these latter have been playing in the present war: how they lashed the people on, and tried to stifle the voice of humanity and of common sense. Well, there is not one political paper in Germany–never mind of what color–which did not, with more or less frankness, express its conviction, that the peace imposed upon France is fraught with the seeds of a fresh war; and that we must prepare in time for the coming war, which will probably be harder still than the one just past. Our press is exclusively the property of the privileged and national (or patriotic) classes; and if, nevertheless it makes this admission, in the teeth of official jubilation, you may conclude in what frame of mind the unsophisticated masses must be.

And it really seems that Mr. Bismarck had had the intention, to manage matters so, that a reconciliation between France and Germany is not to be thought of. The “triumphal entry” of the Prussian soldiers in Paris is a wanton insult. Paris not having been overcome by the Prussians, there was even no reason for etiquette’s sake for a measure which is deeply humbling for France, without being of the slightest advantage for Prussia, and can indeed not be explained, unless we look upon it in the light of an international insult. By the by, Bismarck is an old enemy of Paris–he hates it, like all Germans, especially Prussian Junkers because it is the center of revolutionary ideas; and he hates it besides on his own account, because it is the largest town of the European continent, and Mr. Bismarck is of the opinion that the largest towns are breeding “corruption” and a “false civilization” not in accordance with a Junker’s  political notions, and must therefore be destroyed-the larger the town the sooner. When he gave utterance to this sentiment (which my countryman and your fellow-citizen, Senator Schurz, will not fail to admire duly as coming from such a “great and truly liberal statesman,”) he had been provoked by the progressionist inhabitants of Berlin, who then–it was about six years ago–showed a great dislike to Junkerdom. They have grown more practical since, and are now kissing the rod they are beaten with as well. Such is human nature! And this is the political maturity of our middle classes–for of these alone I am speaking. The workingmen of Berlin, though they have much to learn, still have never forgotten the principles of democracy.

I see, your President has in his last message mentioned the successes of Bismarck’s policy in a manner which must produce painful astonishment in the heart of every friend of liberty. The full text of the document is not yet known to me, but from the short abstract published in our newspapers the tenor and purport may be guessed pretty exactly. That Mr. Grant recognizes the Prusso-German Empire, is an act of international courtesy, perhaps of duty, for which no man in his senses will blame him. But to use this opportunity to fawn upon the men who, after enslaving Germany, have waged a barbarous war for the sole purpose of overthrowing the French Republic–that is no behavior worthy of the first magistrate of a free people. To excuse his undignified proceeding. Mr. Grant takes an old dull joke of Mr. Bancroft’s au pied de la lettre, literal, and wants you to believe in right earnest, that the constitution of Bismarck and Germany is in the essential points similar to the constitution of the United States! Either Mr. Grant has not the faintest idea of the Prusso-German constitution, or he has not the faintest idea of the United States constitution. In the latter case he is a bad citizen, in the former certainly not a fit President. Does Mr. Grant not know, that he, as an American President, is but a simple citizen, forced to obey the law, and powerless against the people? And does he not know that the King of Prussia commands one of the largest standing armies in the world? Does Mr. Grant not know, that the States forming the American union have united by their own free will, while the States of Germany have been subjected to Prussia by the sword? Does Mr. Grant not know that in the American union the people are all, and that in the German mock-confederacy they are nothing? That there, law and liberty rule, while here the sword is domineering with its “might is right!”

Mr. Bismarck’s “blood and iron” constitution, similar in essence and spirit to the glorious work of the founders of your commonwealth! Aye, both constitutions would be alike, if Count Bismarck’s famous prototype, Mr. Jefferson Davis, had been “successful” ten years ago! If he had established a monarchy in the South and had been crowned as Emperor Jefferson the first and chivalrous; if he had annexed to this empire and, having formed a confederation with the remaining third, had placed himself at the head of it as hereditary chief–then you would be about in the same predicament as we are, and “your constitution would be similar” to ours!

When Mr. Grant was proposed for the Presidentship, many warning voices were raised against the election of a soldier who had been drinking out of glory’s intoxicating cup, and who might through it have forgotten the pride and the views of a citizen. It seems the suspicion was not unfounded; and the people of the United States will have to be on their guard–the honor of your republic has been compromised by its first magistrate.

It is the nature of Caesarism, which has just been destroyed in France, and which is flourishing in Prussian Germany, to develop to the utmost all kinds of organized Bourgeois robbery, whether it presents itself in the shape of stock-jobbing, or still more shameless swindling. This is the result of a silent compact between the Bourgeoisie and militarism–a compact which forms the basis of Caesarism, and the essence of which is, that the Bourgeoisie abdicates politically in favor of militarism, acknowledging the sword to be the only possible government in our civilized age, and that in return the Bourgeoisie is protected by the sword in its endeavors to fleece the people part of the spoils of course falling to the lot of the sword. How infamously and enormously France has been plundered in this manner during the empire of society-saving Bonaparte is pretty generally known, though to what extent can merely be guessed. Certain it is: the Milliardes France will have to pay for the last criminal folly of Bonaparte are but a trifle compared with the colossal sums, stolen, downright stolen–I do not use a milder expression on purpose–by the Crédit Mobilier, Perior, Mires, Haussmann and other worthies of the December gang, their chief included.

Not so generally known is it that the same system is spreading fast in modernized Germany, and that–like causes producing like effects–we are in a fair way of equaling our model, the French Empire, in this as well as other respects. It is a public secret that the exchange of Berlin is habitually used and manipulated by persons notoriously connected with men in the highest official positions but of this delicate theme I shall refrain from saying more today.

What I have to speak of is a scandal unparalleled in the chronique scandaleuse of swindling–both by the magnitude of the operations and the quantity and station of the persons implicated. I mean the bursting of the Strousberg bubble.” No doubt, you have heard of Mr. Strousberg, a German (or Polish) Jew who, in his youth, went over to London, where he led a precarious adventurer’s life, having his ups and downs, not always reputable (being once, for instance, implicated in a very ugly lawsuit concerning his wife and his treatment of her): some ten years ago he returned to Germany, not much richer than when he had gone, but happening to fall in with a rich Englishman, whose confidence he succeeded in gaining, and who entrusted him with means sufficient to undertake the construction of a provincial railway. The rising man managed this affair so cleverly, and extracted such a large difference between what he paid himself and what he was paid, that he could henceforth work on a larger scale. For the double purpose of getting patronage and a solid supply of capital, he entered into secret partnership with several of the Prussian noblemen (some of them high in the peerage, for instance the Duke of Ujest-Hohenlohe), and then aided by his admiring aristocratic friends, he began to display his genius buying and selling landed estates, erecting mills and constructing railways, until, to crown the edifices, he effected his master stroke, the Romanian Railway scheme, to which all the rest had only been as a preparatory introduction. He was now the great Railway King, and being puffed up by dozen of hungry literati he kept for that purpose, and by a big newspaper¹ he set up for that purpose, his fame increased rapidly and he soon became a sort of mythical being for the public, that could not read a newspaper without finding a paragraph stating that Mr. Strousberg had acted as Providence by feeding the poor and distributing wood, etc., or discovered a fresh gold mine, or spent untold sums on land, or a new invention, etc. The thinking–always a tiny minority–shook their heads and foretold the end usual for Railway Kings, and such like, and the first-class bankers of Berlin could never be prevailed upon to discount Strousberg bills. However that did not matter. Let those old fashioned bankers think what they like there was money, there was cash, he did make immense purchases, and he did pay with the profuseness and liberality of Aladdin, the possessor of the wonderful lamp. Millions upon millions were spent, one speculation piled upon Ossa–only no real mountains, but paper mountains! Mountains of nice printed paper, large pieces of paper, small pieces of paper commonly called shares, obligations. The commotion created by the outbreak of the war gave the paper mountains a good shaking already, and opened many crevices, through which a glimpse into the interior could be gained by anyone that had eyes to look with–which you know most people have not. But the noble friends, afraid of the exposure, rushed to the rescue, the crevices were patched and painted over and an ingenious plan devised, whereby the paper mountain was to be slyly slipped from Strousberg’s (an inverse Atlas) shoulders on those of a joint stock company, with Strousberg for its manager. A good manager he would no doubt have been–would have managed well for himself and his high confederates–unfortunately suspicion had been raised and had grown strong the company proved a failure, ugly reports came from Romania, the debates of the Bucharest Chamber on the Strousbergian Railway scheme disclosed details of a very questionable, or rather a very unquestionable, almost penal character. The catastrophe was not to be avoided.

By desperate efforts on the part of the aristocratic patrons, the fall has been deadened; but fall is fall, and the paper mountain is blown down and may soon be used by cheese-mongers to wrap candles and soap. There have been great swindles in England and the United States–the Salier swindle in England, and divers huge English and American bank swindles, but none of these can be compared with the Strousberg affair. Its only parallel cases are to be found in France–in Imperial France–where the same political system was at work and swindling, in fact, had become a political institution. This political character of the Strousberg frauds constitutes their real importance, distinguishing them from common commercial or financial swindles. And that is also the reason why such exertions are made in high and highest quarters to hush the matter. Will they succeed? Will the criminal court be evaded, and even the bankruptcy court? King-Emperor William is a powerful monarch, and perhaps it will be proved that manufacturing railway shares wholesale, without any corresponding security, and without control, is a lawful operation, and that those who pocketed dozens of millions in exchange for worthless scraps of paper are benefactors of mankind, instead of infamous thieves. “The small thieves are hanged and the big ones allowed to go free,” says the German proverb. To go free: yes, and to be honored, too, and decorated, in this blest world of ours!

About the result of the elections, which took place last Friday, not much is known yet. In a postscript I hope to be able to give a short summary. All that I can say today is that with few exceptions, the indifference has been very great, and that at the beginning of the election week there were still districts without any candidates at all, so that the first comer who found it worth his while to present himself, was sure to enter unopposed Mr. Bismarck’s First German Parliament. Which shows that the German people are not such enthusiastic Bismarckians as your President, Ulysses Grant.

P.S. The election returns are still very incomplete. In Saxony, which has to send 23 deputies, we had candidates in 10 districts. Two, amongst them Mr. Bebel, are elected with great majorities. From Mr. Liebknecht’s district, which has very bad communications and consists of more than thirty places scattered about, no definite news has yet arrived. In a fourth district our candidate (one of the Braunschweig prisoners, Mr. Spier) not having had the absolute majority of the votes given (as required by law) will come to a second poll, in which we shall doubtless win. The number of votes for our candidates is even now, when the result is not yet known, at least twice as great as at the last election. A sign how we advance!

NOTE

1. The Post at Berlin; the paper is one of the largest in Germany and still exists, having by the high patronage it enjoys, acquired a semi-official character.

The Chicago Workingman’s Advocate in 1864 by the Chicago Typographical Union during a strike against the Chicago Times. An essential publication in the history of the U.S. workers’ movement, the Advocate though editor Andrew Cameron became the voice National Labor Union after the Civil War. It’s pages were often the first place the work of Marx, Engels, and the International were printed in English in the U.S. It lasted through 1874 with the demise of the N.L.U.

Access to PDF of issue: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89077510/1871-04-29/ed-1/seq-2/