“The truly British minister’—this ironic reference to Lord Palmerston is based 
on a passage from Lord Russell’s speech in the House of Commons on 
June 20, 1850, who said: “...So long as we continue the government of this 
country, I can answer for my noble friend that he will act not as the minister ... 
of any other country, but as the minister of England.” p. 242 

A reference to the bombardment of Chinese maritime towns and posts on the 
Yangtze and other rivers by the British naval and land forces in 1839-40, 
during the First Opium War (1839-42). See also Note 282. p. 243 

See Note 197. p. 245 

Engels is referring to the Taiping uprising in China (see Note 163). In March 
1853 the Taipings captured Nanking and made it the capital of their empire. 

p. 246 
On the Peelites see Note 262. 
On the Manchester men see Note 258. p. 247 
See Notes 228 and 287. p. 248 
See Note 260. p. 248 

” A reference to the bombardment of Odessa by the British and French fleets on 

April 10 (22), 1854, during the Crimean war. 
The ruling party of Peelites was criticised by the Parliamentary opposition 

for irresolute military actions. p. 249 
See Note 296. p. 249 
See Note 152. p- 251 
During the bombardment of Canton in 1856 (see Note 261) the British Navy 
lost three men. p. 252 
See Note 312. p- 253 

A reference to the Act to Regulate the Labour of Children and Young Persons 
in the Mills and Factories of the United Kingdom (1833) and the Act to Amend 
the Laws Relating to Labour in Factories (1844) on the employment of 
children, juveniles and women in the English textile industry. 

Under the 1833 law children from nine to thirteen years of age worked 
nine hours a day (48-hour week) and had to attend school (two hours a day). 
The working day for juveniles from fourteen to eighteen years of age was 
twelve hours a day (69-hour week). 

The 1844 law forbade the employment of children under eight years of age 
and introduced for children from eight to thirteen years half-shift work (six 
and a half hours a day). It restricted for the first time the working day for 

women: it was the same as for juveniles under the 1833 law. p. 261 
The title is given in accordance with an entry in Marx’s Notebook for 1857: 
“April 17. Changes in the Russian army.” p. 262 
The “Great Unpaid’—magistrates or justices. p. 266 

The title is given in accordance with the entries in Marx’s Notebook for 1857: 

“May 12. Crédit Mobilier (I)”, “May 15. Crédit Mobilier (II)”. p. 270 

For Corps Législatif see Note 20. 
The law on the Bank of France was passed on May 28, 1857. For details, 
see this volume, pp. 289-92. p. 277 

672 | Notes 

Marx’s Notebook for 1857 has the following entry: “May 22. China-Persian 

(War) (Artikel an Tribune)”. p. 278 
Engels. is referring to the Anglo-Persian war of 1856-57 (see Note 252) and to 
the Second Opium War, 1856-60 (see Note 196). p. 278 

A reference to what is known as the First Opium War, 1838-42 (see Note 282). 
p. 278 

The Russo-Turkish war of 1828-29 was launched by the Tsarist government in 
support of the national movement of the Christian population of Greece 
against the Turkish yoke. The Turkish troops, partly trained by European 
instructors and well armed, at first offered a strong resistance to the Russian 
army concentrated on the Danube (at Silistria, Shumla and Varna). However, 
the victorious offensive of the Russians on May 30 (June 11), 1829, put the 
Turkish army to flight. The war was ended by the treaty of Adrianople on 
September 2 (14), 1829, under which Russia obtained the Danube delta 
including the islands, and a considerable part of the eastern Black Sea coast 
south of the Kuban estuary. Turkey was to recognise the autonomy of 
Moldavia and Wallachia and also the independence of Greece, whose only 
obligation to Turkey was to pay an annual tribute to the Sultan. p. 278 

The Russo-Turkish war of 1806-12 broke out over the violation by Turkey of 
certain terms of the previously concluded Russo-Turkish treaties (in particular 
the abolition of free passage for Russian men-of-war and merchant ships 
through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles). Neither side gained the advantage 
for long. In 1811 the threat of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia forced the 
Russian government to take measures to conclude the war. After Mikhail 
Kutuzov had been appointed commander of the Danubian army the war took a 
turn in favour of Russia who concluded the Treaty of Bucharest with Turkey 
on May 16 (28), 1812. Under its terms, Russia obtained Bessarabia and certain 
areas in Transcaucasia. Turkey was to grant internal autonomy to Serbia and 
confirm its earlier agreements with Russia, extending a measure of autonomy 
to Moldavia and Wallachia. p. 279 

At Oltenitza (south-east Wallachia) in the Danubian theatre of operations, the 
Russian and Turkish forces fought one of the first battles of the Crimean war 
(November 4, 1853). A Russian detachment attacked the Turkish forces which 
had crossed to the left bank of the Danube. The attack failed, but the Turkish 
troops were soon compelled to withdraw to the right bank. Engels described 
the battle in his article “The War on the Danube” (see present edition, Vol. 12, 
pp. 516-22). 

The battle of Citate, in the Danubian theatre of operations, between the 
Turkish and Russian armies, took place in the early period of the Crimean war, 
on January 6, 1854. After a stiff fight the Russian detachment was compelled 
to retreat under pressure from considerable Turkish forces (about 18,000 
men), but following the arrival of Russian, reinforcements the Turks were 
forced to go over to the defensive and eventually retreated to Kalafat. For a 
description of these events see Engels’ article “The Last Battle in Europe” 
(present edition, Vol. 12, pp. 579-82). 

On the capture of Kars see Note 275. In this case, Engels is referring to the 
abortive assault on the fortress by the Russians on September 29, 1855. For 
details see present edition, Vol. 14, pp. 563-68). 

In the battle on the Inguri in Mingrelia on October 25 (November 6), 1855 

Notes 673 

the nearly 30-thousand-strong Turkish army met the 18.5-thousand-strong 
Russian army, the Russians were defeated. p. 279 

Renegades was the name given in the Middle Ages to Christians in Moslem 
Spain who adopted Islam. Among Christians in Europe the word was 
afterwards applied generally to Christians in the Eastern countries who became 
Mohammedans. p. 280 

See Note 163. p. 282 

A reference to dissension among the Taiping leaders in the autumn of 1856. 
As a result, three of the leaders were killed and many thousands of insurgents 
in Nanking were massacred. The discord was caused by the fact that private 
and group interests prevailed over class and national considerations among the 
insurgent leaders. This had a detrimental effect on the further progress of the 

Taiping uprising. p. 283 
Marx’s Notebook has the following entry concerning this article: “May 26. 
O’Donnell’s speech in the Senate, on the 18th of May.” p. 284 

The Polacos was the name adopted in the mid-eighteenth century by the 
admirers of the de la Cruz theatre in Madrid. In the mid-nineteenth century it 
was applied to the coterie of the Count San Luis (former journalist Sartorius), 
whose government ruled Spain from September 1853 to July 1854, i.e., up to 
the outbreak of the fourth Spanish revolution (1854-56). p. 284 

See Note 132. p. 284 

Marx means the beginning of the fourth bourgeois revolution in Spain 
(1854-56) (see notes 137 and 147) which brought to power the Espartero 
government of the Progresistas and Right-wing liberals. p. 284 

See Note 147. p. 285 

The draft of the Loi portant prorogation du privilége de la Banque de France was 
published in Le Moniteur universel, No.. 130, on May 10, 1857. After it was 
passed by the Corps Législatif on May 28, the final text appeared in the same 
paper, No. 162, on June 11, 1857. p. 289 

See Note 20. p. 291 

The bureaux were formed by the President of the Corps Législatif out of its 
deputies for the preliminary discussion of various questions. Usually there were 
several bureaux, their composition changing periodically. p. 291 

A reference to the Anglo-Persian war of 1856-57 (see Note 252). The official 
cause for England and Persia breaking off diplomatic relations at the end of 
1855 was a conflict between the British envoy to Teheran and the Persian Sadir 
Asam (Prime Minister): Mirza Hashim, secretary of the British mission who was 
a Persian subject, was accused of spying for England. p. 296 

This title was given according to the entry in Marx’s notebook for 1857. 

p. 297 

Scinde, a province of India bordering on Afghanistan, was finally colonised by 
the British in 1843. 
On the subjugation of the Punjab see Note 215. p. 297 

In 1856 the British authorities in India proclaimed the ruler of Oudh (a 
principality in the north of India) deposed and his possessions incorporated in 

674 | Notes 

_ 

the territories controlled by the East India Company (see also this volume, 

pp. 533-38). p. 297 

The Presidency—any of the three original provinces of British India (Bengal, 
Madras and Bombay). The term was derived from the word “president”, a title 
of the chief of the Council of the principal factory under the East India 
Company. The title of President was used until 1784, when a parliamentary act 
was adopted by which governors were appointed instead of presidents. 

p. 298 

This refers to the major national liberation uprising of the Indian people 
against the British rule in 1857-59. It was caused by the indignation of broad 
sections of the Indian population at colonial exploitation—the exorbitantly 
high tax burden which led to the complete ruin of the Indian peasants and the 
expropriation of certain strata of feudal lords; the policy of annexing the 
remaining independent Indian territories; the system of torture to extort taxes 
and the colonial reign of terror; gross violation of time-honoured national 
traditions and customs. The revolt broke out in the spring of 1857 
(preparations for it began in mid-1856) among the sepoy units (see Note 256) 
of the Bengal army quartered in Northern India. They became the military 
core of the revolt, which assumed wide scope and spread to large areas of 
Northern and Central India, chiefly Delhi, Lucknow, Cawnpore, Rohilkhand 
and Bundelkhand. The chief driving force were peasants and urban artisans, 
but the leadership was in the hands of the feudal lords, the overwhelming 
majority of whom betrayed the revolt after the colonial authorities promised in 
1858 to leave their possessions intact. The main reasons for the defeat of the 
revolt were: British military and technical superiority, the lack of a single 
leadership and a general plan of action among the insurgents, as well as 
contradictory aims largely resulting from the feudal disunity of India; the 
ethnic heterogeneity of the population and the latter’s religious and caste 
division. Though the revolt did not involve directly certain parts of India (the 
English managed to prevent its spreading to the Punjab, Bengal and the south 
of India), it shook the whole country and compelled the British authorities to 
reform the system of government there. 

Marx and Engels regularly described the course of the revolt in the columns 
of the New-York Daily Tribune. ar p. 298 

A reference to the Anglo-Persian war of 1856-57 (see Note 252) and the 
Second Opium War of 1856-60 (see this volume, pp. 158-63, 207-12, 232-35, 
243-46, 278-83). p- 298 

The Indian army was equipped with Enfield rifled guns. When loading a rifle 
the paper wrapping of a cartridge had to be bitten off. In January 1857 a 
rumour spread among the Sepoys that the cartridges were greased with the fat 
of bullocks and pigs. The Sepoys refused to use these cartridges because to 
touch them meant insult to the religious convictions of the Hindus and 
Moslems. p. 298 

The Moguls—invaders of Turkish descent who came to India from the east of 
Central Asia in the early sixteenth century and in 1526 founded the Empire of 
the Great Moguls in Northern India. The Great Mogul was the title the 
Europeans gave to the rulers of the Mogul Empire who called themselves 
Padishahs and resided in Delhi. The Mogul Empire reached considerable 
power, having subjugated most of India and part of Afghanistan by the 
mid-seventeenth century. However, due to peasant rebellions and the growing 

365- 

Notes 675 

feudal separatist tendencies, the Empire of the Great Moguls began to decline 
and practically disintegrated in the first half of the eighteenth century, though 
formally it lasted until 1858. 

Here the reference is to Bahadur Shah II, son of Akbar II. p. 299 

Fort William—an English fortress built in Calcutta in 1696 and named in 
honour of Wilham III of Orange, King of England at the time. After the 
English conquered Bengal in 1757, government institutions were quartered in 
that fortress and its name began to denote “the English government of India”. 

p- 299 

This title is given in accordance with the entry in Marx’s notebook for 1857. 
' p. 301 

A reference to the elections to the Corps Législatif in the summer of 1857. 
Despite the police measures taken by the government to secure success to the 
official candidates, the anti-Bonapartist opposition supported by the workers 
managed, for the first time in the histury of the Second Empire, to get five of 
its representatives elected to the Chamber. p. 302 

See Note 15. p- 303 

Marx refers here to the revolution in Spain in 1856 (see this volume, 
pp. 97-108) and to the events in Italy in 1857. At the end of June 1857, 
Mazzini, who secretly arrived in Genoa, and other supporters of revolutionary 
action attempted to start an uprising in Italy with a view to liberating and 
uniting: the country. A detachment of revolutionaries led by Pisacane seized a 
ship bound for Tunis from Genoa and landed in the Kingdom of Naples. 
Attempts were also made to start uprisings in Leghorn and Genoa but, like the 
expedition to the South, they also failed. p. 304 

See notes 256 and 351. p. 305