London, 12 April 1890 

Dear Sorge, 

Letter of 3-6 March received with thanks. The business of Miquel’s 
letters is not without considerable snags. ‘Wilhelm’ would also like to 
have them, only to spring them on the world just at the wrong moment 
and thus deprive us for good of the hold we have over Miquel. For once 
the scandal had blown over, Miquel wouldn’t give a fig for us. To me it 
seems far more important to keep some control over the chap by this 
means than to raise an unnecessary clamour as a result of which he 
would elude us and, what’s more, have the pleasure of getting away 
unscathed. In any case everyone knows he was a member of the 
League.*?! 

Again, my experience of the American press*™° has been altogether 
too startling for me to fall for the bait. If someone on the Volkszeitung 
were to get wind of the fact that the afore mentioned letters were in 
America, none of those sensation-mongers would have a moment’s rest 
or repose until they had got hold of them—nor would I willingly subject 
anyone to such torment and temptation. Besides, how am I to know 
how long Schliiter will remain with the Volkszeitung and whether they 
mightn’t make the publication of the said letters a condition of his 
remaining? 

In short, I cannot possibly agree to this deal. 

In Germany everything’s going better than we could have hoped in 
our wildest dreams. Young William? is positively mad—as if cut out, 
that is, for the task of thoroughly disrupting the old order, shattering 
what little confidence remains among the propertied classes as a whole— 
whether Junkers or bourgeois—and preparing the ground for us in a 
way even the liberal Frederick III could not have done. His sudden urge 
to be amiable to the workers—purely Bonapartist and demagogic but 
adulterated with muddled dreams of a divinely inspired princely 

@ Wilhelm Liebknecht — > William II 

mission—makes no impression whatsoever on our chaps, something for 
which we have the Anti-Socialist Law to thank.>? Even in 1878 it might 
still have served some purpose, have created some confusion in our ranks; 
it could not possibly do so now. Our people have been all too keenly 
aware of the iron hand of Prussia. A few weaklings—as, for example, Mr 
Blos and, perhaps, some of the 700,000 who have come to us as new 
recruits during the past three years—might waver a bit in this respect, but 
they’ll quickly be voted down and, before the year is out, we shall see 
William wondrously disappointed as regards his power over the workers, 
whereupon love will turn to rage, and cajolery to persecution. Hence our 
policy should be to avoid creating any disturbance until the expiry of the 
Anti-Socialist Law on 30 September; for by then the Reichstag will have 
dispersed completely, and to declare another state of emergency would 
scarcely be feasible. But once we have regained our ordinary rights as citi- 
zens, you should witness renewed expansion on a scale such as will put 
in the shade even that which took place on 20 February.°” 

Since Little Willie’s amiability towards the workers has as its counter- 
part an urge for military dictatorship (this shows how the present gang of 
princes are all turning Bonapartist, nolens volens) and he is all set to shoot 
people down at the first sign of resistance, it’s up to us to see that he does- 
n’t get the chance. As we found during the elections, we have made truly 
enormous headway in the country, particularly where, besides the big 
estates, there were, at most, big farmers, i.e. in the East. Three second 
ballots in Mecklenburg, 2 in Pomerania! The 85,000 votes that accrued 
between the first official count (1,342,000) and the second (1,427,000) all 
came from country districts where we were not expected to get any at all. 
Thus there is a prospect of our soon being able to capture the rural prole- 
tariat of the eastern provinces and, with it,—the soldiers of the ‘crack’ 
Prussian regiments. That will bring down the old order with a vengeance, 
and we shall govern. But the Prussian generals would have to be greater 
fools than I suppose for them not to be just as much aware of this as we 
are, and so they must be dying to stage a ceremonial massacre and thus 
put us out of harm’s way for a while. That, therefore, is our second reason 
for proceeding in an ostensibly peaceable manner. 

A third reason is that the electoral victory has gone to the heads of the 
masses—particularly in the case of new recruits—and they now believe 
themselves able to take everything by storm. Unless something is done 
to check this, all sorts of silly things will happen. And the bourgeois— 
vide the colliery owners—are doing all they can to encourage and 
provoke such silliness. For this they not only have their former reasons, 

but also the additional one of hoping they may thus put paid to little 
Willie’s ‘amiability towards the workers’. 

I would ask you ot to let Schliiter see the passages side-lined above. 
He tends to act impulsively and then, I know my Volkszeitung people— 
as journalists they ruthlessly seize upon anything that may be of use. But 
these matters must mot get into the press, either out there or here, at least 
not into the German papers, and least of all as emanating from myself. 

If, in the immediate future, therefore, our party in Germany should 
seem a trifle placatory—even as regards May Day—you will know the 
reason why. We are aware that the generals would gladly take advantage 
of May Day to do some shooting. In Vienna and Paris there is a similar 
intention. 

In the Arbeiter-Zeitung (Vienna), Bebel’s contributions from 
Germany are of particular importance. I never make up my mind about 
any point relating to German party tactics before having read Bebel’s 
views on the subject, either in the Arbeiter-Zeitung or in one of his 
letters. He is wonderfully perspicacious. It’s a pity that only Germany is 
known to him from his own observation. This week’s article, 
“Deutschland ohne Bismarck’, is also by him. 

You will have had Time (sent a week ago today)* containing my first 
article on Russian policy.» 

My nerves are settling down a bit now that J have turned almost 
teetotal; in fact, I shall have to go on restricting myself until the autumn. 
Schorlemmer is still a total abstainer. He and I send our cordial regards 
to you and your wife. He is staying here over Easter and will go back to 
Manchester on Monday. Sam Moore is getting on well in Africa;° in a 
year’s time he will be coming home on 6 months’ leave. 

Your 
RE.