Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 09:44:03 +0000
From: James Heartfield <James-AT-heartfield.demon.co.uk>
Subject: M-I: Marx on Ireland


In message <3.0.16.19971105140401.4e77cc7a-AT-pop.qut.edu.au>, Gary
MacLennan <g.maclennan-AT-qut.edu.au> writes
>At 01:35 PM 11/4/97 -0500,Comrade Blaut wrote:
>>HEngels gave them wholehearted support, even when this called for
>>support of the slightly seedy fenians. 
>>En lucha
>>
>>Jim B  
>>
>>What do you mean by "slightly seedy"?   they wre among the most advanced
>revolutionaries of their time.
>
>regards
>
>Gary

As I remember it there was some criticism of the fenians in private
correspondence between Marx and Engels. During the eighties when the
left here were scabbing on the national liberation movement, these
letters would often get wheeled out to 'prove' that Marxists were no
sympathisers of Republicanism. As I remember it one of their private
complaints was that bombing English workers was not the best way to win
their support - a theme that was revivied amongst the left here to avoid
their responsibility to support the movement for Irish independence. I'm
guessing Jim is paraphrasing from those letters.

At the time those of us who campaigned for unconditional support for
Irish independence pointed out that Marx's private views of the
character of the fenian movement were not the same thing as his public
pronouncement on the significance of the Irish struggle. On that point
Marx was unequivocal: that independence would be the precondition of a
more just settlement between these two peoples, and the English workers
would always be prisoners of anti-Irish chauvinism until they supported
the fenians demands.

I don't know whether they were seedy or not, but one of the tragedies of
the fenian movement of the 1860s was that it was launched in a period of
reaction internationally, which meant that its support was limited.

Fraternally
-- 
James Heartfield


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