The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1915-12-30

kounist opponents in the old Inter
: national were not slow in charging.
them with PanGermanism on thai
account. 1t was equally notable thu
: Lassalle, the Socialist leader in Ger
many, inclined strongly towards q
policy which, in his own opinion
would promote the general interests
} of European Democracy rather thar
German nationalism. OF course, all
of them had good Socialist reasons
for their attitude. The main point
that ! wish to drive home, here, Il
that internationalism does not ex
clude national considerations, and
that national policies may serve In
ternationalism.
Long before the old international
was organized Marx-Engels had ar
rived at firm convictions in questions
of international politics. The Cri,
mean war broke the Holy Alliance
between Prussia, Russia and Austria
Prussia staid by Russia, while Aus.
tria inclined towards better under.
standing with England and France
But the Russian Tsar entered into an
agreement with the French Emperor
Napoleon the Third, to weaken Aus
tria. Russia clashed with Austria
over the Balkan question, France over
the Italian question. Prussia had de-
signs on Slesvig Holstein, and also de.
sired to displace Austria in the lead
ership of Central Europe. Marx-En-
gels regarded Russia as the most dam
gerous enemy of European Democ-
racy and urged the German Socialists
to demand that the lPrussian govern
ment break away from Russia, star
by Austria in wa L against france
and Italy, and work {or German unity
under a democratic republic. This
policy did not foresee the drift of
things correctly and was impracti-
was no movement in Germany power
full and willing enough to push it to
success. Lassalle, on the contrary,
considered Austria more dangerous to
European Democracy than either the
French Emperor or the Russian Tsar.
He wanted the German Socialists to
support the Prussian government in
a war of France and Italy against
Austria and to bring about closer
alliance between Prussia and France,
for the purpose Of breaking up the
Austrian empire, thereby compelling
the Austrian Germans to join Prus-
STA and the small German states.
This, in his opinion, would serve
European Democracy better than an
alliance between Prussia and Austria
against France, Russia and Italy.
LASSALLE'S FUTILE HOPES
Lassale's expectations of fargo
ing Democracy were as visionary un-
der the prevailing conditions as those
of Marx Engels, or of the bourgeois
Democrats, but the international
diplomacy actually took the turn
which he advocated. The leading
Prussian statesmen aimed, indeed, to
break away from the German fedora
ton dominated by Austria. Napoleon
the Third helped Sardinia to attack
Austria, took a part of northern Italy
away from Austria, and helped him
self to Savoy and Nice. This gave
Napoleon strategic position which,
in the opinion of Engels, enabled
France to prepare an attack on the
German Rhine provinces. But Big
marck, the leading Prussian diplomat,
at that times cared more for solidi-
ficaton of North-German countries
under Prussian leadership and for
independence from Austria than for
the German Rhine provinces, and so
he followed a course opposite to that
recommended by Engels to the Ger
man Socialists. Immediately after
the war of 1859, Engels himself eX-
planned, why the development of
things had gone contrary to his pol
ICY In a pamphlet, entitled Savoy,
Nice and Rhine" he wrote: "The lib
eral philistines of Gotha for years
had ceased to regard German Aus
tria as one of them They welcomed
the war, because it would weaken
Austria and thereby make possible
the Inauguration of the petty German
or Greater Prussian empire. The
mass of the vulgar Democrats OF