14. From the Minutes of the General Meeting of the Democratic Society in Cologne Held on August 11, 1848
After the minutes of the preceding general meeting had been read and approved at the request of acting President Marx, Herr
Wolff read out the protest to the German National Assembly against the partition of Poland,(1) which was joyfully greeted and adopted with acclamation.
Herr Rittinghausen gave many reasons vindicating Herr Marx's right to citizenship recendy contested by the Prussian Government.(2)
He considered that the best thing would be, by means of a deputation tomorrow, to make the Government reverse this illegal and altogether ridiculous action, and if the Government is unwilling to do that, to send a protest at such behaviour directly to the Minister. The protest was read and adopted, and in the event of the refusal of citizenship for Marx not being withdrawn people will be invited to sign the protest this evening.
Herr Marx dwelt in more detail on the grounds proving the injustice of the measures adopted against him, and the applause of the whole meeting testified to the force of his arguments. The circumstance on account of which the Government refused him the right of citizenship really lies in the fact that previously attempts had been made in vain to win him over to the side of the Government.
Herr Engels reported a new vexatious police measure against Schapper by which the latter is threatened with deportation.(3) He described the intervention of the police and especially stressed that in any case Schapper as a citizen of Nassau has the right to be regarded as a German and as such, by the decision of the Frankfurt National Assembly, is entided to reside in any of the 38 German states.
Rittinghausen, Schneider and Bürgers were elected as delegates to put the case of Marx and Schapper before the Regierungspräsident and the Police Superintendent and try to effect a reversal of the decisions in question.
Deputy Gladbach, whose appearance was greeted with stormy applause, explained at length that salvation should not be expected to come either from the Berlin Assembly or from the Frankfurt Assembly.
Herr Engels stressed that it was Gladbach who had always distinguished himself by his liberal outlook and audacity and especially by his vigorous protest against the way the Schleswig-Holsteiners were dealt with in Spandau.(4) Thereupon three cheers were given for Herr Gladbach.
PROTEST OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY IN COLOGNE AGAINST THE INCORPORATION OF POSEN IN THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION[31]
Cologne, August 12. The Democratic Society of Cologne has submitted the following protest to the National Assembly:
To the High National Assembly!
The Democratic Society of Cologne, considering 1. that Germany, which is engaged in a struggle for freedom, does not desire to oppress other nationalities but to promote their efforts for freedom and independence; 2. that the liberation of Poland is a vital question for Germany; 3. that Poland has in fact been repeatedly robbed of its freedom and national independence by three despots; 4. that since 1792 all attacks upon Poland and all partitions of Poland have always been aimed by reaction against the freedom of the whole of Europe, and, on the other hand, whenever a liberation of the peoples took place there was insistence also on the restoration of Poland; 5. that even the Committee of Fifty,[351] in the name of the German people, indignantly rejected any share in the outrage committed against Poland and clearly proclaimed the duty of the German people to co-operate in the restoration of an independent Poland; 6. that after the March revolution even the King of Prussia, compelled by the force of public opinion, solemnly assented to the reorganisation of Posen; 7. that despite that the National Assembly in Frankfurt, which, it is true, arose from indirect elections, in its sitting of July 27, 1848, voted for the incorporation of three-quarters of the Grand Duchy of Posen in the as yet non-existent German Empire and thereby incurred the guilt of a new partition of Poland and the flouting of liberty in the same way as did the Vienna Congress and the German Federal Diet; 8. that nevertheless the healthy part of the German people will not and cannot take any part in oppressing the Polish nation for the benefit of reaction and in the interests of a number of Prussian bureaucrats, landowners and hucksterers; resolves in its sitting today:
to make a formal protest against the decision adopted by the German National Assembly on July 27, 1848, in regard to the Grand Duchy of Posen and herewith to lay before Germany, Poland and the whole of Europe its vigorous objections to this incorporation which is solely of advantage to the reactionary party in Prussia, Russia and Austria.
On behalf of the Democratic Society, The Committee
Endnotes
[31] The article was first published in English in the collection: Karl Marx, The Revolutions of 1848. Political Writings, Vol. 1, London, Penguin Books, 1973.
[351] In its address "To the German People" on April 6, 1848,the Committee of Fifty, which was elected by the Preparliament in April 1848 (see Note 51) and consisted mostly of liberals, called for support for activities aimed "at returning Poles their homeland". This call was, however, very vaguely worded.