On Poland

Speeches made by Marx and Engels respectively at the International Meeting to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the Polish Uprising of 1830. Written on November 29 1847. The full text was published in the Deutsche-Brüsseler-Zeitung, December 9, 1847.

The Polish Uprising has a particular place in the history of European revolutions. At the end of the 18th century, the partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria caused the Polish people to suffer half a century of national oppression. Between 1830 to 1831, an uprising for national liberation against the Tsar’s absolutism, led by the Polish lower aristocracy, took place in Poland, which is historically known as the Polish Uprising of 1830. Since the national government established after the uprising failed to meet the peasants’ demand for the abolition of the dependence of the serfs, the uprising was not supported by the peasants and ultimately failed. On November 29, 1847, the Fraternal Democrats and the Democratic Committee Poland’s Regeneration jointly convened an international conference in London to commemorate the Polish Uprising of 1830. In their speeches On Poland, Marx and Engels analyzed how due to the development of the modern capitalist mechanical large-scale industry the divergence of opposed interests which previously divided the different sections of workers had been eliminated, and the working class in all countries had the same interests and the same enemy, which was to overthrow the oppression of the bourgeoisie. This made the workers’ movement in a single country transcend national boundaries and take on an international character, and the proletarians of all countries should fight together in a brotherly alliance of the workers of all countries against the alliance of the bourgeoisie of all nations. Meanwhile, the bourgeoisie of each country, based on the need to defend its own class interests, will also unite against the proletarians not only of its own country, but also of other countries. Meanwhile, they also pointed out that the existing capitalist private property is the premise of national oppression and exploitation, and the interests of the proletariat coincide with the interests of the oppressed nations and countries. The proletariat must act to abolish the existing relations of property and achieve national liberation through class struggle. In addition, Marx and Engels expounded national question by criticizing capitalist colonial rule, holding that “a nation cannot become free and at the same time continue to oppress other nations,” and that the proletariat which have the same condition, the same interests and the same enemies must also fight together in the struggle for the emancipation of their class and the liberation of all nations. As for the Polish Uprising, they pointed out that Poland was being oppressed by Germany at that time, and that the liberation of Poland had a coincidence with the liberation of Germany; the German proletariat should actively support the liberation movements of oppressed nations such as Poland and adopt a revolutionary mode of alliance and co-operation. Of all countries, England was the one where the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is most ripely developed; consequently the victory of the English proletarians over the English bourgeoisie was, therefore, decisive for the victory of all the oppressed over their oppressors, hence Poland must be liberated not in Poland but in England.

On Poland expounded the Marxist theory of national liberation struggle and the international unity and solidarity of the proletariat, put forth the principle and standpoint of the proletariat for handling the question of oppressed nations, and pushed forward the unity of the international proletariat and the development of the workers’ movement.