Chapter Twelve Introduction to Ferdinand Lassalle's Speech to The

Chapter Twelve Introduction to Ferdinand Lassalle’s Speech to the Jury (July 1905) Leon Trotsky

The document translated here is Leon Trotsky’s introduction to one of the most famous of Social- Democratic speeches – written but never delivered – by Ferdinand Lassalle.1 In 1893, Eduard Bernstein’s biography of Lassalle2 portrayed a man of fl amboyant character, enormous self-regard, and powerful intellect. While Lassalle was never fully a Marxist – he was much too infl uenced by Hegel in his view of the state, and by Ricardo in his acceptance of ‘the iron law of wages’ – he was nevertheless one of the heroic fi gures of the revolutions of 1848–9. In 1863, Lassalle founded the Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein (General German Workers’ Association), which in 1875 joined with the Social-Democratic Workers’ Party, led by August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht, to create the Socialist Workers’ Party. In 1890, the Socialist Workers’ Party became the Social- Democratic Party of Germany. Lassalle’s biography is the remarkable story of a man who in the course of a single lifetime became

1 Lassalle 1905. 2 Bernstein 1893. Bernstein’s biography was a translation into English of his introduction to the complete German edition of Lassalle’s Speeches and Works. 410 • Leon Trotsky both revolutionary and reformer, at times a close associate of both Marx and Bismarck, a prodigious author, a playwright, and a hapless suitor who perished in 1864 in a duel over the affections of a young woman. Lassalle was also a self-taught lawyer. His adventures in the law courts began in 1846, when he met Countess Sophie Hatzfeld, who was seeking divorce from her husband. Lassalle undertook to rescue the Countess’ fortune and waged numerous cases on her behalf until ﬁ nally winning in 1854. But Lassalle’s most memorable court encounter occurred in July 1849, when he faced charges of inciting armed resistance to the Prussian king and his ofﬁ cials. Bernstein gives this account of Lassalle’s arrest and his ‘speech’ to the jury:

Lassalle . . . was on the extreme Left of the Democratic party, whose organ was the Neue Rheinische Zeitung (the New Rhenish Gazette), edited by Karl Marx. . . . He frequently sent communications and correspondence to the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, and occasionally even appeared at the editorial offi ce of the paper. Thus, gradually, a friendly personal relation came about between Lassalle and Marx. . . . Lassalle’s attitude with regard to the infl owing tide of reaction in 1848 was identical with that of the editors of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung. . . . When, in November 1848, the Prussian Government disbanded the Berlin civic guard, proclaimed a state of siege in Berlin, and removed the seat of the National Assembly from Berlin to Brandenburg, a small provincial town, and when . . . the National Assembly [then] impeached the Prussian Ministry for high treason (i.e., violation of the Constitution), and declared this ministry had forfeited the right of levying taxes, Lassalle, following the example of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, called upon all citizens to organise and offer an armed resistance to the collection of taxes. Like the Committee of the Rhenish Democrats [which Marx supported], Lassalle was also indicted for inciting . . . armed resistance against the King’s authority, and like them, too, he was acquitted by the jury. But the Reaction, growing more and more high- handed, brought a further charge against Lassalle of inciting . . . resistance against Government offi cials, with the object of getting him tried before the Correctional Police Court. And, in fact, this court – the Government undoubtedly knew its own judges – eventually did condemn Lassalle to six months’ imprisonment. Lassalle’s answer to the fi rst of these charges has been published under the title Assize Court Speech [Assisen-Rede]. But, as a matter of fact, it was never