New documents on the activities of Friedrich Engels during the bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1848-1849 in Germany are published below. They shed light on some little-known aspects of the biography of one of the founders of scientific communism. The first and third documents have not been published before, while the second one is being printed in Russian for the first time. The publication is based on the documents stored in the Central Party Archive of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism (CPA IML) under the Central Committee of the CPSU.

In September 1848, Engels was in Cologne. He was one of the editors of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, an organ of proletarian democracy, and took an active part in the workers ' and democratic movement of the Rhineland. From the document kept in the Central Administration of the IML under the Central Committee of the CPSU, it is clear that Engels was an ordinary member of one of the units of the civil militia of Cologne 1 . Marx and Engels believed that proletarian revolutionaries should make the most of the democratic freedoms won as a result of the March revolution of 1848. In particular, they attached great importance to arming the people to resist the counter-revolution. As members of the civil militia, Engels and his friends, members of the editorial board of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung G. Weert2 and E. Dronke3 , exerted a revolutionizing influence on the democratic elements of this armed organization. As a true revolutionary, Engels was ready to defend the interests of the people with weapons in his hands.

The first document is related to Engels ' stay in Switzerland in late 1848-early 1849. On September 26, 1848, the Prussian authorities imposed a state of siege in Cologne; an order was issued for the arrest of Engels as one of the organizers of mass popular meetings in the city. After leaving Germany, Engels arrived in Switzerland at the end of October. Here he lived for more than two months. While in exile, Engels continued to work in the editorial office of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, regularly sending his articles and correspondence to Cologne. At the same time, it takes an active part in the Swiss labor movement and establishes close ties with the workers ' unions of various cities. During his travels around the country, Engels meets with members of the Union of Communists. He visited Geneva, Lausanne, and Neuchatel. On November 15, 1848, Engels asked the Bernese authorities to allow him to stay in Berne4 . On December 9, the canton Council granted his request. Engels looked forward to the moment when he would have the opportunity to return to his homeland. As soon as he found out that he was no longer in danger of being arrested, he immediately prepared to leave. Published information

1 Civil militia - armed groups of townspeople that emerged everywhere in Prussia after the March Revolution of 1848. The militia was built on a territorial principle: each of the battalions included citizens who lived in certain quarters of the city and on certain streets. At that time Engels was living at No. 14 in der Hele Street and No. 21 Weert on Houenpforth Street. These streets were geographically close, and therefore Engels and Weert were part of the same battalion.

2 Georg Weert (1822-1856) was a German proletarian poet and publicist, a member of the Communist League, and a friend and associate of Marx and Engels. In 1848-1849 he was one of the editors of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung.

3 Ernst Friedrich Johann Dronke (1822-1891), German publicist, first a "true socialist", then a member of the Communist League and one of the editors of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, emigrated to England after the revolution of 1848-1849.

4 See K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch. Vol. 6, pp. 618-619.

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an entry in the registration book of the Canton of Bern makes it possible to establish the date of Engels ' departure from Switzerland,which was still unknown. On January 18, 1849, he was issued papers in connection with his return to Germany.

The second document is an excerpt from the indictment in the case of participants in the Elberfeld uprising. This document, drawn up in December 1849, deals with the events of May 1849, of which Engels was a direct participant. The indictment was published in the Cologne newspaper "Westdeutsche Zeitung" in March-April 1850 (these excerpts are taken from NN 93 and 95 of April 19 and 21, 1850). The most important discrepancies between the newspaper text and the copy of the indictment stored in the Central Administration of the IML under the Central Committee of the CPSU are specified under the line. The Elberfeld uprising began in the midst of a revolutionary upsurge in the spring of 1849. Saxony, Palatinate, Rhenish Prussia. Marx and Engels attached great importance to this insurrection, the successful outcome of which could have a significant impact on the course of the struggle against the forces of counter-revolution in the Rhineland province. On May 11, Engels arrived in the rebellious Elberfeld with a detachment of armed workers from Solingen. The Elberfeld Security Committee assigned him to direct the construction of defensive structures in the city; he was also responsible for the artillery. The decisive actions of Engels, who demanded that the workers be armed and the propertied classes imposed a compulsory tax on the maintenance of armed detachments, caused panic among the local bourgeoisie. Seeing in Engels a recognized leader of the workers, she feared that his further activity would give the insurrection a proletarian character. Under pressure from the "city fathers", the Security Committee suggested that Engels leave Elberfeld. The actions of the petty-bourgeois leaders provoked indignation among the workers, who asked Engels to stay, promising to " defend him with their lives." However, he soberly assessed the situation, decided not to cause discord in the ranks of the rebels and on May 15 left Elberfeld. The published excerpts from the indictment contain a number of new data on Engels ' participation in the Elberfeld uprising. When analyzing this document, it is necessary to take into account its specific nature. The events of the revolution are covered here from the perspective of the Prussian judicial authorities. However, even this official version makes it possible to judge the important role that Engels played in the days of the uprising. Without holding official positions, he was essentially one of the leaders of the uprising and acted decisively and energetically in critical circumstances. From this document, for the first time, the following fact becomes known: on the last day of his stay in Elberfeld, on May 15, Engels, at the head of a detachment of rebels, raided the nearby Grefrat. Under his leadership, weapons and ammunition were requisitioned from the local zeichhaus. From the point of view of Prussian official justice, Engels was a dangerous state criminal. It is no accident that Marx wrote to his friend after the defeat of the revolution: "The Prussians would have shot you twice: 1) for Baden*; 2) for Elberfeld " 5 .

The third document refers to September 1849. By this time, the last battles of the revolution were over. The uprising in Southwestern Germany was defeated by the troops of the German states led by Prussia. The volunteer detachment of the Baden - Palatinate Revolutionary Army, in whose ranks Engels fought, retreated to the southern border of Baden. On July 12, 1849, he was the last of all the rebel groups to cross into Switzerland. At first Engels was in Vienna, and in the second half of August he moved to Lausanne. Here he received a letter from Marx, who invited him to London to continue their joint journalistic activities. Engels began to prepare to leave for England. The shortest route was through France. However, the French government, aware of Engels ' revolutionary activities, denied him the right to travel. I had to go through Northern Italy and then by sea around Europe. September 11, 1849 In Lausanne, Engels received permission from the authorities of the canton of Vaud to leave Switzerland. The document has Engels ' handwritten signature.

* This refers to Engels ' participation in the Baden-Palatinate uprising in June-July 1849.

5 K. Marx and F. Engels, Op. t. 27, p. 135.

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All the documents published below will be included in the appendices to the 43rd volume of the Works of Karl Marx and Fr. Engels.

This publication was prepared for publication by senior researchers of the IML under the Central Committee of the CPSU M. A. Kochetkova and S. Z. Leviova.

Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU

1.

ENGELS ' RESIDENCE PERMIT IN THE CANTON OF BERN

Entry in the registration book for issuing residence permits to foreigners in the Canton of Bern

Identity of the foreigner. Last name, first name

- Engels, Friedrich

Place of birth or homeland

- Bartender (Prussia)

Profession

- Writer

Wife and children

-

Nature of the submitted document

- Travel certificate issued by the French authorities on March 30, 18481, for a period of one year

Place where you are allowed to stay:

Community

- Bern

Administrative district

- Bern

Residence permit:

Date

- December 23, 1848

Length of stay

- December 31, 1849

Cash fee

- 40 guilders

Notes

- Foundation - decision of the Canton Council of December 9, 1848 This permission was granted on condition of calm and in all respects impeccable behavior. I went to Germany. The documents were issued on January 18, 1849.*

2.

FROM THE INDICTMENT IN THE CASE OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE ELBERFELD UPRISING IN MAY 1849 2

...In addition to the above - mentioned defendants, Peter Notjung , a tailor, is also charged with the main crime of trespass, 3 despite the fact that he was neither a member of the Landwehr Committee nor a member of the Security Committee .4 He was an aide-de-camp to von Mirbach , 5 and as such was a member of the entire movement and, according to his own testimony, was familiar with its objectives. During the mutiny, he traveled from Cologne, which was his place of residence, to Elberfeld. Here he was approached by the editor of the newspaper*** Engels and Hunerbein, whom he had known before, with a request to assist the military commission 6 in receiving people and issuing coupons for cantonment. On the same day, von Mirbach appointed him his adjutant and gave him a black-red-gold 7 armband as a badge of distinction. According to his own testimony, the goal of the entire movement, as members of the Security Committee and the Military Commission explained to him, was that the German constitution 8 was being recognized

* The last two sentences are written in a different handwriting.

** The charge brought by the judicial authorities was formulated as "an attempt to overthrow the Government".

*** "Neue Rheinische Zeitung".

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and so citizens should be armed. He served as aide-de-camp until von Mirbach's departure; he was arrested in the vicinity of Ronsdorf...

...Friedrich Engels, the newspaper's editor, was also involved in the construction of the barricades. Witness Heinrich Meininghaus shows, among other things, that a young man with glasses and a small moustache, whom an armed volunteer said was Editor Engels and who behaved like one of the leaders, gave orders to strengthen the barricade at Vnuderbau. The witnesses mentioned earlier, Simon and Sauer, also speak of a young man with a small moustache, wearing a checkered frock coat, who took part in the construction of the barricade in front of von der Heydt's house...

...The Royal Zeichhaus in Grefrath was repeatedly attacked and looted by armed gangs during the Elberfeld mutiny. For the first time, such actions took place on 10 and 11 May, but were not carried out by Elberfeld gangs, but by residents of Solingen and its environs in order to arm the local population and then support the rebellion in Elberfeld, as well as to promote its spread to other areas. These campaigns to the Grefrath constitute an indictment in the investigation of another case, the simultaneous mutiny in Solingen and its environs, 9 whereas here we are mainly concerned with the looting of this Zeichhaus, which took place on May 15 from Elberfeld. According to the testimony of a number of people who took part in this campaign, on this day the accused Karl Jansen 10 ordered a part of his detachment, about 30 to 40 people, to go, as he put it, on a campaign to the Wald in order to get weapons there. The detachment was led by Jansen as commander and Wohlmeiner 11 as adjutant, and they were both joined by Editor Engels. Engels and Jansen had procured two dray horses from a copper smelter on their way to the merchant Jung's estate in Hammerstein. There Engels exchanged his horse for Jung's riding horse, and both Engels and Jansen demanded cavalry saddles for themselves. After Hammerstein, Jansen, as the defendant in the same case, Wilhelm Rausch12 , testified, gave orders to go to the Grefrath to see if there were any weapons and uniforms left in the Zeichhaus there that they could use. According to the testimony of Sergeant Starke to the local Landwehr department, as well as non-commissioned officer Steiniger, at first the Zeichhaus had the vanguard of the detachment - about 6 to 8 riflemen, and then an armed gang of 30 to 40 people led by Engels and Jansen. Both were mounted and armed with sabres and pistols. The squad immediately formed up in front of the zeichhaus and posted posts at its doors. Then Engels, drawing his pistol from its holster, went to Sergeant Starke, asked him if there were still weapons available, and when the latter replied that the weapons had already been forcibly taken away by detachments from Solingen and Wald, ordered him to follow him to the Zeichhaus. The resistance of two soldiers to an armed gang of 30 to 40 people would have been useless, especially since the doors of the Zeichhaus were no longer locked after previous attacks by the Solingenians. Thus, both military personnel were forced to give in to the force and allow entry to the Tseichhaus. Here Engels selected a number of items of weapons and uniforms, which he ordered to be taken out into the courtyard. Then two receipts of not quite identical content were drawn up on them, signed by commander Karl Jansen...

According to the list of items taken from the Zeichhaus, there were food bags, helmets, trousers, bandoliers, pistols, sabres, drums, shoes and one rifle. According to Jansen's instructions, each of the gang members could choose from among these items suitable uniforms and necessary weapons. Jansen himself does not deny that he went with part of his armed detachment (36-37 men) to the Grefrath for this purpose; he only claims that he did so on the basis of a written order received on the morning of May 15 from von Mirbach to requisition equipment on the way between the Grefrath and the Wald. He also claims that Engels, who had led the detachment with him, set up posts at the door of the Zeichhaus when he arrived in the Euphrates, and went inside with the sergeant major. According to him, while Engels was busy in the Zeichhaus, he himself, instructing the adjutant Wohlmeiner to be with the detachment, made a recog-

* In the "Westdeutsche Zeitung" - "39-40 people".

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I carried out a reconnaissance of the area around the Tseichhaus, and when I returned, I saw that various items of equipment were already lying on the parade ground...

3.

PERMISSION GRANTED TO ENGELS TO LEAVE SWITZERLAND

NN 1279.

Last name-Engels, a writer.

Name-Friedrich.

Place of birth-Bartender (Prussia).

Age - 28 years.

Height - 5 feet 9 3/4 inches, or 1 meter 79 centimeters.

Her hair was dark brown.

The forehead is large.

Eyebrows-dark brown.

Her eyes were brown.

The nose is small.

Height-average.

His beard is dark brown.

The chin is round.

The face is oval.

The complexion is bright.

Special signs.

Issued for a period of one year on September 11, 1849, for departure to England (via Piedmont and Spain) for residence there.

(Basis: authorization of the Department of Justice and Supervision of September 11, 1849).

Bearer's signature.

Frederick Engels*.

-----

* Engels ' handwritten signature.

notes

1 The travel certificate presented by Engels for obtaining a residence permit in the canton of Bern was issued to him by the French authorities on March 30, 1848, when he and Marx were preparing to return to Germany from exile. Around April 6, Marx and Engels left Paris for Cologne to take a direct part in the revolution.

2 An armed uprising broke out in Elberfeld, the main city of the Berg - Mark district of the Rhenish Province, in early May 1849. The Prussian government, which was trying to suppress the revolutionary ferment in the Rhineland, decided to call the Landwehr under arms. In response, the reservists of Elberfeld spoke out. They resolved to obey only the Frankfurt National Assembly, and to defend liberty and the fatherland against the danger of the Prussian Government. A committee of the Elberfeld Landwehr was elected to implement this decision. The workers began to arm themselves and form squads. The movement began to spread to other cities in the Rhineland. The Prussian government decided to send troops to Elberfeld. The workers ' detachments played a decisive role in repelling the Prussians. Prussian troops were forced to withdraw from the rebellious city. Active participants in the Elberfeld uprising were workers and artisans, among whom were members of the Union of Communists. Reinforcements arrived to help the rebels from nearby cities of the Rhineland province-Barmen, Ronsdorf, Remscheid and others. A detachment of 400-500 men arrived from Solingen. Power in Elberfeld was in the hands of the Security Committee. However, the actual leadership of the uprising was carried out by petty-bourgeois democrats, who determined the position of this committee. They came to an agreement with the Elberfeld bourgeoisie in order not to allow them to

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the proletarian elements must prevail. The Security Committee strongly opposed the adoption of the revolutionary measures proposed by Engels. Under pressure from bourgeois elements, the committee issued two orders one after the other: to expel Engels from Elberfeld and to withdraw the workers ' detachments from the city. These measures weakened the forces of the rebels and paralyzed their actions. As a result, the Prussian authorities soon succeeded in suppressing the uprising.

3 Peter Notjung (c. 1821-1866) - German tailor, member of the Cologne Workers ' Union and the Communist League; one of the defendants in the Cologne Communist trial (1852), where he was sentenced to six years in prison.

4 The Elberfeld Security Committee included Friedrich Wilhelm Hunerbein, a Communist member (born around 1817, a tailor by profession), as well as Johann Potmann, a coppersmith (born around 1823), and Julius Trost, a rentier (born around 1825).

5 Otto von Mirbach (born about 1805) - a retired Prussian artillery officer, petty-bourgeois democrat, commandant of Elberfeld during the May uprising of 1849; after the defeat of the uprising, he emigrated from Germany.

6 This refers to the military commission attached to the Elberfeld Security Committee. It was composed of members of the Security Committee Hunerbein and Trost. The commission dealt with the formation and equipment of the armed forces of the rebels, as well as the defense of the city from the expected invasion of Prussian troops. The Security Committee in every possible way slowed down and restricted the activities of the military commission.

7 The colors black, red and gold were a symbol of German unity.

8 This is the Imperial Constitution, which was adopted by the Frankfurt National Assembly on 27 March 1849. While proclaiming a number of democratic freedoms, it also handed over executive power to the imperial Government, headed by the Emperor. Feudal duties and payments were not abolished, but were subject to redemption. This constitution marked a step towards the unification of Germany; however, the Frankfurt Assembly that adopted it did not have any real power to implement it. The governments of almost all the major German states (Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Hanover, etc.) refused to recognize this constitution. It was defended by the masses of the people, who saw in the constitution the last remaining achievement of the revolution, the way to realize the unification of Germany. Armed uprisings in defense of the imperial constitution began in May 1849 in the Rhineland, Saxony, Baden, and the Palatinate under the leadership of petty-bourgeois democrats.

9 This refers to the uprising in Solingen and its environs in support of the Imperial Constitution in early May 1849. The assault on the zeichhaus in the nearby Euphrates allowed the rebels to stock up on the necessary weapons. The city authorities were deposed, and the Security Committee took their place. A significant stratum of workers took part in the Solingen uprising. However, the treacherous policy of the bourgeoisie led to the defeat of the uprising.

10 Karl Jansen (born about 1830) is a petty-bourgeois democrat, a teacher by profession, and an active participant in the Elberfeld uprising. His brother, a member of the Communist League, Johann Josef Jansen, was shot for participating in the Baden-Palatinate uprising of 1849.

11 Johann Gottfried Wolmeiner (born about 1826) was a Cologne-born architect who lived in Elberfeld.

12 Friedrich Wilhelm Rausch (born circa 1821) is a printer from Barmen.

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