Karl Marx - Herr Vogt: A Spy in the Workers' Movement

Herr Vogt is a strange and difficult book, even for dedicated followers of Karl Marx. It is a detailed, dare I say, obsessive, response to libelous attacks on Marx and his comrades by Carl Vogt, a German philosopher, politican and scientist. Usually, when referred to in books about Marx authors lament that Marx took time out from writing far more important work to respond to attacks that today might be irrelevant and forgotten. Indeed, like Eugen Dühring who was the target of Engels' work Anti-Dühring, it's entirely possible that Vogt would mostly be forgotton today if Marx had not decided to refute his slander. But the book is not an easy read. The problem was well described by Franz Mehring, one of Marx's biographers who wrote in 1918:

It is the only one of Marx’s independent works which has never been reprinted: and there are probably very few copies still extant. First of all, it is very long, amounting to 192 closely printed pages (Marx declared that in ordinary print it would be twice as long), and secondly, it would require detailed commentary to make all the references in it clear to the present-day reader. For the most part this would not be worthwhile, because much of the matter with which Marx deals was forced on him by his opponent and relates to affairs which have long since been completely forgotten and rightly so. In reading the book one involuntarily experiences a sense of discomfort to hear Marx defending himself against slanderous attacks which did not touch him even remotely.

Today the book has been reprinted and is available online. But the other problems remain. The reader may struggle with several things - firstly the people, groups and events that Marx references in his sometimes meandering demolition of Vogt's allegations. The second is that Marx's often refers to individuals, especially Vogt himself, in slang, insults or with literary references. "Falstaff" is a frequent example. If anything the one thing modern readers will learn from the book is that Marx had an enormous grasp of poetry and literarture and was not adverse to quoting or paraphrasing such to make a point.

In one example Marx describes the skunk in detail, referring to its "horrible offensive" smell. He then describes Vogt as a "naturalised citizen of the 'Animal Kingdom'" who, "in the manner of the skunk", "sprayed" allegations against his enemies. In this particular case the allegation is that Marx and his comrades were "live off the sweat of the workers". Its an attack that clearly, and rightly, enrages Marx and he marshals several letters from supporters, including the editors of the New York Tribune who point out his paid work and his sacrifices for the workers' movement. In Herr Vogt, this is frequently Marx's approach. He refutes and allegation and summons letters from mutiple acquaintances, enemies and supporters to prove his point and refute the slander.

What was Vogt's purpose in his attack on Marx? Clearly it was to discredit Marx and those around him arguing for revolutionary politics. Why did Vogt do this? Marx asks:"Is Karl Vogt paid to be an agent?" Marx doesn't really know for definite: "Who knows whether Plon-Plon has not promised his Falstaff the post of Commander of the Mouse Tower in the Rhine at Bingen". But Marx notes:

In any case, rumour has it, I know, that there is a more prosaic explanation of things. Thus 'with the turn in the situation since 1859' there is said to heave been a turn in the conditions of the 'jolly companion' (who had, a short time previously, been joint chief of a joint stock company in great difficulties and involved in criminal investigations.

But more importantly for Marx he shows that Vogt represents a particular strand of thought among politicans who, during the 1848 revolutions and after sided with Louis Bonaparte. Marx makes sure to demonstrate how Vogt was wrong during the revolution and after and how his "patrons" were keen to abandon principles and side with Bonaparte against democrats, revolutionaries and so on. Much of this material is obscure and hard to follow because Marx is, in his classic method, making his argument by building up to a big picture. Those who want to know more about Marx's thinking about key moments in European history after 1848 might find material here to get their teeth into. Most of us will find it somewhat obscure.

Of more interest is the insights we get into the lives of radical emigrants and refugees and Marx's own circles. Some of the letters have real gems. Charles Dana, editor of the NY Tribune is full of praise for Marx's work, but says "in questions relating to both Czarism and Bonapartism, I have sometimes thought that you manifested too much interest and too great anxiety for the unity and independence of Germany". But he goes on, that Marx has "always manifested the most cordial interest in the welfare and progress of the labouring classes."

In the 1982 edition of Herr Vogt that I have the translator argues that after 120 years (now 160 or so) since first publication, the book remains "a model of the analysis, investigation and exposure of the agents of bourgeois reaction." I, it must be said, remain unconvinced. It is a deep polemic, and there's plenty of Marx in it. But it must have been obscure - even at the time, and typically Marx lost money on the book. Readers wanting to dive in are recommended to read the chapters in Mehring's book which explain the context to the convoluted arguments and persons mentioned. Mehring concludes that Marx should never have got involved:

When the trouble with Vogt began Marx’s friend Imandt wrote: “I shouldn’t like to have to write about the affair and I shall be surprised if you can bring yourself to thrust your hand into such a muckheap,” and similar advice came to hand from Russian and Hungarian friends. To-day one almost feels inclined to wish that he had taken it. The deplorable business won him a number of new friends and, in particular, it caused him to resume friendly relations with the Workers Educational League, which immediately supported him vigorously. On the other hand it tended to hamper the great work of his life rather than further it, despite, or rather just because of, the valuable sacrifice in strength and time which it demanded without offering any commensurate gain, and at the same time it caused him serious domestic difficulties.

On the other hand, as the recent "Spy Cops" investigation has demonstrated, spies in the movement and those seeking to discredit radicals and revolutionaries remain a problem. While Marx's response to Vogt may not be his most important or accessible work. It is, nonetheless, a demonstration of how seriously Marx took his revolutionary activity and how keen he was to defend himself against counter-revolutionary critics.

Related Reviews

Mehring - Karl Marx: The Story of his Life
Marx - Value, Price and Profit
Marx - The Civil War in France
Liebknecht - Karl Marx: Biographical Memoirs