Marx and Engels in Neue Rheinische Zeitung June 1848
Written: 31 May 1848.
First Published: Neue Rheinische Zeitung, No. 1, 1 June 1848.
Source: Marx and Engels: Articles from the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, Moscow 1972, p. 21.
Transcribed: Einde O'Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive (May 2014).
Originally the date of publication of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung[1] was to be the first of July, and arrangements with correspondents, etc., were made with that date in view.
But since the brazen attitude reassumed by the reactionaries foreshadows the enactment of German September Laws[2] in the near future, we have decided to make use of every available day and to publish the paper as from June the first. Our readers will therefore have to bear with us if during the first days we cannot offer so wide a variety of news and reports as our widespread connections should enable us to do. In a few days we shall be able to satisfy all requirements in this respect too.
Editorial Board:
Karl Marx, Editor-in-Chief
Editors: Heinrich Bürgers
Ernst Dronke
Friedrich Engels
George Weerth
Ferdinand Wolff
Wilhelm Wolff
1. Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Organ der Demokratie (New Rhenish Gazette. Organ of Democracy) – a daily paper published in Cologne from June 1, 1848, to May 19, 1849. As its name indicates, it was meant to continue the tradition of the Rheinische Zeitung, which Marx edited in 1842 and 1843. The paper was intended not only for the Rhine Province, whose centre Cologne was, but also for Germany as a whole. In April and May 1848, Marx and Engels did a great deal of preparatory work, such as raising the necessary funds for the publication of the paper by selling its shares, finding suitable correspondents and establishing contacts with democratic periodicals in other countries.
2. In September 1835 the French government promulgated laws which placed restrictions on juries and introduced severe measures against the press, i.e., larger sums had to be deposited by periodicals, and writers who attacked property rights and the existing political system were liable to imprisonment and heavy fines.