Karl Marx: A Biography

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TRIER, BONN AND BERLIN 49

to resign on 17 March. In a declaration published in the newspaper Marx
said that his resignation was due to 'the present state of the censorship',^194
though later he ascribed it to the desire of the shareholders to compromise
with the government.^195
During the last few months, Marx had certainly been the main force
behind the paper. By the end of December its circulation had mounted
to 3500. On 18 March the censor, Saint-Paul, wrote: 'Today the wind
has changed. Yesterday the man who was the spiritus rector, the soul of
the whole enterprise, finally resigned ... I am well content and today I
have given to censoring scarcely a quarter of the time that it usually
took.'^196 Marx's views were certainly strongly held. Saint-Paul wrote that
'Marx would die for his views, of whose truth he is absolutely convinced'.


The decision to suppress the Rheinisch Zeitung came as a release for
Marx: 'The Government', he said, 'have given me back my liberty.'^197
Although he was still writing, he was certain that his future lay abroad:
'In Germany I cannot start on anything fresh; here you are obliged to
falsify yourself.'^198 His decision to emigrate was already taken: the only
remaining questions were when and where.


NOTES

1. For further background, see W. Bracht, Trier und Karl Marx (Trier, 1947);
H. Monz, Karl Marx und Trier (Trier, 1964); H. Hirsch, 'Marxens Milieu',
Etudes de Marxologie (Aug 1965).
2. For detailed research on Marx's genealogy, see B. Wachstein, 'Die Abstam-
mung von Marx', in Festskrift i anledning of Professor David Simonsens 70 -
aaroge fiidseldag (Copenhagen, 1923 ) pp. 277 ff.; E. Lewin-Dorsch, 'Familie
und Stammbaum von Karl Marx', Die Glocke, ix (Berlin, 1924 ) 309 ff.,
240 ff.; H. Horowitz, 'Die Familie Lwow', Monatsschrift fiir Geschichte und
Wissenschaft des Judentums, LXXII (Frankfurt, 1928 ) pp. 487 ff.
3. See the genealogical table on p. 427.
4. Eleanor Marx to Wilhelm Leibknecht, in Mohr und General (Berlin, 1965 )
p. 159.
5. Eleanor Marx to Henri Polak, in W. Blumenberg, 'Ein unbekanntes Kapitel
aus Marx' Leben', International Review of Social History (1956).
6. Heinrich Marx to Karl Marx, K. Marx-F. Engels, Historisch-kritisch Gesam-
tausgabe, ed. D. Rjazanov and V. Adoratsky (Berlin, 1927 ff.) I i (2) p. 242
(hereinafter referred to as MEGA).
7. F. Mehring, Karl Marx (London, 1936 ) p. 3 , is mistaken on this point.
8. For details, see A. Kober, 'Karl Marx, Vater und das napoleonische
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