174 
THE SOCIALISM OF TO-DAY. 
transformation of the social order, if necessary, by means of 
revolution, it was the latter which, from 1869, got the upper 
hand, and, as always happens, under the most marked and 
violent form. 
Meanwhile the International protested energetically against 
the war of 1870, both at Paris, at London, and in Germany. 
On the 12th of July the Parisian federation published a mani 
festo addressed to the workers of all countries, but principally 
to their “brothers of Germany,” of which the following is an 
extract :—“ To the bellicose cries of those who are themselves 
exempt from the blood-tax, or who find in the public misfor 
tunes a source of new speculations, we oppose our emphatic 
protest, we who wish for peace, labour, and liberty. War is the 
indirect means by which Governments stifle the liberties of 
the people.” The general council, in its turn, addressed a 
manifesto to the members of the International in Europe and 
in the United States. It was probably drawn up by Marx, 
and contains some noteworthy passages. “ The people of 
Paris have protested against the war with so much energy that 
the Prefect of Police has forbidden all expression of opinion in 
the streets. Whatever, then, may be the issue of the war, the 
funeral knell of the Second Empire has already sounded in 
Paris. ... If the working classes of Germany permit the 
present war to lose its purely defensive character and to de 
generate into an offensive war against the people of France, 
victory or defeat will be equally disastrous. All the miseries 
that desolated Germany after its war of independence will be 
reproduced with accumulated force.” The general council then 
quoted several addresses to the French working men published 
by German sections. At Chemnitz 50,000 Saxon working men 
sent words of sympathy to their French brothers. 
The Berlin section, replying to the Paris manifesto, said, 
“With heart and hand we adhere to your proclamation. We 
solemnly vow that neither beat of drum, nor thunder of cannon, 
nor victory, nor defeat shall divert us from our efforts to estab 
lish the union of the workers of all countries.” The manifesto 
added, “ The single fact that, while official France and Germany 
are rushing into a fratricidal war, the German and French