Karl Marx and Frederick Engels : the Irish dimension

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels wrote upwards of fifty books and articles, and many letters concerning economic and political developments in Ireland after the Great Famine of 1845-49. For the most part, these writings have been ignored, in preference for attention to their more famous economic and philosophical works. In contrast, this study seeks to set the record straight; examining in detail their appraisal of the relationship between Irish nationalism and English socialism, the thesis finds that Marx and Engels' concern was primarily focused in the direction of the latter. Support for Irish self-determination was significant principally in adding to their re-evaluation of Chartism, the English labour movement, and the potential for socialist revolution generally. Moreover, they were not enthusiastic defenders of the Fenians, but quietly sheltered various misgivings concerning their actions, and limited political horizon and effectiveness, which came to light in their applause for Charles S wait Parnell by mid-1870. The thesis seeks to place Marx and Engels' support for Irish independence within a framework of capitalist development as sketched by Karl Marx in Capital. Therein, he discussed the effects of capitalist accumulation upon Ireland, pronouncing that the particular mode of production was responsible for the manner in which English industry reciprocated Irish agriculture. It is claimed in the thesis that Marx's development of the mechanism of capitalist accumulation is an invaluable analysis of that relationship. Nevertheless, one cannot read through Marx and Engels' varied writings without being aware of the many inconsistencies and omissions that abound. Their general ignorance of industrial growth, particularly in Belfast, of great opposition to Home Rule, and of the conservative strength of the tenantry movement are among the most obvious of these. The thesis continually draws attention to these problems, citing data on political and economic developments of the time as evidence of the drawbacks to their analysis. This method purports to consider how well Marx and Engels understood the Irish question. On the other hand, some of their inaccuracies, especially Engels' almost emotional attention to communal, pre-English Ireland, compares favourably with contemporary opinion. In conclusion, then, the thesis ends by glancing at how Marx and Engels' ideas compared with their contemporaries, suggesting that in many ways, they were trapped in their historical time.