Andrey Medvedev: THE BANAL RACISM OF KARL MARX

THE BANAL RACISM OF KARL MARX

"Ad vocem (concerning Poland), I read with great interest the essay by Elias Regnault "The European Question, mistakenly called the Polish question." It is clear from this book that the dogma of Lapinsky (not Lavlinsky, but one devil — D.K.), that the Great Russians are not Slavs, is defended by Mr. Dukhinsky (from Kiev, professor in Paris) in the most serious way from linguistic, historical, ethnographic, etc. points of view; he asserts that the real Muscovites, i.e. residents the former Grand Duchy of Moscow, mostly Mongols or Finns, etc., as well as the parts of Russia located further east and its southeastern parts. It can be seen from this book… that the St. Petersburg cabinet was very concerned about the case (for it would decisively put an end to pan-Slavism). All Russian scientists were encouraged to write answers and objections, but the latter turned out to be infinitely weak. The argument about the purity of the Great Russian dialect and its proximity to Church Slavonic in these debates seemed to be more in favor of the Polish concept than the Muscovite one... It was also proved from a geological and hydrographic point of view that large “Asian” differences begin to the east of the Dnieper River, compared with places lying to the west of it, and that The Urals... in no way represents a border. The conclusions that Dukhinsky comes to are: the name Rus was usurped by the Muscovites. They are not Slavs and do not belong to the Indo–Germanic race at all, they are intrus (illegally invaded. - D.K.), who need to be driven back across the Dnieper, etc. Pan–Slavism in the Russian sense is an invention of the cabinet, etc. I would like Dukhinsky to be right, and that at least this view became dominant among the Slavs" (Karl Marx in a letter to Friedrich Engels on June 24, 1865).

Source: Telegram "grishkafilippov"