M. A. Bakunin in der „Dresdner Zeitung”

Abstract

On going deeper into the life-history of Bakunin, it becomes evident that his first stay abroad (1840—1851) had been decisive for the whole of his spiritual development. Of quite special importance are his activities during the revolutionary epoch of 1848/49; this period of his life has hitherto not been considered with the attention it deserves. Bakunin's contributions to the “Dresdner Zeitung” in the months of March to May 1849 have not been explored at all up to the present.The “Dresdner Zeitung was the organ of the Dresden Democrats. It appeared regularly from the 1st Oktober 1848 until the 6th August 1850. From being a fairly moderate paper, it gradually became more radical in 1848/49.Decisive for the volte-face of the paper was the action of Bakunin who was staying in Dresden during the months March/May 1849 and who influenced Ludwig Wittig, one of the editors, to a considerable extent. A radical democrat with socialistic tendencies, already in early March, Wittig developed further and further to the left in the course of the stormy year of 1848. His impressions when in Vienna, where he had been sent by the Saxon democrats in 1848 in order to try arid effectuate the connections with the Vienna movement made him specially receptive for the final conclusions, which Bakunin drew from the events.