Rheinische Zeitung

The ''Rheinische Zeitung'' ("Rhenish Newspaper") was a 19th-century German newspaper, edited most famously by Karl Marx. The paper was launched in January 1842 and terminated by Prussian state censorship in March 1843. The paper was eventually succeeded by a daily newspaper launched by Karl Marx on behalf of the Communist League in June 1848, called the ''Neue Rheinische Zeitung'' ("New Rhenish Newspaper").

Publication history

Background

The city of Cologne (Köln) has long been the most important urban center of the region of Germany known as Rhineland. During the decade of the 1830s a newspaper called the ''Kölnische Zeitung'' ("Cologne Newspaper") emerged as the voice of the Catholic political opposition based in that city. The protestant Prussian government, based in Berlin, considered this newspaper and its 8,000 subscribers a thorn in its side, and looked favorably upon attempts of those attempting to establish new newspapers to undercut the ''Kölnische Zeitung's'' dominant position.Mehring, ''Karl Marx,'' pp. 34-35.

A series of papers had been launched in Cologne, each failing, with the powerful ''Kölnische Zeitung'' generally buying out its fledgling competitors.Mehring, ''Karl Marx,'' pg. 35. One of this series of hapless rivals was a newspaper launched in Cologne in December 1839 called the ''Rheinische Allgemeine Zeitung'' ("Rhenish General Newspaper"). The paper struggled for two years without successfully gaining a foothold and seemed headed for extinction. When it was evident that the newspaper was becoming bankrupt soon, George Jung and Moses Hess convinced some leading rich liberals of the Rhineland, like Camphausen, Mevissen and Oppenheim to establish a company to buy out the newspaper. The sub-heading was "For politics, Commerce and Industry'. The shareholders initially chose Friedrich List as editor but were declined due to his health problems. Then the editorship was offered to Gustav Höfken, while Hess given the post of sub-editor.

At the eleventh hour a group of prominent Cologne citizens decided to raise fresh working capital and to attempt to reestablish the paper on a new basis. This new version of the old ''Rheinische Allgemeine Zeitung'' was to be known as the ''Rheinische Zeitung'' ("Rhenish News").

Establishment

The ''Rheinische Zeitung'' was launched on 1 January 1842, with Moses Hess serving as an editor.David Fernbach, "Introduction" to Karl Marx, ''The Revolutions of 1848: Political Writings, Volume 1.'' New York: Random House, 1973; pg. 12. The paper originally expressed a pro-government stance, but its political line soon shifted to better accord with popular sentiment among Rhinelanders, many of whom regarded the Prussian government in Berlin as an oppressive alien entity.

Although living in Bonn at the time of the paper's launch, Karl Marx seems to have been aware of the project from its inception and he began contributing articles to its pages, which drew notice from among the paper's readers. These articles would be the first of Marx's writings (beside his doctoral dissertation) to be published for the public. Previously fixated upon questions of abstract philosophy, Marx was first introduced to practical journalism in the course of writing for the ''Rheinische Zeitung.'' It was during this period, too, that Marx first came into contact Moses Hess and with French socialist ideas.

In the pages of the ''Rheinische Zeitung'' Marx had criticized the failings of the Rhineland Diet, seated at Düsseldorf, charging it with implementing class-based legislation which negatively impacted the rights and prosperity of common citizens in favor of a privileged stratum of landowners.Fernbach, "Introduction" to ''The Revolutions of 1848,'' pg. 13. In long articles Marx was additionally critical of the Diet's failings to advance the cause of freedom of the press, as well as its refusal to publish its own proceedings. Far from revolutionary at this juncture, Marx retained a faith that public debate in a free press would be sufficient to ameliorate the various evils facing society regardless of the Diet's weakness.

The government was agitated by the ''Rheinische Zeitung'' but did not take the step of forcing its closure, hoping instead that the paper would die on its own.Mehring, ''Karl Marx,'' pg. 47. This seemed a reasonable assessment, as by the middle of August 1842 the paper's subscriber list had dwindled to just 885. However, on 15 October 1842, Marx was appointed to the editorial board and the ''Rheinische Zeitung'' began an apparent rise from the ashes gaining nearly 1,000 subscribers over the course of the next month.

Marx analyzed the debate of the Rhineland Diet dealing with the alleged theft of wood by the peasantry—a topic which Marx later recalled "provided the first occasion for occupying myself in the economic questions." Frederick Engels