Page:Friedrich Engels - The Revolutionary Act - tr. Henry Kuhn (1922).pdf/32

 attitude caused the troops to waver and, on top of that, furnished arms to the insurrection. Wherever this citizens' guard at the very outset took a stand against the insurrection, as in Paris, June, 1848, the latter was quelled. In Berlin, 1848, the people won, partly because of the accretion of considerable new forces during the night and the morning of the 19th of March, partly because of the exhaustion and the poor provisioning of the troops, and, finally, because of the lamed command. In every instance, the victory was won because the troops failed, because the commanders lacked decision, or because their hands were tied.

Therefore, even during the classic period of street battles, the barricade had a moral rather than a material effect. It was a means to shake the solidity of the military. If it held until that had been accomplished, the victory was won; if not, it meant defeat. Already in 1849 the chances of success were rather poor. Everywhere had the bourgeoisie gone over to the side of the governments, "culture and possessions" greeted and feted the military marching out against the insurrections. The barricade had lost its charm; the soldier saw behind it no longer "the people," but rebels, agitators, plunderers, dividers, the dregs of society; the officer had in the course of time become familiar with the tactical forms of the street battle; no longer did he march in direct line and without cover upon the improvised breastworks, but outflanked them through