The leading german social democrats of the nineteenth century expressed opinions at various times concerning the perennial Eastern Question. These opinions are not without interest, revealing sharply conflicting viewpoints among the socialists, as well as perceptive interpretations concerning the origins and nature of the Eastern Question.
Marx and Engels have been accused of racism and anti-Slavism because they frequently attacked the revolts of the Balkan peoples for independence. This hypothesis will be tested by ascertaining precisely what positions the two socialist pioneers took on the Near Eastern Question between the 1848 Revolutions and the Balkan Crisis of 1875-78.