Electoralism and Anti-Electoralism Among the German Left, Part 2
The actions of the government continued to drive a wedge between the factions of the
USPD. The Socialisation Commission, established by the government to advance economic reform, had achieved no tangible results. The support for ‘freedom of the press’ in reality meant support for corporations and anti-socialist organisations to incite violence against revolutionaries, and the censoring of the Berlin councils’ Executive Committee. The Executive Committee had previously attempted to establish a red guard; the pro-
SPD soldiers’ delegates voted down the motion however. Friedrich Ebert’s cabinet criticised the Executive Committee for acting beyond its remit, but soon afterwards he approved Emil Barth’s proposition to create the government’s own militia unit, which Otto Wels named a ‘republican defence force’.
At the next
USPD conference in Berlin, held on the 27th November, Hugo Haase spoke in defence of both the party’s collaboration with the
SPD in government and the convening of the constituent assembly, arguing that it was the democratic thing to do. Rosa Luxemburg predictably retorted that if Haase and the leadership supported democracy, they should call for a special party congress to decide the party’s future. Before the right could respond, the non-
Spartacists Georg Ledebour and Richard Müller spoke in support of Luxemburg’s argument. Emboldened by the revolt of the party’s centre and left, many who were on the fence over the collaboration with the
SPD jumped ship to the left. Emil Barth, though a minister in the government, had traditionally been on the left of the party; he remained curiously silent throughout the proceedings. In the end though the effort wasn’t enough, as Luxemburg’s motion for a special party congress was defeated. The vote was painfully close however; 329 in favour and 341 against. It is arguable that if Barth had spoken in favour of his erstwhile comrades, the motion would have carried and a split in the party may have been avoided. As it were, the left and centre departed the conference determined to establish a new revolutionary party. Upon hearing the news of the split the ultra-left
ISD, since renamed
International Communists, expressed interest in re-joining the
Spartacists until they learned that they were still in league with the old ‘reformists’ of the
USPD.[1] The
USPD membership however were electrified by the developments in the capital. Many
USPD-controlled councils throughout the country declared their support for the
Spartacists and their allies.
On the 2nd December, the splitters convened for what would become known as the Founding Congress of the
Communist Party of Germany (
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands/
KPD). The congress hosted 83
Spartacists and 42 non-
Spartacists. Even at this stage there was still some concern over leaving the
USPD from figures like Luxemburg and Leo Jogiches, who preferred to return the old party back to its revolutionary values. The presence of the fellow (non-
Spartacist) revolutionaries quelled most of the opposition however and the vote to found a new party passed almost unanimously; Jogiches and Werner Hirsch abstained.[2] There was more debate over the name of the new party itself. The
Zentrale, the central leadership, of the
Spartacus League had already voted for ‘communist’ over ‘socialist’, but the debate was reopened at the insistence of some non-
Spartacists. Luxemburg had argued that the new party should act as a bridge between the
Bolsheviks and the western European socialists, so the name should remain ‘socialist’ so as to ease the process. Other
Spartacists argued that naming themselves ‘communist’ would plainly state their intentions to establish a socialist republic of workers’ and soldiers’ councils. The non-
Spartacists were more concerned with removing the exclusionary name of ‘Spartacus’ and its derivatives. The congress comfortably settled on
Communist Party of Germany as its name.[3]
The question of participation in the election for the constituent assembly was the most controversial topic of debate. All the delegates agreed that the bourgeois institution of the constituent assembly was incapable of delivering victory to the proletariat. Despite that caveat, leading
Spartacist Paul Levi introduced the motion for the party standing in the election. This position was supported by the other members of the
Spartacist leadership, but many of the newer members of the
League held ultra-left views and so opposed the motion. The latter attempted to interrupt and shout down Levi’s speech, only to be responded to by the non-
Spartacists. After a much-heated debate, Levi’s motion was put to a vote: 81 for and 33 against.[4] The rest of the congress was relatively sedate; trade union bureaucracies were condemned but, through the arguments of the non-
Spartacists, activism in the unions was encouraged. The congress concluded by endorsing the party programme and electing a provisional Central Committee (
Zentralausschuss) of: Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Paul Levi, Georg Ledebour, Ernst Däumig, and Richard Müller.
In the weeks between the
KPD’s Founding Congress on 2nd December and the First All-German Congress of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils on the 16th, it is estimated that over half of the
USPD membership joined the
KPD. The rump
USPD comprised the rightists, who were indistinguishable from the
SPD left, the idealists who still believed that a socialist republic was possible through the constituent assembly, and those who remained ignorant or uninterested in internal party politics. The
USPD retained its control of the party newspaper,
Freiheit, but the
Spartacist newspaper
Die Rote Fahne was now able to compete due to the dramatic increase in readership and the resultant sales. Furthermore, the new party had its own paramilitary; the League of Red Soldiers had been established by the
Spartacists on 15th November to combat the
SPD’s overwhelming influence among soldiers. The League of Red Soldiers played an important role in the events of the 6th December which proved damaging to the Ebert government. The previous day, a delegation of soldiers marched to the Chancellery and announced their support for Ebert. The next day the garrison’s activities escalated: one unit occupied the headquarters of the Berlin councils’ Executive Committee and arrested its members; another went back to the Chancellery and declared Ebert to be President. The League of Red Soldiers led a demonstration against the apparent coup attempt and were fired upon. On the 7th, Liebknecht was arrested by soldiers while at the offices of
Die Rote Fahne, leading to a demonstration of 100,000 workers the next day. Ebert was pressured by Paul von Hindenburg into accepting the movement of ten divisions from the front to Berlin in order to suppress the Revolution. Meanwhile Emil Eichhorn, left
USPD member and Berlin chief of police, ordered an inquiry which uncovered evidence of a number of Ebert’s associates being involved in the planning of the abortive coup attempt. The right’s hopes were further dashed when the arriving divisions dispersed and returned home.
The day of the First All-German Congress of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils arrived: 489 delegates in all, 405 workers and 84 soldiers. The birth of the
KPD had uprooted the
USPD’s position in the councils, but the
SPD were unaffected. As such, the
SPD held a majority of 288 delegates against the
KPD’s 77 and the
USPD’s 13. Additionally there were 11 ‘united revolutionaries’ (the
IKD), 25 liberals, and 75 independents. The
KPD had expected the
SPD to have a majority and so organised a demonstration of 250,000 workers outside the Congress. Due to the electoral process of the Berlin councils, Liebknecht and Luxemburg were not elected because they were neither factory workers nor soldiers. Ironically the councils of other cities not having such stringent rules is what allowed the
SPD to have such a large delegation of intellectuals and other professionals.[5] Attempts to allow Liebknecht and Luxemburg to attend the Congress as consultative members were rejected out of hand. It is unsurprising then that Ebert’s directives were approved by a majority. The decision to hold elections for the constituent assembly were overwhelmingly approved, though the
KPD abstained on the vote. The date of the elections were opened up for debate. The ‘united revolutionaries’ argued for 16th March but only won 50 votes. Ebert, cognisant of his lack of military control of Berlin and eager to keep the
USPD on side after their split, had instructed his associates to support the original date of 16th February; this motion won an overwhelming majority of delegates, with the
KPD once again abstaining. Afterwards Däumig pushed a motion calling for the councils to remain the supreme organ of legislative and executive authority, and to recall the Congress before a constitution was ratified. This last gasp for the councils was handily defeated. The only upset to Ebert’s agenda concerned the military. A number of measures aimed at reducing reactionary influence in the military, including the election of officers and transfer of military command to the soldiers’ councils, was approved by a majority which included pro-
SPD soldiers. With the
KPD’s defeat at the Congress, they began to focus on mobilising the working class in the councils and organising an anti-parliamentary election campaign.
Group | Delegates | % of delegates |
Social Democratic Party | 288 | 58.9 |
Communist Party | 77 | 15.7 |
Independents | 75 | 15.3 |
Liberals | 25 | 5.1 |
Independent Social Democratic Party | 13 | 2.7 |
United Revolutionaries | 11 | 2.2 |
[1] OTL, the IKD merged with the Spartacists and together a majority voted in favour of ultra-left positions such as boycotting the constituent assembly elections. This in turn caused negotiations between the Spartacists and the other leftists of the USPD (including the shop stewards) to breakdown.
[2] OTL, those two plus another voted against leaving the USPD.
[3] The name adopted IOTL was Communist Party of Germany (Spartacus).
[4] OTL there were 112 delegates (83 Spartacists, 29 IKD). The OTL vote was 23 for and 62 against. With the ultra-left IKD being replaced with the pro-electoral non-Spartacist USPD members, I reckon there would be a majority for participation in the election (with some abstentions also taken in to account).
[5] There were 179 factory and office workers versus 71 intellectuals and 164 professionals, that is, journalists, career politicians, and party and trade union officials.
Dramatis Personae (OTL biographies)
Leo Jogiches: An old member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, along with Rosa Luxemburg (the two also being long-term lovers), Jogiches was one of the main Spartacists. Opposed to the ultra-leftists, so much so that he advocated the Spartacists staying in the USPD and returning it to its revolutionary values. Jogiches was murdered in prison two months after the January (Spartacist) Uprising.
Paul Levi: Historically maligned for being a rightist (and too bourgeois), Levi became leader of the KPD after the murders of other prominent Spartacists. He led the charge against the ultra-leftists, resulting in their expulsion (and the subsequent formation of the KAPD), but was arguably responsible for bringing in the majority of the USPD. Levi served as co-chairman alongside Ernst Däumig but was expelled after criticising the failed March Action of 1921, whereupon he formed the Communist Working Group, and from there rejoined the USPD and then the SPD. Levi died in 1930 during while afflicted with illness.