Rosa's Reich - Red Germany
- Thread starter GlobalHumanism
- Start date
Well, it's summer 1920 so, the Turks are currently battling for their self-determination against Greeks and the Allies. Though in this ATL the Odessa Disaster may have ignited a general disengagement from Russian Civil War theatre, both David Lloyd George's and Clemenceau's government are still pushing for maximum gains. You can anticipate a similar Treaty of Sevres in August of 1920 - but that's if the Third Republic (or at the very least Clemeceau's government) can survive the coming civil strife.
In the vingette "No Country for Red Men", I tried my best to illustrate that the American leftist movement, which was at its core was struggling in a different economic mileu (union rights and standards of living being better that their European counter part), were indeed incited to action by the successive communist movements in this TL. Bombings have begun to occur at several mines spread throughout the east coast.
Truthfully I need to do more research on the political situation in Mongolia to give a more definitive answer. Though at the very least, yes, you can consider the possibility for a more free political situation for any country that was crushed under the yoke of Stalinist centralization.
Are you speaking specifically in the case of the French, or Europe at large? Since we are still in an undetermined phase for the revolution for the European colonial powers, I can stay whats become of them, in relation to leftist-marxism being on the march, yet. However, you can anticipate that any civil war that may come to the shores of these powers would undoubtedly see these colonies being used as a base of operations for any/all counter-revolutionary faction.
Something I didn't make note of in the somewhat brief Congress of Tours chapter is that Ho Chi Minh, who was in attendance at the congress, was influenced by the discussions and policies that came out of it. Taking this and extrapolating it outward, yes, you can absolutely assume that the diverse political happening in Europe will have a massive effect on the development of leftist thought in the colonial world. In essence, its no longer Leninism/Stalinism or bust for left-leaning nationalist movements - that includes the Philippines.
I would too! I'll make one soon - though I'm not the best at it.
Serious question - can the Sharia and Marxist economic doctrine co-exist within the same state? Does the the Sharia require at the very least a superstructure with which to administer the fiqh? (someone more learned on this topic help me out, because I'd love to dedicate a vingette to this with Morocco being the subject.
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I'm not an expert on Fiqh, so take this w/a grain of salt, but I imagine it can be wrangled to fit a socialist framework much like how Christian Socialism can work. Though I myself has litte idea how the ideologues fit it specifically to Marxist socialism.
As far as I know on Muslim or early Caliphate concepts that could be applied in a socialist manner: the 1st Caliphate's, the Rashidun's, Bait al-Mal was an early example of Welfare State; the Zakat redistributes wealth to those classed as the ones who need it; & the Rashidun's min. income was sort of a proto-UBI.
Tan Malaka, Indonesian communist revolutionary, seeing no contradiction between Islam & Socialism (advocating the Indonesian communists & the right-wing of the Sarekat Islam to stick together. Didn't work). If I remember correctly he even presented the idea of the two's coexistence in a Comintern meeting (understandably shot down there)
I am far from informed enough on the Sharia to speak to the topics you've listed out but I do know some stuff about Abd-El-Krim's personal ideology that might help direct your thoughts on the Morocco vignette (which I'm so hyped for!)
Like a number of other anti-colonial leaders later on - Lumumba, Kenyatta, and Ho Chi Minh come to mind - he spends much of his early life somewhere between a "colonized" and a "colonizer" background, being born into a life of (relative) privilege and receiving a European education alongside his instruction as a traditional Islamic jurist. He worked on and off for the Spanish Native Affairs Office from around 1910 to just before WW1 while serving as a chief qadi and even wrote some blatant colonial apologia for several Spanish-language newspapers extolling the Europeans from bringing enlightenment to the benighted natives of the Maghreb.
Though this is obviously far from the man who he would later become, you can see a lot of the elements that make up the "Islamic Republicanism" of the Riffian rebels already at work. The period just before and after WWI was something of a high water mark for a long time to come of the Islamic Modernist movement and Abd-El-Krim subscribed to it totally. While serving as a jurist, he based his rulings on the precident of the movement's founding luminary Muhammad Abduh of Egypt and was following the work of the Jadidists in Central Asia very closely (another group I will be looking out for in this TL, since a world where the Jadidists don't fall out with the Bolsheviks as completely is a big change.) He adds the revolutionary aspect of his ideology once serving a stint in prison for minor anti-colonial protests, which only radicalized him further.
In short, he's already a religious progressive - even amongst his fellow Modernists - and someone who might be open to working with leftists abroad if they are supporting his independence movement. Now where his Republic of the Rif goes from there is a different question, as is whether he fully buys in to Communism or stays on as a progressive left fellow traveler like the Jadidists did in the Soviet Union.
Chapter VI (1920) | Part VII (SIFO & CGT)
Chapter VI: The Crucible
______________
Time Period: July - August, 1920
France
With the votes of the secret ballot tallied, and the SIFO delegates eagerly awaiting the final result call, all eyes turned toward General Secretary Frossard as he took the central podium.
“With nearly 70% of the votes tallied – support for Blum’s motion carries,” he shouted; his voice trailing off in disappointment at the landslide results. With such a wide margin of victory placed at the feet of the Blumests, neither Frossard nor his allies had any chance of contesting the results. All hopes for a French Communist Party arising out of the Congress had been dashed.
“It seems we have our mandate,” said Leon Blum as he briskly ushered Frossard away from the podium. “The French Section of the Worker’s International shall remain as it stands; a party of revolutionary agitation, but now unified toward the goal of worker liberation.” Applause echoed throughout the hall.
It had been decided; one of the main parties within the French political milieu had chart itself firmly upon the path of Luxemburgist Revolution. However, the mass general strike that Blum and his compatriots had sought to incite required more than the unity achieved with the congressional elections; more critically he needed to forge political alliances with several of the main French trade unions.
Thus, in the days following the end of the congress, the newly elected leadership cadre of SIFO initiated clandestine meetings with several, with the most important being with those conducted with the General Confederation of Labor. Though several key leaders were at attendance at the SIFO party congress, for them the threat of a Bolshevik/Luxemburgist split would not be so easily abated.
Much like the Frossardists, several union leaders within CGT had come to the conclusion that the time for violent revolution against the crumbling French state had come and that the path provided by the October revolution made the most sense for the political situation France had found itself in.
To try to head off a split, Blum requested that both political sides be represented at a senior meeting towards the end of July.
“We need only to look across the Rhine to see what a true worker’s revolution looks like,” Blum said to the CGT delegates. “I propose we aim our focus toward achieving something similar.”
“Worker’s Soviets? While the economy teeters on collapse? I’m unsure of such a plan,” responded one of the CGT delegates. “Look; if we are to join you in your plan, we must make sure that the outcome of the strike will be one that satisfies the divisive political atmosphere of our constituency.”
“There can be no political conciliation between Leninism and Luxemburgism!” interjected someone from Blum’s camp.
“I ensure you, if you hope to receive the support of the entire CGT leadership cadre, we must find one.”
With any potential alliance now at an impasse, and the French mutineers only days away from Paris, all eyes turned toward Clemenceau. Already he had decided, upon the advice of the remaining French generals that supported him, to meet the mutineers head on. Thus, as the last days of July drew to a close, several thousand recently demobilized soldiers were recalled for national service.
By July 31st, 4,000 had assembled and stationed on the eastern outskirts of the city. Across the plain, only several miles away, marched over 5,000 mutineers. The Battle of Paris had begun.
______________
______________
Time Period: July - August, 1920
France
With the votes of the secret ballot tallied, and the SIFO delegates eagerly awaiting the final result call, all eyes turned toward General Secretary Frossard as he took the central podium.
“With nearly 70% of the votes tallied – support for Blum’s motion carries,” he shouted; his voice trailing off in disappointment at the landslide results. With such a wide margin of victory placed at the feet of the Blumests, neither Frossard nor his allies had any chance of contesting the results. All hopes for a French Communist Party arising out of the Congress had been dashed.
“It seems we have our mandate,” said Leon Blum as he briskly ushered Frossard away from the podium. “The French Section of the Worker’s International shall remain as it stands; a party of revolutionary agitation, but now unified toward the goal of worker liberation.” Applause echoed throughout the hall.
It had been decided; one of the main parties within the French political milieu had chart itself firmly upon the path of Luxemburgist Revolution. However, the mass general strike that Blum and his compatriots had sought to incite required more than the unity achieved with the congressional elections; more critically he needed to forge political alliances with several of the main French trade unions.
Thus, in the days following the end of the congress, the newly elected leadership cadre of SIFO initiated clandestine meetings with several, with the most important being with those conducted with the General Confederation of Labor. Though several key leaders were at attendance at the SIFO party congress, for them the threat of a Bolshevik/Luxemburgist split would not be so easily abated.
Much like the Frossardists, several union leaders within CGT had come to the conclusion that the time for violent revolution against the crumbling French state had come and that the path provided by the October revolution made the most sense for the political situation France had found itself in.
To try to head off a split, Blum requested that both political sides be represented at a senior meeting towards the end of July.
“We need only to look across the Rhine to see what a true worker’s revolution looks like,” Blum said to the CGT delegates. “I propose we aim our focus toward achieving something similar.”
“Worker’s Soviets? While the economy teeters on collapse? I’m unsure of such a plan,” responded one of the CGT delegates. “Look; if we are to join you in your plan, we must make sure that the outcome of the strike will be one that satisfies the divisive political atmosphere of our constituency.”
“There can be no political conciliation between Leninism and Luxemburgism!” interjected someone from Blum’s camp.
“I ensure you, if you hope to receive the support of the entire CGT leadership cadre, we must find one.”
With any potential alliance now at an impasse, and the French mutineers only days away from Paris, all eyes turned toward Clemenceau. Already he had decided, upon the advice of the remaining French generals that supported him, to meet the mutineers head on. Thus, as the last days of July drew to a close, several thousand recently demobilized soldiers were recalled for national service.
By July 31st, 4,000 had assembled and stationed on the eastern outskirts of the city. Across the plain, only several miles away, marched over 5,000 mutineers. The Battle of Paris had begun.
______________
Looks like the Paris Commune is coming back.
I wonder what sort of WW2/Cold War divide gonna look like. It seems to be Anglo-American lead Allies vs the Continental Internationale. I can imagine Japan joining the Allies if the US can manage to remain a liberal democracy. Interesting to point out that it's another naval power vs army power if this is the case.
I wonder what sort of WW2/Cold War divide gonna look like. It seems to be Anglo-American lead Allies vs the Continental Internationale. I can imagine Japan joining the Allies if the US can manage to remain a liberal democracy. Interesting to point out that it's another naval power vs army power if this is the case.
I have a feeling the Leninists and Luxemburgists will end up not cooperating and the SFIO will collapse when Le Vieux Maréchal marches on Paris
Hey readers - I just realized this TL was nominated for a turtledove this year ! I'm sorry this is so delayed, but thank you for your votes!
Your participation by replying and voting makes this truely a team effort. Hopefully next year we can finaly grab the award!
Your participation by replying and voting makes this truely a team effort. Hopefully next year we can finaly grab the award!
Chapter VI (1920) | Part VIII (Europe at Large)
Chapter VI: The Crucible
______________
Time Period: August, 1920
Paris, France
“Forward men! – March directly into the center of their front line!” shouted one of the mutinous officers. “Don’t stop until we reach the heart of Paris!” As several thousand traitorous French soldiers began to engage their countrymen in combat, the eyes of all the disparate revolutionary movements throughout Western Europe were upon them. Though the size of the engagement was miniscule compared to the armies involved in the Russian Civil War, the city of Paris itself was under siege; and if it were to fall into the hands of the mutinous rabble that threatened it, Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London might face a similar fate.
______________
Belgium
The Belgian Luxemburgist Party, a unity political group formed between the leftist War Van Overstraeten, anarchist Joseph Jacquemotte and a small splinter group from the Belgian Labor Party, campaigned voraciously in the lead up to the November 1919 parliamentary elections. Yet, with fears of another attempted German expansion through a communist victory at the ballot box, the Belgian people outright rejected them. Instead the conservative Catholic Party and centrist Liberal party captured the first and second most seats in the Chamber of Representatives respectively, while the Belgian Labor Party finished in third.
“The people have spoken! – Marxism will not be shadowed into power through the vote!” exclaimed Leon Delacroix, leader of the Catholic Party. However, in an effort to head-off any potential political fissures that may’ve erupted after the Labor Party’s disastrous showing, he immediately offered to extend their membership in existing National Unity government. “Though the electorate has given us the ability to form a government between our two parties, I fear excluding the socialists may lead to further radicalization – and we need only to remind ourselves of the imprisoned Friedrich Erbert to see where such a situation could lead,” he said in a leadership meeting between his party and the Liberal’s.
However, in the face of such a spectacular electoral defeat, radicalization, at least within the leadership of the Belgian Luxemburgist Party, was indeed on the rise. Thus after months of internal debate, as well as a major power struggle between Overstraeten’s and Jacquemotte’s leftist and anarchist camps respectively, by the summer of 1920 a new plan of action had emerged.
With the Socialist Party acting as a legitimate part of the government, and now unable to legitimize revolution neither to the Belgian trade unions, nor to workers at large, the Luxemburgist Party instead would attempt a putsch against the National Coalition government, should Paris fall to the French mutineers. By spring 1920, with a small but hardened force of revolutionary workers, some of which had participated in the brief but disastrous Brussels Soldiers Council of November 1918, preparations for an armed advance against Belgian government began in earnest.
______________
The Netherlands
Support for the syndicalist National Labor Secretariat trade union, which had grown both steadily and significantly throughout the years of Dutch neutrality, had, by winter of 1919, risen to its zenith. Food shortages, industrial strikes and a general economic malaise that had been caused by the wartime economies of their neighbors all contributed this accelerated growth, and likewise had lead men such as syndicalist Harm Kolthek and Christian socialist Willy Kruyt to the center of revolutionary politics. At the same time the Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SDAP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were battling for the hearts and minds of the leftist electorate at large with 1919 in particular being one of major divisions arising between their two camps. In the years prior, other than the decision to either support mobilization for entry into The Great War, both the SDAP and SDP occupied similar positions on Marxist political spectrum. However, with the quick rise and collapse of the November 1918 Brussels Soldier’s Council and the subsequent explosive expansion of Rosa Luxemburg’s Council Communist revolution in Germany, several key leftist Marxists such as Antonie Pannekoek and Herman Gorter began to agitate for a similar leftist revolution to take place in Amsterdam. These disparate events all came to head when, in March of 1919, the far more leftist SDP voted to rename itself the Council Communist Party of Holland. With Gorter, who had by then positioned himself firmly as a Dutch Luxemburgist within the political mileu of the Netherlands, leading the charge as party chairman, by the end of the year the fledgling group had grown to include a coalition of anarcho-syndicalists within the leadership cabinet. And, by summer 1920, with all eyes on Paris, this same leadership cadre awaited the outcome of a conflict that would determine the potential of their own political machinations. “Paris falling into the hands of the mutinous rabble will surely mean the swift collapse of at least Clemenceau’s government – should this happen, we must make preparations for potential resumption of conflict between whatever French regime remains and the Red Germans,” said Gorter at a private dinner between party leaders.
______________
United Kingdom
Prior to the outbreak of the Great War, British political discourse was in the midst of a transition. Classical Tory governance had given way to Liberal sensibilities in relation to not only topics of the economy and the empire, but also in relation to those regarding the poor, and the downtrodden. This was fueled by the slow but steady rise in the popular influence of Marxist doctrine upon the policy making of several leftist parties, none more prominent in the pre-war period than the British Socialist Party. Spearheaded since 1913 by British socialist Albert Inkpin, the BSP agitated against the rampant militarism and nationalist dogma that had pervaded the working class in the months prior and years during the Great War. So radical was his and party compatriot’s approach that by 1916, an intra-party split occurred between Left and Right; those that opposed British participation and those favoring it. Henry Hyndman, leader of the Right, left to form the National Socialist Party while Inkpin now smaller BSP remained. With the party now expunged of any potential dissidence, and with the successful Bolshevik Revolution occurring in 1917, by November 1918 the Inkpin’s BSP, its Scottish branch lead by John Maclean, along with the fledgling Socialist Labor Party (SLP) began to discuss the potential for a similar Communist Party of Britain via a merger between their two parties. At first, negotiations faltered as Inkpin’s insistence on having the new party be affiliated with the UK Labour Party gave pause to all SLP delegates. However, the pronouncement and quick success of Rosa’s Luxemburgist revolution pushed Inkpin to reconsider his position.
“Adjoining our movement to the Labour Party will only dilute our potential to capture this revolutionary fervor that seems to be sweeping across the continent.” pronounced John Maclean. “Whatever arrangement we decide upon the conclusion of these meetings must be separate from impossiblist policies of the increasingly bourgeois influenced Labour Party.”
Agreeing with his compatriot, Inkpin et al. worked to devise a different path forward. As 1918 gave way to 1919, and with Rosa’s, Lenin’s and Gramsci’s revolutions spreading swiftly across their home territories, in March a deal was reached between the BSP and SLP. A merger would take place however the scope of ideology to be championed by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) would be unique to the nature of British politics. Seeing the success of multiple mass-action revolutions, it was decided that an attempted Bolshevik putsch, even in the midst of several small British solider munities and worker strikes throughout the mainland, would be disaster for their movement; and while a call for a general strike in London would yield results somewhat similar to Rosa’s successful gambit in Berlin, the British people, given Conservative success in the most recent general election, wouldn’t support a sudden mass leftist movement against Westminster. Instead, the self-nominated leadership cadre of the CPGB spent the majority of 1919 slowing growing their ranks through small clandestine rallies across the South East. Headquartered in London, Inkpin also spent months participating in several meetings with high ranking members of the Independent Labour Party, along with representatives from the National Guilds League potential affiliations. By 1920, with the support from the National Guilds League secured, along with a full formed political action program, the CPGB stood read to capitalize on the outcome of the Battle of Paris.
______________
Germany
Rosa Luxemburg and her leadership cadre had continued to spend the remaining summer months 1920 strengthening the position of the Union of Council Republics. Though economically, the re-orientation of the capitalist economic structure to the Luxemburgist councilization programme continued to me resistance from the bourgeoisie and petite- bourgeoisie, both of whom had been allowed to remain in nominal status-quo following the conclusion of the 1919 Congress, growing frustration by the workers and from members within the structure of the Grand Coalition, specifically the anarchist faction, had begun to crop up. “We can’t hope to get the economy up and running if we have to constantly rebuff attempts at economic sabotage by the remaining capitalist class,” said Gustav Landauer over a private dinner with Rosa. “And I know you have members within your own camp the fervently believe the same – I say we move to expropriate the landed class while we still remain in our revolutionary phase.”
“Yes – I’ve heard these contentions in the past. Though I fear there may come a time in the future where some sort of policy to deal with this issue.” she responded. “However, we only have to look to the carnage that took place in Soviet Russia see where such policies can lead. Nevertheless I will have my faction move to draft a policy to vote on during the next Congress – you and your subordinates should do the same.”
As these discussions continued, the German Red Army, which numbers had swelled with new recruits as the Ruhr Occupation continued, began to make plans to move south. During the weeks and months surrounding the Ruhr Offensive, the Strasserists cadre dismissed from the 1919 Congress had slowly built a power base in the south and had already spread to take hold of Hesse by August 1920. Though Rosa had expressly forbade any more offensives in the Civil War, Red Army senior officers Musahm and Ernst Thalmann, along with junior officers Hugo Eberlein and Heinrich Brandler knew that if the Strasserists had continued to grow, it would be increasingly more difficult to dislodge them. Plans for a secret offensive began to be drafted.
______________
Italy
With a brief cessation in hostilities occurring after Gramsci’s and his Syndicalist-controlled Italian Worker’s Republic over the reactionary forces of King Victor Emmanuelle II in December 1919, Milan, as well as several adjacent towns and districts dotted throughout Lombardia were quickly converted into worker councils. Acting as the Party Chairman and General Secretary of the Republic, Gramsci spent both the winter and spring months of 1920 attempting to ferment uprisings throughout the rest of the north. As this was happening, both the King and the parliamentary coalition struggled to cobble together a secondary force to meet the growing red threat. With the loss of the industrial northwest, the struggling economy continued to heads towards collapse, as the damage done by poor wartime economic management began reap major effects on both the southern Italian agricultural sectors and min-peninsular industrial zones.
The issue had grown so large, that by mid-February 1920, the second reactionary force that had been created over the preceding weeks and months were stuck in pre-deployment within the city of Rome. Prior to being sent north, both the cabinet of Prime Minister Nitti and the King feared the effect that a total collapse of the Italian economy might have on the armed troops.
“If the treasury can no longer guarantee payment, then what’s to stop them from simply joining the socialists? – No, we much conference with France and Great Britain about obtaining some form of economic aid, lest we seal our fate with a hastily military planned move,” said one of the cabinet members.
For the time being, Gramsci’s fledgling republic was allowed to exist unabated. Yet he, like all of the other leftist groups that now grew either openly or in the political shadows, had his eyes fixated on the battle of Paris. “Upon the shoulders of Paris, I feel rests the fate of Europe’s bourgeoisie,” he said to several syndicalist cabinet members. “We shall see if Clemenceau is up to the task of bearing that weight.”
______________
______________
Time Period: August, 1920
Paris, France
“Forward men! – March directly into the center of their front line!” shouted one of the mutinous officers. “Don’t stop until we reach the heart of Paris!” As several thousand traitorous French soldiers began to engage their countrymen in combat, the eyes of all the disparate revolutionary movements throughout Western Europe were upon them. Though the size of the engagement was miniscule compared to the armies involved in the Russian Civil War, the city of Paris itself was under siege; and if it were to fall into the hands of the mutinous rabble that threatened it, Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London might face a similar fate.
______________
Belgium
The Belgian Luxemburgist Party, a unity political group formed between the leftist War Van Overstraeten, anarchist Joseph Jacquemotte and a small splinter group from the Belgian Labor Party, campaigned voraciously in the lead up to the November 1919 parliamentary elections. Yet, with fears of another attempted German expansion through a communist victory at the ballot box, the Belgian people outright rejected them. Instead the conservative Catholic Party and centrist Liberal party captured the first and second most seats in the Chamber of Representatives respectively, while the Belgian Labor Party finished in third.
“The people have spoken! – Marxism will not be shadowed into power through the vote!” exclaimed Leon Delacroix, leader of the Catholic Party. However, in an effort to head-off any potential political fissures that may’ve erupted after the Labor Party’s disastrous showing, he immediately offered to extend their membership in existing National Unity government. “Though the electorate has given us the ability to form a government between our two parties, I fear excluding the socialists may lead to further radicalization – and we need only to remind ourselves of the imprisoned Friedrich Erbert to see where such a situation could lead,” he said in a leadership meeting between his party and the Liberal’s.
However, in the face of such a spectacular electoral defeat, radicalization, at least within the leadership of the Belgian Luxemburgist Party, was indeed on the rise. Thus after months of internal debate, as well as a major power struggle between Overstraeten’s and Jacquemotte’s leftist and anarchist camps respectively, by the summer of 1920 a new plan of action had emerged.
With the Socialist Party acting as a legitimate part of the government, and now unable to legitimize revolution neither to the Belgian trade unions, nor to workers at large, the Luxemburgist Party instead would attempt a putsch against the National Coalition government, should Paris fall to the French mutineers. By spring 1920, with a small but hardened force of revolutionary workers, some of which had participated in the brief but disastrous Brussels Soldiers Council of November 1918, preparations for an armed advance against Belgian government began in earnest.
______________
The Netherlands
Support for the syndicalist National Labor Secretariat trade union, which had grown both steadily and significantly throughout the years of Dutch neutrality, had, by winter of 1919, risen to its zenith. Food shortages, industrial strikes and a general economic malaise that had been caused by the wartime economies of their neighbors all contributed this accelerated growth, and likewise had lead men such as syndicalist Harm Kolthek and Christian socialist Willy Kruyt to the center of revolutionary politics. At the same time the Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SDAP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were battling for the hearts and minds of the leftist electorate at large with 1919 in particular being one of major divisions arising between their two camps. In the years prior, other than the decision to either support mobilization for entry into The Great War, both the SDAP and SDP occupied similar positions on Marxist political spectrum. However, with the quick rise and collapse of the November 1918 Brussels Soldier’s Council and the subsequent explosive expansion of Rosa Luxemburg’s Council Communist revolution in Germany, several key leftist Marxists such as Antonie Pannekoek and Herman Gorter began to agitate for a similar leftist revolution to take place in Amsterdam. These disparate events all came to head when, in March of 1919, the far more leftist SDP voted to rename itself the Council Communist Party of Holland. With Gorter, who had by then positioned himself firmly as a Dutch Luxemburgist within the political mileu of the Netherlands, leading the charge as party chairman, by the end of the year the fledgling group had grown to include a coalition of anarcho-syndicalists within the leadership cabinet. And, by summer 1920, with all eyes on Paris, this same leadership cadre awaited the outcome of a conflict that would determine the potential of their own political machinations. “Paris falling into the hands of the mutinous rabble will surely mean the swift collapse of at least Clemenceau’s government – should this happen, we must make preparations for potential resumption of conflict between whatever French regime remains and the Red Germans,” said Gorter at a private dinner between party leaders.
______________
United Kingdom
Prior to the outbreak of the Great War, British political discourse was in the midst of a transition. Classical Tory governance had given way to Liberal sensibilities in relation to not only topics of the economy and the empire, but also in relation to those regarding the poor, and the downtrodden. This was fueled by the slow but steady rise in the popular influence of Marxist doctrine upon the policy making of several leftist parties, none more prominent in the pre-war period than the British Socialist Party. Spearheaded since 1913 by British socialist Albert Inkpin, the BSP agitated against the rampant militarism and nationalist dogma that had pervaded the working class in the months prior and years during the Great War. So radical was his and party compatriot’s approach that by 1916, an intra-party split occurred between Left and Right; those that opposed British participation and those favoring it. Henry Hyndman, leader of the Right, left to form the National Socialist Party while Inkpin now smaller BSP remained. With the party now expunged of any potential dissidence, and with the successful Bolshevik Revolution occurring in 1917, by November 1918 the Inkpin’s BSP, its Scottish branch lead by John Maclean, along with the fledgling Socialist Labor Party (SLP) began to discuss the potential for a similar Communist Party of Britain via a merger between their two parties. At first, negotiations faltered as Inkpin’s insistence on having the new party be affiliated with the UK Labour Party gave pause to all SLP delegates. However, the pronouncement and quick success of Rosa’s Luxemburgist revolution pushed Inkpin to reconsider his position.
“Adjoining our movement to the Labour Party will only dilute our potential to capture this revolutionary fervor that seems to be sweeping across the continent.” pronounced John Maclean. “Whatever arrangement we decide upon the conclusion of these meetings must be separate from impossiblist policies of the increasingly bourgeois influenced Labour Party.”
Agreeing with his compatriot, Inkpin et al. worked to devise a different path forward. As 1918 gave way to 1919, and with Rosa’s, Lenin’s and Gramsci’s revolutions spreading swiftly across their home territories, in March a deal was reached between the BSP and SLP. A merger would take place however the scope of ideology to be championed by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) would be unique to the nature of British politics. Seeing the success of multiple mass-action revolutions, it was decided that an attempted Bolshevik putsch, even in the midst of several small British solider munities and worker strikes throughout the mainland, would be disaster for their movement; and while a call for a general strike in London would yield results somewhat similar to Rosa’s successful gambit in Berlin, the British people, given Conservative success in the most recent general election, wouldn’t support a sudden mass leftist movement against Westminster. Instead, the self-nominated leadership cadre of the CPGB spent the majority of 1919 slowing growing their ranks through small clandestine rallies across the South East. Headquartered in London, Inkpin also spent months participating in several meetings with high ranking members of the Independent Labour Party, along with representatives from the National Guilds League potential affiliations. By 1920, with the support from the National Guilds League secured, along with a full formed political action program, the CPGB stood read to capitalize on the outcome of the Battle of Paris.
______________
Germany
Rosa Luxemburg and her leadership cadre had continued to spend the remaining summer months 1920 strengthening the position of the Union of Council Republics. Though economically, the re-orientation of the capitalist economic structure to the Luxemburgist councilization programme continued to me resistance from the bourgeoisie and petite- bourgeoisie, both of whom had been allowed to remain in nominal status-quo following the conclusion of the 1919 Congress, growing frustration by the workers and from members within the structure of the Grand Coalition, specifically the anarchist faction, had begun to crop up. “We can’t hope to get the economy up and running if we have to constantly rebuff attempts at economic sabotage by the remaining capitalist class,” said Gustav Landauer over a private dinner with Rosa. “And I know you have members within your own camp the fervently believe the same – I say we move to expropriate the landed class while we still remain in our revolutionary phase.”
“Yes – I’ve heard these contentions in the past. Though I fear there may come a time in the future where some sort of policy to deal with this issue.” she responded. “However, we only have to look to the carnage that took place in Soviet Russia see where such policies can lead. Nevertheless I will have my faction move to draft a policy to vote on during the next Congress – you and your subordinates should do the same.”
As these discussions continued, the German Red Army, which numbers had swelled with new recruits as the Ruhr Occupation continued, began to make plans to move south. During the weeks and months surrounding the Ruhr Offensive, the Strasserists cadre dismissed from the 1919 Congress had slowly built a power base in the south and had already spread to take hold of Hesse by August 1920. Though Rosa had expressly forbade any more offensives in the Civil War, Red Army senior officers Musahm and Ernst Thalmann, along with junior officers Hugo Eberlein and Heinrich Brandler knew that if the Strasserists had continued to grow, it would be increasingly more difficult to dislodge them. Plans for a secret offensive began to be drafted.
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Italy
With a brief cessation in hostilities occurring after Gramsci’s and his Syndicalist-controlled Italian Worker’s Republic over the reactionary forces of King Victor Emmanuelle II in December 1919, Milan, as well as several adjacent towns and districts dotted throughout Lombardia were quickly converted into worker councils. Acting as the Party Chairman and General Secretary of the Republic, Gramsci spent both the winter and spring months of 1920 attempting to ferment uprisings throughout the rest of the north. As this was happening, both the King and the parliamentary coalition struggled to cobble together a secondary force to meet the growing red threat. With the loss of the industrial northwest, the struggling economy continued to heads towards collapse, as the damage done by poor wartime economic management began reap major effects on both the southern Italian agricultural sectors and min-peninsular industrial zones.
The issue had grown so large, that by mid-February 1920, the second reactionary force that had been created over the preceding weeks and months were stuck in pre-deployment within the city of Rome. Prior to being sent north, both the cabinet of Prime Minister Nitti and the King feared the effect that a total collapse of the Italian economy might have on the armed troops.
“If the treasury can no longer guarantee payment, then what’s to stop them from simply joining the socialists? – No, we much conference with France and Great Britain about obtaining some form of economic aid, lest we seal our fate with a hastily military planned move,” said one of the cabinet members.
For the time being, Gramsci’s fledgling republic was allowed to exist unabated. Yet he, like all of the other leftist groups that now grew either openly or in the political shadows, had his eyes fixated on the battle of Paris. “Upon the shoulders of Paris, I feel rests the fate of Europe’s bourgeoisie,” he said to several syndicalist cabinet members. “We shall see if Clemenceau is up to the task of bearing that weight.”
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