4 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE December 11, 1918 Arming the Proletariat in Germany proletariat.
a of an THE other day, the press published a statement The class consciousness of the masses must be wer, and this power is comprised in the armament that the diplomatic corps in Berlin had asked transformed into action and class power; and the of the proletariat. The whole army will never the anarchistic propaganda of the Spartacus of this transformation, the instrument for con necessarily would be under the control of the Socialists and their campaign for the general arm. quering the bourgeoisie and crushing counter reving of the counter revolutionary government; and unless olutionary maneuvres.
It is not the business of the diplomatic corps to The German army is returning home, and must tion becomes acute. Hence the demand of the rev: protest against this armament. But the diplo be demobilized. What shall be done with the olutionary Socialists in Germany, as in Russia, matic corps, necessarily representing the inte arms? The demobilized soldier should retain his for the armed revolutionary proletariat, for the rests of international Capitalism, protests against arms and become an armed civilian, a unit of the workers Red Guard.
revolutionary mensure in the name of human armed people. The workers who have not been That the army is already being used for counity!
at the front should equally secure arms, and ter revolutionary purposes in Germany is indicat This is natural. It is not natural, however, that this is still more necessary and important. If this cd in the charge made by the Spartacus Socialists equally oppose the arming of the proletariat, pro since a part of the soldiers are not demobilized, rating royalist troops, who demanded free entposed as a necessary measure of the Revolution and this standing army would become the in rance into the fortress and the removal of red strument of counter revolutionary action against flags.
arming the proletarian masses has come up more the masses, who would be helpless, unarmed, dis The situation is extremely serious, declares once in the Berlin Soviets, and Ebert, Schei persed by the armed power of the counter revolu the Spartacus proclamation. Only ruthless ener.
demann.
gy and the firmest measures can save the situafish flesh nor yet fowl Socialists, have declared Instead of an army, the armed people; instead tion. But the Government stands with folded against the proposed measure most bitterly. This an army to maintain order. euphemism for arms, and even encourages these criminal rebels is directly counter revolutionary.
The great problem of a revolution is the prob directly usurping the functions of the army and conspiracies, at the same time lending its arm to lem of power shall power reside in the masses, the police for purposes of revolutionary action the strangulation of the revolution by leaving or shall it reside in the bourgeois representa and progress, maintaining the revolutionary orits enemies.
of the masses. This problem is an aspect der of the masses, not a counter revolutionary The people themselves must rise and wrest of the problem of state organization shall rev order over the masses.
olutionary reconstruction proceed on the basis power from unscrupulous officers. We demand The proletariat alone is the revolutionary force, that the Government at once the proletariat ulone may wage the uncompro and all reactionary officers, at once remove head.
measures to prevent these officers from entering mising struggle for the overthrow of Capitalism, qunrters from Cassel to Berlin, and at once take the country as commanders of is the state of a society based on the proletariat alone is the maker and the pre mensures to prevent these officers from enerting server of the Revolution; and it is necessary that of the country as commanders of troops.
divisions, an expression of class rule, an this proletariat shall be armed, that shall itself This is an acute danger to the revolution, a instrument for baffling the will and the action of the masses, cally, constitute the state, the army, the police sure that the bourgeois Socialist government the oppression of the masses and directly, consciously, energetically and dynamic danger becoming all the more acute in the centralizing power in a bureaucracy, police, army and the judiciary, shall itself usurp and discharge and the criminal moderate Socialists palter with an, the functions of the state. This alone is the the issue. The necessity of arming the proletaparliamentary forms, retains all the essential ma straight and sure path to completing the prole riat is not a problem of abstract theory, it is chinery of oppression of the monarchical state, tarian revolution in Germany, as in Russia. a problem of annihilating the army because sosince the monarchy and the parliamentary state That the proletarian revolution in Germany cialism aspires after a society without an army.
are each the expression of class rule, each the is far from having conquered, is proven by one. it is a problem of the immediate, practical re form of authority of a ruling class over a subject circumstance: the officers of the old regime are quirements of the Revolution, of completing the is necessary that the Revolution sur quer stili this state, transform it into a new Budle of the at the head of the army, still issue orders Revolution, of crushing the counter revolution, masses necessary in the transition period from hacks of the old regime, Dr. Solf and Dr. Erzber of the proletariat to seize all power and withCapitalism to Socialism.
ger, issue orders and statements in the name of out this seizure of power by the proletariat the The revolutionary Socialists in Germany, accor the Socialistic, democratic government of Ebert, German Revolution will, immediately at least, became a tragic expression of unrealized expecta.
dingly, struggle to destroy the bourgeois state Haase Co. This fact indicates that the revoluand it makes not a particle of difference how tion is not yet complete, and indicates equally tions, All power to the Soviets is the necessary rev.
by means of the new state of the revolutionary revolutionary control, may at any monnent engage olutionary program in Germany: this would con.
masses, the unified Soviets. This means annihi. in counter revolutionary action. Agitating among stitute the organization of a new state, on the Annihilating the army, and centralizing all neces. consciousness by means of propaganda, is abso public in Russia. The arming of the proletariat sary police and army functions in the armed lutely necessary; but it is absolutely necessary is an absolutely indispensable measure of such a people itself, until unnecessary.
also, that this consciousness realize itself in po State.
Hindenburg class mea.
SIMU.
Counter Revolutionary Socialism in Poland TIIE newspapers recently reported that the new burg, Karl Radek and Pyshky. The Polish Social not only the Bolsheviki were arrayed against the revolutionary government of Poland is head Democracy has all along conducted a struggle latter. The left wing of the Polish Socialist party al by a veteran of the Polish Socialist movement against romantic nationalism in the Polish Social. the left also disagreed with Dashinsky in Galicia, the editor of the Crakow chief of the troops is General Joseph Pilsudsky. party. It has always pointed out that Polish Social. We, however, are not in a position at present to Ignatz Dashinsky, while the comman Joda ist movement and against the exponents of that and Pilsudsky. It also on several occasions renationalism who controlled the Galician Socialist proved the party romanticism and chauvinism.
crossed the Prussian border and occupied Poznan, epoch when the petty mobility reigned in Poland. wards the new Polish Rovernmental Pilsudsky in sat the new Polish sovernment will try to ext: Semitic, it goes without saying, then, that Polish America are being grouped around end its influence over the three parts of Poland Bolshevism should not be represented in the Da Dzenik Ludovi. These gentlemen do not even the Chicago (Austrian, Russian and German) there can be shinsky Cabinet.
belong to the Socialist party. They have wholly verse probable, and very likely, we are at the pre have always been the exponents of co operation Spargo Co.
imbibed Kent moment witnessing the eve of the actual with the bourgeoisie. In the early days of the ism in the early days of the war, their organiza.
adherents of war against Czarrestoration of all parts of the former Kingdom war, Dashnisky together with the radical bourof Poland.
appendages of the Allies how concepts of democracy alter!
The New York capitalist press, and following ismi.
lehen.
leader of these legions, under Austrian Therefore, we take liberty to warn over it the New York Call, claim that the new Polish Polish legions were the connecting link which ports of the telegraph agencies about the Socialgovernment is not only a revolutionary government, but also Socialist. Is it so?
Dashinsky and Pilsudsky are members of the dropped its anchor into the mudash pook your soche Bolshevik. They are social patriots and national.
legionaires. They are antiextreme right wing of the Polish Socialist move. demann social patriotism and betrayal of Social ists, necessarily petty bourgeois and counter re.
ern European social patriotism and petty bour ism. The Crakow Naishpod differed very little volutionary. If they should unite with the bour geoisie and geois Socialism, and to the right wing in Russia from the Vienna Arbeiter Zeitung and the Ber and would become the willing tool of interna ionthis is more than likely then Polns represented by Menshevism. This ļin Vorwaerts in chauvinism and support of cumptance ought to keep us from expressing too imperialistic war; fought for democracy against al Imperialism, The latest reports from Europe state rncter of the new government of Ignatz Dashin. was natural that the movement led by Dashinsky that the personnel of the Polish government has sky.
during the war had nothing to do whatever with changed. The premier is now Pilsudsky. There is mention of Vasilevsky. All this, however, The Polish Socialist movement is divided into international Socialism.
does not change the substance of the general idea three parts. The fighting representative of the It has been pointed out above that Polish Bol emphasized in this article. The Polish governPolish proletariat is the Polish Bolshevist Social shevism has always conducted a theoretical strug. ment continues to remain in the hands of the Democracy, under the leadership of Rosa Luxem gle against the Polish social patriotism. However, right wing of the Polish Socialist movement.
the Alle