Saturday, January 4, 1919 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE The Background of the German Revolution of THE German Revolution is a product of the war By Louis Fraina ism to struggle to convert definitely into the Social and of the proletarian revolution in Russia. In Revolution. Majority Socialism abandoned this task; turn, the war and the Revolution are products and under the stress of the war and its nationalistic, of the development of Capitalism and Imperialism, of Socialism and the War social patriotic policy, developed into a counter revoluthe sharpening of class antagonisms generally and of tionary instrument of Capitalism and Imperialismthe proletarian class struggle in particular.
antagonisms of Imperialism, which had declared against Socialism and the proletariat.
Imperialism, the war, the attitude of Socialism dur against the war, accepted the war and the govern The collapse of the dominant Socialism was most ing the war, the proletarian revolution in Russia, the ment policy immediately upon the declaration of war. miserable and complete in Germany. The Social aggravated economic and political crisis and its conse Each national Socialism, the majority Socialism in Democratic Party there had been the most powerful quent development of class action these are the each nation, declared that its own country was on of all Socialist parties, the exemplar of international causative, objective and subjective factors in the com the defensive and that others were the aggressors; Socialism; and the disgrace of its acceptance and ing of the German Revolution, which, jointly with the majority Socialism declared that the aspirations of the justification of an imperialistic war of conquest was proletarian revolution in Russia, is determining the proletariat and Socialism depended upon victory for as great as its previous prestige.
destiny of the world.
its own nation, its own Imperialism, and justified the Majority Socialism in Germany developed into a The war was a product of Imperialism of the ecowar, manufacturing the popular ideology for the war. shameless ally of the government and the war.
It nomic, financial, political and territorial antagonisms The German majority Socialists voted the war cred: and appetites of Imperialism.
sent its agents to Italy to urge Socialists to compe!
its; the French Socialists voted credits and accepted direct the government to enter the war as an ally of GerWhat is Imperialism, its relation to Capitalism and responsibility for the war by sending its own representatives into the bourgeois capinet; Austrian many just as the French Socialist Jules Guesde Socialism?
Socialism, British Laborism and Belgian Socialism urged similar action to make Italy an ally of French Owing to the concentration of industry and the ac acted identically. Serbian and Italian Socialism, Imperialism. The class character of Socialism was cumulation of capital, the development of technology Socialism, remained faithful to Socialist and interabandoned. While the German proletariat was being exception of Plekhanov Co. Russran generally, competitive Capitalism develops into manconquest, German majority opolistic Capitalism. As industry concentrates and national ideals and acted against the war. The Caitlin a war of justified the slaughter and urged the prolecapital becomes monopolistic, three acts emerge: one, had come for the revolutionary struggle, but the domitariat to acquiesce. certain section of German Soindustry comes under the domination of finance capi nant, petty bourgeois Socialism accepted Imperialisin cialism proclaimed boldly that Imperialism was necestal and the banks, finance capital being the unity of and the counter revolution.
sary or the realization of Socialism. Majority Soindustrial cialism allied itself with the Imperial Government market becomes insufficient to absorb the energy oi This brought the collapse of the International, since and the General Staff, against Socialism and the capital, it has become industrialized, and new, unde: the most important parties of Socialism accepted na proletariat, allied itself with the police against groups veloped regions must be acquired and industrialized; tionalism and social Imperialism. The collapse did representing revolutionary Socialism.
not consist in failure to prevent the war, but in a surplus capital which is not absorbed by the meant accepting and justifying the war, manufacturing its On August 4, 1914, the Socialist representatives the national ideology, declaring that an imperialistic war was in in the Reichstag, through Hugo Haase, had voted economy, and which must be exported. The export of capital, accordingly, and its accord with Socialism, acting to prevent proletarian solidly for the war credit. But in the caucus there correlative industrial aspects, becomes the nerve cenaction against the war. It was betrayal of Socialism tre of monopolistic Capitalism and Imperialism; and and the proletariat. Socialism, the dominant Social. firmative action, including Karl Lieknecht; the party struggle ensues between each national Capitalism phase of the national liberal reform movement had ism, had become nationalistic and petty bourgeois, a discipline prevented them from voting no in the Reichstag. But in December, Lieblenecht voted no and Imperialism or control of foreign investment marabandoned the revolutionary tasks of Socialism and on the credit; and this vote on a subsequent credit kets and undeveloped territory which can absorb developed into a conservative and conserving factor grew to eightoen. In May, 1916, Hugo Haase and equally surplus capital and means of production, of in the governing system of things.
others who voted against the credits were expelled money and machinery.
Imperialism and the war hand objectively introfrom the German Socialist Parliamentary group, and Capitalism, at the stage of Imperialism, becomes international, but its form and control remain na precipitated the revolutionary crisis. The policy or duced the social revolutionary era and the war had in April. 1917, Haase and the growing minority within the Social Democratic Party organized a new party, tional; and the contradictions inherent in this condithe Independent Socialist Party. This party was, tion produce acute antagonisms and war. Imperial Socialist Congress was that, should war eventuate, it largely, against the opera revolutionary Socialistic Capitalism, moreover, is the final stage of Capi was the task of Socialism to use the economic and nd ist grounds, but on liberal, petty bourgeois and pacifist talism in this sense. that it has become parasitic, de political crisis to develop revolutionary action for the grounds; Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg and that it has developed fully the means vos produelon overthrow of Capitalisma. Majority Socialism are we come with revolutionary Socialism. The revolution compatible with the limitations of the private ownupon the declaration of war, there was no alternative the Group Internationale, their policy being the strugership of these means of production, and that it has but to support the war, revolution having proven an projected the necessity of international production, a necessity that implies either the Social Revolution majority Socialism what abandoned the vection senting the real tendency and policy of revolutionary Socialism.
of imperialistic Capitalism. Only Socialism could the masses. Revolutionary Socialism never imagined solve the multiplying contradictions of Imperialism: that the war would immediately bring a revolution; It was inevitable that the war should intensify Soit affirmed that the war would objectively create a cialist divisions. The masses, abandoned by their but as Capitalism cannot accept Socialism, it chooses the desperate means of war.
revolutionary crisis which it was the task of Social unions and by majority Socialism, had to march quietly to the shambles; but as the war continued and the Under Imperialism, the broadening of the ecocrisis became more intense, the masses began to stir, nomic opportunity of one nation necessarily means revolutionary currents developed against the war limiting the all of influenced organized Socialism. The sonation struggles, at peacefully, for control of incialist minority against the war developed increasing vestment markets and undeveloped territory; but a strength everywhere; but this minority itself was ditime comes when this competition is insufficient, the to demand the release of all vided: one faction, represented by the Independent antagonisms flare up, implacably, and war results Socialist Party in Germany and by Political Prisoners and out of war comes the revolutionary crisis and revFrance, was against the war on on pacifist grounds; olutionary action, the proletarian class struggle against it did not embrace revolutionary Socialism; it wished war, against Capitalism and Imperialism.
Sunday, January 5, 1919 to reconstitute the Socialist movement as it had been The national question in the Great War, of Serbia prior to August 4, 1914 this action did not realize and others, were of minor importance. The clash was at p.
that the old movement, its immediate purposes and tactics, was dead, and that the new social revolutionbetween two groups of imperialistic belligerents; the. in.
ary epoch of Imperialism required new immediate war for which Serbia served as the pretext had been purposes and tactics: the revolutionary struggle preparing for years and might have flared up at the time of the Agadair crisis, when the issue was clearly against war and Imperialism by means of mass action imperialistic: whether French capital or German capi and civil war. This revolutionary policy was the tal should exploit the resources of Morocco, which cor. Washington and Dover Sts.
policy of the other faction, represented by Liebknecht Imperialism should conquer the other.
and Rosa Luxemburg in Germany, by Loriot and Merrheim in France, by most of the Socialists in In this imperialistic clash, Germany, because of peItaly, by Anton Pannekoek and his party in Holland, SPEAKERS: culiar historical causes, was immediately on the agby MacLean and others in England, and by the Bolgressive. Her two great rivals, France and Great sheviki in Russia. The struggle of Socialism against Britain, were established; they had colonies which Jacob Panken the war could be nothing else than a struggle for the served as investment markets and undeveloped terriSocial Revolution.
tory, and had penetrated financially all corners of the New York Municipal Judge The horrors of the war, its slaughter, its demoralworld. but Germany, having arrived later as a capi; talist nation, possessed none of these advantages; and Eadmonn MacAlpine ization of industry, its hopeless character, more and more developed the subjective conditions for revoluGermany, accordingly, had to assume the offensive in tionary proletarian action. The Revolution flared up the great imperialistic struggle. But all these nations were imperialistic; and all were fundamentally on fitst in Russia, because of the more acute disorganizathe aggressive, since Imperialism itself is the aggresMusic and Revolutionary Songs tion there, the inefficient character of Czarism and the revolutionary consciousness and reserves that the sor, actively or negatively.
ADMISSION FREE proletariat had acquired in the Revolution of 1905.
The war flared up in August, 1914. And a momentous thing happened: Socialism, majority SocialAuspices Boston Socialist Party The Russian Revolution of March. 1917 was the first break in the imperialistic war, the initial call to the ism which had prophesied the war on the basis of the European Revolution.
opportunity MASS MEETING which Grand Opera House