The German Dilemna: Communism or Fascism?
The Election Results The in the Campaign By Our Berlin Correspondent from 2, 324 (1929) to 24, 900, in Pankow from The outcome of the German elections That this slogan of necessity expressed The result of the German elections 355 (1929) to 11, 773.
has been a violent though not unexpect the immediate reaction of over four and a proves that electoral participation was ex.
And Now?
ed political shake up, an indication of the hall million German workers is gratifying, tremely increased. It considerably surpass Nothing would now be more danger rapid shifting of class forces that has been to be sure But what guarantee is there ed 80 percent. By the growth of the elecous than dizziness of the Party before its taking place for some time to be precisie that these workers, who thus voiced their torate and the participation of the young own success, nothing would be more dan since the adoption of the Young Plan. The dissatisfaction with the existing regime and element (2, 500, 000. the number of votes gerous than the way the bureaucrats treat enormous Fascist victory and the quite their desire for a workers Germany, will rose from 30, 000, 000 to 35, 000, 000, and the the Fascist victory as a mere bagatelle substantial gains of the Communist Party follow the Party in the struggle beyond the total number of mandates from 493 to 576. Last night Herr Hitler had his greatest are only the beginning of a radical trend ballot box? Do the recent economic strugincreasing the number of deputies by 83.
day. but the socalled election victory is the which German politics will follow in the gles, perhaps, offer such a guarantee? No, More than half of these six million new beginning of their end. Rote Fahne, days to come. We may yet witness many indeed! The defeats of Mansfeld and the electors are proletarians. These facts must September 15. vacillations in the degree of influence of Northwest in July of this year, the latest be emphasized in order to analyze the elecThe Party has advanced. It has adthe Fascist and the during the tion results.
in a whole string of strike failures since vanced in virtually all the proletarian recourse of developments, but with the in the Ruhr fight of 1928, bespeak the conThe Middle Bourgeois Partles Beaten gions. But the fact that the Fascists did creasing enslavement of the German pro trary.
In spite of desperate efforts, the parties 80 also in a whole geries of industrial secletariat through unemployment; taxation In a moment of splendid opportunity for of the middle bourgeoisie forming the tions (West Dusseldorf) or even strongly and wage cuts; with the progressive im mass work in the factories and in the broad Bruening government were unable to halt surpassed it (Chemnitz Zwickau, Hamburg. poverishment and declassing of the sman working class arganization the Party their disintegration. Only the Center, the Dresden Bautzen, Northern Westphalia) is bourgeoisie due to the ruthlegs attempt leadership present an ultra Left sounding party assembling under the banner of the alarming. The Rote Fahne writes: The of the capitalist class to force the burden parliamentar: spectacle the German Catholic Church the big industrialists of rise of our growing influence among the of the reparations on the lower classes, the working class, hiding its real impotence to the Rhine and the workers of the Rhineland dilemma: Fascism or Communism, is definworkers and all the explotted, the rise in cope with the situation as a Bolshevik and Upper Silesia, succeeded in maintain which we won the tolling masses in the Itely on the order of the day in Germany. Party should. The nationalistic mimicry ing its positions (68 mandates instead of oltles und the country for our program of With such a perspective before us, it of the Fascists, heaped upon the general 62. that is, to increase, due to the in rovolutionary emancipation, showed itself would be well to review the progress of confusionist theories of social fascism and creased participation, the number of 1lis to be even more impetuous than we thought the German Communist Party, to inspect the immediate revolutionary situation votes by about percent while the in before September that is one of the its forces and fighting ability. The elecwith all their subsequent 1solationist tacrease in the electorate was about 20 per inost dangerous ways of deceiving oneself. tions brought the Party again of over tics, keep the Party corralled, bound, uncent.
We are on the eve of decisive struggles 1, 000, 000 votes, not be overestimated in im able to carry out its historic task.
The other government parties (State in Germany, The rise of the counter portance when we consider the almost The Capitalist Offensive party. Right wing Democrats, People revolutionary wave has exceeded all pre octupled increase of the Fascists. over Ihnmediately after the paper mache party) suffered very heavy defeats, in part visions. Now everything will depend upon 5, 000, 000. but nevertheless a great ad victory of the elections, the fierce, alleven crushing The dictatorial regime the extent to which our Party will be vance, especially taking into account the round offensive of the bourgeoisle is only which had hoped to convert its parliament able to utilize the confidence which the gains in such a strategic center as Berlin, coming into its real swing, is gaining its ary minority into a niajority, obtained masses place in it in order to lead the where the Communists surpassed the social full amplitude. Tinies dispatch, dated hardly a third of the mandates out of the extra parliamentary struggle, the struggle democrats and became the strongest party. Berlin, September 26, reports: total.
against the capitalist offensive, and mass However, we must ask ourselves: How did The cpnscription of labor probably In spite of the growth in the number unemployment, the struggle against Fas the Party face the elections? How did will replace the system of unemployment of electors, the socialist party fell from cism. The greatest dauger is the continua. it appeal to the workers on this occasion? doles in the government new program of 9, 150, 533 votes (1928) to 8, 572, 000 (143 mantion of the present course whose culminat These questions are indispensible for a financial reforms, and it will be only one dates as against 153. In certain regions ing point is now the program for the nareal accounting.
of several innovations to which recourge however, it held on, for instance in Saxony, tional and social liberation of the German The Programmatie Declaration will be taken in a final attempt to prevent where it succeeded in rising from 871 327 people. Faselsm cannot be vanquished on And here we receive as an angwer the the collapse of Germany financial strucvotes obtained in the Landtag elections the basis of national Bolshevisin; the Fas amazingly shameless document known as ture. June 1929) to 992, 547. As a whole, the cists cannot be conquered by exchanging the Programmatic Declaration of the The government plans include also defeat of the social democracy is undeniamicable discussion articles with them in on the National and Social Eman an increase in the number of indireet taxes able, but it would be wrong to speak of a the Communist and national socialist press cipation of the German People. It is in the move to reduce direct imposte. crushing defeat Rote Fahne, Septem(Berlin am Morgen, Nationalsozialist. If a document whose very title betrays it to In keeping with its scheme for cuts in prober 15, 1930. one must rather speak of a this course is continued, the present euc be a petty bourgeois electioneering device, duction costs and retail prices, the governprocess of crumbling.
cess of the Party will be transformed into an unscrupulous means of competing with ment intends to reach an agreement with its opposite.
The press of the German announIn the competition of na the demagogic national slogans of the the trade unions providing for a reduction tional Bolshevism versus Fascism. it 18 ces that the Communists are the victors Fascists, the Hitlerites. It points out the of 10 percent in wages.
Fascism that will triumph.
social democracy to the masses of the electoral battle. The Party has not 80 The drive of the capitalist class against succceded in rising from 3, 262, 876 votes much as the agent of the German bourge the standard of living of the working (1928) to 4, 587, 000, a gain of about 40 perIn the struggle against Fascism, the oisie, but ay the voluntary agents of clagg, for the abolition of even the meager and central point, now as before, is the social French Polish imperialtem. it cent. Considering the increase in the elec dole is coming to a head. The social democratic workers whom we must win speaks of their high treason in almost torale, the Party succeeded in gaining democracy, in the Mueller coalition govabout 500, 000 to 600, 000 new votes.
over, with whom we must make a united the same tones as Hitler does; finally, ernment, in the yellow trade unions, has That class front against Fascism.
is certainly an important fact, which does it sees the point of departure of the supported this drive by the most revolting The Left Opposition in Germany will enslavement of all German workers in acts of treachery and deception.
not indicate the correctness of the Party But as have to work in the weeks to come, under the Versailles robber treaty. policy but the enormous, the intense efNot the yet not even the most elementary steps fervescence of the masses in the crisis.
still more difficult conditions. The Party class rule of the German bourgeoisie, but have been taken to organize the proletarian masses still follow the policy of Centrism the Versallles treaty, which is the aumFascism, the Real Victor detensive which would reveal the true in their majority. The guccess of yester mary of the struggle between the German countenance of fascism and social democThe National Socialist party (Fascists) day threatens to render them insensible to and the Allei imperialists has become racy before the workers.
bounded from 809, 939 votes (1928) to 6, 400, the dangers before us.
the point of departure of the enslavement The Role of the Thaelmanns 000 and their mandates from 12 to 107! As As a conseThe Left Opposition was not taken of all German workers. we had foreseen, it became the strongest Confined in its stifling atmosphere of unawares by the events. It will continue quence, the necessity of the struggle for self deception and Illusion, the Party leadbourgeois party and at the same time immediate demands against the capitalist the strongest party in general after the to fight with increased strength to save ership has failed to do its duty. It is not the Party from disaster the danger of offensive at home is shelved or reduced to social democracts. What interests us above yet too late to regain lost time, to repair which is greater than it would seem; in insignificance, the entire election campaign the Party and prepare it for the historic all 18 to know at the expense of what class this electoral struggle during which the is centered around the frresponsible and battles to come. Our German Opposition this victory was achieved.
Party leadership trampled the principles all too general slogan: In the event comrades are leading in the fight to unAt the very outset it is apparent that of Communism under foot it has begun our seizing power we shall declare null mask the incapable epigonic Thaelmannthe fascists have taken the heritage of the to poison the most precious thing the Party and voti all obligations arising out of the Neumann leadership before the Party, to petty bourgeois parties. They took milhas: the internationalist class position of Versailles Peace. very strong echo instigate the mentbership to throw off the lion votes from the nationalists, lion the cadres of the Party, it has undermined the national Bolshevik deviations of the shackling theory of social fascism and from the People party, and about a half the ideological resistance power of the German infantile Lefts of 1919 (Laufen all its tactical deductions, as well as the million, without doubt, from the other bourParty, it has yielded ideologically to Fagberg Wollheim) and of the Brandierites in whole dangerous playing with nationalgeois parties. As for the increased parti1923 cist pressure.
Eblshevik phrases, to rehabilitate and recipation, it also went in large part to FagLenin gave the national Bolsheviks Today victory brings to light the constitute it as the weapon of the working cism At first sight it might seem that and the infantile Lefts of 1919 the prothe enormous victory of Fascism is due elements of an inevitable efeat, unless class, now more indispensible than ever.
per Marxist reproof. it still holds good The struggle to follow, the fight against to the simple fact that it drew the bourgethe pressure of the proletarian kernel of the Party rudlcally changes the political and all those who carry out the Centrist, today for the Thaelmanns and Neumanns, unemployment, for the seven hour day, for ois masses to it. But a deeper examination crodits to the Soviet Union, for a broad deUte of the Party, of the electoral results shows that Fascism nationally limited line of Stalin in Ger fensive against wage cuts, will in GerBerlin, September 15, 1930 succeeded in making a deep breach in the many.
many, as here and everywhere, prove the proletariat. That is what the figures from KURT LANDAU Lenin View justice of the policy of the Left Opposition.
the industrial regions show, in which the We Communists, wrote Lenin, are We, the Leninists of the entire world, Fascists almost increased their 1928 vote 0X MAURICE MALKIX not at all bound to repudiate the Versailles know the import of the coming class strugten fold.
Thus, East Dusseldorf, 210, 106 Last minute technical difficulties made treaty or what is more, to repudiate it gles in Germany. It is for this reason (1928: 19, 926. West Dusseldorf, 168, 635 the omission of a report on the visit made immediately. The possibility of success that we look ahead with such anxiety to(1928: 10, 104. Chemnitz Zickau, 264, 871 to Comstock Prison, New York, to see com fully repudiating the treaty depends not wards the progress of the German Party. 1928:41, 497. Hamburg, 144, 584 (1928: 17, rade Maurice Malkin. unavoidable. In only upon the German, but also upon the fighting for its renovation and the Comin761. the next issue the Militant will publish an international success of the Soviet move tern s, in order to help that international in the industrial regions of the Rhine account of this visit made to our Opposition ment. Left Wing Communism. success of the Soviet movement which land, the Fascists went from 600 to 8, 400 fighter in prison by Max Shachtman, SylThe election campaign, with the crass alone can forever tear up the Versailles in Hamborn, and from 1, 222 to 26, 079 in via Bleeker, Rose Karsner and other com ly nationalist note that accompanied it, Treaties, the Young Plans and every other Wuppertal Barmen.
rades. It will be highly interesting. In was the purest expression of ultra Left remnant of capitalist class rule.
In Elerlin, the figures are still more the meantime, all comrades are urgently opportunism. At a time when the opprez SAM GORDON alarming. In this city, there were muni requested to write to comrade Malkin. He sion of the masses is heading for a crisis, cipal elections in November 1929, that is, told his visitors that the day he receives a when it is necessary, in a campaign of in the period of the crisis. Here the Fas letter from a comrade is a Red Letuer day broad struggle to break the ground for the READ No. 14 cists rose from 132, 031 to 393, 266, and that in his life. Write about the movement and decisive blows against the class enemy by BULLETIN OF THE BUSSIAN OPPOSITION in ten months. In the proletarian bastions, the struggle. Write often Write regu a sharply outlined, patient and sober cam(Enttrely in Russian)
the Fascists increased, in Wedding (a par larly. Remember our fighters behind the paign to win authority and leadership 25cents a copy 18 cents in bundles ticularly striking instance. from 8720 (No prison bars and do not neglect them. He ansong the workers, the German Party vember 1929) to 20, 655; in Neukoelin, from should be addressed: Maurice L, Malkin, leadership offered nothing more than the Order from 7, 124 (1929) to 22, 128, in Friedrichshain, No. 10061, Box 51, Comstock, as yet vague slogan of a Soviet Germany. Clarke, 25 Third Ave. Rm. 4,