Source: ?
Published: 1914
Transcriber: Collective Action Notes (CAN)
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Jonas Holmgren
The first, third and last chapters of this book are composed for the most part of a speech the author intended to deliver at the international socialist congress at Basel. This speech was not delivered because of a congress ruling against debate. The first imperialist world war, which the author opposes, renders the publication of this speech, reinforced with a critique of the International's stance on imperialism and the world war, necessary.
October 1914
The International Workingmen's Association, which was founded by Marx in 1864, disappeared in 1872, and was resuscitated in 1889, is now a heap of ruins. On the first occasion when it was called upon to assert itself as an international, it went under. In the war between Germany and Austria, on the one side, and England, France, Russia, Serbia and Belgium, on the other, the workers parties of Germany, Austria, England, France and Belgium have lined up alongside the bourgeoisie of their countries and from both camps have launched the most violent accusations against the workers parties of the other side, as if they were enemies. One could almost say that the International has renounced its socialist ideals.
This catastrophe, this defeat of social democratic ideas and organizations, comprises the subject matter of this book, in which we shall discover the causes of this defeat. We shall explain the nature of the International, point out the cause of its downfall, elucidate the character of the changes which have taken place in it, and show the form we must assume and the struggle for which we must arm if we want to reach the goal of the International by other roads.
The enormous growth of capital, produced by the expansion of the forces of production during the 19th century, is the origin of imperialism, which is the aspiration of all powerful states to conquer new territories, especially in Asia and Africa.
Just as in the economic domain free competition was forced to give way to the monopoly of the trusts and cartels, so also in the political domain every powerful capitalist State aspires to monopolize the land and the exploitation of foreign countries.
The first stirring of the new imperialism, its moment of birth, was England's occupation of Egypt. Then came the Sino-Japanese War and the conquest of Korea, the Spanish-American War and the occupation of Cuba and the Philippines, the Boer War, the European expedition against China and the Russo-Japanese War.
But then the world was completely divided up. Hardly any free countries were left, even in Africa.
Then one crisis followed another. The various great powers ardently coveted one another's possessions.
The Moroccan Crisis threatened to shatter the peace of Europe on three separate occasions, and the Balkan Crisis did so twice. Then it was the turn of the Italo-Turkish War for Tripoli, and the Serbian, Bulgarian and Greek wars, which sought to strip Turkey of part of its territory.
In this way, tensions became increasingly more serious. The break-up of Turkey unleashed all the passions, the greed and the thirst for domination of all the great powers. Germany wanted to seize Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, the Belgian Congo, the French Congo, the Dutch East Indies, the Portuguese colonies—a unified African empire spanning the continent from east to west—Morocco, and probably also some of the English colonies. France wants to preserve the vast colonial empire it conquered during the last century and, if possible, enlarge it with Syria, part of Asia Minor and German territories in Africa.
Italy aspires to expand its territory in Africa and, if possible, in the Eastern Mediterranean as well. England wants to keep what it has and to make Africa an English continent. It wants a united Empire stretching from the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt, and via the Suez Canal, to Mesopotamia, Persia, Afghanistan and India.[1]
Germany, France, Russia, England and Japan all aspire to seize China.
The Netherlands wants to keep the Dutch East Indies. Belgium and Portugal want the same with respect to the Congo and Portugal's African colonies.
All these small States want to increase and intensify the exploitation and enslavement of their colonies.
Austria-Hungary wants the east coast of the Adriatic, Serbia wants a piece of Macedonia and access to the Aegean Sea.
Russia wants the Balkans, Turkey, Asia Minor, Persia, Mongolia and perhaps also ports on the Atlantic Ocean.
All States seek markets for the sale of their products and high-return investments for their capital.
Imperialism seeks not just colonies but also spheres of influence for its trade and industrial and financial monopoly.
One must not think, however, that imperialism aspires only to an extension of its territories overseas, in the colonies; the conflict between Russia and Austria-Hungary, directly involving territories of each country within Europe, is proof of this.
If it should appear to be necessary in order to conquer and rule colonies, capital will seek to expand by conquering other countries in Europe and ruling them directly or, at least, reducing them to a state of dependency. Thus, Germany is presently trying to conquer Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands and, maybe later, Denmark, because, due to their locations and ports, it needs these countries for its world-wide expansion and for its fight against England. All the big States aspire to world domination, to rule over the seas, to a decisive monopoly position for its people.
To achieve these goals or at least some of them, and to prevent the other countries from achieving their goals, the great powers have made alliances with each other. Germany has formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary, and England has allied with France and Russia.
And to conduct this struggle, at least for the present, at least in its first phase, this war was started. The true cause, the trigger, the author of this war, is therefore not any particular State, but all the States that pursue an imperialist policy and seek to expand their territories: Germany, England, France, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Belgium and Japan; each one separately and all of them together are its cause.[2]
All the chatter of the bourgeois and socialist parties and their newspapers, according to which we are witnessing a war of national defense in which we are obliged to participate because we were attacked, all this chatter is nothing but a trick to dissimulate each country's culpability under a beautiful façade.
To say that Germany, Prussia or England is the cause of the war is as stupid and as false as to assert that the cracks which open up on a volcano are the cause of its eruption.
For many years, all the European States have been arming for this conflict. All of them want to satisfy their own rapacity and greed. All of them are equally guilty.
The cause of this first world war is therefore capitalism: world capitalism attempting to expand.
The course of capitalism's evolution is a unique blood-stained history of murder. Murder of competitors, of workers, of populations foreign and domestic.
In the history of capitalism, the pages soaked in blood are countless: since the era of its birth, and then its evolution with the struggle of the Portuguese and the Spanish for the conquest and possession of the Indies and America, then continuing with the struggle of the Spanish against the Dutch, the Dutch against the English, and the English against the French. These struggles continued on an ever-expanding scale, involving ever more powerful forces, until the English who, with their victory over Napoleon, conquered world domination. In the struggle for capitalist power in the European and American continents, numberless pages are drenched in blood. But none of these pages are as soaked in blood as that which is being written today.
The countries which are directly or indirectly participating in this war have a total surface area of half the world's land mass and a population of 900 million inhabitants. The armies which these countries can and will put into the field number in the tens of millions of men; the dead, the wounded and the disabled will number in the millions.
The earth is being nourished in this war with more corpses than it was ever supplied with in any previous war.
The responsibility for these facts falls solely upon capitalism and the capitalist classes, each and all.
For all of this is taking place only as a result of capital's thirst for profit.
All the capitalist classes propose, by means of this war, to spread capital throughout the whole world and to extract more and more profits, from this expansion and from all the peoples of the earth who they want to transform into their wage workers.
Profit for the ruling class, whose representatives are nothing but miserable puppets in the hands of global evolution; it is this profit that the emperors and kings are defending when they resort to all the blather about the Fatherland calling upon its sons, and of God being the witness of the noble purpose of his peoples and the justice of their cause, the God who will help them and bestow victory upon them. Miserable puppets in the history of human evolution, a history which is now so great and magnificent—since it is now preparing the world for socialism—and a history which constrains man to be so small.
It is profit for the capitalist class which is calling upon the bankers and industrialists, the capitalists of trade and transport and the landowners, inviting them to vote in favor of the war in parliament, to declare war.
It is profit, a small and miserable profit, which constrains the middle class, the peasantry and the tenant farmer to line up behind this war alongside big capital, even if they do so with fear and anxiety.
It is profit, the thirst for gold, which constrains the totality of science, art and religion to dirty their hands—together with the capitalist classes—with the blood of millions of men.
It is profit, abject material profit, which constrains all these classes to participate in the biggest and most widespread of lies, in the most extreme hypocrisy, because it contradicts the exceptionally clear reality of the current situation in the most obvious and striking way; this hypocrisy declares that its nation is making war for a just cause, that it is attempting to achieve the most noble and elevated goals, that it is serving the cause of civilization, that its nation is the depository of wisdom, of humanity and of culture. It is profit, abject material profit, which impels these classes to utter such lies and hypocrisy.
All of it is nothing but lies and deception. It is possible that some progress could issue from this war. But this was not the goal of the ruling classes, it would not be the result of their plans. What they want, to achieve their goal, is blood, human blood. The blood of their enemies who are men like themselves. And their only goal is profit.
Capital's profit. Surplus value sucked from the peoples of the weakest countries and from the workers.
Filthy, abject profit, not culture.
It is only for profit, and by profit, that the ruling classes are dragging the workers into this war.
The female worker whose husband, son or fiancé is at this moment dying in northern France, in Flanders or in Poland, can reflect: "My husband, my son, is now buried there because he had to fight for the profits which the capitalists can extract from the Congo, from China or from Asia Minor."
It is from this angle, and only this angle, that one must view the emperors and the kings, the ministers and the parliamentarians, the bankers and the industrialists, the professors, the priests and the artists who support this war.
Many socialists, especially in Germany, speak of the madness of armaments, the madness of imperialism.
But in regard to the capitalists it is a matter of something very different from madness; if a capitalist country wants colonies and a monopoly over certain territories, if this country arms itself sufficiently in order to pursue this end, and if it spends billions on armaments in the process, only a lack of arguments could cause one to speak of madness in this case. For enormous profits flow from the conquered territories, if they are rich, to the metropolis. If Germany could conquer part of China or the Dutch East Indies as a territory to exploit, then millions and billions would flow into German hands each year, just as millions and billions now flow from English colonies into English hands. The biggest German banks and the small group of big industrialists and trading houses which now rule Germany will make the whole German population pay for the necessary naval and military budgets; but the billions in profits they will keep for themselves.
They are therefore totally reasonable and, from their point of view, are acting with a very lucid perspicacity when they force the German people to arm and when they push Germany into a war of imperialist expansion in order to seize colonies. And with perfectly good sense they attract the middle class to their side because, in the final accounting, it too stands to directly pocket some profits. Does this middle class not, for the most part, live off of big capital? No, it is not among the capitalists that we find madness, nor among the middle classes.
Behind all of these classes, behind the kings and emperors, behind the parliaments and all the armies, lie hidden, only to become visible under a penetrating and scientific scrutiny, the magnates of steel, iron and mining, high finance, the global cartels, the shipping trusts, the big commercial houses and monopolists. They are the ones who dominate large scale movements of capital and, consequently, society. They are few in number, but everyone obeys them. Invisible, inhuman, merciless, without compassion, they regulate the movements of capital with cold reason alone. The expansion of production has pushed them into this war so that capitalism, each one's national capitalism, can expand even more, so that it can become greater and more powerful. So that it can become the sole world power.
But capitalism and all the capitalist classes are responsible for this war. For they all follow big capital. Thanks to big capital, the capitalist classes have been transformed into one single entity, and they are responsible as one single entity for this wholesale massacre.
It is the nature of capital to produce surplus value. A constantly increasing mass of surplus value by means of improved instruments of labor. Its nature, its life, its activity, its growth, are always expanding over the entire world.
Capitalism, born of private ownership of the means of production, grows by means of conflict.
This world war was therefore born from the nature of capitalism. It is a necessity. It is fate, as they said in times gone by, or the will of God, as they said later. It is the necessary evolution, the springboard and the effect of modern capital, as we think today.
The capitalist class must still accomplish a great mission in the world: the spread of capital over the whole earth.
It still possesses an enormous power to achieve this goal.
The proletariat is still too weak; the part of the proletariat which is conscious of its goal and its ideal is still insignificant. The proletariat is still too weak to carry out its mission, which is the emancipation of the world from the claws of capitalism.
Imperialism and imperialist and colonialist foreign policies, that is, the expansion of capitalism, or the expansion of the most highly-developed methods of labor over the entire earth, this necessary phase in the evolution of capitalism, is in the end producing world socialism. But the way this evolution of capitalism is being carried out threatens the proletariat with ruin. And it is precisely the struggle against this mode of evolution which will make the proletariat strong again and will make it ripe for freedom.
Thanks to imperialism, capital finds itself facing the proletariat under new conditions.
Thanks to imperialism, the proletariat finds itself facing the bourgeoisie under new conditions.
In general, imperialism is worsening the living conditions of the proletariat.
We must pause to consider these points in more detail.
If we want the proletariat to oppose imperialism with all its forces, then we must show that imperialism is harming the proletariat.
In general, colonialist policies provide the greatest advantages to capitalist society.
It was colonialism which, in the 16th and 17th centuries, flooded Europe with precious metals, thus creating modern capitalism in the Netherlands, England and France.
It was colonialism that gave birth to capitalist trade and capitalist industry; colonialism gave birth to the overseas market.
North and South America, Australia and Africa have become sources of agricultural products for Europe, thanks to colonialism.
Thanks to colonialism, the conditions arose for the first time which allowed the development of large-scale industry in England, and later in the other countries of Europe.
Thanks to colonialism, torrents of gold flooded Europe from California, Australia and the Transvaal, which reinvigorated capitalism by vastly increasing its mass.
Colonialism therefore contributes gold, creates new markets and brings ever-increasing amounts of raw materials and foodstuffs.
Since the 17th century, this creative power has irresistibly grown and exhibited an ever-increasing intensity.
Colonialism created capital, it created and continues to create industry, and therefore the proletariat as well.
It is therefore true that colonialism, and imperialism as well, can also bring advantages to the proletariat.
These advantages are based solely on the colonies. Some colonies remit profits exclusively to a small group of capitalists, while others produce profits for numerous capitalists, employees and functionaries; the proletariat, however, gets nothing or practically nothing. But there are other colonies which yield profits to a large part of the capitalist class and to part of the working class.
British India and the Dutch East Indies, with their enormous natural wealth and with youthful, numerous, industrious and educated populations, remit profits even to the working classes of England and the Netherlands in the form of wages and jobs. Other countries, China for example, have attracted the interest of capital.
If, let us say, capital is exported to the Dutch East Indies, the following is the result: "The export of articles of iron and steel, machinery, etc., which are produced in the Netherlands." Dutch capital, once in the colonies, for reasons of both price and quality, gives preference to the metropolis in making its purchases. This leads to a direct benefit for the Dutch worker.
Furthermore, production for export to the colonies, to countries within the exporting country's sphere of influence, and to weak countries, like China for example, employs many workers. This is the case in the Netherlands for numerous workers in the textile industry. In this respect, as well, the colonies, the spheres of influence, and the dominated territories, all other factors being equal, favor the metropolis.
Also, the means of transport to the colonies, the fleets for example, are largely built in the metropolis. This gives workers jobs and in turn influences other industries, too, such as mining, railroads, steel and coal, etc.
In addition, trade with the Dutch East and West Indies led to the emergence of many industries, such as milling rice, roasting coffee, processing cacao, etc.
Finally, part of the immense profits extracted from the Indies goes to the middle classes and the workers. There are cities and regions in the metropolis which exist in part thanks to these profits; and these profits support a part of the working class, such as the construction workers, for example, or those employed in the luxury industries, or service employees (various sorts of lackeys).
All of these workers taken together form an important mass in the Netherlands, and are even more notable in England.
And to all of those workers who think only about their direct advantage and who see the profit of the bourgeoisie as their own profit, colonialist policies seem advantageous.[3]
And imperialism enormously increases these advantages, directly and indirectly.
Despite these direct and indirect advantages, revolutionary social democracy is opposed to capitalist colonial policy. Why?
Because colonialism is always conducted by means of robbery, pillage, murder and the most terrible exploitation.[4]
Revolutionary social democracy cannot give its consent, not only because of its highest principles and the ideals of humanity which it represents, but also in consideration of its own interest. The workers in the colonies are employed as competitors so that wages can be reduced. The small peasantry and the workers of the Indies and of the continents oppressed by the most powerful States are future socialists. The moment draws near when not only the Japanese and Chinese workers, but also the working populations of India and certain parts of black Africa will participate in the workers movement. The proletariat must not separate itself from these workers and small peasants.
The proletariat must help them and give assistance in every way, since it must be helped by them in turn.
They must henceforth recognize that they stand beside the European, American and Australian proletariat.
Colonialism provokes animosities among the workers when workers of different nationalities participate in it. Colonialism awakens imperialism, nationalism and chauvinism among the workers, and therefore divides them.
Therefore, colonialism can, to a certain extent and momentarily, bring advantages to the proletariat; over the long term, however, and in relation to its final goals, it is ruinous for the working class.
Colonialism can, partially and on a small scale, be useful to a part of the working class (the workers in the mines, on the railroads, in the steel mills, and in the shipbuilding industry). Over the long term, however, it is disastrous for the class struggle.
Therefore, the proletariat cannot, for general reasons, support capitalist colonialist policy and for that reason finds itself in fierce opposition to capital.
If everything we have just said is characteristic of colonial policy in general, including that of antiquity, it is all the more characteristic of modern and capitalist colonialism.
First of all, modern imperialism imposes insupportable burdens on the workers during peacetime. Thanks to imperialism, militarism expands endlessly, social legislation comes to a halt, taxes and customs duties on imports rise, life becomes more and more expensive, wages fall, reaction gains ground.
Second, in times of war the proletariat is crushed by imperialism. Its organizations are destroyed, unlimited burdens are imposed upon it. It is subjected to hunger and poverty, to unemployment and death, to infinite sufferings, to the destruction of entire generations; progress comes to a halt for years; the peoples of the world are incited against each other and within the war the seeds of new wars are sown.
Third, after the war the chance for progress for the proletariat is very uncertain and could perhaps be nullified for many years. The States themselves, as a result of this long war, could end up so impoverished, so buried in debt, with such serious economic depressions and decreases in production, that if they should want to participate in an arms race with a view to new wars, it is possible that this will result in the economic ruin of the proletariat and therefore its demise as a fighting class. Consequently, the proletariat cannot, now less than ever, associate itself with capitalist colonialism, that is, with imperialism.
For all these drawbacks are more important than the small advantages, direct or indirect, referred to above.[5]
For all these reasons, the proletariat finds itself, as a result of imperialism, in an even more hostile position vis-à-vis the possessing classes.
Fourth—and this is the principle change, the immeasurable intensification and exacerbation produced by imperialism in labor/capital relations—for the first time in world history the entire international proletariat is now united, thanks to imperialism, in times of peace as well as in times of war, it forms a whole in a fight which can only be waged against the entire international bourgeoisie.
This is what is new about imperialism.
This is the new reality which must be taken into account.
Only by understanding this reality can one understand these new times, this new stage which, thanks to imperialism, has been entered by the struggle between capital and labor.
Taking all of this into account, on the basis of this recognition, the new tactics to be implemented against imperialism must be established.
All modern States, without exception,[6] continuously threaten the whole proletariat in times of peace and crush it in times of war.
In peacetime, the German bourgeoisie, government and capitalism, with their imperialism, threaten not only the German proletariat, but also the French, English, Austrian and Russian proletariats and impose unbearable burdens upon them. French, English and Russian capitalism do the same thing to the proletariat of all countries.
During wartime, German imperialism destroys not only the power of the German proletariat, but at the same time destroys that of the French, English, Russian and Austrian proletariat. Russian, French, English and Austrian imperialism, each on its own and all of them taken together, do the same thing to the proletariat of all countries.
And imperialism dominates the entire world.
It is arming everywhere.
Most of the world has enlisted in this war. Most of Europe, most of Asia, all of Australia, a large part of Africa—South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, all the French, English and German possessions—Canada and soon perhaps other powers.
Therefore, world capital, in its various parts and for the first time, as a result of the phenomenon of imperialism, veritably stands united against the world proletariat.
For the first time, the world proletariat must really deal with world capital.
Until now, in the struggle and practical policies of the socialists against the governments of the bourgeoisie, the proletariat of each country only faced their national bourgeoisie.
Similarly, in the trade union struggle, until now the national proletariat found itself facing national capital.
The international congresses of the socialist parties had the goal of formulating shared principles, but not that of establishing a joint plan of war.
The trade union congresses never ruled on anything beyond reciprocal aid, but rarely on cooperation, at most in certain special cases and even then involving no more than a small part of the workers against a small part of capital.
There was very little or no struggle at all on an international scale. It is true that the trusts and the international employers associations were moving towards an internationalization of the struggle. But imperialism managed to do what the trusts and employers associations still could not do, that is, it united the proletariat by means of a kind of pressure, a threat, a struggle, uniting it into a whole for taking action.
All the bourgeois parties in all countries are in favor of armaments and the war. Therefore, all of them threaten the entire international proletariat in times of peace and subject the entire international proletariat to destruction in times of war.
The first imperialist war conducted by the imperialist States, this war for which capital has been preparing since 1871 and which it now feels capable of declaring, this war is the culmination of the cycle of class struggles dating to the founding of the International. This war pits the International as a whole against international capitalism as a whole for the first time.
And imperialism is an enduring phenomenon.
Therefore, the bourgeoisie of just one country is not the only enemy of the worker. By means of the fragmentation which shatters the proletariat into millions of pieces, which renders the current exploitation in factories and offices possible, by means of the multiple divisions which make oppression possible in the national States, by all these means and more, imperialism pushes the working class into a united front against capital. And this is the first time this has ever happened in the history of the world.
Under threat from world capital, against world imperialism, the proletariat, after this war, will form a totality no longer against just one bourgeoisie but against the bourgeoisie of all States.[7]
The words of Marx in the Communist Manifesto, according to which the workers of all countries must rid themselves first of their own bourgeoisie, have been reduced to nothing. Imperialism has proven that they were erroneous.
For the first time since its founding in 1864, the International was offered the occasion to prove, not with words, but by means of a single test of all its member parties, that it was one united body.
For the first time, the strictly national dimension of each party could have disappeared and it could have become a real international. The international dimension, the dimension without fatherland—which, until then, was only a masquerade, a simulacrum, and was worn the way one wears a nice flower or a collar—could have then, in the struggle against the arms race and the war caused by imperialism, come forward in all its strength and with all its power.
Who cannot see that the moment was right?
When all nations were preparing for war and to fight for the same goal: world rule.
What socialist has not always believed, has not always ardently hoped and desired, that there would be an action on the part of the bourgeois parties of all the bourgeois nations of international capital, against the whole world proletariat, against the working class of the entire world?
The onset of this war could be seen in advance for many years.
Numerous authors, among whom Kautsky stands in the first rank, have explained that the antagonisms between the great powers could lead, and most likely had to lead, to this horrible world war, and that the revolution could break out as a consequence of such a war.
In his book Finance Capital, which could be considered as the continuation of Marx's Capital and which deals with a later phase of capitalism than the one known by Marx, Hilferding has illustrated the causes that lead to imperialism.
The Congresses of Basel and Stuttgart have called upon the proletariat to prevent this war by any means, even the most extreme.
We were therefore prepared.
Were it not for the fact that the war is even more colossal than we had expected.
No one had foreseen that the capitalist States would so universally participate in this war.
But was it not obvious and clear that world capital in each one of its parts was fighting for itself and had therefore placed itself in opposition to the world proletariat?
From the point of view of socialist propaganda, what could have been more important than the fact that the whole world proletariat was dragged into this war?
Finally, today we are witnessing the clash between world labor and world capital, a battle brought about by capitalism itself as a result of its evolution, a battle the proletariat did not want.
On one side, the capitalism which, with its most modern and powerful manifestations—monopolies, trusts, concentrated finance capital—has provoked the war that is destroying workers and the earth; on the other side, the proletariat which did not want the war and which resolutely opposed it.
What magnificent progress since 1864, since 1871, the date of the last war in western Europe! During that era, a war between two capitalist nations was the cause of the consolidation of a people who wanted to become a State. Such small beginnings for what was to become Germany. And at that time, consequently, only a few workers individually opposed the war.
Now we face a worldwide confrontation of the united and compact peoples of every country, except America, for world domination, so that capital can undertake its final triumphal march over the earth, and to facilitate the consolidation of world capital. And against these powerful forces, millions and millions of united workers have been compelled to defend themselves against the capital which has oppressed them for its own benefit with infinite burdens and which is now trying to use them as cannon fodder; against the capital which, by means of insane and savage armaments and a blind war with unimaginable consequences, exposes them now to new weapons, new wars, and threatens them with destruction.
What could be more simple and more clear than a unified protest action on the part of the workers of all States against this danger, an action which would not refuse to use any means to accomplish its end? An action involving each and every worker?
What could have been more simple? What action could have been more natural, what act could have been more splendid in its consequences for propaganda, the organization and the revolution, what action could have been more illuminating for the masses even in the most obscure and distant places, than a united struggle in all countries, carried out in the same way by all the members of the International against this war? How clear it would have been, how important and how attractive for the workers and even for part of the petit-bourgeoisie and the middle class, if the same words were spoken in every parliament and if the same actions were to have taken place in all countries!
And, once again: What could be more simple, more clear, and more consonant with the reality of the facts and the material conditions? The entirety of world labor against world capital for the first time.
This is what should have happened, we think.
But the actual course of events was totally different. Instead of the struggle against capital, there was submission to capital and cooperation with capital; instead of the unity of the workers, there was a division of the workers into as many parts as there are nations; instead of internationalism, there was nationalism and chauvinism.
Only the Serbian socialists voted against the war in their parliament, while the Russian socialists abstained and withdrew from the assembly.[8]
In Germany, the socialists voted billions for the government, in Austria-Hungary they supported the war.
In France and Belgium they joined bourgeois war cabinets.
In England, the Labour Party has recommended that its members enlist in the army.
In Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands, the socialists voted for war credits for mobilization, for preserving their neutrality, that is, war credits, for the imperialist war.[9]
In almost every country, then, the opposite of a struggle against the bourgeoisie, there was only cooperation with the bourgeoisie.
Someone who was well-acquainted with international social democracy, however, could have foreseen all of this a long time ago. The Stuttgart Congress was the last Congress to seriously take a position against imperialism. This attitude began to go into retreat at Copenhagen and was routed at Basel.
It was clear that social democracy became more fearful as imperialism became stronger, as the threat of war became more urgent and the war approached. In Basel, the Congress was still celebrated with pomp and ceremony; but in the empty phrases of Jaurès, in the hollow threats of Keir Hardie, in the abject whining of Victor Adler about the destruction of culture, in the pusillanimous and insignificant words of Haase, in the vain boasts of the Congress, one could already perceive the impotence of the Congress and its repugnance and aversion to any action.
Worse yet: even then, the intention of marching alongside the bourgeoisie was proclaimed.[10]
The bourgeoisie, which as a result of much practice amidst its own putrefaction has a good nose for sniffing out moral corruption, immediately registered the odor of corruption which emanated from this Congress and from the International. It understood that it had no reason to fear such a Congress. It put the Basel Cathedral at our disposal. And what place could have been more appropriate for the hypocrisy of social democracy and for a Congress that said one thing and thought another, than a church where, day after day for centuries, the Christian hypocrisy was proclaimed!
Now we are going to explain the reasons why this impotence and hypocrisy arose.
Before doing so, however, we would like to demonstrate in great detail, using the example of Germany, just how far the International has gone, how shameful and how harmful this development is for the International, how it led to internal splits, as a result of its failure to dare to take the final steps in the struggle against the imperialist war of world capitalism and due to its failure to present itself as one united proletariat in this struggle against the war.
And at the same time we shall take advantage of the occasion to refute the principle reasons it has given to explain its conduct.
Now for the example of Germany.
This war is Germany's war.
Not in the sense that the other great powers are less responsible. Not in the sense that any other great power played a lesser role in causing this war than Germany.
But in the sense that Germany has prepared for war better than any other country, it has mobilized the greatest resources, it has been driven forth by the greatest material and spiritual forces and proclaims the noblest goal. For these reasons it has to be the aggressor and—considered from the purely capitalist, technological and economic point of view, without taking any other factors into account—it deserves to win.
Thanks to its efforts, after 1870 Germany became the second greatest capitalist State in Europe.
But Germany is superior to England because of its organization of industry, trade, communications and finance. In these sectors it is clearly more powerful. Besides the United States of America, Germany is the only capitalist State organized in the modern manner. Its absolutism, its powerful class of junkers and, consequently, its bureaucracy and its army, in conjunction with its centralized banking system, its concentrated trade, its industry and transport, have made it a model imperialist State, the only perfect imperialist State in the world. Germany unites the powerful means of absolute monarchy with those of the bourgeoisie. Thanks to all these factors, its energies and its expansive power are stronger than those of an England deprived of its colonies.
But the chance for such a perfect course of expansion was foreclosed for Germany because it arrived too late among the ranks of the great powers. The world's wealthiest territories were already occupied by the other powers. And the latter had so arranged matters that Germany has little or nothing. All of Germany's attempts to obtain territories in keeping with its power have completely or almost completely failed. France seized Morocco, Belgium took the Congo and England most of the remaining parts of Africa; furthermore, Germany could not even obtain sole control over the rail line to Baghdad, as the satellite lines connecting with Germany's railroad on both sides fell into other hands. What Germany achieved in Asia is derisory and hardly anything was left to it in Africa. It was prohibited from reaping the vast profits which German capitalism would have been able to amass thanks to colonial monopolies and monopolistic spheres of influence.
Germany's capitalism thus assumed the characteristics of a steam boiler whose valves are all closed. Germany was unable to employ its capital as it wished. France, England and Russia had striven for years to block German expansion, to the benefit of their own respective capitalists.
Germany could not bear this much longer. And that is why is has been preparing for many years for this war to conquer the space it had been denied.
Towards this end it went billions into debt and created the Imperial Bank in 1903, the largest national bank in the world.
Now Germany wants to put an end to its confinement, it wants to break its chains. Now it wants Morocco, much of the rest of French Africa, the French possessions in East Asia, Siam and Cochin China. It wants the Belgian Congo. It wants English colonies; perhaps in southern Africa. It wants to take over the land route to India. It wants economic and political domination in a large part of China. To achieve these goals, Germany wants to conquer Belgium and the Netherlands, or at least reduce these countries to dependencies. Germany wants to attain all these objectives, and it wants to do so by way of this war. And in reality, from the capitalist and economic point of view, German capitalism has every right to do so. In the capitalist world, the strongest deserves the largest share. Viewed from a purely capitalist point of view rather than from the point of view of the evolution of the proletariat and its struggle for power and unity, one could very well hope for the victory of German capitalism.[11]
Germany, with its organizational acumen, its concentrated banking system, its centralized armaments industries, its trade and its industry, is capable of extracting much greater profits from these territories than are now being extracted by England, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Portugal! It would make a much greater contribution to the evolution of world capitalism!
German capitalism is perfectly well aware that the moment of truth has arrived. In fact, with Turkey's decline, if Russia should take Romania, France should take Syria and part of Asia Minor, and England the other part, Egypt and Arabia, and if England and Russia were to carve up Persia, then all of Germany's chances for conquering a major Asian enclave would evaporate. And if England also were to seize the route from Cairo to the Cape, and if China were to become powerful and independent, then—since it is difficult for the Europeans to take over South America—England would be the master of a large part of the world;[12] Russia, the United States and, later, China, would be its only competitors and Germany's chance to obtain a global empire will have definitively have passed.
In this first imperialist world war, Germany is therefore the driving force, above all by virtue of the expansionist tendencies which transcend the Empire's frontiers, secondly due to the form assumed by its imperialism, third, as a result of its action against the powerful States opposing its expansion from every side, and finally due to its supreme goal, which is also the supreme goal of every contemporary State.
Germany therefore must serve as the example we shall use to illustrate imperialist policy and its consequences, contrasting them to the position of the proletariat. On the other hand, Germany also has the strongest working class. Marx had already said that "the communists of all countries turn their gaze towards Germany". German capitalist development was forged under much more modern conditions and circumstances than those which attended the capitalist development of the other countries of Europe. As a result, the German proletariat is better trained and organized than any other proletariat and is less burdened by bourgeois traditions.
In Germany, then, more powerful and more organized capitalists confront more organized workers. The socialist party has more than one million members; in the elections it received more than four million votes; the trade unions have between two and three million members. A very large number of workers read socialist newspapers every day.
And just as capital in Germany is even more organized into trusts, cartels and centralized banks than capital in England, so too are its workers organizations more unified and powerfully centralized than the workers organizations in England.
All of these factors cause the antagonism between the capitalist classes and the working classes in Germany to be much more acute than it is in all the other States of western Europe. The absolutism of the junkers system and the burdens imposed by the military make this antagonism even more pronounced.
Thus, the most powerful and imperialist bourgeoisie faces the most socialist proletariat.
It is in Germany more than anywhere else that one can clearly recognize the antagonism between the imperialist capitalism that wants to subject and enslave all the earth's inhabitants, and the proletarian socialism that wants to emancipate them.
Yet it is precisely the German working class which, through its representatives in parliament, has provided the model of cooperation with imperialism. It is precisely Germany where the war budget was approved. It is precisely in Germany where the workers have gone to war not only without any notable resistance, but often with enthusiasm.
How could this have happened?[13]
What justifications were offered by the German workers?
Before examining this issue, we must, before proceeding one step further, say something concerning the war, something which until now we have only alluded to and which will reinforce the refutation of the reasons proffered by the socialists in general and the German socialists in particular to justify their participation in the war.
Should this first imperialist world war prove to be a long one—and, given the gigantic forces and the almost inexhaustible resources of England, Germany and Russia, it is likely to last a very long time—it is possible that we shall witness a collapse of European society.
To the hundreds of billions which, in such a case, the war will cost Europe for armaments and fielding armies, one must also add the destruction in cities, continents and oceans, as well as the destruction of the labor power of millions of mutilated or murdered workers and, finally, the value of the commodities which were not produced because of the war.
After the war, interest will have to be paid on the hundreds of billions in war debts.
But then it may be possible that the European countries will be so weakened that they will not be able to set their productive machinery in motion and buy the raw materials they need from other continents, except with the greatest difficulties.
Quite obviously, it is the proletariat that will suffer the most from this war. Then, after it is over, the proletariat will have to expect an enormous and prolonged crisis, accompanied by unemployment—perhaps after a partial, brief and only apparent phase of prosperity.
But this is still not the worst, since these problems could be smoothed out after a certain period of time.
There is yet another, much worse threat.
If you want to understand the consequences of this first imperialist world war, you have to try to imagine what will come after it.
Two conclusions are possible.
It is possible that one of the two sides will win.
None of the combatants, however, are capable of utterly destroying their adversaries. If Germany were to win, it may perhaps crush Belgium and France. It could not, however, destroy England's power. And it is even less possible for Germany to definitively destroy Russia.[14]
Thus, if Germany wins, Russia and England would immediately begin to rearm; and they would do so with an infinitely greater energy than before. And then another war would loom.
If, on the other hand, Russia, England and France win, they would not be capable of crushing Germany, which is too strong within its frontiers.[15]
Thus, if these countries win, Germany will once again begin to arm with even more energy than before, and another war would be imminent.
It is also possible that neither side can win and that all the combatants will be too weak to continue fighting and will therefore have to make peace.
But then, at the first opportunity, all of them will again begin to arm so as to go to war as soon as they are sufficiently reinforced.
It seems to us that these are the only two possible outcomes of this war.
Both cases, however, imply the crushing of the proletariat by imperialism.
If more taxes and customs duties are imposed to finance a new arms race that will lead to a new war, the proletariat, already exhausted by the long war and its consequences, and suffering from a long period of sustained unemployment, will not be able to bear this burden and will cease to exist as an organized and combative class.[16]
The severe material impoverishment caused by the war and the economic depression left in its wake will have spiritually exhausted the proletariat and will have reduced its power of resistance; a new imperialism, new armaments and a new war will annihilate its economic power.[17]
In this first world war, it is the very existence of the workers, their existence as a fighting class, which is at stake.
Given this possibility, the proletariat must vigorously fight against imperialism and the world war using every means at its disposal. It must do so to safeguard its future and for its own immediate safety.
Furthermore, as we have seen, after this war many other wars will threaten to break out, for the monopolistic possession of much of the world.
For this reason, as well, the proletariat must prepare to defend itself with all its forces.
We shall now examine the reasons presented by the German socialists—and with them, the French, Belgian, English, etc.—to justify their participation in the world war.
They said: "Before the outbreak of the war, we did everything we could to prevent it." This is false. The most effective means that can be used against imperialism, mass action, was not employed.
Neither during the prewar years, when the masses could have made the ruling classes tremble in fear of the power of the proletariat and could have made them fearfully recoil from the idea of war, nor afterwards, when the war began.
The other reasons invoked to defend voluntary collaboration in the war once it broke out, are of three kinds. They involve:
First, the nature of a war of national defense.
Second, the proletariat's interest in the victory of one side or another.
Third, the need to keep the enemy out of their country in order to defend the existence of their country, their nation. We shall examine these reasons in succession.
The German social democracy declares: Russia has attacked Germany, we have to defend ourselves.
We have seen above that this is nothing but a surface appearance.
German capitalism, by virtue of its imperialism, is just as aggressive as Russian capitalism.
Therefore, it is not true that the German social democracy is fighting a war of national defense.
But what about the interest of the international proletariat?
You say: Germany is seeking victory in Russia in the interest of the world proletariat; Russia is a despotic country where the workers do not have any rights.
For their part, the French, the Belgians and the English say: it would be advantageous for the world proletariat if France and England win because Germany is an absolutist State where the junkers rule and the constitution is still nothing but a piece of paper.
Which side is right?
We respond: neither of them is right. The situation in Europe is such that, in every country except Russia, the working class lives in conditions which are almost identical with respect to freedom and servitude. The disadvantages of one country are balanced by those of another. Even in Russia democracy is making progress thanks to the power of the workers.
And this leveling process affecting all the European working classes is most favorably and profoundly influenced by the industrialization of all the European States.
What does this mean?
This means that this war and all future imperialist world wars of the European States (and, we may add, North American and Australian States) will cause terrible damage to the proletariat if it accepts being mutually torn apart; it can only derive benefit if it carries out a united struggle against the war, as a totality, against the European bourgeoisie, against the world bourgeoisie.
But we must add one more thing.
You say: "We must defend ourselves from Russian imperialism." And to do this, you support Austro-Hungarian imperialism! You support Austrian imperialism, which is the enemy of the Serbian proletariat.
And to defend yourself from Russia, you must try to annihilate the French, Belgian and English proletariat.
To save yourself from the absolutism of Russia, you must abandon the French, Belgian and, if possible, the Dutch and Danish proletariat as well to the mercies of German absolutism.
Is this the correct proletarian tactic? Is this in the interest of the proletariat?
Not to mention the American, Asian and African proletariats you are fighting.
Your support for Austrian imperialism, your attempt to crush the French and English proletariats and much of the world proletariat, the mere fact that you, in order to repel Russian aggression, have to try to destroy these proletariats, these simple facts show that your tactic, the tactic of cooperation with a war of national defense—even were it really a war of national defense—is unjust and useless.[18]
And what goes for you, goes for all the other nations.
The fact that, by following this tactic, the proletariats of various countries are engaged in an orgy of mutual destruction shows the necessity of observing the whole question of the war against imperialism in a different way, from a higher point of view, no longer from the old national point of view, no longer from the point of view of a war of aggression or defense, but from the point of view of the struggle of the international proletariat united against international imperialism.
And one more thing must be mentioned.
By fighting Russian, French and English imperialism, you reinforce your own imperialism, German imperialism. You reinforce your own enemies, who are not the Russians, but your own ruling class.
If your government defeats Russia, England and France with your assistance, then you will have reinforced your own imperialism, its princes, its junkers and its capitalists. Then your yoke will have become heavier. Then you will have also cut down your own brothers in England, in France, in Russia and in every country you fought, and you will have defeated yourselves. Then, after a German victory, the non-German proletariats will be weakened, their governments will make life unbearable for them as a result of the new imperialist arms race and your government will respond with ever larger military budgets, which will allow it to oppress you even more. You will therefore be yet more enslaved than before.
This is the change brought by imperialism.
All the great powers aspire to enlarge their territories. And this aspiration can only be realized by way of war. A proletariat gives its consent to the war and thus threatens and destroys the proletariat of another nationality. It thereby weakens its own brothers and reinvigorates imperialism in general, the imperialism of all States and, above all, the imperialism of its own ruling class. It therefore weakens itself as well as the proletariat as a whole.
The situation can be summarized as follows: a national proletariat, in alliance with its bourgeoisie, is no longer capable of invading or repelling the invasion of another nation without at the same time dragging itself and the other proletariats to destruction. This is the new situation created by imperialism.
You can choose: either with your government against the proletariat of another country, various countries, or even all the other countries, or with the proletariat of all countries against your government.
The era of nationalism, when the workers could live and act nationally while speaking internationally, has come to an end. The era of internationalist speeches and national practice has come to an end.
The German social democracy says: "It could very well be that Germany is to blame for its imperialism; but after we did everything we could to stop the war and after Russia attacked us, we had to defend ourselves."
This position may have been just in Marx's time; not any more. In those days it was about adapting to a new strategic enemy, who was not only the enemy of the bourgeoisie but of the workers as well. Now, however, the situation is different. Today, it is the proletariat that has been attacked. It is being attacked by its own bourgeoisie as much as by the foreign bourgeoisie. Of course the proletariat must defend itself from its enemy and must even overthrow it. But its enemy is no longer just one foreign country, but also imperialism, including that of its own bourgeoisie.
Russian imperialism is attacking German imperialism. German imperialism is attacking Russian imperialism. But Russian and German imperialism are both attacking the German proletariat, just as they are both attacking the Russian proletariat. And the same thing is happening everywhere. The imperialisms of all countries are simultaneously attacking the proletariats of all countries.
Times have changed. Capitalism has evolved in such a way that its continued evolution can only proceed by way of the massacre of the proletariat of all countries.
A world capitalism has been born and it has attacked the world proletariat.
It is therefore not true that the interests of the proletariat demand that it support the war once it has started.
We shall now address the argument of the defense of the workers, the nation and the nationality.
The German social democracy maintains that, once the war was declared, the proletariat must repel the enemy in order to escape the horrors of invasion, murder, pillage and arson; and that the workers must mount a defense out of love for country, class and nation.
This is their strongest argument.
We respond that, as a matter of principle, imperialism in general is incomparably more dangerous for the proletariat than war and invasion. For imperialism is a long-term threat to the European proletariat.
This is why, regardless of the price it must pay, even at the price of invasion, the proletariat must oppose imperialism and imperialist war.
For this assertion, as well, we shall offer a detailed proof.
Your say: "It is our instinct of self-preservation which impels us to defend our fatherland."
To this we respond: imperialism is more threatening to you as proletarians than as Germans. A series of imperialist wars for possession of the world, an increasingly more powerful imperialism threatens your class.
It is therefore your existence as proletarians that is at stake. You make a false, blind and unconscious use of your instinct of self-preservation, in the case of your patriotism. You should employ this instinct of self-preservation in a different way, consciously and appropriately; and instead of fighting alongside the Germans for German imperialism, you should be fighting alongside the proletarians of the whole world against imperialism.
You say: "If we rebel against German imperialism, we would fall by the tens of thousands because the government will attack us." We respond: "It is the war that will make you perish by the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions."
You say: "In the event of a revolutionary struggle against German imperialism, our organizations, which are our only forces, will be destroyed."
We respond: "German imperialism is using this war to render your organizations impotent and will make them even more impotent after the war through a new arms race and new wars." We respond: "The organization is not an end-in-itself, but a means of struggle."[19]
You say: "But our cities, our land will be devastated by the enemy if we do not prevent it." We respond that, for the international proletariat, currently under the yoke of twentieth century imperialism, if a city or a region is destroyed, it does not matter whether it is German, Belgian, French or Russian.
We respond that you can choose one of two roads: either you support the war and the devastation of your country or some other country; or you join with the other proletariats in the collective resistance against the war.
We respond that imperialism has been threatening Europe, your country and the whole world with destruction, not just now, but for many years.
We respond that you must decide: either you want to be associated with the devastation of whole countries for years to come, or you want to begin, once and for all, to put an end to all devastations.
We respond that you must join the international proletariat to halt the devastation of the world.
We respond that today, under the rule of imperialism, internationalism comes before nationality.
But you say: "If we do not defend ourselves, the Russians will annihilate us workers as individuals and as a class. And we cannot tolerate that."
We respond: "Russian imperialism is not the only cause of this phenomenon. German imperialism is also responsible. Your German imperialism is murdering hundreds of thousands of the sons of your people."
And if you do not take care, if you make war as lackeys of imperialism, even after the war is over German imperialism will continue to crush you as a class. It will do so thanks to new armaments and a new war. You are only at the threshold. All of the preparation for the struggle of your class, of your German workers party, is threatened by world imperialism as well as by German imperialism.
We respond: "World imperialism threatens the working class of the entire world."
We respond that you must defend yourself to the bitter end, not alongside the German bourgeoisie against the annihilation of the German working class, but alongside the world proletariat against the annihilation of the world working class.
You say: "But our nation will be destroyed if we do not repel Russia. For Russia is a barbarous and despotic country, and its victory would mean the conquest and relapse of our country into barbarism."
We respond as we did before: "This reason only applied to Russia when it was an Asiatic country; today, it does not apply."
Today, thanks to the heroism of the Russian proletariat, Russia is no longer an Asiatic country, but is proceeding down the same road as western Europe.
It has a parliament. Its agriculture is developing under the influence of the effects of the revolution. The domestic market is undergoing a period of rapid development, it can be presumed that industry will bring prosperity and then Russia ... will be just like Prussia.
It also has a proletariat which, from the political point of view, compensates for its numerical weakness due to its intelligence and the force of its will.
Before long, the Russian proletariat will succeed in making Russian conditions similar to those of western Europe.
You cannot, you must not fight another proletariat.
We respond: "For the big nations like Germany, Russia, England and France, there is no danger of the nation succumbing."
Neither Russia, nor France, nor England will annex Germany, just as Germany will not annex them.[20]
For Russia, it is not Königsberg but Erzerum that is at stake; for Germany, the stakes are not Calais, Boulogne, Chemnitz or Ireland, but Mesopotamia and the Congo; as for France, its sights are not set on European territories, not even Alsatia, but especially Syria, African territories, Asian territories, etc.
We respond: "But even if this was the case, even if your nation, if your nationality, if a part of your country should be threatened, the continuous threat of your nation and of all imperialist nations with their wars is much worse due to their possible consequence: the destruction of the proletariat."
It is precisely imperialism which is really threatening the happiness, the well-being and perhaps even the existence of the nation.
We respond: "It is your bourgeoisie that wants you to believe that this war, that all imperialist war, is war for the protection and defense of your country or your nation."
They deceive you in order to have you as soldiers for the realization of their own goal, the real goal they do not want you to know, and in order to better convince you to allow them to lead you to the massacre.
This is why they tell you that the war, as was the case in past times, is a war for the fatherland, for the nation. In fact, their goal is the expansion of their possessions, especially in the colonies, enslaving the weakest peoples overseas and enslaving the proletariats of all countries.
You would be fighting for its world power and for its profits.
We respond that when you have augmented its power and its profits, you will be even more harshly oppressed, you and your foreign brothers.
Imperialism will yield profits for the ruling classes and terrible harm for you. It will suffocate you with taxes and it will obstruct all progress. It destroys the unity of the international proletariat, it murders you, it threatens you with destruction. It will continue to act this way. The more you strengthen imperialism, the more completely will such developments be realized. And this will go on for many years.
You say: "But some proletariats are stronger than others and as long as this is so, any simultaneous action against the world war is impossible. For the strongest proletariat would oppose its government with a greater force than the weaker proletariats, it would weaken the army and the activities of its own nation more than the other proletariats; and then the enemy will be victorious."
We respond, in accordance with what we said above about nationality, that under the rule of imperialism, it is of little account to the proletariat considered as a whole which side wins.[21]
We respond that, for the proletariat as a whole, what is most important is that it fights as one against imperialism, that is builds its strength as one, and that it defends itself against capitalism, which seeks its destruction.
We respond that today, when world capital is preparing to conquer the earth and, for this purpose, has started the first imperialist world war, at the very moment when the struggle between capital and labor begins, and when world capital attacks the world proletariat with an unprecedented oppression, through war, devastation and death, we respond that in this new period the proletariat must rise up as a fighting class for freedom, unless it wants to succumb materially, spiritually and morally. We respond that the proletariat must make itself strong and must prevent its own destruction, which is sought by imperialism.
Once again we respond:
The imperialism of its own nation imperils the proletariat as much as the imperialism of other nations. For this reason, for the proletariat as a whole, it is necessary to combat both imperialisms, foreign and domestic, with the same determination.
German imperialism is just as dangerous to the German proletariat as are the French, English and Russian varieties; English imperialism is just as dangerous to the English proletariat as are the Russian, French and German kinds; French imperialism is just as dangerous to the French proletariat as are the English, German and Russian, etc.
We respond: "International imperialism is equally dangerous for each national proletariat, and therefore it is equally dangerous for the international proletariat."
We respond: "Confronted with bourgeois imperialism, which threatens all the proletariats in the same way, the proletariat's nationalism disappears."
We respond: "Nationalism—in the sense of nourishing hostile feelings towards other nations—which is more or less always alive in the proletariat, is completely eliminated by imperialism from the moment that the proletariat understands and recognizes its nature."
We respond: "Internationalism, the absence of fatherland—in the sense of rejecting the struggle against all other nations—is a feeling which is not yet very widespread among the proletariat; but, thanks to imperialism, it is becoming a sine qua non, a vital precondition for the revolutionary international proletariat."
The joint international struggle against the imperialism of all nations is becoming a vital precondition for all national proletariats and for the world proletariat as a whole.
We respond: "The war threatens you with invasion. Your instinct tells you that you must repel the aggressor. If you do this spontaneously, you would strengthen imperialism."
But imperialism threatens you with the danger of an arms race, oppression and destruction.
Your instinct must therefore tell you that if you do not want to be destroyed, you must not repel the invader but imperialism.
You must therefore choose: either spontaneous support for repelling aggression and thus strengthening imperialism; or, united with the proletariat of all countries, resistance to the end and refusal to take part in an imperialist war except against your own will and when forced to do so.
Now you can choose: either help your national bourgeoisie and its imperialism, or fight them.
Your choice resides in this alternative: either help the international bourgeoisie and its imperialism, or fight them.
For the world proletariat, now that imperialism has comprised a threat to the world proletariat for many years, the choice can be summarized as follows: either join with imperialism, and thus participate in the annihilation of the world proletariat, or fight world imperialism, and thus defeat the world bourgeoisie and consequently aid the proletariat in its struggle for victory.
We respond: "You must choose now, for or against the national bourgeoisie; for or against nationalism."
Today you must make a choice for one of two things: for or against the imperialist world bourgeoisie; for or against international imperialism.
In short, you must choose between imperialism and socialism.
Naturally, it is very difficult for a class, even more so than for an individual, to change the instinct of self-preservation which acts unconsciously and to transform it into a conscious instinct, and to make the distinction between an impending danger and a much greater danger which is still distant.
But it is precisely the task of social democracy to transform the unconscious instinct of the workers into reason.
So it seems to us that we have also refuted the last argument, the danger of an invasion and, therefore, all the arguments of those who support participation in this war.
Consequently, imperialism, capitalism's latest and highest stage, unites the proletariat of all countries in an international action for the first time ever.
Imperialism provides the setting where the proletariat of all countries unites for action.
This world war, this imperialist war, is the crucible within which the proletariat of all the countries of the world is becoming unified for the first time.
Imperialism enlightens the proletariat, impelling it, for the first time, but permanently, towards internationalism.
Therefore, imperialism is not, as Kautsky, the "radicals" and the revisionists and alleged Marxists of Germany and elsewhere believe, a secondary factor or a passing phenomenon. It is the axis around which the social evolution, the rise and the struggle of the proletariat, and finally the revolution itself revolve. Imperialism is the great issue of our day, and it is upon its theoretical study, as well as the means to combat it, that the whole future of the proletariat depends, for many years to come and perhaps even forever.
It is the nucleus upon which the entire development of the workers struggle depends.
The social revolution—which can only be international—depends upon the struggle against imperialism.
Not in the sense that this struggle will immediately bring us to socialism. But in the sense that, if it is carried out in a revolutionary manner, it will allow us to make an important stride forward on the road to socialism.
The struggle has always been waged in a revolutionary manner.
Nor has the German working class freed itself of this struggle. It has marched alongside imperialism. It has thus betrayed its own cause, which is the cause of the International and of the German working class itself.
We must still refute an argument adopted by a part of the German social democracy in order to explain its spontaneous collaboration in the war.
One part of the German workers party says: "Our objective in the struggle against Russia is the liberation of Finland and the Russian workers."
Strange: the same struggle which must crush the English and French workers must free the Russian and Polish workers.
But you cannot free the Russian, Finnish and Polish workers because their liberation does not depend upon you.
Their liberation depends upon the Kaiser, your master, your junkers and your capitalists. They do not want to free the Russians, the Poles or the Finns.
Who is running this war, you or them? They have an enormous advantage over the Russian autocracy, which, in other respects, helps them ... against you. They will never manage to crush or humiliate Russia.
All of them—and you, too—are waging war, above all, against France and England. It is an imperialist war. They want, above all, the Belgian and English colonies and to take possession of the land route to India.
You quote Marx and say that in his time he wanted to defeat Russia in order to emancipate the Russian workers.
These arguments reveal the miserable weakness of your policy.
Marx never wanted to fight a country where the workers were so powerful.
Marx never wanted a war that could give a new impetus to Czarism.
Marx never wanted to fight Russia by weakening the French and English workers.
But you thereby reveal the falsehood of your policy! In fact, German socialists, many of you understood your own imperialism perfectly well.
Many of you knew that your imperialism wanted and had to attack France and England (as well as Belgium and Portugal) for the sake of their colonies. Your newspapers said so hundreds of times.
The real reason so many of you participated in the war is not the struggle against Russia, but the desire to collaborate in colonialist policy and in imperialism[22] together with the bourgeoisie; and for some of you, the real reason is a lack of the courage required to oppose the war.
The same could be said of the other parties in the International. We shall return to this theme later.
You are doing exactly what you claim you did not want to do, you are humiliating France and England. And as for what you claimed that you wanted to do—humiliate Russia—you cannot do it.
This is sufficient proof of the miserable weakness of your policy.
You would have done better to leave capital with the exclusive and total responsibility for the blood shed in this war. You would have done better if you had not wanted to emancipate the Russian workers in this way!
The Russian workers can only be emancipated through their own efforts.
But, you say, what about culture!
You want to save German culture from the Russian barbarians!
Which culture are you talking about?
The culture of the past?
But you are therefore attacking English and French culture, which is by no means inferior to yours. In general, French and English culture are superior to yours because they admit of and recognize civil liberties, which is not the case with your culture;[23] and your arts, your science and your philosophy reaped the magnificent fruits of their French and English counterparts.
The workers, however, do not participate in this culture.
Or maybe you are referring to the culture of the 19th century?
In the 19th century the English had the most sublime poetry, the French the most sublime prose, and you had, for your part, the most sublime music.
All of this was distributed fairly enough.
But all of these things are safe, they are dispersed throughout the world. You do not need to worry about them.
The workers, however, do not share in this culture, either. But perhaps you understand the term culture to mean contemporary culture, the culture of the imperialist era, the culture of the beginning of the 20th century?
Today, great art is dead. Today, the great poetry of all countries is dead. Great prose is dead, just as the impressionism, naturalism and realism of the bourgeoisie is also dead.
Great architecture is dead; what survives under the name of architecture is without heart, without love. Music is nothing but the shadow of its former self.
Great painting is dead. Philosophy is dead, the rise of the proletariat has killed it. Religion is in its death throes.
Art ranges from the hard, cruel capitalist sensations to the soft and maudlin petit bourgeois sensations, and to a cowardly mysticism. It no longer contains a single elevated or universal thought. In its desperation, in its individualism, it has gone to the extreme and has often deviated into madness.
Philosophy has fallen very far, to the level of Mach and Ostwald, who no longer know human society, and even to the level of the reactionary Bergson. Kant and Hegel haunt our world like ghosts.
Religion only lives in its death throes. And religion is only successful among the bourgeoisie, but no longer among the fighting proletariat.
But perhaps by culture you mean the sweetness and beauty of local customs? But imperialism, with its cruel and bloody oppression of the weakest peoples and with the stagnation of social legislation it brings in its wake, produces a general growth of vulgarity, brutality and savagery.
Any higher culture, ardor of the soul and the spirit, moral beauty, is suppressed to a very low level by imperialism.
This war proves it. There is no longer any high culture anywhere in the capitalist world.
Culture? But what does the culture of the imperialist era consist of?
Individuals and States are dragged as if by a tornado into a frantic hunt for money and power. The brutal power of money and violence steamrolls the weak. All the peoples of the world, all the individuals, all people and all races—yellow, black and brown—the savages and the civilized, are forced to submit to it. And most of them are being transformed into proletarians.
What does this mean? Man's happiness and independence are disappearing. His quite relative freedom is fading away. Men are being transformed into things. No longer men, but things which are subjects of capital. They are pulled and dragged by the furious omnipotence of capital and are transformed into the appendices of machines.
But even in the world of the capitalists the frantic greed for money, for power and for enjoyment increases. Corruption and boundless luxury are on the rise. Madness and nervous disorders become more common. The birthrate, on the other hand, declines and artificial birth control becomes widespread.
Among the working classes the intensity of labor increases. Alongside this increase in exploitation, female and child labor are also more and more common.
The violence of the struggle increases. And so does the power of the employers, the governments, the cartels and the monopolies.
Against all these powers, the power of the workers is diminished, the burdens which weigh them down get heavier and their lives become more fraught with hardship.
The trade union struggle is revealed to be more difficult, the parliamentary struggle becomes more problematic. Social legislation comes to an end.
Capitalists and workers, pushed by the power of capitalism, continue their race in a furious whirlwind. The capitalists seek money and power, they try to crush other men. They are themselves poor slaves: in effect—and this war offers yet another proof of this—they are not the masters of their destiny. They must do what they do not want to do and are afraid to do. The crushing power of capital, master of destiny, pushes them forward. Capital launches them, insane with rage, one against the other. Like beasts that do not know what they are doing they try to tear each other apart. Against their will, against their hopes, and against their profound desire to live. But they must act this way because capital, in its latest phase of its expansion, wants them to.
Is this state of affairs, and these spiritual conditions, what you call culture?
And the situation is the same everywhere. There are no longer any differences between Russian, German, French and English culture. The differences that once existed have been leveled by capital. And the same barbarism prevails everywhere.
The workers are also pushed into this current of insanity. They vainly attempt to resist. They join together and fight for their emancipation, in vain. They are dragged along with everyone else. They are, for the most part, weak, without intelligence, without clarity and without courage.
Capital is almighty. This war shows that the workers can no longer do anything and carry no weight. This is culture?
The capitalists and the workers are the puppets of material forces which are infinitely greater than themselves. The process of production—in this latest phase of capitalism, more powerful and more terrible than ever—dominates them entirely. The placid calm, the beautiful enjoyment of life, the moment of repose, the clear and open soul which sees everything and observes with calm and which by observing beautifies, which rules over time, which it has overcome, the clear and open soul which respects the whole era, all of society, in spiritual beauty and the most elevated wisdom, all of these things can no longer exist. Neither for the rulers nor for the ruled. Everything is strange in this era.
You call this culture?
The savage, the barbarian, the craftsman, the freeholding peasant, were more free, more independent, than man under capitalism. If freedom is culture, they had more culture.
Or perhaps by culture you mean the trade unions and the political parties of the workers? Is this your culture, the culture you want to save?
When the trade unions and the workers political parties seek improvements, they are nothing but associations of slaves who want improvements in their servitude.
It is in association, in mutual aid, where one can find the origins of high culture; however, the fact that it is slaves and servants who associate and who engage in mutual aid enormously reduces the scope of the phenomenon.
There is no beauty or high culture where there is no freedom. Only social freedom is the bearer of beauty.
The solidarity of the slaves is a culture, with the sole stipulation that it is accompanied by increasingly conscious actions whose goal is the abolition of slavery.
Is this really the case with regard to today's workers associations?
Once again, this war has provided us with the answer.
How many workers are really fighting for their general emancipation? This war once again provides us with the answer. Few enough. Very few.
Culture among the workers, culture in the sense of the fight for freedom—and in the present time, no other culture exists—is a very rare, almost non-existent phenomenon.
Or perhaps by culture, you mean science?
It is true that science is international, it thrives everywhere; but only in order to make this capitalist and imperialist culture possible and to produce these abominable phenomena. Even when it does not do this, it remains aloof from society and is like a plant that can live without soil and water.
But the workers do not participate in scientific culture.
But this unculture, this savagery, drags all men into a storm of insanity; this unculture, driven by wild and licentious social forces, is today reaching its peak with this war. As the highest production of capitalism, as the sole means of its rejuvenation, of growth, of expansion and development, capitalist culture is today producing mass murder. The murder of millions of men and women and, most especially, massive mechanical and industrial murder, the murder of peoples enlisted in huge armies.
As a logical consequence, as a conclusion of its mechanical existence, the culmination of its litany of exploits, of its existence which is based on the exploitation of the working masses through work which brings mutilations and massacres, capitalism now arrives at the murder of millions of men on battlefields throughout the entire world. This is the highest production of capitalism, its supreme perfection.
This is the only way that capitalism is still capable of instilling men with enthusiasm and bringing them together to fraternize in a community: in mass murder!
You call this culture? What a terrible spectacle! The capitalists are dragged into a war, an exercise of mass murder whose end cannot be foreseen.
Meanwhile, they hypocritically pretend to believe that this war is being fought out of love for civilization and humanity.
And the workers listen to their speeches, they march with them and allow themselves to be exploited and deceived by them. They obey the capitalists who give them the order to massacre each other and declare, in turn, that this whole war is a war fought for love of humanity.
For love of a state of barbarism which enslaves them!
For love of a civilization which does not exist!
Employers and workers, all slaves. Slaves, as they were for centuries. There is only one civilization. Proletarian civilization.
The civilization that wants to make property communist and labor socialist and thus to put an end to all conflict and murder. And all the deeds which are consciously undertaken for the realization of this goal.
This is the only civilization which still exists under imperialism.
The German working class, the German social democracy and their representatives could have preserved, spread, enriched and elevated this culture by opposing the war with all their forces and by refusing to vote for war credits.
The German social democracy has reinforced the capitalist and imperialist unculture. It has become an accomplice in all the consequences of this unculture and has abandoned its own culture.
The German social democracy then consented to the war once it started and did damage to our cause, such as was never inflicted before.
By giving its consent to the war, the German social democracy has destroyed any possibility that it could play a leading role in a revolution after the war ends.
How many times did Marx, Engels, Kautsky and so many others declare that war would be the most likely cause of the proletarian revolution?
And how often has this proven to be true?
Now, the German social democracy gives its approval to the most destructive, most uncertain war, the war that contains within itself an infinitude of new grievances, new arms races and more wars, a war that enslaves a large part of the proletariat, a war, finally, that divides, separates, weakens, uproots and perhaps is even destroying the proletariat.
Is it not possible that Germany, France, Russia and England, either several of them or one of them, could be so severely defeated that the working people would rebel? When the armies return home, perhaps there will be so much unemployment, such misery and such poverty that the people will take up arms and overthrow their governments and could install a new, more free form of government.
Or maybe the belligerent States are so powerful that neither side can destroy the other, they will drown in blood and will be forced to make peace, since none of them can win. Then the international proletariat could rebel, not in one country, but in many countries, and overthrow those responsible for this war.
The proletarians could assert socialist proposals and could try to establish a socialist community.
Such an outcome is still possible. The hope for such a conclusion to this war has not yet evaporated. We still cannot believe that the proletariat will endure all of this without reacting. We still nourish the hope that the peoples will rebel, or one people, anyway. But the German social democracy, by willingly cooperating in this war, has considerably reduced, or even destroyed, any chance of seeing such an uprising take shape.
For how could the German social democracy, which voted for the war credits, which cooperated in the decisions and in the conduct of the war, reverse its position and lead a revolution against the bourgeoisie, its ally? How could it lead the revolution?
If a revolution does break out, it will be without the cooperation of the social democracy and against its will, it will take a different path and will perhaps have a different goal than that pursued by the social democracy.
The conduct of the social democracy during this war has been a crime against its spirit and against the spirit of the International. It was the annihilation of its own nature.
We have provided a detailed refutation of the reasons offered by the German social democracy in its defense, because the cause we advance and defend is a new one; proletarian unity produced by imperialism. We have been so insistent because our point of view cannot be encompassed by a single slogan—such as the solidarity of the proletariat or the antagonism between capital and labor—and because a refutation of the reasons put forth by the German party is necessary, even in the finest detail, given the extreme importance of the problem.
But to conclude, we still must say:
There are moments in the class struggle when only the antagonism between capital and labor can be taken into consideration; then, whoever treats this antagonism as of secondary importance and, considering all the chances and difficulties, ends up abstaining from action and from the struggle, would betray the cause of the proletariat.
There are moments when defeat is preferable to avoiding danger.
There are moments when retreating from an imminent threat guarantees a future defeat, and there are moments when everything must be sacrificed to guarantee the future.
There are moments when one has to fight in spite of all difficulties.
And we are currently living through just such a moment. Capitalism is for the first time coming forward with all its forces, with its supreme force, to conquer the world, but also to murder hundreds of thousands of proletarians, to enslave the proletariat for years to come by means of its expansion over the earth and perhaps to subject it to economic destruction for many years.
For the first time, capital is trying to achieve this goal by way of a world war.
Here, it is a question of "principiis obsta".[24]
This is the moment when the proletariat must show that it has recognized this necessity.
This is the moment to declare and to begin the struggle because once one has started to bow one's head, the struggle becomes infinitely more difficult.
The proletariat does not understand this. It bows its head for lack of sense, for lowly desires of small advantages which it will not be able to obtain, and for cowardice.
The proletariat has bowed its head like the slave that it is.
It has made no effort to fight for freedom.
It is weakening itself and the consequences will be long-lasting.
It will continue to be treated like a slave who does not want freedom and after the war an even heavier yoke will be imposed upon it.
We shall briefly summarize.
When the European proletariat was threatened with destruction by this war, the German social democracy did nothing to prevent it.[25] To the contrary, through its representatives it has helped imperialism to prepare for the massacre, the weakening and perhaps even the destruction of the proletariat.
By giving its consent to the war, the social democracy has weakened the international proletariat and has made international capital a dominant force in the future as well.
The proletariat, especially the German proletariat, was imperialism's only enemy, the only one it had to fear. The proletariat has bowed its head, and imperialism is the undisputed master of the world from now on.
The German social democracy has renounced the only possible culture, it has taken upon itself joint responsibility for the mass murder, arson, looting, devastation and destruction of entire regions and old civilizations, all brought by the new capitalism, imperialism, which is its supreme manifestation and highest form.
The German social democracy has itself murdered the revolution.
But what we have said here about the German social democracy also applies, for the same reasons and to the same extent, to the French, Belgian, English parties and for the social democracies of every country where workers parties voted for arms budgets and for war mobilization.
The workers parties of Germany, France, England, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have done nothing, but have on the contrary aided European imperialism when the latter threatened the proletariat with destruction by this war—which contains the seeds of the new imperialist wars of the future.[26] The international proletariat as a whole, by not offering resistance to this war, has torn itself apart, it has allowed the full unfolding of the forces of international capitalism and imperialism and has murdered the revolution.
[......]
Until now we have been examining the reasons presented by the socialists themselves.
But what is the real cause of all this?
How can the proletariat renounce its own interests in such a fashion and put itself at the service of the bourgeoisie?
If we seek the reason for this, we find the following as the first cause:
The proletariat does not yet know how to mobilize as an international totality against the bourgeoisie.
The second cause is the following:
The proletariat does not yet know how to fight for long-range and elevated objectives, but only for petty and short-term objectives.
This is why, when it had to fight on an international scale for its long-term objectives, it was incapable of doing so.
The proletariat did not know what to do.
In a word: it did not know the international struggle for the supreme end which is socialism.
For the struggle against imperialism, which dominates the world, is the struggle against the expansion of capital, against the essence of capitalism, and the struggle for socialism.
So the reason why the international proletariat acted in such a way was ignorance. Above all, ignorance.
The working class as a whole and the individual worker, the international proletariat, need a high level of consciousness if they want to take action on an international scale.
The proletariat's nationalism is of a very different nature than that of the bourgeoisie. For the bourgeoisie the nation is the political-economic organization which, due to its unity and its power, makes it possible for the capital of the bourgeoisie to be productive both at home and abroad. In its interest the nation rules over the workers at home, and defends its interests with arms in hand and augments its power overseas.
This is the basis of bourgeois nationalism, which is active in the highest degree, just like the capital of the bourgeoisie.
The worker, on the other hand, has no capital, he only receives wages. The worker is nationalist in a passive way, just as he passively receives his wages.
But the workers, in their overwhelming majority, nevertheless make their living from national capital. National capital is indeed their enemy, but it is an enemy which feeds them. Thus, even though the worker is only passively nationalist, as long as he is not really a socialist he is and must necessarily be ... nationalist.
Because the nation, national capital, is the foundation of his existence.
And therefore, as long as he is not a socialist, he must believe that the interest of national capital is his interest and that he must defend it against its enemies, since capital's well-being is his own well-being as well.
The worker's nationalism consists of a tangle of numerous feelings and instincts, for the most part of the lower sort, which are related to and structured around the instinct of self-preservation. It is composed, above all, of the instinct of preserving life by means of work and wages. And the feelings of homeland, of the hearth and home, of family, of tradition, of customs, of comradeship, of relationships, of people, of class, and of party are joined to this sense of self-preservation and are fused with it. In addition, these feelings refer directly to the ego and are strictly connected, therefore, to the instinct of self-preservation. In everyday life these instincts exist in a latent state and are more or less dormant, but manifest themselves with great force when danger threatens or seems to threaten—precisely as a result of this intimate connection with the instinct of self-preservation.
These instincts explode in a firestorm of passion and hatred for the enemy, of fanatical love for one's own country, when the drive for self-preservation is joined with the social instincts of community with one's compatriots, the class comrades of the same nationality. A high level of consciousness is required so that, at any given moment, and in fact at every moment, this instinct and these feelings can be continuously overcome and so that the class struggle is not set aside in favor of war on behalf of the nation.
The worker must become aware of the fact that nationalism, under the rule of capitalism, is doing him much more harm than good. He must become aware of the harmful phenomena and the benefits involved, and he must place them on the scale. And this awareness and this knowledge must be of such a nature, and must have penetrated into his consciousness so completely, that he is capable of not merely overcoming, but also replacing nationalist instincts. This is an extraordinarily difficult task and requires much effort.
For the achievement of such a goal, it is indispensable for the working class and for each worker to have a high degree of understanding and knowledge of imperialism.
Capitalism confronts the worker in his factory, in the office and in the State. It is, therefore, a national phenomenon. Imperialism confronts the worker in the State's foreign policy, in high finance, in the capitalist trusts, in the global arms race and world politics.
A great deal of understanding is needed in order to discern the links between the questions concerning the struggle of the proletariat—political as well as trade union—and world politics and international imperialism.
The worker must therefore know that imperialism dominates all parties and must know how it does so. He must know that, by provoking wars ad infinitum, imperialism threatens the proletariat with fragmentation and ruin. He must know that, under imperialism, there can be no wars of national defense. Finally, and most importantly, he must know that imperialism (and in this respect it is so closely linked with nationalism as to be inextricably fused with it) unites all national capitals against the world proletariat, which must in turn be united against them. The worker must know, consequently, that the struggle against imperialism is the struggle for socialism.
The worker must know all of this. He must know it, not in the form of hollow words and phrases, with a shallow, superficial knowledge, but with a profound and complete knowledge; this conception must be instilled into his very bones.
This, too, is a time-consuming and difficult task. Knowledge of imperialism and the extirpation of nationalism are big steps forward, and constitute enormous progress in the advance of consciousness and in the evolution of the militant proletariat.
The new propaganda needed to reach such goals in this new phase of capitalism is one of the most sublime, most beautiful and most fruitful tasks which can be performed in the service of the proletariat.
Against imperialism, against nationalism and for socialism.
But the proletariat has never yet achieved any of these goals. It has always been solely national and has never fought internationally.
It has never fought against international imperialism.
Neither the national proletariat, nor therefore the international proletariat, has ever experienced the struggle against international imperialism.
There were, of course, among the workers of all countries, and especially in Germany, groups and individuals who, with knowledge and insight, have overcome nationalist instincts.
Social democracy, it is true, had succeeded in uprooting such instincts from the hearts of numerous workers. And these groups and individuals would have gladly carried out a spirited struggle against the war with all their might. It seems to us, however, that these groups and individuals comprised a very small number of people in Germany. In England, this tendency hardly existed.[27] The same could be said of France.
Furthermore, they were not on the right road for fighting against the war. And even those who knew how to fight against the war did not know how to put their knowledge into practice.
The only means which can be used against imperialist war, as we shall see below, is the proletariat's mass action on a national scale, implemented simultaneously by the entire international proletariat.
If these workers groups had known how to utilize this means, if they could have had it clearly placed before them, they would have chosen it; and they would have rallied the great masses of workers around them.
The reason why these groups did not know this road will be explained in the following pages.
For what was the previous history of the International?
It was at first a federation of trade unions and progressive and socialist groups which, especially in regard to foreign policy and European political questions, quite effectively expressed the thoughts and feelings of the most advanced working class groups, that is, the groups that were in the vanguard; it was a federation of trade unions and progressive and socialist groups which, for the first time in the history of the world, to the amazement of the workers and the terror of the bourgeoisie, assisted one another across international borders and forged close bonds between the proletarians of different countries; they publicly proclaimed communism as their goal and the International was a splendid beacon for the workers and the first serious challenge faced by the international bourgeoisie; thus were the seeds of future parties sown.
A genius walked before them as a sower through the countries of Europe and America.
They had one program and one executive which sent its messages—which issued from Marx's brain—to illuminate the future road like a blazing torch and served as their guide.
The only joint actions they engaged in, however, were demonstrations.
As a consequence of the International's internal splits, it was disbanded in 1872 long before it could have accomplished more as a unified group. It was still too weak for the practical and international struggle since the times were not yet ripe. The International had only sown seeds in various countries.
Slowly, the national parties and trade unions then began to grow.
Then a great era began for the workers.
In every country, groups of men and women, inspired by the ideas of Marx and the International, went forth among the workers to conduct propaganda for communism and socialism. They were the greatest minds, the most passionate and fervent hearts, the most elevated and noble characters. For the struggle was terrible and full of dangers. The resistance of the bourgeoisie was bloody. Material inducements were slight, when not entirely lacking.
And the workers who listened to them were the best. The most impetuous, the wisest and the bravest.
All were engaged in theory and practice at the same time.
The workers politics of that time was directed towards one great theoretical goal: revolution. This was the situation in numerous European countries, in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy.
This period could be called the theoretical-practical-revolutionary period.
Its activists were still few in number. But it was during this period that the most results were obtained in most countries. Even in terms of reforms. The workers assault was so wild and furious, and the stupefaction and horror of the ruling classes so great, that the latter had to concede reforms. In many countries, crucial suffrage and social reforms date from this era.
But this International, these national parties, were only concerned with national problems and the short term interests of the working class.
All these national parties immersed themselves in problems of legislation, parliamentarism, elections. All the trade unions were focused on the question of wage hikes and the reduction of the length of the working day, social benefits for its membership, etc.
Of course they had a perfectly socialist program, still based on the genius of Marx.
But this program was only theory, internal propaganda, it was not action.
Nothing ever happened within the national parties to pose the question: capitalism or socialism, reform or revolution?
This state of affairs lasted many years.
So revolution became only theory, and reform became practice.
During this period nothing took place which might have forced the parties to become internationalist and to reject their nationalism in practice.
This was how, despite all the theory, despite the finest and most sincere propaganda, despite the fine words, the International became a coalition of parties which aspired to improve living conditions and only wanted to do so on a national scale.
The truth of a theory or a slogan, however, is only demonstrated in practice.
The great mass of the members of the international party was composed of men who yearned for improvements in their living conditions and the living conditions of their class comrades and fellow citizens. That is all they wanted. International socialism was only a grand slogan. Their internationalism had no practical aspect.
That is how it stood even during the great heroic era of the students of Marx and the old International; that theoretical-practical-revolutionary period which began with Lasalle and slowly declined until it ended in 1890. The International was a coalition of parties, each of which was preoccupied with its own affairs, and for that reason was not yet united even by means of any external bond.
This theoretical-practical-revolutionary period was followed by another period in the European countries which are of most concern to us here.
The working masses, thirsting for reforms, were attracted by the success of the workers parties. These masses were composed of the most passive, least radical and least daring workers; they were the masses, composed of average workers.
Under capitalism the masses are crushed by labor and mental development is impossible for them. These masses, or at least most of them, were not and could not have been concerned with anything but everyday affairs, work, food, etc. This is what the masses were like.
The struggle had also become easier. The workers parties had finally succeeded in getting recognition. Governments and capitalists made a certain number of concessions and negotiated with these workers parties.
The broad masses of the nation were eager for reforms.
But only for reforms. And these are the masses which have become decisive, who make their influence felt.
One can conquer power with such great numbers. With so many votes, seats in parliament can be won. Less importance was granted to the quality of the voters.
Among these masses, in the national trade unions and the national parties, reforms alone were fought for.
Improvement in the standard of living became the goal. Revolutionary theory and the revolutionary dimension were forgotten, and the entire International along with them. All the revolutionary and internationalist slogans were transformed into empty words and verbal formalities.
Revisionism came later, and theorized this practice. This was the origin of the theory which asserts: workers, workers of the nation, unite for reforms! The reform, the movement, is everything. And unite with the bourgeoisie, too, or with part of it, and you will attain even more reforms.
This doctrine took root in the minds of these masses, who were all the more amenable to such ideas as various phases of prosperity followed one after the other and a tidal wave of gold inundated Europe; after the waves from California and Australia, the Transvaal wave came. Revolutionary ideas quickly faded away in the minds of these workers and they no longer thought about anything but reforms. This is what became of the masses.
Then another kind of leader came to the fore.
At first, the leaders were men of principle. Men who were filled with enthusiasm for the idea of socialism, who put socialism ahead of everything and who expected everything from their propaganda work. They were men of the greatest courage, who had a truly revolutionary spirit and determination, as well as a truly powerful revolutionary drive. They were men who attempted, insofar as they were not workers, to destroy the bourgeois being within themselves and to completely identify with the working class. These men identified themselves, or tried to identify themselves, with the idea that they could get the working class to fight for its own emancipation. These men fitted all their words, all their deeds and all their proposals to this end.
With greater or lesser clarity, they proclaimed the revolution to the workers.
This was the time of Bebel, Guesde, Liebknecht, Plekhanov, Axelrod, Kautsky, Mehring, Labriola, Lafargue, Hyndman, Quelch, Domela Nieuwenhuis in his first period, and many others.
But with the growth of the movement, other leaders came along.
Philanthropists, moralists, highly cultivated, ambitious bourgeoisie, men unburdened by any conscience, con-men of the masses. Many of them were weak and well-intentioned at the same time, and knew nothing of socialism or its theory. People who deceived themselves, career politicians who turned socialism into a business, a profitable industry and a way to make a living.
They all accepted revisionism out of philanthropy or bourgeois morality, because of intelligence or ambition or stupidity, ignorance, lack of character and conscience or common sense. For all of them, the revolution is evil or impossible, or too distant. For them, reform is possible, within reach, good and advantageous. But the workers are so weak and ignorant, the number of their votes in parliamentary and municipal elections is increasing so slowly, that we have to make compromises with the bourgeoisie!
The old guard, the radicals, understood that the greatest revolutionary ideals were on the verge of disappearing. They voiced their opposition. But what good did it do?
The broad masses had everywhere become so reformist—reforms above all, and frequently even reforms alone—that they quickly followed the reformists and no longer paid any attention to the counsels of the radical idealists, who were unable to bring about the revolution.
This is how the revolution progressively became an abstract problem which, of course, the best elements still thought about, but only sporadically and as something beautiful and great; revolution was increasingly transformed into a purely sentimental question referring to a very distant future. In practice, on the other hand, the struggle for reforms was made the norm and daily routine, the only object of the thoughts of the masses.
The trade union movement, which fights only for small gains, and which obtains no satisfaction except thanks to small concessions on the part of the employers and by means of contracts signed with the latter, considerably reinforced this process.
The trade union leadership was everywhere in the hands of reformists. The reformists were everywhere, in the party leadership, in the editorial offices of the newspapers, in the municipal councils and parliaments. They soon formed the majority everywhere and in most countries they constituted the sole leading force.
But in the trade union movement as well as the political parties, it was the leaders and deputies, and thus individuals, who gained the victories—even if it was a matter of merely apparent victories—in the parliaments and municipal councils against the other parties and in negotiations with the employers.
The center of gravity was therefore shifted from the masses to the leaders. A workers bureaucracy took shape.
And bureaucracy is by its very nature conservative.
The masses, completely ruled by the desire for immediate improvements and not by a desire for revolution, were encouraged to persist in this condition by their leaders. The masses abandoned everything into the hands of their leaders and became complacent and indolent. And as the masses became less active and less conscious of their goals, their leaders saw themselves as the real bearers of the movement. And these leaders began to believe that the proletarian action of the workers consisted primarily of tactics and compromises skillfully conducted by leaders, and that the workers must be satisfied with voting correctly, paying their dues to the trade union local, and now and then participating in a trade union struggle or a demonstration. These leaders became more and more convinced that the masses comprised a passive mass which had to be led and that they were themselves the active force.
This phase constituted the second phase of the socialist movement, which succeeded the first, the theor