Witness to the German Revolution (37 page)

At this moment we need to remember that social revolutions need, in order to ripen and be completed, not weeks and months, but years: the French Revolution stretched out, with leaps forward, stabilizations and political storms, over about fifteen years. Prepared beforehand by long struggles, the Russian Revolution joined its first great battle in 1905 and only completed its victories in 1920-21.

Brandler and Thalheimer, the most authoritative representatives of the former majority on the KPD central committee, in their theses, accuse the Executive Committee of the Communist International and the KPD of an “erroneous estimation of relative strength of the forces confronting each other.” In particular they claim that the Comintern Executive did not take sufficient account of the observations of the KPD. The International will not fail to clear up this point.
²¹⁹
The left of the party, of which Ruth Fischer
²²⁰
is one of the best-known leaders, has a diametrically opposite point of view. It considers that it was possible to take power in October, but criticizes the party for having failed, before the discussions in Moscow on the German question, to make preparations for revolutionary action. Its opinion is that “the party should have taken on the struggle even at the risk of defeat, for this would have given the German proletariat fine revolutionary traditions attached to the name of the KPD, in this way preparing a future victory.” This point of view seems to me to be difficult to maintain. A Communist rising crushed in Germany by the military dictatorship and the fascist bands would, it seems to me, have provided the German bourgeoisie with a sense of security and victory which it is far from having at present. The losses it would have inflicted on the working class would not have been easy to make up for, despite the reputation for heroism which would have remained for the KPD. There are irreparable losses: we need only name Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, leaders whom the German Revolution has not yet replaced, although it is justly proud of their magnificent memory.
The 1871 Commune also made an impression of epic proportions on history: but the bloodshed inflicted by the Versailles forces on the working people of Paris nonetheless weakened it for many long years. However convinced we may be of the ultimate victory of the working class, we cannot maintain that all its defeats are necessarily stages towards victory. It may be claimed of certain defeats after having soberly assessed the consequences; it is very rash to talk in the same way of a hypothetical defeat, one which would certainly have been very bloody, very expensive, and very much exploited by an enemy prepared to stake everything.

Further Reading

For those who want to know more about the revolutionary period in Germany, Chris Harman's
The Lost Revolution
(Haymarket Books, 2003) provides an indispensable narrative account and political analysis of events from 1918 to 1923. (Indeed, ideally Harman's book should be read before Serge's articles.) For those who want more detail, see Pierre Broué's monumental
The German Revolution, 1917__1923
(Haymarket Books, 2006), first published in English in 1998 by Porcupine Press. W. Guttmann & P. Meehan,
The Great Inflation
(Saxon House, 1975) gives a lucid and lively account of the economic processes and social consequences of the 1923 inflation. Ian Kershaw,
Hitler, 1889__1936: Hubris
(W.W. Norton & Company, 1998) provides much material on the activities of the extreme right.
Revolutionary History, Vol. 5, No. 2, Spring 1994,
contains some interesting documents and analyses on 1923.

There is now a considerable body of Serge's work available in English, including several novels. His
Memoirs of a Revolutionary
(NYRB Classics, 2011) contains a chapter “Europe at the Dark Crossroads” describing his experiences in Germany; it is interesting to compare his later view with what he wrote at the time. Other writings from his period as a Comintern activist include
Revolution in Danger: Writings from Russia, 1919__1921
(Haymarket Books, 2011) and his essay “Lenin in 1917” in
Revolutionary History
, Vol. 5, No. 3, and available online at
http://www.marxists.org/archive/serge/1924/xx/lenin.html
. There are some interesting essays on Serge in S. Weissman (ed.),
The Ideas of Victor Serge
(Critique Books, 1997). Bill Marshall,
Victor Serge: The Uses of Dissent
(Berg Publishers, 1992) contains an extensive bibliography of Serge's writings.

Key Figures

BERNHARDT, Georg (1875-1944):
Editor of
Vossische Zeitung.

BÖTTCHER, Paul:
Printer, SPD member, joined USPD 1917; joined KPD 1920. Minister of economics in Saxon government; expelled from KPD as rightist 1929; in Switzerland during Nazi period; on return to East Germany arrested and deported to Russia; later returned to East Germany.

BRANDLER, Heinrich (1881-1967):
Building worker, veteran Spartacist; KPD leader 1923; scapegoated for 1923 failure, expelled from KPD 1929.

BUCHRUCKER, Bruno Ernst:
Involved in Kapp putsch; commanded Black Reichswehr 1923; planned putsch at Küstrin barracks; imprisoned but soon pardoned; later in Strasser's Black Front.

CUNO, Wilhelm (1876-1933):
Shipping magnate; Chancellor November 1922-August 1923.

DEGOUTTE, J. M. J. (1868-1938):
French General; head of French forces occupying Rhineland from 1919; led occupation of Ruhr 1923.

DITTMANN, Wilhelm (1874-1954):
SPD from 1894; secretary of
USPD; rejoined SPD 1922; went to Switzerland 1933.

EBERT, Friedrich (1871-1925):
Saddlemaker, leading SPD activist; President of Reich from 1919.

EHRHARDT, Hermann (1881-1971):
Leading organizer of Freikorps; supported Kapp putsch; ran Organization Consul; responsible for murders of Erzberger and Rathenau; fled Hitler 1934; lived in Austria.

FRÖLICH, August (1877-1966):
Head of workers' government in Thuringia.

GESSLER, Otto (1875-1955):
Defense minister 1920-28. Lived as private citizen under Hitler, seven months in Ravensbrück.

HECKERT, Fritz (1884-1936):
Building worker, veteran Spartacist; member of Saxon government 1923; Stalinist in 1930s; died in Moscow, reportedly executed by GPU, but ashes placed in Kremlin wall.

HELFFERICH, Karl (1872-1924):
Economist; member of DNVP, militant opponent of Versailles Treaty.

HILFERDING, Rudolf (1877-1941):
Member of USPD 1918-22; edited party daily
Freiheit.
Rejoined SPD; Finance Minister August-October 1923; left Germany 1933; executed by Gestapo in Paris.

HORN, Rudolf von:
Reichswehr general.

KAHR, Gustav von (1862-1934):
Civil servant; joined Catholic Bavarian People's Party 1918; prime minister of Bavaria 1921; Bavarian General State Commissioner 1923; executed 1934.

KAUTSKY, Karl (1854-1938):
Chief theoretician of SPD and Second International before 1914, known as “Pope of Marxism”; failed to oppose war; joined USPD 1917; strongly anti-Bolshevik.

KLÖCKNER, Peter (1865-1940):
Leading industrialist.

KNILLING, Eugen von (1865-1927):
Member of Bavarian People's Party; prime minister of Bavaria 1923.

KRUPP von Bohlen und Harbach, Gustav (1870-1950):
Industrialist; key role in World War I; named as war criminal but never tried; involved in rearming Germany before 1933; key role in backing Hitler and preparing World War II; used slave labor during World War II; named as war criminal but never tried!

LEVI, Paul (1883-1930):
Close to Luxemburg before war; joined USPD 1917, Spartacus League 1918; president of KPD; expelled from Party 1921 for public criticism of March Action; formed Kommunistische Arbeitsgemeinschaft (Communist Study Group); in 1922 joined the USPD, which later that year was reunified with the SPD.

LOSSOW, Otto von (1868-1938):
General; Chief of staff of Reichwehr's Bavarian Division 1921; District Commander of Bavaria 1922; Member of Bavarian ruling triumvirate 1923.

LUDENDORFF, Erich (1865-1937):
Successful general World War I; imposed Brest-Litovsk Treaty on Russia; involved in Kapp putsch; collaborated with Hitler 1922-24.

MARX, Wilhelm (1863-1946):
Chairman of Center Party; chancellor 1923-24 and again later in 1920s; denied pension by Hitler.

MÜLLER, Alfred (1866-1925):
Reichswehr commander in Saxony and Thuringia.

MÜLLER, Hermann (1876-1931 ):
SPD member from 1893; chancellor March-June 1920, 1928-30.

NOSKE, Gustav (1868-1946):
Veteran SPD right winger; minister of war 1918-20; Chief civil official of Hanover till 1933; dismissed by Nazis, arrested 1944 but never tried.

POINCARÉ, Raymond (1860-1934):
French president 1913-1920; prime minister 1922-24 and 1926-29; ordered occupation of Ruhr 1923.

RADBRUCH, Gustav (1878-1949):
Academic, joined SPD 1918; justice minister 1923; returned to academic life; first academic removed from office by Nazis.

RADEK, Karl (Sobelsohn) (1875-1939):
Revolutionary in Germany and Poland before Russian Revolution; Bolshevik leader; important role in Germany on behalf of Comintern 1919-23; Left Opposition till 1929, then capitulated to Stalin; imprisoned after 1937 Moscow Trial; died in concentration camp.

REINHARDT, Walter (1872-1930):
General; held highest military appointment in defense ministry; conflict with von Seeckt; remained in Reichswehr till mid-1920s; considered “father of the republican army.”

REMMELE, Hermann (1880-1939):
SPD from 1897, involved in anti-militarist
activity; founder member of USPD 1917; joined KPD 1920, member of
Zentrale;
KPD leader till 1932, then opposed Thaelmann; emigrated to Moscow 1933; arrested 1937.

REVENTLOW, Graf Ernst zu (1868-1943):
Naval officer, then Pan-German journalist; joined Nazis 1927.

ROSSBACH, Gerhardt (1893-1967):
Freikorps leader; involved in Kapp putsch; joined Nazis, involved in “beer-hall putsch,” then fled to Austria ; served in Abwehr in World War II; after 1945 helped re-establish Bayreuth Wagner Festival.

RUPPRECHT, Crown Prince (1869-1945):
General, son of last Bavarian King.

SCHEIDEMANN, Philipp (1865-1939):
SPD from 1883; chancellor 1919; lord mayor of Kassel 1919-25; fled Germany 1933.

SCHMIDT, Robert (1864-1943):
SPD member; minister of economics on several occasions in 1920s; Vice-Chancellor in Stresemann cabinet, August to October 1923.

SEECKT, Hans von (1866-1936):
General in World War I; involved in Freikorps; advised creation of Black Reichswehr; granted dictatorial powers after “beer-hall putsch” till February 1924; supported Hitler after 1933 despite having Jewish wife.

SEVERING, Carl (1875-1952):
SPD right winger from 1893; Prussian interior minister for most of period of Republic; hostile to Nazis, jailed briefly; active in SPD after 1945.

SOLLMANN, Wilhelm (1881-1951):
SPD from 1907; interior minister in Stresemann government; fled to USA after 1933.

STINNES, Hugo (1870-1924):
Industrialist with interests in coal, steel, electricity, etc. Member of DVP.

STRESEMANN, Gustav (1878-1929):
founded DVP in December 1918; Chancellor August-November 1923; foreign minister till 1929; Nobel Peace Prize 1926.

THYSSEN, Fritz (1873-1951) :
Industrialist, son of August Thyssen; financed Nazis from 1923, main business leader to back Nazis before 1933; joined Nazis 1933, but broke 1938; fled to France 1939, spent 1940-45 in various camps; went to Argentina 1948.

VANDERVELDE, Emile (1866-1938):
President of Belgian Workers' Party and Second International; joined Belgian government of national defense 1914; several times minister in Socialist-Catholic coalitions.

WULLE, Reinhold (1882-1955):
One of founders of Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei—conservative nationalist German Racial Freedom Party.

ZEIGNER, Erich (1886-1949):
SPD from 1919; prime minister of Saxony March 1923 till deposed October 1923; withdrew from politics after being jailed for corruption; repeatedly jailed by Nazis; after 1945 lord mayor of Leipzig (East Germany).

Appendix

Anyone comparing this book with Pierre Broué's edition of
Notes d'Allemagne
will observe considerable differences in the dating and arrangement of texts.
Correspondance internationale
appeared in both a weekly and a twice weekly edition. In most cases I have presented the articles as they appeared in the weekly edition. (It should be remembered that
Correspondance internationale
was produced under difficult and dangerous conditions. Because of police seizures the editorial office did not even have a complete file to make up an index for 1923.) To assist anyone working on the material, the following table shows how the 29 items in this book correspond to the sections of Broué's book and the dates he gives—generally referring to the twice weekly edition of
Correspondance internationale
. Many of Serge's pieces were reproduced, in whole or part, in
Bulletin communiste
, a journal of the French Communist Party. I also give dates when all or part of an item appeared in
BC.
All dates 1923 except where stated.