Karl Liebknecht. Man Without a Country. Introd. by C. V. Easum PDF
Preview Karl Liebknecht. Man Without a Country. Introd. by C. V. Easum
Karl Liebknecht MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY Karl Liebknecht MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY Karl W. Meyer Department off History Wisconsin State College Introduction by C. V. Easum Public Affairs Press, Washington, D.’C. Copyright, 1957, by Public Affaira Près 419 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., Washington 3, D.C. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 57-6906 INTRODUCTION The contrasts between national feeling and international thinking, the psychological inconsistencies arising out of this apparent incompati bility, and the violence of popular reaction to these contrasts and in consistencies have rarely been more strikingly revealed than in the tragic personal history and political failure of the lonely German Marxist Karl Liebknecht. Nor, until July 1944, has the problem of loyalty and/or obedience to the only existing government in time of war and in the face of military defeat, as over against an attempt— certain to be treated as treason if it failed—to secure a “saving” peace by immediate acceptance of defeat, been more poignantly illustrated than in his strange career. As a Marxist and a member of the German Social Democratic Party, and later as a founder of the German youth movement and an early leader of the German Communist Party, Liebknecht advocated vary ing forms of collectivism, presumably in the ultimate interest of the individual as he saw it ; but no one was more ruggedly individualistic in his own thinking than he. He usually walked alone and stood at last alone. He denounced militarism for its reliance upon force and its sub ordination of the individual; yet while deprecating violence he ad vocated a revolution which, whether he realized it or not, could have been effected only by violence, and a new order in which the individual would again be submerged. To what extent was communism already recognizable in Liebknechts day not even as a Russian phenomenon or article for export but as a Russian monopoly controlled from Moscow, a “world movement” for the benefit of the Imperial Soviets? To what extent must a communist party within Germany renounce its German character and accept even tual immolation within an international movement which had not lost, and seemed unlikely ever to lose, its predominantly Russian character? This problem also Karl Liebknecht seems to have con fronted before he died. An unsympathetic biography of Liebknecht would surely fail to do him justice. A too sympathetic portrayal of his character or of his labored thinking would similarly fail to do justice to his associates, with virtually all of whom he eventually quarreled. An objective ap- vi INTRODUCTION praisal of his career and an understanding of his purposes require of his biographer a rare combination of clinical perception and historical insight and imagination. These qualities this biography seems to the writer of this introduction to manifest to an exceptional degree. C. V. Eastjm University of Wisconsin Madisonf Wisconsin PREFACE Many alert people throughout the world and certainly most his torians are familiar with Karl Liebknecht, the international revolution ary Socialist. Notwithstanding this familiarity, however, no attempts have been made to synthesize the political career of this “man without a country” who was considered “the darling of the masses” in Ger many. Another revolutionary, Lenin, first looked to Liebknecht for the salvation of the Russian revolution; eventually Liebknecht had to turn to Lenin for funds and weapons. Lenin succeeded and Liebknecht failed in their respective circumstances. Largely because of his failure, Liebknecht, unlike Lenin, has been ignored as a subject of historical study. The generation since his murder has produced only one biography of him: Harry Schumann, Karl Liebknecht: ein Stück unpolitischer Weltanschauung (Dresden, 1923). As the title of this book suggests, Schumann treated the person, not the politician. I hope that by providing this brief record of Lieb knechts political career I am filling a vacuum which has long needed filling. Within the framework of this purpose, I have necessarily attached some meaning to Liebknechts place in history ; synthesis and analysis perforce are related—they cannot be entirely isolated. Liebknechts personal failure, to illustrate this relationship, was in a sense the mi crocosm and epitome of a greater miscarriage, that of the German revolution. This revolution did not produce a new Germany because the “Moloch” of militarism survived it; and the nub of this tragedy was Liebknecht, the most outspoken foe of German militarism, who not only failed to destroy it, but who breathed new life into it. If in describing Liebknechts career, however, I have raised more ques tions than I have answered, the purpose of suggesting new lines of inquiry will have been served. Although Liebknecht is most often associated with the German revolution, I have endeavored to stimulate an awareness of his sig nificance in German politics before 1918. His public battle against militarism, the “bulwark of capitalism”, began shortly after the turn of the century. With an inexhaustible fund of nervous energy and vii viii PREFACE determination, and almost alone, he fought for his ideals among the youth, in the parliaments, in the party caucuses and congresses, in the streets, in the newspapers, in the court-rooms, and even in the prisons. The sum of his activities during this period accelerated the dichotomization of his party, whose last thread of unity he was the first to cut during World War I. In splitting his party, he bestowed on Ebert and, because of his final failure, on Lenin, the mantles of au thority over the divided legacy of what had been the most powerful and influential Socialist party in the world. Significantly, this division in the Socialist world, with all of its problems, is still with us today. I have tried to recapture some of the spirit of Liebknecht and his ideals by quoting liberally from his writings and speeches. Moreover, I frequently use the words of other writers not only because they have new light to offer, but because, like Montaigne, “I quote others only the better to express myself.” And if I dare make any claim for originality, I would do so only in the sense of Voltaire's definition: “Originality is nothing but judicious imitation.” Although I have not acknowledged the contributions of other writers through the medium of footnotes (I have sought to spare the general reader the distractions of academic devices), I have listed all of my basic references in the bibliography; and needless to say, my debt to the authors listed is no less great. Finally, I want to express my indebtedness to Professor Chester Easum of the University of Wisconsin, who read the entire manuscript and gave it the benefit of his trenchant historical insights. I am also grateful to my good friend Professor Helmut Haeussler of Wittenberg College, who offered a number of valuable suggestions. The responsi bility, of course, for the errors which remain is entirely mine. Eau Claire, Wisconsin K arl W. M eyer CONTENTS I Liebknecht the Elder 1 II Liebknecht the Younger 21 in War Against War 61 IV Behind Prison Bars 95 V Last Days 127 Bibliography 174 Index 179
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