After the Revolution: The Individualist Anarchist Journal" Der Einzige" and the Making of the Radical Left in the Early Post-World War I Germany (original) (raw)
Related papers
Introduction In Search of the German Revolution
2015
nouncement, Rosa Luxemburg published an article in Die Rote Fahne under the heading: 'The Beginning' in which she called for the broadening and deepening of the revolution. 'The revolution has begun', she wrote, 'Not jubilation for that achieved; not triumph over the defeated enemy are appropriate [at this time], but the toughest self-criticism and iron discipline over the energy needed to continue the work started.' 2 There were other radical voices, not least those of the Independent Socialist Emil Barth and Richard Müller, the leader of the revolutionary Greater Berlin Workers' and Soldiers' Council. These radicals had a fundamentally different vision for Germany than that of the Social Democrats and their liberal allies. They sought a thorough-going transformation of Germany's political and economic institutions that would spell the end of the capitalist era and the inauguration of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'. That a revolution of sorts had occurred was nonetheless acknowledged by contemporaries. Hermann Müller, who would twice serve as chancellor at the head of coalition governments, recounted in his memoirs published little more than a dozen years later, how on 5 November when Admiral Souchon gave up command of Kiel, a sailor's mutiny transformed into a revolution. 3 Ernst Troeltsch noted that 'revolution hung in the air' already since the winter of 1917. He was unambiguous in his verdict that in November 'the long feared and expected revolution had broken out'. But he also noted that it was over as soon as it had taken place. Writing barely three weeks after the 9 November, Troeltsch used the past tense: 'Germany had its victorious revolution as once England, America and France had'; but unlike these revolutions, Germany's had been a quiet affair, with hardly any bloodshed spilled. 4 His well-known contemporary, Harry Graf Kessler, the 'red count', also noted the brevity and muteness of the revolution. 5 By mid-November, Kessler observed what he believed to be the unrevolutionary character of the revolution: 'The first Sunday after the revolution. Late in the afternoon large crowds of walkers crossed [Unten den] Linden to the Marstall to look at the marks on the buildings left by gunfire. All were very peaceful in their petty-bourgeois curiosity […].' 6 And when he returned from Poland in mid
The German Revolution and Political Theory (introduction)
Palgrave, 2019
This book is the first collection within political theory to examine the ideas and debates of the German Revolution of 1918/19. It discusses the political theorists and actors of the revolution and uncovers an incredibly fertile body of political thought. Revolutionary events led to the proliferation of new political strategies, theoretical insights and institutional proposals. Key questions included the debate between a national assembly and a council system, the socialisation of the economy, the development of new forms of political representation and the proper role of parliaments, political parties and trade unions. This book offers novel perspectives on the history of the revolution, a thorough engagement with its main thinkers and an analysis of its relevance for contemporary political thought.
2017
This paper was first written as a Master's Thesis by the author for the history program ' Political Culture and National Identities' at Leiden University in 2017. The thesis received a 7.5 out of 10. A short abstract of the thesis follow below. In this thesis the author analyses the events between November 9th, 1918 and January 15th 1919 in Germany and Berlin in particular. This period is characterised by political instability. The socialist movement had fractured during the First World War over the support of the war effort. Radical socialists were further emboldened by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The struggle between the three main factions of German socialism; the moderate MSPD, the independents of the USPD and the radical Spartakusbund, forms the core of this thesis. This thesis answers the question to what extent was the Spartacist Uprising a revolution to defend the November revolution or a counter revolution which would only damage the gains of the November revolution? By analysing primary sources such as newspapers, autobiographies and personal recollections the attitudes and opinions of these three parties the author traces the evolution these parties and their leaders underwent during the months November, December and January. Recent work by Mark Jones on the role of autosuggestion (self-generated beliefs allowing historical actors to truly and firmly believe that particular events were happening when they in fact were not) and the role and nature of revolutionary crowds provide additional perspectives how the main leaders of the three parties behaved during times of massive pressure.
'Reform or Revolution', redux: Eduard Bernstein on the 1918-19 German Revolution
Historical Research, 2022
The following is the text of an article accepted for publication in Historical Research (27 October 2021). Please do not cite, copy, share, or distribute in any other way. The 1918-19 German Revolution forced an abrupt moment of decision among German socialists in the question of ‘social reform or revolution’. This article traces the arguments of Eduard Bernstein, the founder of ‘reformism’, on the lessons Social Democracy should draw from the events of the Revolution and the transition from Kaiserreich to the Weimar Republic. It argues that Bernstein makes significant advances on his early reformism in his post-Revolution writings, and explores his refinement of the concept of ‘revolution’ as well as his critique of Bolshevism and the USSR as a new ideological rival within the socialist movement.