Germany: From Revolution to Counter-Revolution

Germany: From Revolution to Counter-Revolution

Rob Sewell

Germany: From Revolution to Counter-Revolution by Rob Sewell, third edition published in July 2014.

Copyright © Wellred Books. All rights reserved.

Editing and layout for this edition by Wellred Books, based on the 2011 edition by Wellred USA.

Ebook produced by Martin Swayne. Published November 2018, Smashwords edition.

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ISBN: 978 1 900007 78 8

Table of Contents

New Introduction

Introduction to the American Edition

Introduction to the First Edition

1. The Rise of Organised Labour

Marxism revised?

Internationalists and the War

Birth of the USPD

The Russian Revolution

2. In the Throes of Revolution

I Hate Revolution Like Sin

Long Live the Revolution!

What Kind of Democracy?

The Bolsheviks and the Constituent Assembly

Founding of the Communist Party

3. Counter-Revolution Raises Its Head

The Spartacist Uprising

The White Terror

The Bavarian Republic

4. The Kapp Putsch

A Swing to the Left

Towards a Mass Communist International

Lenin’s Struggle Against Ultraleftism

The March Offensive

The United Front Policy

5. The Crisis of 1923

The French Occupy the Ruhr

Preparing for Insurrection

The Hamburg Rising

The Lessons of October

6. Stabilisation

The 1925 Presidential Election

The 1928 General Election

The Third Period

The Crash of 1929

7. Fascism’s Rise to Power

The Munich Putsch

Big Business Turns to Hitler

A Movement of the Middle Class

Stalinism and Social Fascism

The Red Referendum

Hindenburg Becomes President

Hitler Becomes Chancellor

The Reichstag Fire

8. The Nazi Terror

Smashing the Unions

The Stalinist Response

The Night of the Long Knives

Can Fascism Rise Again?

Postscript

Appendix I. The German Revolution of 1923

Appendix II. 1919: Britain on the Brink of Revolution

Appendix III. 1923: An Opportunity Missed?

Appendix IV. The German Revolution,1917-1923, by Pierre Broué

Appendix V. Chronology

Glossary

New Introduction

I have laboured carefully not to mock, lament or execrate human actions, but to understand them. (Baruch Spinoza)

There now exist many works about Weimar Germany, but few that grasp the true reality. Most are academic treatises that attempt to discover the flawed psychology of the German people. The primary task of this brief work, however, is completely different. It seeks to provide a concise overview, written from a Marxist perspective, and draw out the important lessons of this tumultuous period.

It was originally written to accompany the publication of Jan Valtin’s classic book entitled Out of the Night and was based on two lectures I gave at a Young Socialist Summer camp in the Forest of Dean in August 1988.

At that time, as is the case today, there was a growing interest in revolutionary history and the important lessons for our times. There had been a revolutionary movement in the 1970s affecting many European countries, but this had been derailed and gave way to a whole series of defeats, especially in the following decade. The fundamental reason for these defeats arose not from the determination of the masses, which had brought down one dictatorship after another, but from the failure of the reformist leadership.

Germany between the revolution of 1918 and the victory of Hitler in 1933 is rich in lessons and represents a classical period of revolution and counter-revolution, in which power was in the hands of the German working class, but then tragically lost. Such defeats of the working class in its turn further isolated the Soviet Union and assisted the growth of Stalinism. The calamity of German capitalism, and the deepening capitalist crisis internationally that followed the Wall Street Crash, led to the growth of German fascism. The big German capitalists, like steel baron Fritz Thyssen, poured money into the coffers of the Nazis. Henry Ford also sent over bundles of cash. However, the fascists’ road to power was blocked by the mighty German working class and its organisations, which were potentially the strongest in the world.

Nonetheless the victory of Stalinism in the Soviet Union had disastrous consequences internationally, not least in Germany. The adoption of the mad theory of social fascism, which labelled the social-democrats social-fascists, led to a tragic split in the workers’ movement between Communist and social-democratic workers. At this time, the exiled Trotsky issued a clarion call to the German Communists:

Worker-Communists, you are hundreds of thousands, millions; you cannot leave for any place; there are not enough passports for you. Should fascism come to power, it will ride over your skulls and spines like a terrific tank. Your salvation lies in merciless struggle. And only a fighting unity with the social-democratic workers can bring victory. Make haste, worker-Communists, you have very little time left!

The warnings of Leon Trotsky, who called for a united front against fascism went unheeded by Stalinist bureaucrats. Shamefully, the paralysis of the German working class allowed Hitler to come to power without any resistance. The Communist Party refused to recognise its mistakes, but instead boasted, After Hitler, our turn. Tragically, there was no our turn, as the party was banned and its members murdered in the concentration camps.

As in the period 1918-23, the reason for the debacle is sharply reduced to a question of leadership. The writings of Trotsky on Germany are a treasure trove. His book, Lessons of October, written in 1924, although about the Russian Revolution, is also a guide to the mistakes of the German leadership (as well as the wrong advice given by Stalin and Zinoviev) in the abortive revolution of 1923. Again, his writings, Germany, the Key to the International a Situation and Germany the Only Road constitute a brilliant analysis of the failures of Stalinism in the period before Hitler.

Unfortunately, the debacle in Germany and the victory of fascist tyranny directly prepared the way for the Second World War and the death of 55 million people. This would not have happened if the leadership of the German Communist Party had been of the same calibre as the Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky. But under Stalinist domination and dictates from Moscow, the German Communists staggered from one ultra-left mistake to another and eventually collapsed.

Out of this experience, the International Left Opposition, which until then had worked as an expelled faction of the Comintern, declared for a new International. As early as 8 December, 1931, Trotsky explained: Yes, should the fascists really conquer power, that would mean not only the physical destruction of the Communist Party, but veritable political bankruptcy for it. An ignominious defeat in a struggle against bands of human rubbish - would never be forgiven the Communist International and its German section by the multi-millioned German proletariat. The seizure of power by the fascists would therefore most probably signify the necessity of creating a new revolutionary party, and all likelihood also a new International.

Following the German debacle, Trotsky declared that the Communist International was finished as a vehicle for world revolution. This was reinforced by the defeat of the Spanish Revolution, the Moscow frame-up Trials, and the Stalin-Hitler Pact of August 1939.

While the Fourth International failed to create a mass force, Trotsky’s brilliant analysis of the 1930s was confirmed, tragically, by events. His ideas remain alive today in the International Marxist Tendency. The collapse of Stalinism and the complete degeneration of social-democracy once again poses the urgency in building a new revolutionary leadership internationally. In comparison to the inter-war period, the class balance of forces is a thousand times more favourable. The terrible scars of the 1930s have healed. The working class has grown and is completely dominant everywhere. However, the struggle of the working class to overthrow capitalist rule and create a classless society requires the utmost theoretical clarity. The old reformist leaders are a barrier to this struggle. The task of building a new leadership has now fallen to ourselves, the revolutionary Marxists, who are preparing for the revolutionary struggles that impend, theoretically, politically, and organisationally. The IMT is organised in over 30 countries and is carrying out vital work, helping to train the necessary cadres for the events that will inevitably unfold. At present, our forces are small, but on the basis of revolutionary events, with correct ideas and methods, our tendency can become a mass force.

This booklet is a small contribution towards this vital work. It’s aim is to stimulate a thirst for Marxist theory and encourage those inspired by these ideas to help build the forces of a new revolutionary leadership in Britain and internationally. The present capitalist crisis and the bankruptcy of the current leadership, wedded to capitalism, has made this task even more urgent.

The re-publication of this work, which will make it more readily available to a new generation of workers and youth, is extremely timely.

Rob Sewell, June 2014

Introduction to the American Edition

The American edition of Germany: from Revolution to Counter-Revolution is very welcome. I was originally asked to write this brief work after giving a series of lectures on the German Revolution of 1918-23 at a Young Socialist Summer Camp in 1988. It was to coincide with the republication of Out of the Night by Jan Valtin, alias Richard Krebs, a fascinating semi-autobiograhical book about this tumultuous period. This book was originally published in the USA in 1941 and became a best-seller. While it was intended as anti-communist propaganda, the book reveals much about the real situation including important insights into the Communist movement of that period and its activities, and is certainly a book that should be read today by all activists.

Another reason for producing the present work was the scarcity of material in the English language about this important subject, and especially of material providing a Marxist analysis. It is only in the last few years that we have had the publication in English of Pierre Broue’s monumental book The German Revolution 1917-1923, which is extremely detailed and covers nearly 1,000 pages. It is without doubt the best book on this period, which I reviewed for www.marxist.com in late 2006. While my brief study covers a lengthier period up to the coming to power of Hitler, I hope it will serve to stimulate further reading and be a stepping stone to Trotsky’s writings and Broue’s classic work.

The writings on the rise of fascism by Leon Trotsky, contained in The Struggle Against Fascism in Germany and available on www.marxists.org, are among the most important of his works. They trace the situation as it unfolded between 1931 and 1933 and put forward not only a powerful analysis, but a programme of action, of a united front between the Communists and Socialists, to block the road of fascist reaction. Unfortunately, Trotsky’s advice went unheeded, and the criminal divisions in the workers’ movement, fostered by the Stalinists, led to the victory of Hitler.

In addition, since the current work was first written, there have been big changes which have served to cut across the perspective offered in its conclusion. In 1989-91 we witnessed the collapse of Stalinism as the old bureaucracy deserted to capitalism. After a long delay, this was a confirmation of Trotsky’s perspective that the bureaucracy would pave the way for capitalist restoration. This led to a massive ideological offensive by the the bourgeoisie against socialism, revolution and Marxism. We have won! announced the Wall Street Journal in its banner headlines. This coincided with a boom in the world economy and a massive onslaught against the working class. Globalization was the battle cry. This situation served to push up the rate of profit everywhere. Added to this was financial deregulation, privatization, the opening of markets and the expansion of cheap credit, which allowed the system to go beyond its limits and prolonged the life of the capitalist boom.

This situation has now come to an end with the biggest world economic crisis since the 1930s. This collapse has ushered in a new stormy period, one of upheaval, instability and convulsion on a world scale. The weak recovery can only be regarded as a prelude to a further slump in the next few years. Austerity has been the programme of all governments who are intent on making the working class pay for the crisis of capitalism. This has resulted in mass movements in Europe and revolution in the Middle East. A new period of radicalization is taking place. It marks the opening shots of the new world revolution.

Of course, this is an uneven process. In the United States, the hatred against the bankers is tied up with growing disillusionment with the Obama administration. The demand for real change among Americans, which was the key issue in the election of Obama, has been betrayed. Given the lack of a bold lead by the labour leaders and the absence a Labour Party, this has led to a swing back to the Republicans and the growth of the Tea Party. The Tea Party reflects this impasse and the growing polarization of American society.

Ever since the war, the ruling class has rested upon the Republicans and Democrats to defend their interests. However, in the future,