A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF THE
GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1919
PRIMARY DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED 1922
CHAPTER PAGE
I. GERMAN SOCIALISM IN THE WORLD WAR 7 The Causes of Voting the War Credits — The Nationalist Policy of the Majority — The Struggle against the War Policy of the Party Majority.
II. THE FALL OF THE OLD REGIME - - 37 The Military Collapse—The Portents of the Revolution—The Naval Rebellion — The 9th November.
III. THE BEGINNING OF INTERNECINE STRIFE 68 The Proletariat in the Seat of Power — Conflicting Conceptions of the Revolutionary Tasks—Early Inter-revolutionary Struggles—The Independents Leave the Government.
IV. THE FIRST PHASE OF THE CIVIL WAR - I05 The Left Prepares for Action—The Crushing of Spartacist—The Murder of Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.
V. BLOODY WEEKS IN BERLIN AND MUNICH I31 Growing Resentment among the Working Class—The March Massacres in Berlin — The Munich Soviet Republic.
VI. THE DIFFICULTIES OF HOME POLITICS AND FOREIGN POLICY - - - 167 The Yoke of the Entente Peace—The New Constitution—Financial Policy and Socialization. vi
VII. THE REVOLUTIONIZING OF THE PROLETARIAN MASSES - - - - ig6 Dictatorship or Democracy—The Soviet System—The Struggle for the Works Councils.
VIII. THE CRISIS IN THE REPUBLIC - - 217 The Massacre before the Reichstag—The Kapp Putsch—Rocks Ahead.
IX. TWO YEARS LATER - - - - 246 Fresh Socialist Disagreements—Two Years of Compromise—Reparations and Taxes.
X. THE LATEST PHASE - - - - 289 The Economic Disintegration—The Strengthening of Reaction—German Finances and the Reparation Problem.
SOCIALISATION IN THEORY AN PRACTICE
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
The author of this book occupies a peculiar position in the German Socialist movement. As a representative of the Independent Social Democratic Party, he was appointed Finance Minister in the Prussian Revolutionary Government, which came into existence in November 1918. Subsequently, he was alienated from the Independent Socialists by reason of their fanaticism, and the partiality they exhibited towards Bolshevist doctrines. On the other hand, Herr Strobel was unable to sympathise with the wartime policy of the German Majority Socialists, and found much to condemn in their methods of handling the internal troubles which broke out in Germany soon after the Revolution.
This Revolution had brought political power to German Socialism, with a suddenness and completeness which took many Social Democrats by surprise, and this fact largely accounts for their moral inadequacy and practical unreadiness when confronted with the problem of Socialisation.
Herr Strobel's candid temperament and detachment enabled him to write the most satisfactory and in- formative account of the German Revolution, as a whole, that has yet been published, and the same qualities were even more necessary in the writing of Sozialisierung-Ihre Wege und Voraussetzungen, of which an English translation is now submitted to the public with the title Socialisation in Theory and Practice.
As the Socialist Parties in Western Europe approach nearer to the goal of political power, the question of Socialisation will be forced more and more into the arena of political contention. The British Labour Party, which has made significant progress within recent months, draws its inspiration from the economic doctrines of Socialism.
Alike to friend and opponent of Socialist developments, it is of urgent importance to be conscious of the full meaning and the various social implications of a policy directed to the socialisation of vital industries. The Russian experiment in the application of Communistic principles has passed through strange vicissitudes during the past four years, and the section devoted to this subject by Herr Strobel emphasises the salient features of Communist policy, and describes the social and economic consequences which have flowed from it.
The political and economic history of Germany during the two years which followed the Armistice, comprising a protracted civil war and violent political agitations all clustering round the question of the economic transformation of society, has not received from the members of the British Labour Movement a quarter of the attention that has been bestowed upon the Russian experiment. Yet the experiences of industrial Germany are more relevant to the immediate aspirations of British Socialism than the dissimilar economic structure of Russia. Herr Strobel has described the scope and the con- sequences of the recent experiments in Socialisation undertaken in three European countries, and has related the practical details of these endeavours to the general principles of Socialism.
This Revolution had brought political power to German Socialism, with a suddenness and completeness which took many Social Democrats by surprise, and this fact largely accounts for their moral inadequacy and practical unreadiness when confronted with the problem of Socialisation.
Herr Strobel's candid temperament and detachment enabled him to write the most satisfactory and in- formative account of the German Revolution, as a whole, that has yet been published, and the same qualities were even more necessary in the writing of Sozialisierung-Ihre Wege und Voraussetzungen, of which an English translation is now submitted to the public with the title Socialisation in Theory and Practice.
As the Socialist Parties in Western Europe approach nearer to the goal of political power, the question of Socialisation will be forced more and more into the arena of political contention. The British Labour Party, which has made significant progress within recent months, draws its inspiration from the economic doctrines of Socialism.
Alike to friend and opponent of Socialist developments, it is of urgent importance to be conscious of the full meaning and the various social implications of a policy directed to the socialisation of vital industries. The Russian experiment in the application of Communistic principles has passed through strange vicissitudes during the past four years, and the section devoted to this subject by Herr Strobel emphasises the salient features of Communist policy, and describes the social and economic consequences which have flowed from it.
The political and economic history of Germany during the two years which followed the Armistice, comprising a protracted civil war and violent political agitations all clustering round the question of the economic transformation of society, has not received from the members of the British Labour Movement a quarter of the attention that has been bestowed upon the Russian experiment. Yet the experiences of industrial Germany are more relevant to the immediate aspirations of British Socialism than the dissimilar economic structure of Russia. Herr Strobel has described the scope and the con- sequences of the recent experiments in Socialisation undertaken in three European countries, and has related the practical details of these endeavours to the general principles of Socialism.
CHAPTER. PAGE
I. THE OBJECT: SOCIALISATION i What does Socialism aim at ? ... ... ... i
The Absence of a Socialisation Scheme ... ... 6
The Necessity of Socialisation 17
Socialism and Increased Production 25
II. COMMUNISTIC SETTLEMENTS 52
III. THE BOLSHEVIST EXPERIMENT 66 The Social Formation of Russia 66
Socialisation by Compulsion 75
The Economic Organisation of Bolshevism ... 85
The Resort to Despotism ... ... ... ... 93
Industrial Unions as Administrative Organs ... 101
The Organisation of Distribution 109
Communism and the Peasant 117
Financial Policy ... ... ... ... ... 127
The Upshot of Bolshevism ... ... ... 137
IV. THE EPISODE OF THE HUNGARIAN DICTATORSHIP ... 149
V. THE SOCIALISATION PROBLEM AFTER THE NOVEMBER REVOLUTION 170
VI. THE ECONOMIC SCHEME OF WISSELL AND MOLLEN- DORFF 190
VII. THE SOCIALISATION OF THE MINES 209 The Control of the Mines by Joint Management 209
Owners' Profits and Workers' Wages 218
The Influence of Workers' and Consumers' Representatives ... ... ... ... ... 226
Socialisation on Horizontal Lines 234
The Function of the Employer 241
Socialisation and Personal Initiative ... ... 248
The Proposals of the Socialisation Commission... 255
The Present Position of the Socialisation Question 264
VIII. HORTEN'S SOCIALISATION SCHEME 273
IX. GUILD SOCIALISM 297
X. THE PATH TO SOCIALISATION 316
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