Witness to the German Revolution

by Victor Serge

  Significant episodes

  We will be forgiven for returning to them, for their importance is so great. Prosecuted in the Leipzig high court, on a count of plotting against the republic, accused of having laid the bases of some fascist organizations in the Reichswehr, on October 13, commander Rossbach received a conditional discharge. The grounds for the judgment made concerning him were that “there was no danger that he would evade justice.” As soon as he learned of this, Zeigner, the Dresden prime minister, issued a new warrant for Rossbach’s arrest. Too late; the man in question had already taken the train for Bavaria. A quite legal escape, laughingly justified on the grounds that there was…no danger of escape!

  While preparations are being made for bloody repression in Dresden, the frontier incident between Thuringia and Bavaria has been settled by official statements emanating from Munich. On the night of October 9, Bavarian gangs on the frontier opened machine-gun fire against the Thuringian police. In Munich they have explained that the Bavarian police, reinforced by patriotic National Socialist organizations, thought it necessary to take measures against possible aggression by the reds… Thus Hitler’s “anti-working class hundreds” are officially collaborating with von Kahr’s police. But it is peaceful red Saxony which they intend to “disarm” tomorrow with cannon fire!

  At the end of October the tide was beginning to turn. The proposed Rentenmark, despite Serge’s legitimate skepticism, was soon to put an end to hyperinflation. There were still threats to national unity in Bavaria and the Rhineland. But the KPD’s plans for insurrection were in crisis. At Chemnitz on October 21, the KPD failed to win support from the left social democrats for a general strike. Without that support a revolutionary offensive was impossible. An abortive rising in Hamburg was the result of a failure in communication.

  Munich versus Berlin

  Correspondance internationale, October 27, 1923

  There is no longer any German unity. That established by Bismarck at Sadowa and Sedan150 no longer exists. The Reich does have a president, a government and an army. But these are just appearances, remnants of a past to which every passing day makes it more difficult to return. To tell the truth, the Reich no longer has money, army, reputation nor—consequently—power. M. Poincaré “recognizes” the Stresemann government less than he does that of the soviets, whose strength he knows in any case. Economically and politically cut off from the rest of Germany, the Rhineland and Ruhr are preparing to follow their own destiny. Bavaria is being governed as an independent state. Saxony and Thuringia have workers’ governments. The state’s coffers are empty. The fascist army is refusing to obey. The semi-official press is in reality at the service of a secret government of financiers who are absorbed in preparations for civil war.

  The end of German unity is the great historical fact which the events of the last few days have suddenly thrown into relief. Let us try to give a brief and clear overall view, before recalling the conclusion they lead to.

  Since Monday October 15 there has been a ripening conflict between red Saxony and Berlin. It turned out that General Müller, dictator at Dresden, was being so provocative (threat to dissolve the workers’ hundreds by force, ultimatum to Herr Zeigner) only because he had the support of the bourgeois majority of the Great Coalition government. The Reichswehr was being strengthened in Saxony. We could expect from one hour to the next—we can and must still expect!151—a final provocation which would leave the cen- tral German proletariat no alternative but to embark on a general strike which would inevitably become an insurrection.

  But then from Friday October 19 to Saturday October 20, the situation changed completely. Democratic opinion, the Reich government, and social democracy all suddenly found themselves faced with a new factor: the open revolt of reactionary Bavaria. It all sprang from a trivial incident. General von Lossow, representing in Munich the military dictator of the Reich, Gessler, in reality a friend and underling of Herr von Kahr—as we pointed out the very day martial law was declared—had neither the courage nor the will to enforce in Bavaria the suspension of the fascist organ Völkischer Beobachter, as decreed by his superior in the hierarchy. Called upon to act, he replied in a telegram which was not in code (hence open to public curiosity) that he could not apply measures which had been rendered inapplicable by the mood in the state. Called on to resign, he refused, and put himself under the protection of the Bavarian dictator. At the beginning, Herr Gessler did not want to broaden the conflict, and treated it merely as an act of indiscipline by an individual general. But von Kahr, so that all Germany should be under no misapprehension, broke off relations with the Reichswehr minister. Herr Gessler and von Seeckt had no alternative but to dismiss General von Lossow from his duties. Which they proceeded to do. Von Kahr responded by ordering the Reichswehr troops quartered in Bavaria to take orders only from the Bavarian authorities, and by appointing von Lossow, their commander, as from now on officially his subordinate. Bavaria no longer recognizes the government in Berlin and has now stripped it of part of its army just as it has already robbed it of the Nuremberg gold reserve.

  A situation which workers’ Germany had already recognized as existing in practice has now been formally confirmed. The Bavarian region is serenely continuing on its way towards civil war. It will not allow the democratic, republican and social democratic circles any loophole. It is treating them with contempt.

  It sees its interest as being identical with that of “the whole of Germany” (statement by Herr von Kahr, October 20). National unity matters little unless it is reactionary unity.

  From these events we see the following ideological and practical conclusions emerging:It is the German big bourgeoisie, aspiring to impose a class dictatorship, which has struck the first decisive blow against German national unity.

  This bourgeoisie feels strong enough to refuse any compromise with the democratic middle classes and with social democracy. It wants a military decision within a short space of time: the crushing by force of arms of the working class of central Germany. It has revolted against the Berlin government only because it is still striving to delay the advent of social war.

  In Saxony: Russian intervention and “Tartar News”

  The break between Munich and Berlin is a victory for red Saxony: it would not have happened if successive Berlin governments had told General Müller “to act with the utmost severity,” which was what was demanded by Bavaria, Stinnes’ party,152 the nationalist press and even the papers controlled by Herr Stresemann. Faced with the determination to resist on the part of the Saxon workers, the ministers in Berlin hesitated. Perhaps not for long. Perhaps long enough to cause their downfall.

  For red Saxony is defending itself well. On October 18, in the Dresden Landtag, Herr Zeigner made quite a peremptory response to General Müller’s ultimatum: he made his revelations about the “black Reichswehr.”153

  The trial of the German National People’s Party in the Leipzig High Court has revealed the existence of this clandestine army commanded by Generals Ludendorff, Lettow-Vorbeck and Maercker (the Maercker of the Kapp putsch). For months, students have been receiving military instruction in the Königsbrück camp. The same thing has been going on at Küstrin where, moreover, seven political assassinations have taken place within a short time. Stralsund, Döberitz and Lubben are other centers for “black” military detachments. The same thing in Pomerania, Silesia, Mecklenburg. In Leipzig, fifteen hundred young men from the “black” Reichswehr have just been incorporated into the official army… “There would be no point in revealing more,” Herr Zeigner has said. “France has been fully informed about this,” he added.

  Poincaré’s France certainly sees no disadvantage in arming the German bourgeoisie against the proletariat.

  For his part, the Communist finance minister in Saxony, our comrade Böttcher, has taken measures against food shortage. He had undertaken a survey which showed that seven hundred thousand inhabitants of Saxony—manual and white-collar workers, peasants, peop
le on small unearned incomes, pensioners, war wounded—amounting to one seventh of the total population, were in such difficulties that it was the urgent duty of the community to give them assistance. The banks and industrial circles refused any assistance to the state with a view to the organization of substantial assistance to the poor, so Böttcher turned to the International Workers’ Aid, which immediately made available to him two thousand tons of corn; then he was in contact with the Soviet government from which he hopes to receive within the next month, in exchange for manufactured goods, twenty thousand tons of cereals. This will be, we believe, the first Soviet intervention in Germany. The intervention of Russian corn against hunger and fascism.

  Alarmed by the determination and skill of the workers’ government, the German bourgeoisie is concentrating all its forces against it. Some major newspapers, Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Tag, Zeit, Lokal-Anzeiger, are preparing public opinion for military intervention in Saxony by publishing more and more highly fanciful news about “Communist terror in the industrial regions.” The radical (bourgeois) press has found a witty name for these false reports: “Tataren Nachrichten”—Tartar news. Nonetheless they provide justification for the official reinforcement of the Reichswehr in the south of Saxony (October 18, 19). Herr von Kahr, for his part, has broken off diplomatic relations with Dresden and banned the export of milk and butter from Bavaria to Saxony. The Wroclaw military command has likewise banned the export of potatoes from the Silesian region… General Müller, in a manifesto dated October 20, an arrogant document insulting the workers if ever there was one, says he is called on to defend “the free state of Saxony” against “the economic chaos desired by the Communists.” According to persistent rumors, it is said that Saxon industrialists will soon be demanding the protection of the Munich government against “red terror.”

  A visit to Hitler

  Last week a German journalist, belonging to avant-garde circles, was able, by claiming to have an introduction from Mussolini, to penetrate inside Hitler’s premises. His reports, published by various German and Russian papers unsigned, or under the prudent initials “LH,” are very interesting.

  Hitler aspires to play in Germany the role of a Mussolini. His headquarters occupy various premises in the Schellingstrasse in Munich. At number 39 of that street are the editorial offices of the Völkischer Beobachter (Popular Observer), his official organ; alongside are the actual headquarters. His cars occupy a neighboring garage.

  A certain Herr Stolzing, editor of the Völkischer Beobachter, fulfils the role of political adviser to the valiant “colonel.” This Herr Stolzing, a Bavarian, was until recently Czech, called Czerny and organized the Sokol154 “sporting associations” in Bohemia.

  This Herr Stolzing made the following statements about the intentions of the National Socialist gangs to the interviewer:

  “In the Ruhr, we wanted active resistance, by acts of systematic sabotage and by guerrilla warfare. By so doing we should have equipped an army prepared for real war.”

  “Without weapons?”

  Herr Stolzing replied with a laugh:

  “We must not undermine the myth current abroad that Germany is disarmed. I can tell you we are not short of weapons. All we would need in addition for all-out war is about a thousand cannon.”

  In foreign policy:

  “Annexation of Austria and the Czech Germans. Concessions to Italy in the Tyrol, since (fascist) Italy is our natural ally… Nothing in common with Soviet Russia.”

  In domestic policy:

  “We demand action. One morning soon we shall go into Saxony and Thuringia, which have been sovietized, in order to root out Marxism with the methods which have been successful for Mussolini.”

  “What are your predictions for the immediate future?”

  “In three weeks time, the peasants will no longer deliver food to the towns. Stresemann will be finished; von Kahr will have finished his role (he isn’t a dictator, he is an excellent civil servant). All the active forces are with Hitler. The day we march on Saxony, our friends in Pomerania, Mecklenburg and Prussia will rise up immediately.”

  Just bluster? In international politics, yes; and everyone recognizes it. In domestic politics, no. The Küstrin incident, Zeigner’s revelations about the “black” Reichswehr, von Kaehne’s trial at Potsdam, and finally and above all Bavarian policy, confirm these statements. They were made in the headquarters of a political party, under military guard, where everyone is in uniform (old Austrian uniform, admittedly), where the sentries present arms to Hitler when he enters! During a recent burglary, weapons were stolen. The numerous telephone conversations which took place in the presence of the fake representative of Mussolini were always about orders for arms and ammunition.

  The Great Coalition government wants to disarm the workers’ hundreds in Saxony and Thuringia. It has done nothing against Hitler’s gangs, which are a much more direct threat to the republic—because it can do nothing, not having any forces in Bavaria and because its class mentality, its reactionary mentality, makes it see danger among workers and not among fascists. Off-the-record reports of this week’s cabinet meetings put it precisely: “It appears to the majority of the government that the workers’ hundreds constitute a greater danger than the nationalist organizations…”

  Hunger on the streets

  The street in the grey light of morning. Outside the dairies, there are neverending, pitiful crowds of poor women. They settle down, they bring folding stools, chairs and their needlework with them. They bring their children. One woman, not fully hidden by the mist, in the corner of a doorway, is breast-feeding. It is cold and the damp pierces through the old clothes of the poverty-stricken. They have been there for whole days waiting to buy a bit of margarine. Facing them, the inevitable green-uniformed policeman, miserable and bad-tempered because he is ashamed of his job. Perhaps his wife is there, with the others…

  A truck passes, loaded with potatoes. A clamoring crowd converges on it from both pavements. Kids clutch onto the back of the heavy vehicle, and throw armfuls of the precious vegetables down into the road, to be picked up immediately. The driver speeds up. A policeman shouts himself hoarse, all in vain. I see quite a well-dressed gentleman, doubtless an office worker, calmly pick up a few spuds and stuff them into his pocket. I see a greying, bent old woman running, breathless, to get a bigger share…

  The street is hungry. The street has faces of despair, of anger and of hatred.

  All day until midnight, at busy crossroads, groups of men are talking. The unemployed. I’ve often listened to their discussions: the Communist, the Social Democrat and the National Socialist are usually all there and the Communist has the best of the argument.

  Sometimes, suddenly, these groups gather, form an angry procession, shove the trembling police out of the way, and attack the shops. This happened in the last few days in various districts of Berlin, and in a number of cities of Germany. An eyewitness told me about one of these instances of looting. He was astonished at the sense of order of the starving people. Methodical looting, no unnecessary violence against property or people. They didn’t take luxury items. They took bread, fat, shoes. Suddenly achieving a primitive awareness of their right to life, men condemned to die of hunger took what they needed to live. It was only when the police intervened that the expropriation degenerated into a riot.

  But the police are hesitant, they don’t shoot as readily as they did six months ago. They feel submerged in a mass movement—and they are hungry too. In the brawls at Schöneberg155 and near the Stock Exchange the changed attitude was very visible. Near the Stock Exchange the other day unemployed workers stopped some bosses’ cars and set about pushing them towards the River Spree. A policeman harangued these hungry paupers, appealed to their reason and their human feeling and—since they have more of these qualities than Stinnes and Poincaré—resolved the incident when it was about to become tragic.

  The big department stores have their iron grilles half closed; the
grocers don’t pull them back at all. The hungry street makes them afraid. They can feel it becoming a formidable revolutionary force.

  Two days ago, bread cost 620 million marks; today, October 21, it costs 2800 million.

  In the fray

  Now, to complete the overall picture of the situation in the last few days, here is a bunch of facts.

  Herr von Kahr has refused to renew the residence permits for Bavaria of a number of official Russian figures, carrying Soviet diplomatic passports, notably Krestinsky, Steklov and Tsyurupa.

  Die Rote Fahne has been allowed to reappear for two days before being banned again (October 21). During its suspension, the illegal Die Rote Sturmfahne156 appeared regularly.

  The police has occupied the printshop of the Communist Hamburger Volksstimme. The Communist paper in Bremen has just been suspended. At Heide, Bremen, Altona and Dresden there are reports of workers being arrested. At Altona, the unemployed committee has been rounded up (October 17).

  At Mannheim, there have been food riots and a 24-hour general strike (October 16-17). The police opened fire on the demonstrators, leaving seven dead and 150 wounded.

  The reformist general trade union federation—the ADGB—in Halle has demanded the requisition of foodstuffs (October 17).

  The Berlin functionaries of the ADGB have voted by 1500 to 50 against general strike in the event of a Reichswehr attack on red Saxony (October 17).

  At Aachen, today, Sunday October 21, a Rhineland Republic has been proclaimed. The separatists have without difficulty seized the city which is occupied by Belgian troops. The latter are observing a neutrality which is certainly sympathetic…