Page:American Historical Review, Vol. 23.djvu/89

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German Socialism Reconsidered
79

zung der Wissenschaft contributed to this end; and Die Neue Zeit, founded by Karl Kautsky in 1883, was conducted from the outset in a rigidly Marxian sense. The Gotha programme of 1875, as we have seen, was more Lassallean than Marxian, but in 1890, at the congress of Halle, the first held on German soil after the lapse of the anti-Socialist law, it was unanimously resolved that

Whereas the Gotha programme, however excellent it has proven itself in the struggles of the last fifteen years, is no longer abreast of the times in every respect, the party executive is hereby authorized and directed to propose a revised programme for consideration at the next congress.

The resulting Erfurt programme in its theoretical part not only disposed of Lassallean catchwords—the "iron law of wages" and the demand for co-operative productive associations—but, what was still more characteristic, it substituted for the universal and ethical features of Lassalle's doctrine the historico-economic definition of Socialism which Marx had sketched in the Communist Manifesto and developed in Das Capital.[1]

One might expect that as the German Social Democracy between 1875 and 1891 swung more and more from the teachings of Lassalle to those of Marx, the movement would take on an even more radical and "revolutionary" complexion. It is indeed true that while the German Socialists during the period of their persecution were holding their congresses outside of Germany they emphasized as never before or since the international character of their movement and the sacred solidarity of all the world's workingmen. But, contrary to general expectations, several developments of the period tended to make the agitation in Germany even less radical and "revolutionary".

In the first place, the forcible expulsion of the most radical leaders from Germany left the conduct of party affairs to the "moderates", the particular friends of law and order. Many of the exiles never returned to Germany, and of those who did return a goodly number had acquired from an extended sojourn in England a real respect and admiration for the Fabian tactics of slow, quiet education.[2]

Secondly, the Social Democratic leaders in Germany had discovered that the methods to be pursued in proselytizing from among the intelligent skilled workers in the trade-unions were less likely

  1. Conrad Schmidt, "Condition of Social Democracy in Germany", Journal of Political Economy, VI. 505 (1898).
  2. Eduard Bernstein is an excellent example of this type of Socialist exile from Germany. He resided in England from 1888 to 1902.