By KARL LIEBKNECHT*
Dspeech in the German parliament denouncing the police repression of a demonstration by social democratic workers in 1910
1.
Gentlemen, it is the social democracy, the working class, organized on February 13 of this year in the form of street demonstrations, in the form of meetings in closed rooms and in the open air, that expressed its intention and its desire in such a powerful way that nothing like it has ever been recorded in German history (laughter on the right). Gentlemen, you can laugh and you can scoff at this, and no one will believe that this laughter and this scoffing are serious.
Gentlemen, only those who took part in these demonstrations can fully judge them, as they were carried by an atmosphere of enthusiasm (laughter), by an atmosphere of idealism, by an atmosphere of altruism (laughter), which must have filled every person who took part in them with conviction: this mass of people is ready to take the government into their own hands (laughter on the right), this mass of people is no longer ready to be dominated by a small group of exploiters and oppressors in the long run (riot. President's bell).
Vice-President Dr. Porsch (interrupting the speaker): Mr. Parliamentarian, I must ask you not to use such expressions.
They said yes, gentlemen (shouts to the right)... You, of course, are not explorers; I always refer only to those gentlemen who are outside the house.
These street demonstrations were splendidly carried out, not only because of the tremendous enthusiasm that led to them, not only because the Prussian government saw on this occasion what the real desire of the masses is, against whose will it could not be governed in the long run; but also the street demonstrations were brilliant in the sense that the workers demonstrated such prudence and self-discipline that they clearly showed their political maturity, even in the eyes of a Prussian police minister.
Gentlemen, it is well known that there have been riots in some places: in Halle, in Frankfurt, in Königsberg and especially in Neumünster, blood has been shed. Gentlemen, blood has been shed, but the blood that has flowed there was not the fault of the workers who were demonstrating (shouts from the right), this blood has flowed solely through the fault of the narrow-minded Prussian police forces (thunderous shouts from the right). It is your fault, gentlemen, for these blood sacrifices; they are victims of the mismanagement of the Prussian police, of the Prussian reaction, of the reaction junker Prussian (laughter on the right).
Gentlemen, this is not only the view of social democracy; in this case I can also quote again from other opinions. I would like to point out that Frankfurter Zeitung (exclamation to the right)… Social Democrat, of course, gentlemen! It used to be a street paper not long ago, so it wasn't talked about like that. So the Frankfurter Zeitung made his view known very clearly as follows: “Fortunately, the nature of yesterday’s events is now so clear that it is not possible to harness what happened for reactionary purposes, at least not in good faith.”
You see, gentlemen, the Frankfurter Zeitung, which is not a social-democratic newspaper, says that it is not possible to fructify what happened for reactionary purposes, at least not in good faith. Keep these words in mind for the future debate!
As for the Frankfurt demonstrators themselves, last night brought an impressive and dignified demonstration in favor of free suffrage, a demonstration whose discipline should command more respect than the general feeling after the brutal police action of last Sunday. However, the participants in the assembly did not allow themselves to be fooled into committing any excesses.
It is also clear that after the police were guilty of causing riots in this way, they have proven – and this applies to the Prussian police and the Prussian police minister – that they are not up to the task of the current difficult situation. The only ones who are not to blame for yesterday's incidents are those who were demonstrating for electoral rights.
Gentlemen, these statements from the best sources (laughter on the right) and from a non-social democratic source (laughter and shouting on the right)… God, gentlemen, is Frankfurter Zeitung what I read to you! (shouts and laughter on the right). Gentlemen, there is no point in arguing about this. Do you imagine that you somehow made me lose my head because I did not respond to your speech? I have better things to do. I can also show you Mrs. Minna Cauer again (shouts on the right). It is a strange coincidence: just as she was occasionally present at Ferrer's meetings in the police riots in Berlin, she was now also present at the election demonstrations in Frankfurt.[1]
She saw the masses moving silently through the streets. But then the mounted men burst onto the sidewalks. Then the police beat the men and women out of the houses to which they had fled. Then she stood watching as the policeman’s fists worked on the back of an eight-year-old child until he could go to the boy’s aid (“hear, hear!” from the Social Democrats).
Gentlemen, other cases have been reported of police officers beating women in the most cruel manner. Isn't this action against women, against the weaker sex, completely unprecedented? Indeed, those who raised their hands against these women deserve general contempt.
There was also a case reported in which a security guard attacked a disabled man named Köhler. The security guard's attention was drawn to the fact that it was a sick man who could not move. He gave the answer: "Disabled or not - at him." Several police officers mercilessly beat a woman who had been thrown to the ground (stormy laughter on the right). Gentlemen, the fact that you are laughing only shows how low your morals are (more laughter on the right). Anyone who cannot keep a straight face in such cases (laughter on the right) clearly shows that he has long since lost the right and the ability to take any part in the administration of a modern state.
That's enough about Frankfurt.
2.
Regarding Neumünster I would also like to point out that when negotiating this matter before the Neumünster City Council, Councillor Nissen had to admit that he had watched what was happening from the balcony with his opera glasses, without making the slightest effort to intervene to prevent these unfortunate occurrences. The police arrested the masses and caused bloodshed; Mr. Nissen described it as the duty of the police to act in this way against the demonstrators.
Gentlemen, the Forward, like the entire Social Democracy, certainly did not exaggerate in this case… That is why we can justifiably claim that the blood that has flowed is on the hands of the Prussian police administration and that no rain from the mild sky will be enough to wash this blood, this bloodbath, from the Prussian administration.
Vice-President Dr Porsch (interrupting the speaker): Honourable Member, I call you to order and, at the same time, draw your attention to the consequences of two calls to order, referring you to Rule 48 of the Rules of Procedure.
The police found themselves in some difficulty with regard to these demonstrations, because their version was refuted in many cases, as soon as the demonstrations were subject to a judicial and impartial trial. That is why the Prussian police have recently made satisfactory progress in the field in which they usually advance almost alone, not in the field of protection, but in the field of persecution of the population (cries from the right).
These riots and police attacks have already been discussed in front of the municipal colleges in Halle, Frankfurt, Neumünster and probably also in Königsberg. These are – however much we regret them – certainly one of the best means of agitation for the Social Democracy and, above all, they have contributed to increasing interest in the electoral struggle almost beyond measure. In this struggle, of course, the Social Democracy has other, more severe means at its disposal, which it does not hesitate to use (“Listen, listen!”) as soon as it itself deems them appropriate (“Listen, listen!”).
I'm not talking about pistols Browning, machine guns and sabers and all this brutal violence, but about our agitation that will put the population in such a state of mind – including those circles without which it cannot exist – that the government will no longer be able to maintain its anti-popular position regarding the right to vote. There is not the slightest doubt that if the situation continues to develop in this way, if it is not ensured at the right time that some balm is put on the people's wounds, and that the people's needs are fully and sufficiently met, then the means of the mass strike will also be used (“hear, hear!”).
The remedy will be used... Gentlemen, the proletariat is still far from being deceived, even if you and the police also use your ultima ratio, the weapons, the military, and if such things continue, you will not be successful against this attack by the broad masses of the people, which, deep in your hearts, you know has considerably shaken your outwardly displayed confidence (laughter). Yes, gentlemen, I can tell you that the latest attempt at an electoral compromise currently being made by the ruling parties will probably only increase the indignation even more, and that there is nothing more suitable to add fuel to our fire than such an attitude on the part of the Commission (chairman's bell).
Vice-President Dr Porsch (interrupting the speaker): Mr Porsch, it has been expressly decided not to discuss the issue of electoral law. I ask you to comply with this decision of the Assembly.
Gentlemen, we, the Social Democrats, the organized proletariat, will not allow ourselves to be defeated, we will not throw in the towel. The attack will grow and will not subside; it will become ever more energetic and dangerous for you and for the entire Prussian government the more you try to prevent the demonstrations and the legitimate expression of the people’s mood (shouts from the Right). Gentlemen, we call on the bourgeoisie to side with the Social Democrats in these struggles, in these demonstrations; above all, we call on those sections of the proletariat who are still chasing the bandwagon of the ruling parties (shouts from the Right) to continue to wage the struggle side by side with the class-conscious proletariat, the Social Democracy.
I can also say that the vast majority of civil servants and other employees of the present state are increasingly recognizing that they are not interested in maintaining the Prussian reaction (exclamations from the right). Civil servants and other employees of the state will increasingly demonstrate on the side of the Social Democrats (protests from the right and the center). Gentlemen, in the end, your last weapons against the proletariat – the police and the military – will also fail! (“Bravo!” from the Social Democrats).
*Karl Liebknecht (1871-1919) was a member of parliament in Germany and leader of the Spartacist movement.
Translation: V.Souza, Mr. Nogueira & P. Mosque.
Originally published in .
As January 15 approaches – the day in 1919 when Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were assassinated by police officers of the German social democratic government – we publish texts that recover the legacy of these important revolutionaries.
Note
[1] On the occasion of the execution of the famous politician and educator Francisco Ferrer (1859-1909), protests were organized in France, Germany, Italy and other countries. Ferrer, a man known throughout Europe, was accused of participating in the uprising in Catalonia (the so-called Bloody Week between July 26 and 31, 1909). Although Ferrer did not participate in this uprising, he was sentenced to death and executed by shooting on October 13, 1909.
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