Routledge Revivals Terrorism and Communism First published in English in 1920, this is a reissue of Karl Kautsky's seminal work dealing with the origins and history of the forces at work in revolutionary epochs, which offers path breaking insights into the development of civilisation. The opening chapters, dealing with eighteenth century France, are of special interest to the student of the French revolution. The section devoted to the Commune of Paris offers a stimulating and provocative description of this famous government of the working class. The reissue of this controversial and extraordinary work will be welcomed by all those interested in the history of Communism in particular and the theory and history of revolution in general. Terrorism and Communism A Contribution to the Natural History of Revolution Karl Kautsky Translated by W. H. Kerridge First published in 1920 by George Allen & Unwin This edition first published in 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact. A Library of Congress record exists under LC Control Number: 21006887 ISBN 13: 978-0-415-68519-1 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-203-80232-8 (ebk) TERRORISM AND COMMUNISM A CONTRIBUTION to the NATURAL HISTORY OF REVOLUTION BY KARL KAUTSKY TRANSLATED BY W. H. KERRIDGE THE NATIONAL LABOUR PRESS LTD. LONDON: 8&9, JOHNSON'S COURT, E.C.4. MANCHESTER: 30, BLACKFRIARS STREET. First published in 1920. All rilhts reserved) PREFACE. TnE foliowing work was begun about a year ago, but was dropped as th,e result of the Revolution of November g; for the Revolution brought me other obligations than Inerely theoretieal and historical research. It was only after several months that I could return to the work in order, with occasional inter­ ruptions, to bring this book to a close. The course of recent event,g did not minister to the uniformity of this work. It was rendered more difficult by the fact that, as time went on, the exa,mination of this subjeet shifted itself to some extent. My starting point repres,ent,ed the c.entral problem of modern Socialism, the attitude of Social Democracy to B'olshe'vik methods.. But sin,ce Bolshevism had, of its own ac·cord, referred to the Paris Commune of 1871 as being to some extent its precursor and its prototype, and as having rece.ived the sanction of Marx himself, and since· the Commune is little known and understood by the present generation, I undertook to draw a parallel between the Commune and the Soviet Republic. In order to make the Commune comprehensible I had to refer to the Paris Commune, and afterwards to the French Revolution and its Reign of Terror. This gave me, fresh means for another parallel to the Soviet Republic; h,ence an examination of the Commune led to an examinatioh of Terrorism, its origin and its consequences. Thus the~e are two lines of thought which become merged in this book, the one occasionally leading away from the other. At first I felt this to be rather disturb­ ing, and even considered whether it would Dot be better to divide the work into two separate sections, the one representing; the exposition of the Commune, the oth·er a discussion of Ten'orism. However, in regard to my starting point, the Soviet Republic. is, in such very close connection with these two events in history, that it seemed to me impossible to treat them separat,ely. I hope therefore that, in spite of the difficulties inherent in the dual nature of this book, I shall have succeeded in pres,erving uniformity in the structure of the thoughts contained therein. However academic the reader may think many of my illustrations and expositions, they are all of the highest practical importance, especially at such a wildly fermented time as the present. This does not mean to say that I have adapted, as it were, the truth to the needs of the moment. Ins.tead I ha.ve always sought, even in those sections where I was referring to a period long past, to trea.t only of th.at side of the subject which see·med c.alculated to throw light upon the chaos that surrounds us. If we regard only this chaos as it exist,s in Russia and Germany at the present moment, our prospects at the moment and our future must be very far from cheering. We see a world sinking under e,conomic ruin and fratricjdal murder. In both countries we find Socialists under the Governments acting against other Socialis.ts, with similar cru·elty to that practised more than half a century ago by the Versaille.s butchers of the Commune -cruelty which has earned the most laudable indigna­ tion of the whole International Proletariat ever since. Neverlhele,ss, the outlook becomes brighter 80 soon as we consider the International. The workers of West Europe have arisen. It rests with them to accomplish actual results, only with, more worthy methods than those practised up to the present in the East. Hence it is necess,ary that they should learn from us, and that they should learn to recognise the different methods of struggle, as well as of construe:tion, by their results. It is not so much a blind adulation of the methods of the Revolution hitherto prevailing, but the stricte.st criticism which is necessary, and espe.cially necessary just at present, when the Revolution and the Socialist Parties are passing through a most difficult crisis, in which different me·thods are strugglins to gain the ascendancy. Th,e· sucoess of t,he Revolution will depend not 8 little on wheth,er or not it discovers the right methods of carrying the revolutionary messag,el to the Proletariat. To examine methods, is at the present moment our highest duty. To help with this examination and thus to further the Revolution is the object of this present work. KARL KAUTSKY. Cha;rlottenburg, June, 1919. CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. I. REVOLUTION AND TERROR 1 II. PARIS 3 III. THE GREA'l' REVOLUTION 13 IV. T'HE FntST PARIS COMMUNE: THE PARIS PROLETARIAT AND ITS FIGHrING METHODS .•• ..• ... .•. ••. ... .•. •.. 20 THE FAILURE OF TERRORISM .•. ••• .•• .•. 31 V. THE TUADI'fIONS OF THE REIGN OF TERROR 43 VI. THE SECOND PARIS COMMUNE: THE ORIGIN OF THE COMMUNE 53 V\.,. ORK~JEN' S COUNCILS AND THE CENTRAL COM..l\{ITTEE 67 THE JACOBINS IN THE COMMUNE 74 THE INTERNATIONAL AND THE COMMUNE 78 THE SOCIALISM OF THE COMMUNE .•. 90 CENTRALISATION AND FEDERALISM 100 TERRORIST IDEAS OF THE COMMUNE 111 VII. THE EFFECT OF CIVILISATION ON HUMAN CUSTOMS: BRUTALITY AND HVMANITY •.. 121 Two TENDENCIES ... ••• .•. 127 SLAUGHTER AND TERRORISM 133 THE HUMANISING OF CONDUCT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY... 140 THE EFFECTS OF 'l'HE WAR .•. •.• ... ••• ... 149 VIII. THE COMMUNISTS AT WORK: EXPROPRIATION AND ORGANISATION 158 THE GROWTH OF THE PROLETARIAT 172 THE DICTATORSHIP •.. ••. 182 CORRUPTION 187 THE CHANGE IN BOLSHEVISM. 198 THE TERROR . •• ••. ... ••. 208 THE OUTLOOK FOR THE SOVIET REPUBLIC 214 THE OUTLOOK FOR THE WORLD REVOLUTION .. ~21 Terrorism and Commu.nism. CI-I.AP~'ER I. REVOLUTION AND TERROR. Up to the outbreak of wa.r, the idea ,vas current in the "videst circles of social democracy that the time for revolutions, not only Jor 'Vest J1Jurope, but also for Germany and Austria, was long since past. Whoever thought differently was scoffed at as a revolutionary romancer. Now we have the Revolution with us, and it is taking on forms of barbarity, which even the most fantastic of revolutionary romancers could scarce have expected. 'The abolition of the death penalty was for every social democrat a perfectly obvious claim. The R·evolution, however, has brought \vith it the most bloody terrorism praetised by Socialist G·overnment.s. r:rhc Bolsheviks in Russia started this, and were in consequence condemned in the most bitter terms by all who did not accept the Bolshevik standpoint. ~J\mong them are t,he German Majority Socialists. 13ut these latter h~rdly felt their own power threatened before they resort·ed to the same means practised by the Regiment of Terror, which have characterised the Revolution in the East. Noske has boldly followed in Trotsky's footsteps; certainly with this difference, that he himself does not regard his dictatorship as the dietatorship of the prolet.ariat. But both justify their slaughter on the grounds of the rights of the Revolution. B 2 'rI~l~I{OItISJ\f AND CO~Il\·fUNISM It is, in fact, it \videly spread idea that rrerroristn belongs to the very essence of revolution, and that ,vhoever \Vant8 a revolution rnust someho\v conle to SOlne sort of terms \\rith Terrorism. As proof of this assertion, over und over again the great French l{evolution has been cited. It is regflrrled as the Itevolution par cxcellcnce. An examination of Terrorism, of its conditions anci consequences, can best proceed from a description of the Regiment of r.I'error instituted by the Sans­ ~ulotists.