Paris Peace Conf. 184.01202/75
Mr. Franklin Day to the Commission to Negotiate Peace
[Received March 4.]
Gentlemen: I have the honour to submit the following report on the political situation in Germany.
Until today there has been no relief of the tension which I reported in my last despatch. The government is carrying on negotiations with the strikers in Halle and those of the Saxon industrial district. It has been stated that the strike broke out because of a misunderstanding on the part of the workmen. They believed that they would be forced by the government to give up the “Betriebsraete”, workmens bodies elected in each factory and shop for the purpose of the control of such factories and shops. The government has stated that this was not its intention but that on the contrary it was desirous of giving these bodies a legal foundation. The negotiations at Weimar with the Saxon workmen will no doubt be conducted on the basis of the resumption of work in return for a more speedy socialisation and the full recognition of the “Betriebsraete”. No information is available this morning regarding the situation, but the Saxon strikes, which also extend to all of Thuringia, have so far been pacific. In Leipzig [Page 45] the bourgeoisie and the administrations have entered on a counter strike. A similar movement is contemplated in Halle. In Magdeburg the strike has only been partial. It is however expected to affect all of that town also in the near future. The strikes though pacific have been complete and even the electric light and gas works have shut down. The railway service is much cut down and is only kept up by detours. Weimar has been completely cut from all other communication except by aeroplane.
Berlin has so far been quiet although a very active Spartacist propaganda is being carried on for the purpose of getting all workmen to join a general strike which is to break out on the fifth of the month. The movement seems to be strongest in Spandau but a general strike proclaimed five days before its outbreak does not appear to be more than a menace. A general strike affecting the electric and gas works would be a serious menace to public safety in a large town like Berlin. I have been assured that the military means to keep order at the disposal of the government in Berlin are sufficient to prevent any new Spartacism. It is to be noted however that the present general strike movement proceeds from the Independent Socialists and not from the Spartacists although the latter are using it to further their own ends. With the spreading of such a movement there is no guarantee that bloody disorders will not sooner or later occur.
There can be no question that the masses are becoming more radical. The Socialdemocratic party organ, the Vorwaerts is showing considerable nervousness and it seems certain that the government is losing ground within its own party. The National Assembly has disappointed even those among the great masses who were for democracy by its reactionary complexion. It has moreover fulfilled no promises of social reform or rather of social revolution and has delayed the socialisation of the great industries. Whatever may be said of the bourgeoisie and of some of the more cautious leaders of the Majority Socialists or rather the right wing of this party, the great masses of the people are opposed to the old regime and find that the National Assembly offers them only a diluted liberalism instead of a new and revolutionary doctrine of change. It is quite possible that any socialisation is impossible in the present crippled condition of this country, but the desire for this process has become so strong in the masses that no arguments will avail against it. It is to be admitted that the scheme for such socialisation which was proposed by the Socialists of the Ruhr district when they intended to take the matter in their own hands last months did not contemplate any radical increase in wages or any wild strikes but only wished the nationalisation of “public property”. The government in interfering [Page 46] in this has taken upon itself much odium and has seemed to many of its supporters to have become bourgeois. Whatever the justice of this charge and whether the government has done essentially rightly, it can not afford to ignore the desire of the people behind it and must take more radical steps than it has heretofore been willing to take or accept the evil name of being “counter revolutionary”. I have personally had opportunity to notice this growing radicalisation of the masses in conversations with common people and in overhearing conversations. The Independent Socialists are working feverishly to make the best of the dissatisfaction which exists everywhere and are using the murder of Eisner to some advantage. The Soldiers Councils are fearing for their existence and for the existence of the “revolutionary achievements” and have expressed in their Berlin meetings a desire for a pure Soviet Republic. Today they are all convinced that the democracy represented by the National Assembly has failed and the signs of the second revolution are ominous. The government will have to come to a compromise with the radical elements or make war on them. It will not be as strong in fighting the Independent Socialists as it was against the Spartacists because the former have not been as radical in their demands and state that they are only socialists instead of being, like the Majority Socialists, reformers. It appears certain that the next days will see some decided changes in the policy of the government.
Not a little of the dissatisfaction arises from the fear of the Volunteer Corps. These have become a sort of Praetorian Guard of the government and their interference has caused some bitterness. The Republican Guard of Berlin which contains some very dubious elements left over from the Richhorn regime has demanded the withdrawal of these Volunteer troops from Berlin. It is significant that the Offices of the government in the Chancellors Palace are guarded by a corps of noncommissioned officers. In the Volunteer Corps moreover there are no soldiers councils and the discipline and system of administration are much as in the old army with some minor relaxations. This does not tend to increase the confidence of the masses in them because of the fear that they will become the instruments of a bourgeois reaction. It appears that these Volunteer Troops have not always acted without brutality in the accomplishment of their work, which is probably unavoidable, but which embitters the great masses. If I have in this report emphasized the sentiments of the radical masses it has been because they represent the revolution here and are the most important elements. The bourgeois classes generally are content with phrases, all action proceeds from the radical masses.
Germany on the whole is the picture of hopeless confusion. Late reports indicate that in Brunswick the compromise of the Independent [Page 47] Socialists and the Majority Socialists has not been accepted and that a Soviet Republic has been proclaimed. In Munich an obscure arrestation within the body of the Soldiers and Workmens Council Congress has taken place during which the Spartacist leaders were arrested by troops. Other troops are said to be on their side and the situation is obscure. I shall send another courier to Munich as soon as the situation has slightly cleared.
I have [etc.]