He, a few years before the outbreak of the First World War, tried to unite the proletariat to fight against the inexorably approaching threat. He was the only deputy who, at a meeting of the Reichstag, voted against the allocation of funds to the German government for the continuation of hostilities against France, Russia and England. He was the founder of the German Communist Party. For his anti-government speeches and anti-war calls, he was killed by his own party members. This brave and honest revolutionary who fought for peace and justice was called Karl Liebknecht.
Biography: who is Karl Liebknecht
He was born on August 13, 1871 in the city of Leipzig (Germany). His father was the famous revolutionary Wilhelm Liebknecht, who created the German Social Democratic Party together with the equally famous August Bebel. Karl's father was friends with K. Marx and F. Engels. He named his son after the first of the above comrades.
It must be said that Karl Liebknecht attended workers' meetings from a young age. He grew up a convinced Marxist. Carl studied at the universities of Berlin andLeipzig, as a result of which he became an excellent lawyer. His dream came true - he began to defend the interests and rights of workers in courts.
Beginning of revolutionary activity
In 1900, Karl Liebknecht was accepted as a member of the Social Democratic Party. After 4 years in a German court, he acted as a lawyer, defending German and Russian party members who were accused of illegally delivering banned literature across the border. Then, in his speech, he criticized the policy of persecuting objectionables, which was so zealously pursued by both the Prussian-German state and Russian tsarism.
Karl Liebknecht spoke out quite sharply against the reformist tactics pursued in the circles of the right-wing Social Democratic leaders. At the same time, he concentrated all his energy on anti-militarist agitation and political work among the youth.
In 1904, the Congress of the Social Democratic Party was held in German Bremen. By that time, everyone already knew who Karl Liebknecht was. He delivered a fiery speech in which he clearly described militarism as one of the most important strongholds of world capitalism. He suggested developing a special anti-war propaganda program. In addition, he was the initiator of the creation of a youth social democratic organization in order to involve fresh cadres in the fight against ever-increasing militarism.
Attitude towards events in Russia
The revolution of 1905-1907, carried out on the territory of the Russianempire, shook the whole of Europe. Despite the fact that Karl Liebknecht is a German by origin, he took this long-awaited event with great enthusiasm and openly expressed his approval for this. In 1905, at the Jena Congress of the Social Democrats, he entered into a political battle with the revisionists, officially proclaiming a general political strike as one of the most effective ways for the proletariat to fight for its rights.
Liebknecht's next sensational speech was his diatribe at the Mannheim Party Congress. Here he once again criticized the policy of the German government concerning the provision of assistance to Russian tsarism in the matter of pacifying the revolutionary movement. In the end, he called on his compatriots to follow the example of the Russian proletarians and start the same struggle, but in their own country.
Formation of the left current
It was during the revolution in Russia that the German Social Democracy gradually began to divide into two camps. A left trend was organized in the party. One of its main leaders, such as Rosa Luxemburg and others, was Karl Liebknecht. In 1907, he was among those who were involved in the creation of the Socialist International of Youth, and for the next 3 years he chaired this organization.
Is it worth saying that the revolutionary biography of Liebknecht Karl, the main dates and events of which changed at a great speed, could not do without an episode of arrest? In 1907, he was sentenced to imprisonment in the fortress after he made hisreport at the first conference, which brought together representatives of youth socialist organizations from several countries at once.
The way up
The political biography of Karl Liebknecht continued in 1908, when he was elected to the Prussian Chamber of Deputies. It's been about four years. During this time, his authority has grown so much that he was already a member of the deputy corps of the German Reichstag. In 1912, at the next party congress in the city of Chemnitz, he openly called on the proletarians to strengthen international solidarity, as he considered it the main means of combating ever-increasing militarism. The following year, from the parliamentary rostrum, Karl Liebknecht accused Krupp and other leaders at the head of the military monopolies of fomenting the war.
It is worth noting that after the First World War began (1914 - 1918), Liebknecht, despite his deep convictions, obeyed the general decision taken by the majority of the members of the Social Democratic Reichstag faction. He even voted to take war loans, but soon realized his mistake. He passionately wanted to correct this oversight, and after 4 months he had such an opportunity.
Feat of a revolutionary
In early December 1914, a regular meeting of the German Reichstag took place. It should be noted that on that day the hall was full. All government benches were occupied. Generals, ministers, dignitaries sat on them. The chairman announcedthe beginning of voting for war credits. This was supposed to mean that the Reichstag approves the war unleashed by the government against France, Russia and England.
No one had the slightest doubt that the parliamentarians of all parties would vote for this decision as unanimously as on August 4, that is, without exception, all deputies, including 110 Social Democrats. But something happened that no one expected. All the deputies stood up, demonstrating their unity, and only one remained sitting in his place. His name was Karl Liebknecht.
He was the only one who spoke out against military loans at the time. In his written statement, which was handed over to the chairman of the Reichstag, he gave a description of the unleashed war, which he directly called predatory. Soon this document was illegally distributed in the form of leaflets.
It is hard to imagine how hard it was for Liebknecht to vote alone against all bourgeois parties, including his own, whose members shamelessly betrayed the working class. In truth, this was a real feat of Karl Liebknecht, because after his vote, the leaders of the German Social Democrats, who had been allies of the German government from the very beginning of the war, attacked him with fury. His speech in Parliament shook the whole of Europe. A huge number of letters with greetings and words of support began to come to his address.
Disappointment
Immediately before the start of World War I, Liebknecht visited France. Therehe delivered a speech in which he called on the workers to unite and make every effort to prevent the impending war. But, as you know, nothing came of it. As it turned out, almost all socialist parties turned out to be cowardly traitors, except for one - the Bolsheviks. When the war began, only her principled position remained unchanged to the end.
Liebknecht was terribly disappointed that his party members shamefully betrayed the ideas of socialism. But despite this, he did not speak against them in Parliament on August 4, as he considered it his duty to adhere to party discipline. It was an unforgivable mistake, which he corrected with his vote 4 months later.
Front hardships
By the way, the government was not going to forgive Liebknecht for his vote at the meeting of the Reichstag. He was punished by being drafted into the army, although at that time he was already 44 years old. In addition, not only his age, but also his state of he alth was such that he was not subject to mobilization. Why, even the deputy title did not help him.
At the front, Liebknecht served as a simple soldier in a workers' battalion. Here he did all the dirtiest and hardest work, but, as eyewitnesses testified, he was always cheerful and never discouraged.
Death of a revolutionary
After returning from the front, Liebknecht, together with his associate Rosa Luxemburg, took part in the organization of the Spartak group, which had already formed by January 1916. She was activeanti-war activities. For this, he was expelled from the Social Democratic faction of the parliament. In the same year, from the rostrum of the Reichstag, Liebknecht called on the German proletarians to demonstrate on May 1 under the slogan "Down with the war!" and "Workers of all countries, unite!"
During this demonstration, Liebknecht called on all those gathered to overthrow the government, which, according to him, is waging a bloody and senseless imperialist war. For such seditious statements, Liebknecht was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison. During his imprisonment, he learned about the victory of the October Revolution in Russia and took this news enthusiastically, after which he called on the German soldiers not to participate in its suppression.
In October 1918, Liebnecht was released, after which he continued his revolutionary activities. The politician actively opposed the treacherous policy of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party. It was he, together with Rosa Luxemburg, who founded the German Communist Party at the Berlin Constituent Congress, which took place from the end of December 1918.
In January 1919, an anti-government uprising took place, led by Liebknecht Karl. The main dates and events in his life, starting from his youth, were inextricably linked with revolutionary activities, so the Social Democrats, not without reason, feared that such actions and appeals could lead to the outbreak of civil war in Germany. The persecution of communist leaders began. A bounty of 100,000 marks was placed on the heads of Luxembourg and Liebknecht. January 15, by order of a former party member,Social Democrat G. Noske, they were captured and shot.
