Politician and writer August Bebel was born on February 22, 1840 in the German city of Cologne. He was the son of a poor non-commissioned officer. His father died of tuberculosis when the boy was still very young. The widowed mother moved with the child to the Hessian city of Wetzlar. August Bebel went to school there.
Education
At the age of 14, the future socialist began to learn turning skills. His working day lasted 14 hours. In short periods of free time, the teenager read a lot, devouring book after book. His favorite novels were Robinson Crusoe and Uncle Tom's Cabin. The last book was devoted to the problem of slavery in America. Therefore, even literary taste clearly demonstrated the young Bebel's disgust for social injustice.
Having studied, the future writer began to travel a lot. Wanderings threw him into a variety of places, but, in the end, he settled in Leipzig. During his travels, August Bebel gained a lot of impressions that shaped him as a person. He had to work as a wandering apprentice for a long periodthe reaction of the authorities that came after the revolution of 1848.
Begin social activities
Just when August Bebel began to live in Leipzig (1860), a revival of political life began to be traced throughout Germany. The number of demonstrations and strikes of the unemployed increased. The center of discontent was not only Leipzig, but also Berlin, as well as Elberfeld. Under these conditions, workers' unions began to appear like mushrooms after the rain. In 1861, Bebel August joined the Craft Educational Society.
The organization made the turner famous. He not only studied a lot, but also began to perform regularly in public. Soon Bebel was included in the leadership of the society. However, ambitions did not allow him to stop at educational activities. In 1866, Bebel, together with Wilhelm Liebknecht, founded the Saxon People's Party. At the same time, the politician became chairman of the Council of Workers' Unions.
Principled Socialist
In his new position, August Bebel went for rapprochement with the First International. His decision sparked heated debate within the party. In the end, she broke up. In 1869, Bebel became the head of the new Social Democratic Labor Party, which became the flagship of left-wing ideas in Germany. The activity of the politician was extremely important for all his supporters and like-minded people. This is evidenced by the fact that Karl Marx considered him the most prominent leader of the German Social Democracy.
Back in 1867, elections were held for the Reichstag of the North German Confederation, onof which August Bebel was elected deputy. The biography of a politician is an example of the life of a person who fought for his views to the end. At the height of the war against France, Bebel delivered a fiery speech in which he called for making peace with the French for the sake of the solidarity of the workers of all countries. For this, the speaker was tried for high treason. At the Leipzig trials, social democrat August Bebel was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
Persecution
In prison, the politician did a lot of self-education, so he was able to spend even his imprisonment with benefit. Soon Bebel was released and continued to fight for the rights of workers. In 1878 he was expelled from his native Leipzig. The reason for the repression of the authorities was the "Exceptional Law against the Socialists." This document, signed by Kaiser Wilhelm I, forbade left-wing party activities outside parliament.
Bebel began to live in Borsdorf. He continued to travel around the country and conduct semi-legal party work, for which he was twice sentenced to short terms in prison. Publications in the 70s and 80s showed who August Bebel is from an ideological point of view. He was a staunch supporter of Karl Marx and his ideas set forth in Capital. Bebel opposed revisionism in the then German socialism, which aimed to revise the foundations of the left doctrine.
Woman and Socialism
Many aphorisms and quotes by August Bebel became known thanks to his publications. Chief andThe most striking work of the writer can be considered the book "Woman and Socialism", published in 1878. This publication is the result of many years of work. Back in 1869, Bebel was the first of the parliamentarians in the Reichstag to raise the issue of the legislative protection of women's labor.
The author contrasted the proletarian struggle with bourgeois feminism. According to Bebel, he was never able to rid society of the economic dependence of women on men, the slavery of workers, prostitution and simple everyday sexual prejudices. The main goal of the socialists in these matters, the writer considered the achievement of gender equality. In the book, the author, on the one hand, described the history of women's position in society, and on the other hand, explained the aspirations of his supporters in relation to women's problems. The book was published just a year after the Exceptional Law Against Socialists. Therefore, immediately after her appearance, she began to be seized by the authorities. However, this made Bebel's publication only more popular.
Antimilitarist
In 1889, the Second International was established. The activities of the last years of Bebel's life were mainly connected with this organization. Companions in the social democratic movement from all over the world entrusted him with the most important tasks. Bebel, if his he alth permitted, always participated in the congresses of the International. Especially striking was his speech in 1904 at a convention in Amsterdam.
And in 1907 in Stuttgart, Bebel again, as in his youth, severely criticized the supporters of militarism. At that congressRussian emigrant Vladimir Lenin was also present. The Bolshevik leader, as well as Rosa Luxemburg and the Menshevik Julius Martov, made several amendments to Bebel's resolution, with which he agreed. The final version of the document called on the workers, in case of danger of war, to defend their point of view before their own authorities, including with the help of non-parliamentary methods of struggle.
Death and legacy
Bebel died on August 13, 1913 in Passugg, Switzerland. According to the politician's will, he was buried in Zurich. His departure was mourned not only in Germany, but also in many other countries of the world. Rallies in memory of the socialist were held in Russia, America and even Australia. Obituaries for the defender of the proletariat were printed in all workers' newspapers.
Lenin and other Bolsheviks spoke of Bebel with deep respect. They were impressed by the idea of a socialist about the inevitability of revolution. The politician considered armed action against the authorities a necessity, by the end of his life he was less and less confident that the left would be able to achieve its demands through parliamentary means. In addition, Bebel warned that the authorities would deliberately drive the working class to the imperialist slaughter when the degree of class tension in European society reached its limit. For this reason or another, the First World War really began just a year after the death of the famous socialist.
