SPGB/WSM on eBay watch
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An early SPGB pamphlet is available on eBay
Perhaps we should have an eBay account and sell 'original vintage socialist' material
Ou tof interest, What was the parties relationship with Kautsky? Sorry I know it's a bit off topic but if someone can direct me to a thread on it I will go there!
JohnnyFBM wrote:Ou tof interest, What was the parties relationship with Kautsky? Sorry I know it's a bit off topic but if someone can direct me to a thread on it I will go there!Depends upon if he was a member of the SPGB . If not then he was a reformist an enemy, anti working class like Brand and Corbyn and Benn et alYou are either with us or against us. There are only a few real socialists.
Vin is being sarcastic. Kautsky pamphlets were among the first pamphlets published by the party. Kautsky was not a member or of companion parties but was considered a good writer on Marxism.
Wasnt Kautsky a member of the German SDP that voted for ww1?Or am i thinking of another bloke?
Vin wrote:Wasnt Kautsky a member of the German SDP that voted for ww1?Or am i thinking of another bloke?Yes that was him
Reminder: 1. The general topic of each forum is given by the posted forum description. Do not start a thread in a forum unless it matches the given topic, and do not derail existing threads with off-topic posts.
Here's the links to an interesting three part series of articles by John Crump from the Socialist Standard in 1968, which, amongst other issues and individuals from that time, touches upon the SPGB's attitide towards Kautsky:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2014/04/members-in-great-war.htmlhttp://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-socialist-party-and-second_10.htmlhttp://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-socialist-party-and-second_11.htmlAnd here's an interesting article by Harry Waite from the 1939, which is an appraisal of Kautsky's political life, following his death the previous year:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2014/09/kautskys-work-for-socialism.html
Short review of a biography of Kautsky that appeared in the June 1988 issue of the Socialist Standard:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/11/marxist-populariser-1988.html
DJP wrote:Vin wrote:Wasnt Kautsky a member of the German SDP that voted for ww1?Or am i thinking of another bloke?Yes that was him
No it wasn't. That's part of the oft-repeated Leninist lie about the "renegade Kautsky". He was not a member of the Reichstag and so didn't have a vote. His position is summarised on the Marxists Internet Archive as:
Quote:In 1914 the crisis struck and war was declared. At the meeting of the Reichstag caucus on 3 August 1914 which decided to vote for the war credits next day, Kautsky, not a member of the Reichstag himself, stated that the character of the war could not be determined, and therefore the right to defence of the fatherland had to apply to all countries involved in the war. He wanted the Party to demand from the government an assurance that it wanted no conquests, and if the government agreed the war credits should be approved, if not, not.Naturally, there was no chance the government would agree so, had he been an MP, Kautsky would have been committed to voting against the war credits. But even Karl Liebknecht, who was a member of the Reichstag and was opposed to the war, only abstained on the 4 August vote. Five months later, though, he did vote against them, the only MP to do so. It took Kautsky another five or so months to come out against the war:
Quote:In June 1915, about ten months the war had began and when it had become obvious that this was going to be long sustained and appallingly costly struggle, he issued an appeal with Bernstein and Haase against the right and denounced the government’s annexationist aims.For an assessment of Kautsky's political carreer see this obituary the Socialist Standard published on him in 1939:http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/1930s/1939/no-413-january-1939/kautsky%E2%80%99s-work-socialism
DJP wrote:Vin wrote:Wasnt Kautsky a member of the German SDP that voted for ww1?Or am i thinking of another bloke?Yes that was him
It's not quite that straightforward.In 1914, when the German Social-Democrat deputies in the Reichstag voted for war credits, Kautsky (who was not a deputy but attended their meetings) suggested abstaining. Kautsky claimed that Germany was waging a defensive war against the threat of Czarist Russia.However, in June 1915, about ten months after the war had begun and when it had become obvious that it was going to be a sustained and appallingly brutal struggle, he issued an appeal with Eduard Bernstein and Hugo Haase against the pro-war leaders of the SPD and denounced the German government's annexationist aims. In 1917 he left the SPD for the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), which united Socialists who opposed the war.
Reminder in post #10 forbids me to reply so continue without me.
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