13.03.1997

Message from Potsdam

From The Call, paper of the British Socialist Party, March 8 1917

Comrade Franz Mehring has been returned to the Prussian Landtag for Potsdam, the Prussian Windsor, in place of Liebknecht, by an overwhelming majority over the ‘majority’ socialist and the bourgeois parties.

It is a striking and decisive victory, not only for our German comrades, but for the whole of the internationalist socialist movement. Our heartiest congratulations to our comrades of the ‘minority’. This remarkable result is an evidence of the courageous stand they have taken in these terrible times, and demonstrates the extent to which the demand for peace has grown in Germany. The German people desire an end to the war and a peace without annexations or conquest.

Our comrades in the Reichstag too are persisting in the fight.

In spite of the difficulties created by the announcement of the Allied war aims our comrade Ledebour attacked the German government for the insincerity of their claims and demanded the cessation of the U-boat campaigns.

Eighteen ‘minority’ members voted against the credits and afforded an example to the pacifists in the House of Commons. All things show that the struggle for peace and socialism in Germany is rapidly gaining strength.

In his speech comrade Ledebour appealed to the socialists in Allied countries to fight against the machinations of their governments which are frustrating peace. We must respond to that appeal. The result of the Potsdam election is a call to us to prosecute with even more determination our struggle against imperialism in this country ...

Heartened by the courage and progress of our German comrades, we must strive with renewed energy to stimulate an irresistible demand for the stoppage of the war.