Witness to the German Revolution Read Free

December 1923 (with the exception of two weeks in August- September) Correspondance internationale carried a weekly column by “R. Albert” under the heading “Reports from Germany.” These columns are all reproduced here, together with a few additional pieces that appeared in the bi- weekly edition. The Ruhr occupation was still continuing, but the French and German ruling classes recognized that they had a common interest in restricting the development of working-class opposition.
    A Document on German Patriotism
    Correspondance internationale , July 1, 1923
    The Communist press in France and Germany has just been enriched by a contribution which was as valuable as it was unexpected. It came from Herr Lutterbeck, deputy to the chief district official of Düsseldorf, the author of a letter to General Denvignes, 69 certain passages of which deserve to be preserved in the annals of working-class literature. This official from Düsseldorf is asking for the favor of assistance from the French commander in order to repress the working-class movement. It would be impossible for us to express better than he does the necessities and reasons for international capitalist solidarity. The recall of the events of 1871 70 takes on
a very particular flavor when a senior Prussian civil servant is writing to one of Foch’s officers. We will quote from the text:
    Events such as those at Gelsenkirchen are liable to encourage elements hostile to the state. Further disturbances will occur, and order, the necessary basis for civilization and production, risks being shaken for a long time to come.
    There would be great risks if France imagined that, in the present circumstances, it could easily re-establish the normal state of affairs. The industrial region is so complex that it is possible for a spark in one city to become a flame in another, and the flame will be such that the force of arms cannot control it, and that neither the Rhine nor the German frontier beyond the Rhine can stop it. This threat hangs over the whole world. And if the French command waits passively until the rising attacks it, then it will appear as if France wishes German authority to be shaken in the Ruhr at any price, even if it be the price of a rising which would threaten European civilization by putting the Ruhr in the hands of the rabble. This is a dangerous game for France itself. The army of occupation is not made up of inanimate material, rifles, machine-guns and tanks. The weapons are borne by men who have eyes and ears. There is a danger that they will carry from the Ruhr a seed destined to take root in French territory. In face of such dangers, may I take the liberty of stressing the heavy responsibility which would be incurred by the French command if it were to show itself as being indulgent in the face of anarchy. If it does not act itself, then at the very least its obligation is to leave the German authorities with their hands free in order to do their duty. Prime Minister Poincaré recently told a Socialist deputy called Auriol that incidents in the occupied territory are not inevitable, citing the precedent of 1871-72. At that time in France there were no conflicts in France between the population and the occupying forces. May I recall in this respect that at the time of the Paris Commune the German command did its best to anticipate the needs of the French authorities as far as repression was concerned. I am under an obligation to request you to observe a similar attitude if, in the future, dangerous clashes cannot be avoided.
    This senior Prussian civil servant is not embarrassed by patriotic scruples. The pursuit of revenge against France, which is doubtless dear to him, in no way obscures his clear judgment as a class conscious bourgeois. He is the sort of person who will get on well with those clearsighted French bourgeois who, in 1918-19, when the dead of the Great War had scarcely been buried, bluntly declared that