Page - XXVII - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

foreword xxvii Hofgastein.When I askedhimhowheevaluatedOttoBauer inhindsight, he paused to think, smilingmischievously. Finally, he replied, ‘there is not one errorthathedidnotcommit’. Indeed, it isnot just a caseof individualmistakesanderrorsof judgement in Bauer’s life that one cannot ignorewith the best will in theworld. Even if one approaches thematter theotherway round, it is difficult tomakeout theories that stand the test of experience – the latter, according toMarxist interpretation,beingthecriterionfortheveracityofanytheory. OttoBauerofferedwronganswerstothemostobviousquestions,aswellas totheleastobviousones.Infact,heputhisprejudices,whichhealwaysdressed upinMarxistfashion,inthewayofsoberanalysis.Tobeginwiththemostglar- ingissue:Bauerdevelopedacompletelyunrealisticperspectiveforthelocation andstageofhisactivities–Austria–thatwasrootedinhisownwishful think- ing.Heneither predictednor advocatedAustrian independence, conceiving instead the construct of an ‘all-German revolution’. HisGermannationalism and unswerving faith in the revolution, which he invariably postponed but neverdropped fromtheagenda,preventedhimfromapprovingofAustria as anindependentstateordeeming its restorationdesirable.Bauer’s supporters, suchas the likesofOscarPollakandKarlCzernetz,heldontohisall-German perspectiveeveninBritishexile.AsanemigrantinSweden,BrunoKreiskywas the first toenvisionandadvocateAustria’s independenceandrestorationasa positivegoal, before it becameanobjectiveof theAllied forces asdecreed in theMoscowdeclarationof1November1943. Tomoveon fromthemost to the least obvious: Bauer’s assessmentof the developmentofBolshevismandhisresultingperspectivefordemocraticsocial- ismweremisjudgedandillusory.Thiswasespeciallythecaseinhiswork,Zwis- chenzweiWeltkriegen?(BetweenTwoWorldWars?), inwhichhedevelopedthe notionof ‘integral socialism’.Historywouldexposehis conceptof rapproche- ment,evenreunification,ofSocialDemocracyandBolshevismaspreciselythe ‘tragic illusion’ that thepublicist JuliusBraunthal, a closeassociate andcom- radeofBauer’s,posthumouslydescribeditas inhisBauerbiography. These twoexamplesof grossmisjudgementwith respect topressing issues justify thequestionas towhetherOttoBauer also committed grave, perhaps evenfatal,errorswithrespecttothefocusofhispolitics;namely, thedomestic politicsof interwarAustria, therebycontributing to thedemiseofdemocracy in the country.Of course, this negative contributionwasneither intentional nor borne out of ill will, aswas the casewith Social Democracy’s bourgeois politicalenemies,whobearthechief responsibility for thedemiseofAustrian democracy.Certainly, it ispossible toadoptapositiononthe failureofSocial Democracy that theAustromarxistpublicist andwarhorse,AlfredMagaziner,