Page - 164 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

164 chapter 4 model, it stressed the international character of the class struggle and the necessity of theworking class joining forces for the right of nations to self- determination.101Tenmonthslater,Bauerreferredtoit intheArbeiter-Zeitung, concedingtotheSlavicpeoplestherighttochoosetheirownfuture.However, it is noteworthy that Bauer didnot emphasise theprinciple of national self- determination. The idea of Austria’s annexation to the German Reich (the Anschlussidea)representedanobstacleinthisrespect:itwasinconsistentwith national independenceand thedemocratic institutional solutions contained in the left’s proposedmodel.102 The only significantmodification to Bauer’s 1918positiononthenationalitiesquestionwashisbreakwith thenotion that onlysocialismcouldrealisetherightofnationstoself-determination–thisalso testifiedtohisnon-doctrinaireapproach.Fromthenon,Bauerlinkedthisright withthevictoryofdemocracyinEurope.103 The 1918 nationalities programmeof the left intensified the polemics be- tweenRennerandBauer,withMaxAdlertakingBauer’sside.Rennerattacked theprogramme,arguing that the formationofnewnationstatesafter the fall of the monarchy was a ‘reactionary utopia’. Convinced that the proletariat would gain themost bybacking thepolicies of the existing imperialist state insteadofgettingembroiled innational struggles,hesupportedthewardrive of the party leadership. According to Renner, the future ofWestern Europe layinestablishingvasteconomicterritories,whereasthatofEasternEuropean peopleslayinterritorialandeconomicunionunderGermanpatronage.Renner defendedthisideaaslateas1922,whenheconcededsovereigntytothemiddle and East European states yet continued to advocate economic and cultural attachment toGermany. Although he rightly reproached Bauer and the left fortheirGreaterGermanorientation,Rennerfailedtoacknowledgenationalist elementsinhisownthinking.Hismainargumentforpreservingtheunityofthe Austria-HungarianEmpirewasthat itwouldpreservetheinterestsofnational minorities, especially the Germanminority in Czechia. Bauer was farmore realistic inevaluating thepossibilitiesof saving theHabsburg state in 1918. In viewofAustria’sweakenedposition,thechangingpoliticalbalanceofforcesin Europe, and the revolutionarywavemovingwest, he expected the imminent fallof themonarchy.This isnot to imply,however, thathegaveupallhope in 101 TheHungarianSocialDemocratsdidnotaccept theprogrammeofthe left. Instead, they defended Hungary’s integrity against the nationalities it oppressed. This led to a war against Czechoslovakia and Romania and contributed to the defeat of the Hungarian workers’movement. 102 CompareMommsen1963,p.215. 103 Ibid.