Page - 200 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

200 chapter 5 tousetheprogrammeasapretext to fulfil theirownpoliticalgoals, i.e. imple- mentanauthoritariangovernment.There isnodoubt thatBauer’sattitudeto the use of violence, and the readiness to go on the offensive implied in the programme,wasmetwith approval from theworking class. The elections of 1927,whichgainedthesdapthehighestnumberofvotesintheFirstRepublic, testified to this. Alas, sdap leaders responded to theworking class’s support with falsedisplaysofaction.Theconceptofdefensiveviolencepresent in the programmeofLinzprovedameremanoeuvre: inpoliticalpractice, theparty nevermadeanyuseof it.After abloodybattle involving theworkingclass in 1927,Bauertenaciouslypursuedtheusualreformiststrategy,limitingtheroleof thepartyduring theoffensiveofanti-democratic forcesand fascistbattalions tomonitoringtheopposition.At thepartycongress thatyear,heclaimedthat initiatinga revolutionwouldamount to collective suicide, as the reactionary forceshadgainedstrengthacrossEuropeandthepeasantrywasscarcelyinter- estedinchangingtheexistingsocialorder.81 While it is true Bauer publicly declared the necessity of radicalising the party’s ideologicalandstrategicpremisesduringthe fascistoffensive,hehim- selfwas not convincedof it. His attitude towards the 1933manifesto drafted byagroupnamed ‘Neubeginnen’ (‘StartAnew’),whichaccommodatedacri- tique of reformist politics, was evidence of this. Rejecting their proposition, Baueraccusedthemofdisplayinganoverlyrevolutionarycharacterwhichwas unjustifiable given the socio-historical conditions, but also of deepening the rift in theworkers’movement. Even inviewof imminentdisaster inhis own party, Bauer remained true tohisbelief that theworking classmust set itself achievablegoals incapitalistsociety.Heignoredthecriticswholambastedhis political line.OnesuchcritiquewasthatofKätheLeichter,whoin1931deman- dedarevisionofthepartyprogramme,sharplydisapprovingofitspossibleout- comessuchasthemobilisationofbourgeois forcesandpassivepositionofthe sdapleadership.Whatismore,shewarnedofoverestimatingtheeffectiveness of democraticmethods– forher, anarmed revolutionwas theonly effective meanstodefenddemocracy.82Sufficetosay,hersuggestionswererebuffedby Bauer,EllenbogenandRenner.Atthesamecongress,Bauerprotestedthat the questionofarmedstrugglehadbeenraisedatall. The period of fascist dictatorship plainly demonstrated to Bauer and the sdapthattheuseofforcewasnecessarytowinagainstcapitalism.InZwischen zweiWeltkriegen (BetweenTwoWorldWars),hewrote: 81 SeeBauer1976k,p.7. 82 CompareSteiner1973,p.67.