Page - 277 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

© ewa czerwińska-schupp, 2017 | doi: 10.1163/9789004325838_008 This isanopenaccessarticledistributedunderthetermsofthecc-by-ncLicense. chapter 7 TheQuestionofWarinBauer’sThoughtinLightof sdapandlsiPolicies ForAustromarxists,warwasnotanobjectofphilosophicalorethicalreflection, norwas itspoliticalaspectofmajor interest.Theydidnotdenythat therewas a political dimension towar, yet as faithful disciples ofMarx, they believed it had an instrumental role (as an aside, I have previously pointed out the peculiar inversion of this relationshipwith respect to Bauer’s theory on the stateandthenationalquestion).Aswasthecasewithmostof theirpositions, theAustromarxistswereprone tooverestimate theeconomic (class) factorat theexpenseofthenon-economic(legal,political,cultural).Consequently,their viewofthewarphenomenonwasdefinedbyadeterministic,strictlyeconomic perceptionofhistory,whichstronglyaccentuatedclassrelationships. It isalso notable,however, that forBauerandhis tendency, thewarquestionwasonly relevant as a matter of political practice.1 For this reason, he analysed the causes, objectives, andperspectives ofwar, aswell as theways inwhichone might prevent it, only at congresses of the sdap, Second International, and Labour andSocialist International.Hence, it is pivotal to assess his attitudes in considerationof thepolitics of the sdapand the two internationals, all of whichhehelpedtoshape. 1 ThesdapPositionUntiltheOutbreakofWorldWari Under the shadow of war in the Balkans and the outbreak ofWorldWar i, the Austrian Social-Democratic movement was forced tomerge its politics withwhatwas unfolding in reality, and confront the traditions of the party. Deeplyrootedintheorganisationwasthedisbeliefinthepossibilityofwarand illusionsastothepowerofSocialDemocracytopreventit fromhappening.As Leserwrites: 1 Whatismore,BauerandtheAustromarxistsregardedwarmerelyasarmedconflictbetween nation states, which further limited their understanding of it. Onwar in the broader and narrowersense(asarmedaction,uprising,andrevolution), seeJeliński 1996,p. 160.