Page - 278 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

278 chapter 7 Thisoptimismwasnotbasedonanyanalysisoftherealbalanceofforces or sober assessment of available options to resist or intervene.Norwas it basedona realistic self-assessmentofone’sown, fundamentallynon- revolutionary–onemightsay,noteveneager–attitude,butonaroman- ticisminformedbytheover-estimationofone’sownabilities.Thatishow realitywasapproached.2 ourtranslation This faith in thepowerof theworkers’movementandtherevolutionary rhet- oricthatcamewithit,neitherofwhichreflectedtheactualpoliticalandsocial balanceofforcesundercapitalism,wasbynomeansanAustrianpeculiarity. It regularlymaterialisedatthecongressesof theSecondInternationalwhenever thewarquestionwasontheagenda(Brussels 1891,Zurich1893,London1896). Itwas particularly apparent at the 1907 congress in Stuttgart, whichput for- warda resolutioncommittingall Social-Democraticparties to ‘…makeevery effort to takeadvantageof theeconomicandpolitical crisisbroughtaboutby war for the purpose of awakening the popularmasses and accelerating the demiseof capitalist class rule’.3 Itwas clear fromthismotion that anypoten- tialwarwastobetransformedintoasocialrevolution.Atthesametime,itwas apurelydeclamatorycalltoarms–nonepresentatthecongressseriouslycon- templated thenecessarymeans toobtain this,nordid they take intoaccount theobstaclestheywouldface.Oneneedonlyconsiderthatnationalismwason therisewithintheworkingclass. TheAustrianSocialDemocrats failed to recognise theobjectives thusout- linedat theStuttgart congress.Does thismean theyweremore realistic than theleadersoftheSecondInternational?Notbyanystretch.Theirreasonswere, firstly, a typical sdap politics of ‘patience’ – there had been persistent talk of revolutionsince theHainfeldcongress, yet the talknever cameto fruition. Secondly, thepartybelievedthatpossibilities for theSocial-Democraticparty topreventwarwithouttakingradicalmeasureswerepracticallyunlimited–a conviction thatwasperspicuous inVictorAdler’s contributions inStuttgart.4 2 Leser1968,p.263. 3 InternationalSocialistCongressinStuttgart,inDocuments,Programmes,Protocols,p.16.The resolution,authoredbyLuxemburgandLenin,representedacompromiseincorporatingwar aspartof thenatureofthecapitaliststate. 4 At the time,Adler said: ‘wedonot need towait untilwar is declared in order to fight the war. All our actions, all our party work serves to prevent thewar – that is the true anti- militaristactivity’–InternationalSocialistCongressinStuttgart,inDocuments,Programmes, Protocols,p.95.