Page - 353 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

closing remarks 353 individual’s freedomofpoliticalaction,while leavingasidethecomplexsocio- historical reality inwhichBauerhadtomakedecisions.5 ItisnoteasytopassjudgementonBauer’sstrategyandtactics.Itseemsmore likelytomethattheinadequacyofhistheoreticalandpracticalanswersresul- tedfromhisexcessivedependencyonMarxiandiscourseandthoughtpatterns, many ofwhich did not correspond to social realities ofMarx’s time. A good example (andhere I agreewithLeser)wasBauer’s belief in themechanisms ofhistoryandtheautomatismofcapitalistdevelopment, fromwhichhecon- cludedthatsocialismwashistorically inevitable.6Hanisch’sappraisalofBauer as a politician comes closest tominewhenhewrites in hisOtto Bauer bio- graphy: ThecentralproblemofBauer’spoliticswasnotsomuchthecontradiction betweentheoryandpractice…asapoliticsof ‘ontheonehand/onthe other’…Inotherwords,thedifferencebetweenthesharpanalystandthe politicalpractitionerwhowasfrequently incapableofacting.7 ourtranslation Withoutadoubt,Bauer’spolitical indecisionandsupposedincapability toact were greatly influenced by his exceptionally strong sense ofmoral respons- ibility, his unquestioned humanism, and his ability to foresee the course of events.Histruthfulassessmentoftheworkers’activismin1927servesasacase inpoint: their anticipationofmass support for a general strikeprovedbase- less. GivenallthecriticismvoicedbyAustrianresearchers,itisjustifiedtowonder whetherBauerasstrategistandtacticianonlyevercommittedmistakes. Ifone seriously considers thebalanceofpolitical forces inAustria andEurope, one hastoreplythathedidnot–thehardpoliticalrealitiesof1918, 1931and1933–8 sufficientlyprove this.Letus lookat the issues thatprovokesuchseverecriti- cismofBauer’sbehaviour. Inthefirst instance,hisrefusaltoinstigatearevolu- tion in 1918wasbasedona realistic evaluationof thepolitical climateacross Europe. Short of a victorious revolution in theWest, the fateof aproletarian dictatorshipinAustriawouldhavemostlikelyresembledthatoftheHungarian andBavarianSoviet republics. In the second instance, aChristian-Social and Social-Democraticcoalitionin1931mighthavebeenabletopreventtheascent 5 Saageholdssimilarviewsonthis–seeSaage1985,p. 11. 6 SeeLeser1968,p.33. 7 Hanisch2011,p. 13.