inequality of education, especially the inequality of the Prussian state
with its three-class system of voting, in the three-class system of
education: primary schools, higher schools, universities. The
educational system cannot be separated from social conditions. In order
to acquire education, time and economic opportunities are necessary.
Education in the capitalistic order of society is not an aim in itself.
Utilitarianism dominates our education. The higher schools serve as
preparatory institutes for higher official positions, whereas the
primary schools teach the fundamentals which serve to make tools for
capitalistic society. Social misfortunes come to the surface now more
than ever before: overcrowding of the classes, insufficient rooms,
scarcity of teachers, frequent change of teachers, undernourishment and
overfatigue of the children, and child labor. Especially does
undernourishment weaken the health of the proletariat and thus hinder
even the limited educational work of the primary school. But more than
ever before the primary school is used to-day in order to make firm the
position of the ruling classes, to capture the souls of the young
proletariat for the ruling class, for Militarism. When we think of all
that, we recognize how urgently the proletariat must work for a
fundamental reform of the entire school system.
Neglect of youth through the war cannot be denied, exists in spite of
all camouflage. There is not enough rain in the heavens to wash away
this sin from the bourgeois form of society. Improvement of this
condition can be obtained only by sharp criticism. When one sees
that,--as happened to people at the Berlin Police Headquarters,--young
working girls 16 and 17 years old, who were arrested for some reason,
are told: "_You should be put against the wall and shot down_" ("Hear,
hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.)--then it must be recognized that we really do
not live in an age where class differences do not exist and where the
entire people stands united, but that, on the contrary, dissimilarities
are intensified now in the most inciting way. Where is, in face of this
fact, the sensitive German nature about which there is so much
discussion here?
Very desirable would be statistics as to how few children of the
proletariat on account of existing institutions have obtained
opportunity to reach a higher school education; then the unimportance
of these few will be recognized, when compared with the millions and
millions to whom the road to all the splendor and magnificence which the
human spirit can receive, is closed. The amendments proposed (he refers
to amendments which will make it easier for able pupils of the primary
school to attend the higher schools in larger numbers than had been the
case; another amendment introduced by Dr. Porsch (Centrum) proposed that
the so-called Rektorat-Schools, which are for procuring a higher
education for moneyless pupils, should be supported--_S. Z._), are
merely patchwork experiment, because what is proposed will be to the
advantage only of the poor bourgeoisie, but not of the proletariat.
Don't you really sense what it means, when they try to make the pathway
to higher education an act of grace, whereas in reality it is an
original human right? The mass of the people will feel that instead of
their rights there is given to them _Bettelsuppen_ (coarse soup made of
black bread). Certainly only to such proletarian children will those
privileges be accorded, whose souls, which make them independent, are
already broken, who are robbed of their class consciousness and who
become accessories of capitalist society. And at the same time these
laughable experiments are presented to the people with a
self-sufficiency which makes it possible for them to recognize very well
the insincerity of the ruling classes. In closing educational
opportunities we see a brutal waste of spiritual energies, a waste of
human strength in the treadmill of mechanical labor, the denial of
human economy. It is as plain as law that the children of the
proletariat are held down by darkness of the soul. Touching is the
description of Dante who walks with Virgil through the forest of the
spirits which have not sinned, but have suffered because they did not
receive baptism; to-day it is because they are deprived of money! ("Very
true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)
Considering the magnitude of the World War you and also the Christian
parties do not think of saving these starving ones, damned by
Capitalism. You try to give an impression that something is being done.
By these Amendments you try to give an impression of wishing to throw
open the road to education to the people also, but that is because
Capitalism requires educated soldiers. You similarly replace the human
losses in the war by giving commissions to non-commissioned officers
because the dregs of the proletariat are required for service. The
tendencies of the amendment show how necessary it is to destroy the
demagogism and the deceit which took form in them. (President Graf
Schwerin-Loewitz calls the speaker to order.) After their experiences in
war time the proletariat will not allow itself to be duped.
Assemblyman v. d. Osten said, that the uniform system of education leads
towards differentiation. But the truth is that capitalism makes the
great mass of the people uniform in the most brutal way and
differentiates the people only in classes, and makes impossible the real
differentiation among the classes of the people and through the whole
people. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)
Assemblyman Oelze spoke here yesterday in glowing terms of education,
science and ideals. But instruction in history has been for a long time
systematically used to inculcate certain political sentiments in the
pupils. The higher schools especially have been for years places to
exercise this practice and in these higher schools hatred against
England was systematically developed, which seed has now sprouted in
such glorious fashion. The propaganda of the _Navy Society_ in the
higher schools demonstrates strikingly the whole spirit of the system of
teaching. The world's history has been _ad usum delphim_ turned into a
political fiction. Not political truth, not objective knowledge, but the
opposite are the main features of what you teach. In German teaching the
soul of youth should have a chance to develop freely. But what are the
themes put to our children? They are set to write patriotic editorials,
and certain phases of war patriotism are taught them. In that way we sow
the seeds of falsehood. This procedure following advice from above is a
cancerous disease for the entire school system. You will not obtain any
advantages, even among the students of the higher schools who come from
the bourgeois class. This most awkward method of strengthening your
class rule will work against you.
And instruction in religion? By means of the most skillful dialect and
by pedagogical methods was bridged over the chasm between religion and
war, between Christianity and mass-murder. ("Very true!" from the
Soc.-Dem.) The curtain of the temple is torn. But what spiritual
embarrassment comes to our children, when they hear of the Lord, who is
the Lord of all people, that is,--if I may use this word in this
connection,--an international God, a God of the entire humanity, when
this God of charity is claimed by each nation for itself and for the
war! I asked my child, who had to learn the catechism by heart
(instruction in religion is obligatory in Prussia. _S. Z._), if the
teacher always said: "Love thy neighbor as thyself!" The child answered:
"No, we should not love the Russians, Frenchmen and Englishmen!" ("Hear,
hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) How is that reconcilable? The most beautiful
pedagogy is that which reacts not through words, but through vision and
good example. But what shall children who are instructed in religion say
to the occurrences of the present? Here religion naturally cannot
become, as Christianity demands, an element penetrating the entire life
and determining each action, but something entirely different. From this
contrast you cannot escape and least of all when not the religion of
brotherly love but that of Baal is the religion of the world and when
even the children understand that in this war the main point is the
interest of capitalist society.
One can pray again and again and still remain an inciter of war. To-day
an attempt is made to influence the children of the working people
toward the conception of life of the ruling class, of the capitalist
class, of the class of exploiters (shouts from the right part of the
House) toward the conception of life of war and mass killing. And how is
higher education inculcated in the occupied territories? When the first
school was reopened in Belgrade, a paper published there by the
Austrians stated that Servia committed a great sin when it fought
against Austria. (He could not go any further.)
PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LOeWITZ: The Servian schools have nothing to do
with the Budget. I recall you to the subject.
LIEBKNECHT (continuing): The higher schools are also used as practical
helpers in the service of the present war. A systematic propaganda is
conducted in them for the war loans, and gold is collected in them. This
militarization of the schools has been characterized even by some parts
of the bourgeoisie as a questionable act. In the schools they have
already started to educate the human beings up to being war machines.
The schools are converted into training stables for the war. The
physical upbuilding of the youth is encouraged now to attract new
material for the Moloch, Militarism. Strengthening especially human
health has thus as its aim the destruction of human life. I do not want
to examine here how war psychology can reconcile itself to the
foundations of our entire education.
Now I can speak only about the higher schools. Mr. Oelze demanded
yesterday that Militarism should be introduced to greater extent in the
higher schools, that Militarism should be the all-prevailing spirit. He
(Mr. Oelze) defined Militarism as complete subordination to discipline.
According to our conception Militarism means the opposite of imposed
discipline. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Moreover, the military
spirit has penetrated the school system to such a high degree that I
don't know what else is left for Mr. Oelze to ask for. In committee it
was said also in the bourgeois section that unilateral military
education leads to brutalizing the youth. But that does not frighten
you, when your holy of holies, Militarism, is helped. You want liberty
only for the ruling classes and oppression for the great masses. ("Very
true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) You abhor the free mind because it will mean
the twilight of the gods of the ruling classes. Classical education of
to-day is only a parody on real classic education. Classics surely do
not consist in driving home languages and some other knowledge of facts,
but their essence is the spirit of humanism, the spirit of independence,
of clear vision, of criticism, of everything which is felt to be
harmful. This is the real freedom of the spirit. The ideal of the
bayonet, of the bombshell, of poison gas and grenades which are hurled
down on peaceful cities, the ideal of submarine warfare, that is
something quite different. (Uneasiness and laughter from the Right
parties of the House.) This is the truth which I oppose to your
endeavors to mask the reality of things. According to an edict of
Governor von Schwerin of Frankfort-a-O., it was ordered that the
feeling for general fraternization, for the brotherhood of the people,
for the international peace enthusiasm should be stamped out. ("Hear,
hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Our enemies' deeds of shame against the
Germans must not be excused, but only hatred and revolt must be aroused
from those acts. We declare that to be a misuse of the schools of the
worst kind. That is your spirit of humanism. Mr. V. Canyre spoke about
softening the bones of ideas (_osteomalacia_), against which such a
propaganda must work in the school. But if it is true that the duty to
tell the truth is the aim of all education, then something entirely
different must be taught. In school must be taught, how this war arose,
not only that the abominable murder of Sarajevo was an incident to
inspire horror, but also the fact that the crime of Sarajevo was looked
upon in many circles as a gift from Heaven, serving them as a war
pretext. (He could not continue. The parties of the Right side of the
House broke out in cat-calls which became louder and louder. The
Assemblymen had raised themselves from their seats in great excitement
and left the room with continual shouts: "Put him out, put him out."
Assemblyman Liebknecht shouts to them: "Go out! You flee before the
truth, you can't hear the truth!")
PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LOeWITZ (who has rung the bell for a long time in
vain): I call you to order for the second time, and I call your
attention to the fact that in case you are called to order for a third
time I shall ask the House if it wishes to listen to you further.
ASSEMBLYMAN LIEBKNECHT: I have told you only what I heard with my own
ears.
The aim of humanistic education is that of complete freedom, a high,
ideal aim. Out of this spirit, great pedagogues such as Pestalozzi
demanded the unity of the school system. The school of to-day serves
only purposes of expediency. This is true also of the universities. The
spirit of Militarism corrodes the foundation of our entire educational
system. Art and science also are restrained. (President Graf
Schwerin-Loewitz: Please speak about the higher institutions of
learning.) The same phenomenon can be noticed also in the higher school
system. While it is the task of primary schools to make the youth of the
proletariat tools for the capitalistic order of society, it is the task
of the higher schools to prepare the youth of the ruling classes for the
great work which they have to perform in present society. In the
discussion of the question of the admission of foreigners to the
schools, Mr. v. Savigny declared in the committee meeting that the
admission of foreigners to German schools before (this war) was in order
to gain sympathy in foreign countries and in that way to obtain
indirectly political and economic advantages. This is true German
idealism which comes to light here.
On the same level can be placed the present instruction about the
conditions in the Orient in the higher schools. It is being taught to
greater effect than before. Thus the higher schools also are converted
into an instrument of propaganda for economic purposes, which are back
of this war.
This war, which has destroyed so much, has also destroyed the last
vestige of the bourgeois ideal of education, and to the surface came the
viewpoint of the pure utilitarianism in education. The technical quality
of teaching is also very much damaged by the war. Just as the Thirty
Years' War acted in ravaging and destroying in the educational field,
the present war is acting. (Assemblyman Hoffman, Soc.-Dem.: "Very
true!") The new method in teaching history is a sign of barbarism, a
sign of the fight to death being fought by the educational ideal of the
bourgeoisie. I spoke before about the poem of Schiller in which it is
said: "Only a miracle can carry you into the beautiful wonderland." To
the proletariat, for the unsaved souls, this word cannot be applied. No
miracle and no blessing from above can bring the proletariat into the
wonderland, in which all the treasures and magnificence of the human
soul are to be found. And when Dante's world-epic speaks about those
unsaved souls who live without hope and longing, that is also not true
of the proletariat. It does not live without hopes, but full of
confidence. But the liberation of the working class cannot come from
such motions as put by you to-day.
PRESIDENT SCHWERIN-LOeWITZ: I call you to the question for the second
time and call your attention to the consequences which may occur
according to the rule of business.
ASSEMBLYMAN LIEBKNECHT: I speak about the motion, about the chance of
those who are well off to attend high schools and colleges. This
spiritual liberation can also be the deed of the working class and it is
our duty to say to the working class also on this occasion: _To action!
Those in the trenches, as well as those here at home, should put down
their arms and turn against the common enemy_, which takes from them
light and air (great disturbance on the right side of the House).
PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LOeWITZ: I call you to order for the third time
and ask herewith whether the House wishes to hear the speaker any
further. (Stormy applause at the right. The Assemblymen are rushing with
great speed into the House. Only the Social-Democrats vote to listen
further to the speaker. Assemblyman Liebknecht leaves the speaker's desk
amid stormy shouts from the Assemblymen of the Right. Assemblyman Adolf
Hoffman (addressing himself to the right side of the House): "_When it
comes to yelling, you are the masters._")
LIEBKNECHT PROTESTS AT BEING PREVENTED FROM DISCUSSING THE SUBMARINE
WARFARE
_Reichstag, March 22, 1916_
PRESIDENT KAEMPF presides.
For discussion: First reading of the Budget in connection with the
taxation bill.
PRESIDENT KAEMPF: In accordance with an understanding between the
representatives of the different parties in the Reichstag the submarine
warfare will be excluded from this discussion until further decisions of
the _Seniorenconvent_. (Committee composed of the Party Leaders to
discuss the business of the Reichstag before it is discussed in open
session. _S. Z._) The discussion of this question will take place in the
meetings of the Budget Committee in the first days of next week.
MEMBER DR. K. LIEBKNECHT (not belonging to any party in the Reichstag,
questions the order of business): I consider it my duty to dispute the
decision (laughter). This is a question which concerns most vitally the
present public interests. Everything is done under cover and we are
brought to discuss only accomplished facts. (Great commotion and shouts
so that the following words of the speaker can't be understood very
clearly.) Very soon it will be _Tirpitz redivivus_. The people have a
right to hear the Parliament on this important question immediately. The
people have a right to demand that nothing shall be hidden from them.
PRESIDENT KAEMPF: Please make your remarks in a parliamentary fashion,
and don't present general political considerations when you speak to the
question of the order of business.
DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: In the Prussian Assembly everything is done under
cover. The same methods of concealing matters obtain as here. (Stormy
interruptions and calls: "This does not belong to the discussion about
the order of business.") I wish to protest against such a policy
injurious to the people, against the continuation of secret diplomacy in
Parliament.
REICHSTAG MEETING, MARCH 23, 1916
Discussion of the Budget and taxation bill.
Different persons spoke.
Dr. Liebknecht asks to be recognized on the motion of closing the
discussion.
DR. LIEBKNECHT (speaks to the question): I am sorry that under this
motion, which was directed in the first place against me, I will be
unable to say that I certainly refuse all taxes to the Government of
martial law, the government of _War ueber Alles_. (Excitement at the
right side of the House.)
PRESIDENT KAEMPF: I must ask you to confine yourself to this discussion
of the order of business.
MEMBER DR. LIEBKNECHT: I assert that even in the Prussian Assembly there
exists more freedom of speech than in this House. (Laughter and
excitement.)
PRESIDENT KAEMPF: If you don't obey my orders I will be forced not to
let you talk any further to the question.
MEMBER DR. LIEBKNECHT: It is also made impossible for me to look into
the dark chamber of our German war policies and military dictatorship.
PRESIDENT KAEMPF: I can't give you the floor for this question any
longer.
LIEBKNECHT'S COMMENTS ON THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLOR'S SPEECH
Reichstag Meeting, April 5, 1916
On April 5, 1916, Karl Liebknecht made some sharp comments on certain
passages of the Imperial Chancellor's speech. Asserting that Germany's
aims were peaceful, the Chancellor said that Germany wanted the
"strength of quiet development" before the war. "We could have had all
we wanted by peaceful labor. Our enemies chose war." Liebknecht
retorted: "Lies, it was you who chose war." (Uproar followed, with cries
of "Scoundrel!" "Blackguard!" "Out with him!" The President at once
called Liebknecht to order.)
Later Bethman-Hollweg made reference to the necessity of guarantees
against Belgium becoming again a vassal of France and England. "Here
also Germany cannot give over to Latinization the long-oppressed Flemish
race." Liebknecht interjected, "Hypocrisy!" "We desire to have neighbors
who will not again unite against us in order to throttle us, but with
whom we can work to our mutual advantage," said the Chancellor.
"Whereupon you suddenly fall upon them and strangle them--the invasion
of Belgium," said Liebknecht coolly. This sally caused another uproar,
Liebknecht shouting out "Invasion" whenever he got the chance.
Towards the close of his speech the Imperial Chancellor declared that
the peace which ends this war must be a lasting peace. It must not
contain in it the seeds of new wars, but the seeds of a final peaceful
regulation of European affairs. "_Begin by making the German people
free!_" shouted Liebknecht. "Germany is only fighting in self-defense,"
remarked the Chancellor. "Can any one believe that Germany is thirsting
for territory?" "Yes, certainly," roared Liebknecht as loudly as
possible. Thereupon the uproar redoubled. The President had to call the
Reichstag to order to prevent personal violence to Liebknecht.
REICHSTAG MEETING, APRIL 7, 1916
VICE-PRESIDENT PAASCHE in the chair.
On April 7, 1916, Liebknecht declared--in the Reichstag during the
discussion of the military estimates--that he had documents showing an
agreement between Herr Zimmerman, the Under Foreign Secretary, and Sir
Roger Casement, by which British prisoners were to be drilled to fight
against England. After some further remarks about Mohammedan prisoners
of war being pressed into service for Germany, Liebknecht was prevented
from speaking amid shouts of "Traitor!" from all parts of the Chamber.
Liebknecht was able to speak later about the resignation of Von Tirpitz,
but was prevented from discussing the submarine campaign. Here is what
he said about the resignation of Von Tirpitz:
"After the War had begun with the cry 'Against Czarism' the aim was soon
shifted westward." (Vice-President Paasche: "To say that the war began
with one or the other object is to insult the Government. I call you to
order and ask you not to dwell at any length on our war policy.")