Walter Stoecker, leading German Communist, Reichstag member, arrested by the Nazis in 1933 and murdered at Buchenwald in 1939, on the extraordinary danger the French invasion of the Ruhr, just five years after the end of World War One, had again placed the world.

‘The Communist International Against War’ by Walter Stoecker from International Press Correspondence. Vol. 3 No. 11. January 30, 1923.

An extremely critical situation has arisen in Central Europe, with unexpected rapidity. French imperialism has laid its hand upon the Ruhr coal. The German government offers resistance, and a state of war has been practically, if not formally, created between France and Germany. This conflict has been brought about by the lust for power of French imperialism, which is anxious to secure the Ruhr district in addition to the many other positions which it now occupies on the European continent, so that it may be enabled to take its place incontestably as the leading power in Europe. not only from a military standpoint, but from an economic one, and that it may above all the enabled to confront England with the possession of the largest coal district of Europe.

The short-sighted and disastrous policy pursued by the German Cuno government was exceedingly favorable to these designs. German heavy industry has systematically driven the finances of Germany ever further on the downward path, has plunged the state into insolvency and bankruptcy, and has at the same time shamelessly seized the opportunity of increasing its own wealth, of accumulating enormous profits. Thus the situation became more and more acute. Poincaré had Essen occupied. The German Cuno government, after several times vainly offering Poincaré the co-operation of German and French industry, has now broken off relations with France, stopped all payment of reparations to her and Belgium, withdrawn the coal syndicate from Essen, and adopted a number of other measures signifying a state of passive resistance against France.

This policy is of course grist to the mills of French militarism. Naturally the whole of the Ruhr district will now be occupied, and not alone this, but recourse will probably be had to other severe reprisals, and to the further occupation of Germany. Above all, the militarists will take the Ruhr coal, will cut off the Ruhr district from the rest of Germany, and thus enormously accelerate her economic collapse. Renewed depreciation of monetary values, immeasurable rises in prices, and unemployment, will weigh upon the German working class even more heavily than before. This disastrous policy of the Cuno government is plunging the German working class into the abyss.

Signs of impending tempest may be seen in other directions. Lithuania has seized upon a part of the Memel district, and Poland too is only waiting for a favorable opportunity. Nationalism is becoming a serious danger in Germany. No one knows how long England will remain an inactive spectator of: France’s tremendous extensions of power. In this grave and critical moment the Executive of the Communist International appeals for a determined offensive fight against the danger or war. A telegram from Moscow commissions the French and German Communist Parties, and the red trade unions of France, immediately to approach the 2. Socialist Internationals and the Amsterdam trade union international for the immediate organization of a united proletarian front against the danger of war.

It is well known that the leaders of the reformist international held a conference at The Hague only a few week’s ago, a so-called peace conference, at which they resolved to reply to any danger of war by the proclamation of a general strike of the working class. The hour has come for these leaders to keep their word, they think of taking their own resolutions seriously. The whole proletariat of Europe should rise like one man against the act of imperialist militarist violence committed by the French bourgeoisie in the Ruhr district, against the disastrous policy of the German capitalist Guno government, against the tremendous dangers involved by this conflict, and should also protest by determined mass actions, to the utmost extent of its powers. The Communist International by no means makes the proposition of taking up the defensive fight conjointly with the Second International out of any great faith which it feels in the leaders of that body, but for the sake of the great masses of proletarians behind these leaders, and for the sake of showing these masses their task as a proletarian class in the present situation, that they may if possible be won for the proletarian defensive fight. The proletariat of France, Belgium, England, Italy, Czecho-Slovakia, Poland, and Germany, should gather together in this hour for a great united fraternal struggle against French imperialism and German capitalism, against the frightful danger of a fresh war in Central Europe. And the parties of the 2. International and of the Amsterdam trade unions, posses the power to do this, if they only would. But instead of this what do we see? The French socialists confine themselves to a few protest meetings, and decline to join the communists and revolutionary trade unions in an earnest proletarian struggle; the Belgian labor party even limits its action to a paper resolution of its national council, although Belgian soldiers are amongst those invading the Ruhr district. We hear nothing of really determined struggles, or of any pressure exercised by the great English Labor Party. The Italian social democrats are accomplices of Mussolini. We prefer to make no mention whatever of the Czech and Polish socialists and reformists This is the appearance presented by the international solidarity of the second “international”. The first really critical situation proves only loo drastically that it is an international of words and not of deeds, and its leaders in fact hold to their expressed intention of not deserting their native country, that is, their bourgeoisie, in the “hour of danger”.

It is regrettable that the German social democracy also stands in the first ranks of this association. Instead of at last realizing its duties towards the proletariat, instead of at last abandoning the disastrous errors of its coalition policy, and of the capitalist policy of fulfilment of war obligations, German social democracy again refuses to accede to the earnest fighting proposals of the communists against the occupation of the Ruhr district, and against the Cuno government. Once more it takes sides with the bourgeoisie, as it has done since August 1914; once more it joins the national united front, if somewhat shamefacedly, and keeps peace with the German bourgeoisie. The leader of the Social Democratic Reichstag fraction, Hermann Müller, declares that in this situation the social democrats support the Cuno government, and expressly approve its measures. All over Germany we see the social democratic leaders, who have trampled the interests of the German proletariat underfoot ever since the outbreak of war, again striking a severe blow at the international proletariat by their conduct.

We are fully convinced that thousands upon thousands of social democratic workers in all countries will refuse to follow the example of their leaders, that confronted with this first serious danger of war they will open their eyes as to the policy of their leaders, and we are convinced that there are innumerable social democratic class comrades who think like the right-socialist workman at the Essen district conference, who protested loudly against the jingoism of his social democratic fraction, and called out: That the demonstrations of the German bourgeoisie seemed to him like protestations of street robbers that other street robbers seize them by the throat, or of prostitutes that they are violated. This embittered trend of feeling among many social democratic workers was also expressed in the attitude of the social democratic fraction in the German Reichstag. Many social democratic members of the Reichsag felt extremely uncomfortable in this national united front in the company of Cuno and Stinnes, and the residue of their proletarian and international sense of duty, led to the complete dissolution of the social democratic Reichstag fraction. While the majority of the fraction supported the vote of confidence in the Cuno government, a great many members abstained from voting at all, and 16 others gave up their voting papers with the express explanation that they were not voting. Thus it was only the communists who unequivocally declared class war against the Cuno government in the German Reichstag, and manifested by their votes that they actually take up this war. In France also, it is only the communists who have taken up a really determined struggle against French militarism, and who are being thrown into the French prisons for repeating Karl Liebknecht’s cry of: War against imperialist war!

The Communist International expects of all workers, employees, officials, peasants, and soldiers, including those belonging to the socialist parties, that they now take up the fight all over Europe against the capitalists, that all the exploited join forces against all exploiters, all proletarians against the bourgeoisie.

Hence the step taken by the Communist International, hence the repeated earnest appeal for a common proletarian fight, despite all lack of faith in the reformist leaders. The proletariat of Europe is confronted with the choice: either to join with the national bourgeoisie in the national united front, and to take part in the fresh war, in the new and terrible conflicts and ruin of Central Europe, or to join the workers of all countries in inexorable class war and ruthless struggle and war against international capital. The Communist International is at its post, it is determined and ready to fight. It is now the turn of the Second International and of the Amsterdamers to speak.

International Press Correspondence, widely known as”Inprecorr” was published by the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) regularly in German and English, occasionally in many other languages, beginning in 1921 and lasting in English until 1938. Inprecorr’s role was to supply translated articles to the English-speaking press of the International from the Comintern’s different sections, as well as news and statements from the ECCI. Many ‘Daily Worker’ and ‘Communist’ articles originated in Inprecorr, and it also published articles by American comrades for use in other countries. It was published at least weekly, and often thrice weekly.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/inprecor/1923/v03n11-jan-30-1923-Inprecor-loc.pdf