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Penned in the final year of his life, Wilhelm Liebknecht with a warning that could have been written for us today.

‘What Imperialism and Militarism Mean’ by Wilhelm Liebknecht from Appeal to Reason. No. 231. May 5, 1900.

(This strong arraignment of militarism from the great European socialist is from a letter written by him to Alex M. Thompson, ‘Dangle’ of the London Clarion staff in response to a summary of the present state of English public Opinion.)

I AM now, for a short holiday, living in Italy–a paradise by the grace of nature, and inhabited by an intelligent, sober, and industrious people–a people with the memory of a most glorious past; and all faculties for a not less glorious present–and Italy is ruined, impoverished, and driven from the path of modern civilization by Imperialism and Militarism.

I am by birth a German, and, like every good socialist and internationalist, I have always tried to fulfil the national duties toward my country. I am a good patriot, if patriotism means to work and fight for the liberty and welfare of my country. Well, in this my fight I have always against me the two great enemies of progress and civilization–Militarism and Imperialism. Militarism and Imperialism, they are ruining Germany as they are ruining Italy. Germany, once the land with the best schools, has now perhaps the worst schools in all Europe–schools, it is true, which must be visited by all children, and in which all children learn a little reading and writing–but schools in which instead of truth the most stupid superstition is preached, schools by which independent thinking is forbidden and suppressed, manhood broken, and blind obedience to the authorities that be taught. Instead of educating men our schools have the aim to educate subjects, slaves, soldiers–soldiers ready at the command from above to shoot father, mother, sisters, and brethren. And look at our Universities, High schools (Hochschulen) they are called, and in reality they are low schools of the lowest servility and Byzantinism. Take Berlin. Dr. Schwenninger, a person guilty of, and by the courts of law condemned to prison for a disgraceful and infamous act, was, about sixteen years ago, made professor of that first University of Germany at the bidding of Prince Bismarck, and most of the professors protested in earnest or resigned his professorship. Dr. Schwenninger is to this day professor of the University of Berlin. And now another picture! A few days ago my friend, Dr. Areas, one of our best men of science in the young generation, an excellent teacher, who for years had been Privatdocent, that is, lecturer, at the University, loved by his heaters, esteemed by all men of real science–a few days ago he was removed from the University at the bidding of the Government. And why? Because he is a Socialist and a Free thinker. In other words, because he is truly a man of science and at the same time a man of character who has the courage to draw the logical consequences of science.

These are the fruits of Militarism and Imperialism.

Look at Italy, look at Germany, you Englishmen, before you throw yourselves into the arms of Militarism and Imperialism. Think what Militarism and Imperialism mean!

It means that your young men must sacrifice and lose two years of their life–for being in barracks, doing no useful work, learning nothing but becoming a murdering machine, a tool without thought, without will, that is losing the time of life. And for two years at the least Militarism requires that, because in less time a man cannot be changed into a machine, a tool!

Think. Every man fit for military service is taken from his work for two years, and at that time of life when man works best. Two years of work of the best workers, robbed of the nation! What an immense loss of capital, of national wealth! And to Englishmen I need not tell, that the greater the sum of national work, the greater is the sum of national wealth, and of national strength and power.

A fleet you must have as long as there exist conqueror states like Russia. A fleet you must have, and you can have without ruining yourselves. A fleet and a big army–that is too much, even for a nation as rich as yours. However, the expenses are not the worst.

Militarism and Imperialism does not only mean impoverishing the nation, it means enslaving it with a big army like ours there is no guarantee of liberty and right. The government that has a big army has the means of imposing its will on the people, and it is in human nature that men who have the power to domineer, will domineer.

Look at Italy and look at Germany! Whatever the people wish and want the government does not care for it; it has its big army, and the people have to do what the government wants.

Militarism and Imperialism mean that the man who is not a soldier is a man only of second order. First the soldier, then the citizen.

Look at Italy, and at Germany. A citizen walks through the streets. In some way or other he excites the anger of a soldier. The soldier arrests the citizen–he has the right to do it. The citizen resists. The soldier shoots the citizen as the hunter shoots the hare–shoots him, kills him in the open street. He has the right to do it. He is even praised by his superior for doing his duty. That is Militarism! That is Imperialism!

Look at Italy, look at Germany!

The Appeal to Reason was among the most important and widely read left papers in the United States. With a weekly run of over 550,000 copies by 1910, it remains the largest socialist paper in US history. Founded by utopian socialist and Ruskin Colony leader Julius Wayland it was published privately in Girard, Kansas from 1895 until 1922. The paper came from the Midwestern populist tradition to become the leading national voice in support of the Socialist Party of America in 1901. A ‘popular’ paper, the Appeal was Eugene Debs main literary outlet and saw writings by Upton Sinclair, Jack London, Mary “Mother” Jones, Helen Keller and many others.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/appeal-to-reason/000505-appealtoreason-w231.pdf