Struggles of Socialists Against Socialists

Abstract

As clear as it had to be to every socialist that the good progress of the Revolution depended on the steadfast collaboration of the socialist factions—since political power had gone over to them—it proved to be just as difficult in practice to realise this collaboration to the required degree and for the necessary duration. One may well say that the great majority of the leading members of both social-democratic factions did not lack the goodwill to do so. But collaboration was not achieved with this goodwill alone, so long as fundamental consensus was not reached at least regarding the most important questions of the attitude they should observe and the measures they should take. But quite a few things were missing in this respect, as soon became clear. The first effect was that, especially in the Reich, as the Republic of Germany was still called, the work of the Rat der Volksbeauftragten got off to an uncommonly sluggish start, and the personalities who comprised it afforded little satisfaction. They faced each other, three against three, so in the case of differences of opinion between one group and the other, they were forced to rely on long-drawn-out negotiations to achieve any resolution at all, and, where one was not to be reached, had to leave several matters that needed to be decided unresolved indefinitely.