Germany does not seek survival

The questions to be discussed at the Labor Community Conference were the demands put forward by Liebknecht on behalf of the major trade unions:

Implement an eight-hour workday without reducing wages;

Setting standards for working conditions through collective agreements;

Recognize revolutionary union representation in factories and disband yellow unions;

electing committees in enterprises with more than 50 employees to monitor the implementation of collective agreements;

Arbitration committees at all levels should be established, with an equal number of union and employer representatives on each committee.

Obviously, these conditions were very harsh. Liebknecht did not think that the major companies would accept them. He was planning to use these conditions to force Ebert to step down. Ebert would either accept these conditions in full and break with the bourgeoisie, or he would have to expose the ugly face of the Social Democratic Party that protected the interests of capital in front of the working masses.

The representatives of the Spartacus League were all calm and composed. It seemed that they all knew that the corporate representatives would never accept these conditions.

However, Albert in the Faust stand still looked calm and composed, not at all like he was being attacked by the general. He immediately understood: it seemed that this Labor Community Conference was not the Spartacus League forcing the Social Democratic Party to step down, but the complete opposite.

Sure enough, Siemens, as the representative of the industrial sector, immediately stood up and spoke: "Gentlemen, I don't understand politics. I really don't understand those terms such as socialism and anarchism. But I understand that the workers joined the revolution not because they are prone to chaos, but because their fellow workers in Berlin have been forced to destitute by the war."

"For a long time, our industrialist friends have completely ignored the miserable living conditions of the working masses!"

Siemens took off his glasses as he spoke. His eyes were red and he wiped two tears with a handkerchief. "If the industrial sector doesn't make any progress, entrepreneurs shouldn't blame the working class for their anger. If you don't give them a way to survive, how can they give you a way to survive?"

Siemens slammed the table and said, "On behalf of Siemens AG, I hereby declare that I accept all the conditions proposed by the Workers' Community Conference. In Germany today, after four years of war, our entire national economy is practically on the brink of collapse. Ordinary people are starving, starving, and struggling to survive. Frankly, we entrepreneurs are failing the people."

"Germany's top priority today is unity! Unity! Unity! The German people, all classes, must unite to maintain the operation of the German industrial system first, so that everyone can survive. I propose that all German companies above a certain size immediately implement the labor community agreement, and no exceptions are allowed!"

Chapter 180: Exploitation is a Merit

A group of chairmen and general managers, led by Siemens, immediately announced that they accepted all the demands put forward by Liebknecht. Such a sudden attack really caught the Spartacus League off guard.

Siemens stood up and said, "Berlin has nearly 200,000 industrial and commercial enterprises. There are tens of thousands of large-scale industrial enterprises alone, which affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers. There are also tens of thousands of small factories, large and small, which supply many of society's necessities—food, clothing, and daily necessities—all of which depend on them."

"After the revolution, the Berlin market was in a state of panic. Many capitalists were worried that the revolutionary government would confiscate their factories, so they were very passive. Many were ready to close down. In the past few days, I have seen hundreds of capitalists selling their factories."

"As President Ebert said, the revolutionary government should clearly distinguish between financial capital and industrial capital. Financial capital is the primary perpetrator of German capitalism's consistent exploitation of the people. Industrial capital, on the other hand, is primarily based on physical assets and cannot leave Germany. To maintain production, it must employ a large number of workers and provide numerous jobs for the proletariat. Therefore, industrial capital is revolutionary capital and must not be lumped together with financial capital."

Faust, sitting in the audience, almost wanted to laugh when he heard it. Siemens' theory was not close to Albert's social democracy. In fact, it was closer to the Strasser brothers' national socialist theory.

Faust glanced at the Strasser brothers. Sure enough, the elder Strasser, the younger Strasser, and the members of the Hamburg Labor Union faction of the Spartacus League who had close relations with the Strasser brothers all straightened their backs, their eyes shining, and looked very confident.

Siemens's words quickly aroused Liebknecht's anger. Liebknecht was stunned by the monopoly capitalists' distortion of right and wrong:

"According to Mr. Siemens, if we distinguish between finance capital and industrial capital, then the exploitation of industrial capitalists is not a sin but is actually a meritorious act?"

All the representatives of the Spartacus League, except for the Strasser brothers and other members of the Hamburg trade union faction, followed Liebknecht's indignant clamor and started to make noise.

Many people shouted in dissatisfaction: "Exploitation is a merit? Exploitation is a merit! Absurd, ridiculous! It doesn't make sense at all!"

Ebert's chief lackey, "Razor" Noske, slammed the table and sneered, "Anyone who disrupts the order of the meeting will be expelled by my guards. Mr. Liebknecht, please keep the members of the Spartacus League under control."

Albert, arms folded, sat on the podium and spoke slowly, "The Provisional Government's primary task after the revolution is to restore German industrial production. Otherwise, who knows how many of the sixty million Germans will starve to death this winter. To ensure that Germany's industrial system does not experience significant turmoil, I believe it's best not to strike too hard at Germany's progressive national capitalists. Since Mr. Siemens is willing to accept all the conditions proposed by the Spartacus League and they've made concessions, wouldn't it be too inhumane for us to still call for war and killing them?"

Siemens smiled faintly. "I thank you, Mr. President, for your concern. In fact, Germany's industrial system has indeed faced a serious threat in recent days. In many factories in Berlin, workers have been wilfully destroying machinery and looting industrial products. They initially stole public property, but later moved on to private property, encouraging the urban poor to take it as well. This looting is getting worse and worse. If left unchecked, it will lead to a major disaster."

Ebert and Siemens echoed each other, and Ebert went on to criticize the left-wing coalition, saying:

"Destroying large-scale industry in cities is a typical small-peasant habit and a Luddite movement. Its nature is reactionary, backward, and regressive and must be resolutely opposed."

Behind Siemens, the other representatives of the big bourgeoisie also began to stand up and speak.

Stines said that during the Battle of Berlin, his factory urgently provided the provisional government with much-needed cement and steel pipes. However, after the war, the government not only failed to settle the accounts and pay the bills, but also refused to compensate for the losses caused by workers' looting during the revolution.

Vogler, Hugenberg, and others also spoke out, saying, "After the revolution, some workers and shop assistants misunderstood the Spartacus League's propaganda. They thought the government allowed them to split up factories and stores and launch liquidation struggles. As a result, many people broke into factories and looted, seriously disrupting the normal operation of German large-scale industry. This is pure banditry."

The speeches of these big-bourgeois representatives really irritated Liebknecht. Many other members of the Spartacus League also questioned how much of the "losses" mentioned by the big-bourgeois representatives were real or fictitious.

But Faust knew very well that if the argument between the two sides finally came down to the specific amount of losses, it would mean that the Spartacus League had tacitly accepted the position of the representatives of the monopoly bourgeoisie on the issue of "maintaining the old production order."

Because Noske and his guards did not allow the Spartacus League representatives to speak loudly, only Liebknecht could speak alone.

Liebknecht shook his head and said, "The World War has proved that if the old capitalist order continues to be maintained, both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat will be destroyed together in endless exploitation. Therefore, we must find new ways and must not use the same old ways."

Siemens said calmly, "I have a son who's a member of the Independent Party, and a daughter who recently joined the Spartacus League. How could I possibly engage in exploitation? I don't want to be a capitalist. I simply want to build an industrial powerhouse and use science, technology, and industrial development to change the impoverished lives of the German people. My Siemens company has been operating for decades, dating back to my brother's time. Our work conditions and labor standards have always been world-leading."

Another industrial magnate in German business, Krupp's supervisory board chairman, Hulleberg, also spoke out: "Yes, and we have fully accepted Mr. Liebknecht's conditions. If you want an eight-hour workday, we will give you an eight-hour workday. If you want recognition of the revolutionary unions and the dissolution of our own, we will accept that. We also accept matters such as supervisory committees and labor arbitration committees. We will do everything according to the Spartacus League's instructions."

At the meeting of the labor community, the representatives of the big bourgeoisie all expressed their agreement to all the conditions put forward by the Spartacus League, thus gaining an invincible position.

Faust shook his head secretly. The negotiation conditions proposed by the Spartacus League were not so harsh that the big capitalists could not accept them at all. Under the threat of revolutionary liquidation, the Siemens group might indeed fulfill their relevant promises within a period of time.

From a strategic point of view, Faust believes that a better approach would be to first put forward some conditions that are completely unacceptable to the bourgeoisie, which would be more wise.

However, when Faust thought about it carefully, he felt that the positions of the three parties in the left-wing alliance were not completely consistent, which meant that there was bound to be room for division and disintegration by the enemy.

Even if Liebknecht really put forward conditions that Siemens could not accept at all, Siemens could pretend to accept them first, and then tear up its promise after the alliance between the big bourgeoisie and the Social Democratic Party had recovered.

Undoubtedly, in this verbal battle, Liebknecht was at a disadvantage compared to Siemens.

Albert, seeing the situation was favorable to him, immediately spoke up, "Many people are afraid to talk about exploitation these days, but exploitation is a fact. Even though your factory has thousands or hundreds of shareholders, you represent them and the capital, and you have the obligation and responsibility to extract surplus value from the workers. Even a dollar is exploitation. This is a fact, and we have no choice but to acknowledge it. However, the idea that greater exploitation means greater sin is a mistake."

"From the basic common sense of Marxist historical materialism, whether or not there is exploitation is not decided by you, nor by the workers. Exploitation is determined by the social system. In a capitalist society, if you don't exploit others, others will exploit you, and you may even be exploited by foreigners. You can't not exploit, and you can't avoid being exploited by others. This is not determined by human consciousness, but by the conditions of social economic development."

"The replacement of feudal exploitation by capitalist exploitation is a tremendous historical advance. Marx said that capitalism made historic contributions in its youth. Capitalism, in a short period of less than a hundred years, has raised productivity to unprecedented heights, and this can be said to have been a significant contribution."

Albert tapped the table and said leisurely, "As for whether we should eliminate the capitalist exploitation system now, that depends on whether the historical conditions for eliminating capitalism are in place. Judging from Germany's current situation, capitalist exploitation can be abolished at any time in the future, but we can't do that now. Because the current situation is unstable, we must prioritize resuming production, getting through this winter and this year, and ensuring the German people's right to survival before we can discuss other things."

Albert pointed at Siemens again and said, "Your children are all revolutionaries, so of course you are innocent. Siemens hires workers for work and pays them wages, exploiting them. They have jobs and are not unemployed. Currently, Siemens exploits a few thousand or ten thousand workers, but that's actually too few. If you could exploit twenty or thirty thousand workers, that would be even better. It's better for workers today to be exploited than not to be exploited. Not being exploited makes them suffer more. Being exploited, although painful, is better. They won't be unemployed and will have food to eat."

Of course, Albert's words won applause from the whole room. Representatives of the big bourgeoisie cheered him, and some representatives of the independent party also wavered in their positions. The Spartacus League continued to oppose at this time and became the target of public criticism.

Albert seized the opportunity and immediately finalized the deal: "Today, after the Provisional Government's efforts, representatives of Germany's industrial sector have all expressed their willingness to accept the Labor Community Agreement. We will sign this agreement in black and white immediately."

Ebert's assistant, SPD Vice Chairman Scheidemann, immediately called his secretary, prepared the text of the agreement, and asked representatives of the four parties and companies such as Siemens to sign it on the spot.

Albert was increasingly in control of the situation. He beamed with joy: "Once this is signed, it will be a major advancement in German history unprecedented in a thousand years. We dare say that Germany's socialist revolution has already achieved almost half its victory!"

Chapter 181: Overturn the table!

Ebert took the lead in signing, and Kautsky, the chairman of the Independent Party, also signed the agreement after a slight hesitation. Liebknecht, who was left, of course opposed to compromising with this group of monopoly bourgeoisie. However, almost every condition in this agreement was originally proposed by Liebknecht.

If Liebknecht opposed the conditions he had proposed at this time, it would be very disadvantageous to the Spartacus League politically and would also lose the trust of the people.

All the representatives of the major trade unions present in the audience focused their attention on Liebknecht. All the pressure was on Liebknecht alone. He held a pen tightly, took a small step forward, hesitated a little, slowly opened the pen cap, and slowly put pen to paper.

At the last moment, before Liebknecht's pen was about to touch the paper, a voice came from behind him:

"I object!"

Albert frowned, Siemens suddenly turned his head, and the representatives of the four parties, trade unions, and the big bourgeoisie present also turned their eyes behind Liebknecht.

a woman.

A Polish woman in a long white gauze dress stood up.

Luxemburg raised her right hand high and declared: "I am opposed to signing this agreement. I am opposed to signing any agreement of any nature or content with any representative of the big bourgeoisie until the big capitalists of Berlin hand over the control of their enterprises to the revolutionary government."

Albert was extremely displeased and said, "Rosa, please don't forget that all the terms in the Labor Community Agreement were proposed by you, the Spartacus League. Are you going to go back on your word? You proposed the conditions, and after they agreed to them, you're going to go back on your word!"

The other representatives of the Spartacus League, except Luxemburg, were in an awkward situation at this time. No one was in a position to oppose what they had been arguing for before, so it seemed that Luxemburg's opposition was a solitary fight.

Luxemburg sneered, "Albert, everyone knows your schemes. If you don't hand over control of the companies and the revolutionary government doesn't directly take over those factories, even if the big capitalists sign an agreement today, they can tear it up tomorrow, the day after tomorrow...any day in the future."

Albert, who always presented himself as humorous and easygoing, angrily threw his coffee cup on the table and pointed at Luxemburg:

"Luxemburg, you crazy woman! I want you to get out? Do you hear me? Where are the guards? Nosk, tell your people to kick this crazy woman out of the venue."

Nosk waved his hand grimly, and Sheriff Gannat under his command could only sigh helplessly and order the police to take action.

Immediately, six or seven burly men, still wearing the police uniforms of the Empire era, swarmed towards Luxemburg, each holding a black wooden stick. It looked as if Luxemburg was going to resist and was determined to get her out even by using violence.

Several police officers crossed the long table in the conference room and ran towards Luxemburg. Luxemburg screamed, "Albert, what do you want to do?"

There was a small round table in front of Luxemburg, and the police stood opposite the small round table, and some of them hit the table top with batons.

Only Madame Zetkin, the independent party representative from Leipzig who had come to Berlin with the National Socialist Party, a woman of her stature, bravely stood up to Luxemburg and said, "What do you want to do to Ms. Luxemburg, who is respected by the German people?!"

Regardless, Ebert urged Liebknecht: "Please sign it quickly. The Labor Community Agreement is of great importance. The people of Berlin take this very seriously!"

While Liebknecht was still hesitating, the police had already surrounded Luxemburg. Among the representatives of the Spartacus League, only a few expressed their support for Luxemburg, but it was only at the verbal stage. No one really stood against the police to protect Luxemburg.

Liebknecht was also very conflicted. He understood that if the Spartacus League did not sign the Labor Community Agreement, it would seriously lose points in the eyes of the German working class.

Because the conditions agreed to by Ebert and other representatives of the big bourgeoisie were extremely favorable and attractive to the German working class, Liebknecht's refusal to sign was tantamount to obstructing the passage of an agreement he had proposed, which would be difficult for the German people to understand no matter what.

Just as Liebknecht was about to sign and Luxemburg was about to be "politely escorted" out by the police, the conference hall was in chaos. Suddenly, there was a bang, and the buzzing noise in the entire conference hall in the Siemens Villa stopped after a few seconds as if the temperature had suddenly dropped.

Hundreds of representatives from various political parties and trade unions in the conference hall, as well as guards, servants, and maids in the corridor of the Siemens villa, stopped talking one after another, revealing expressions of disbelief.

The small round table in front of Luxemburg was overturned with a bang.

Then, a policeman jumped on the spot in front of everyone, flew up, and landed on the long table in the middle of the conference room with a clang.

Faust stood there, holding another policeman by the collar in his hand, holding the policeman who was bigger, stronger and more burly than himself high in his hand like a little rabbit.

Captain Gantner of the Berlin Police Department had been ordered by Noske to cause trouble for Faust before Faust left Berlin last time, and had witnessed with his own eyes how Faust dealt with more than a dozen policemen under his command.

This situation appeared in front of Sheriff Gantner again. He could only scratch his head in distress. The gods were fighting, and he, a small sheriff, could not take care of it. He asked everyone to mind their own business!

After a brief silence and astonishment, the policemen surrounding Luxembourg stretched out their hands to grab Faust. Faust just turned his body slightly and waved his right hand, and the policemen's hands were empty. In the blink of an eye, Faust dropped the policeman he was holding and picked up another policeman like a chicken.

The policeman's baton also fell at Luxemburg's feet. The Polish woman picked up the baton and held it tightly in her hand to defend herself.

Faust smiled and said, "Comrade Luxemburg, you will be safe as long as I am here."

Luxemburg was slightly startled, then lowered her head again, as if feeling a little embarrassed. Madame Zetkin hugged Luxemburg's arm and said, "Please trust Comrade Faust!"

"General Faust..."

Most of the police looked at each other in confusion. No one dared to attack Faust again, and no one dared to move at all.

There was only one young man who was still ignorant of the world and rushed towards Faust with a loud roar. Faust's body leaned back slightly, then took a step to the side, turned around again, and without stopping, he grabbed the policeman's forehead and lifted him up.

“What the hell…!”

Siemens, dressed in a tie, had an expression of disbelief on his face. The drama before him should not appear in a highest-level labor-management negotiation meeting in Berlin, but should appear in chivalrous romantic literature such as "Parsifal" and "Mérigord".

Look at Faust's face, it really fits the image of the knight novels that German aristocratic women love to read.

Faust threw the policemen he was holding in his hands to the ground. He walked to the opposite side of Albert's table with an expressionless face and grabbed Liebknecht's hand.

"Dr. Liebknecht, I object to this agreement, too."

Faust said calmly, "I agree with Ms. Luxemburg. Unless Germany's major corporations hand over management rights to the revolutionary regime, I personally will not reach any agreement with Germany's major business owners at this stage, even if the agreement appears to be particularly beneficial to the people."

Liebknecht seemed to be still hesitating: "I promised these conditions to the German people. If you don't sign, the Spartacus League will lose the love of the people..."

Faust folded his arms and shook his head. "The people's love is certainly important, but they can also make irrational decisions due to momentary enthusiasm. If a political party has already branded itself as a transcendental vanguard that represents the people, then at this moment, it certainly cannot be swayed by the people's momentary emotions."

Albert stood across from the long table. He was also stunned by Faust's easy move of mentioning so many policemen. It took him a long time to recover.

Albert stared at Faust, and the more he looked at this young man, the more afraid he became - Werther Faust, why does he always play by his own rules?

Albert asked: "Faust, what about you, the National Socialists? Are you going to refuse to sign the Labor Community Agreement?"

Faust knew very well that if he refused to sign on behalf of the National Socialist Party, the National Socialist Party, which had little influence and political reputation, would definitely suffer a severe blow, at least in Berlin.

But Faust still understood the situation: "Of course, I refuse!"

After Faust said this, Liebknecht found it even more difficult to make a decision. He grabbed a pen and pressed it against his forehead, feeling very distressed.

Faust then said gently, "Such an important decision must be discussed at a meeting of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of the National Socialist Party Central Committee before a decision can be made on whether to sign or not."

Albert tutted and said, "You can call or send a telegram to Munich right away and get the result right away."

Faust smiled. "The National Socialist Party's Central Revolutionary Committee members all have important tasks to perform. They are scattered across southern Germany and will be difficult to contact for the time being. It's difficult to reach a conclusion quickly."

Albert didn't want to give Faust time to delay, so he pressed on: "So, how long will it take for the National Socialist Party to come up with a result?"

Faust waved his hand. "The national situation is turbulent. I can't give a specific date."

Albert was furious. He wanted to pound the table angrily. He raised his right fist high and didn't bring it down until he remembered that Faust opposite him was a famous strongman in the German army. If he angered Faust instead, the result would not be good. Albert had to retract his fist in disappointment.

Faust looked at Liebknecht again. "Doctor, are you going to sign?"

Liebknecht was both hesitant and conflicted. The terms in the labor community agreement were the goals that Liebknecht had pursued for decades in his revolution. If he signed this, he would achieve 50% to 60% of what he had been pursuing all his life today.

"I……"

"The Spartacus League cannot sign this! This is Albert's conspiracy!"

Luxemburg screamed at the top of her lungs, but most of the Spartacus League representatives were as hesitant as Liebknecht, rather than as radical and resolute as Luxemburg.

Faust sighed in his heart. If Liebknecht and Luxemburg were the same person, the German Revolution might have really succeeded, and the entire human history would be very different. However, fate played a joke on the German Revolution.