Karl Liebknecht: biography, life story, achievements and feat

He several years before the First World War tried to unite the proletariat to fight against the inexorably looming threat. He was the only deputy who at the meeting of the Reichstag voted against allocating funds to the German government to continue military operations against France, Russia and England. He was the founder of the German Communist Party. For his anti-government speeches and anti-war appeals, he was killed by his same party members. This bold and honest revolutionary, fighting for peace and justice, was called Karl Liebknecht.

Biography: who is Karl Liebknecht

He was born on August 13, 1871 in the city of Leipzig (Germany). His father was the famous revolutionary Wilhelm Liebknecht, who created the German Social-Democratic Party together with the equally famous August Bebel. Father Karl was friends with K. Marx and F. Engels. His son he named in honor of the first of the above comrades.

I must say that Karl Liebknecht has been at work meetings since his youth. He grew up a convinced Marxist. Karl studied at the universities of Berlin and Leipzig, as a result of which he became an excellent lawyer. His dream came true - he began to uphold the interests and rights of the workers in the courts.

The beginning of revolutionary activity

In 1900, Karl Liebknecht was admitted to the Social Democratic Party. After 4 years in the German court, he acted as a lawyer, defending German and Russian party members who were accused of illegally delivering forbidden literature across the border. Then, in his speech, he criticized the policy of persecution of those who were unwanted, which the Prussian-German state, as well as Russian tsarism, conducted so zealously.

Karl Liebknecht rather sharply opposed the reformist tactics conducted in the circles of right-wing Social Democratic leaders. At the same time, he concentrated all his energies on anti-militaristic agitation and carrying out political work in the youth environment.

In 1904 a congress of the Social Democratic Party was held in German Bremen. By that time, everyone already knew who Karl Liebknecht was. He delivered a fiery speech in which he clearly characterized militarism as one of the most important bulwarks of world capitalism. He proposed the development of a special program on anti-war propaganda. In addition, he was the initiator of the creation of a youth social-democratic organization in order to involve fresh cadres in the fight against ever-increasing militarism.

Attitude to the events in Russia

The revolution of 1905-1907, carried out on the territory of the Russian Empire, stirred up the whole of Europe. Despite the fact that Karl Liebknecht is a German by birth, he was very enthusiastic about this long-awaited event and openly expressed his approval on this matter. In 1905, at the Jen Congress of Social Democrats, he entered into a political battle with the revisionists, officially proclaiming a general political strike one of the most effective ways of fighting the proletariat for their rights.

The next sensational speech of Liebknecht was his accusatory speech at the Mannheim Congress of the Party. Here, he once again criticized the policy of the German government, concerning rendering assistance to Russian tsarism in suppressing the revolutionary movement. In the end, he urged his compatriots to follow the example of the Russian proletarians and begin the same struggle, but already in their country.

Formation of the left stream

It was during the revolution in Russia that the German Social Democracy gradually began to split into two camps. The left stream was organized in the party. One of its main leaders, such as Rosa Luxemburg and others, became Karl Liebknecht. In 1907 he was among those who were engaged in the creation of the Socialist Youth International, and in the next three years presided over this organization.

Needless to say, the revolutionary biography of Liebknecht Karl, the main dates and events of which were replaced at great speed, could not do without an episode of arrest? In 1907 he was sentenced to imprisonment in the fortress after he delivered his report at the first conference, where representatives of youth socialist organizations from several countries gathered at once.

Way up

The political biography of Liebknecht Karl continued in 1908, when he was elected to the Prussian Chamber of Deputies. About four years have passed. During this time, his authority grew so much that he was already a member of the deputy corps of the German Reichstag. In 1912, at the next party congress in Chemnitz, he openly called on the proletarians to strengthen international solidarity, since he considered it to be the main means of combating ever-increasing militarism. The following year, from the parliamentary rostrum, Karl Liebknecht accused Krupp and other leaders, who headed the military monopolies, in fanning the war.

It is worth noting that, after the First World War (1914-1918), Liebknecht, despite his deep convictions, submitted to the general decision adopted by the majority of members of the Social-Democratic faction of the Reichstag. He even voted to take military credits, but soon realized his mistake. He passionately wanted to correct this mistake, and in 4 months he had such an opportunity.

Revolutionary feat

In early December 1914 the next meeting of the German Reichstag took place. It should be noted that on that day the hall was crowded. All government benches were occupied. They were seated by generals, ministers, dignitaries. The chairman announced the beginning of voting for military loans. This should mean that the Reichstag approves the war, initiated by the government, against France, Russia and England.

Nobody had the slightest doubt that the parliamentarians of all parties would vote for this decision as unanimously as on August 4, that is, without exception, all deputies, including 110 Social Democrats. But what happened was what no one expected. All the deputies stood up, demonstrating their unity, and only one remained in his place. His name was Karl Liebknecht.

He was the only one who spoke then against loans for military needs. In his written statement, which was given to the chairman of the Reichstag, he gave a description of the unleashed war, which he directly called aggressive. Soon this document was distributed illegally in the form of leaflets.

It is difficult to imagine how difficult it was for Liebknecht to vote alone against all bourgeois parties, including her own, whose members shamelessly betrayed the working class. In truth, this was a real feat of Karl Liebknecht, since after his vote, the leaders of the German Social Democrats, who from the very beginning of the war were allies of the German government, attacked him with fury. His speech in parliament stirred up the whole of Europe. His address was a huge number of letters with greetings and words of support.

Disappointment

Immediately before the First World War, Liebknecht visited France. There he delivered a speech in which he called on the workers to unite and make every effort to thwart the impending war. But, as you know, nothing came of it. As it turned out, practically all the socialist parties turned out to be cowardly traitors, except for one - the Bolshevik one. When the war began, only its principled position remained unchanged to the end.

Liebknecht was terribly disappointed that his fellow party members shamefully betrayed the ideas of socialism. But despite this, he did not begin to speak against them in the parliament on August 4, because he considered it his duty to adhere to party discipline. It was an inexcusable mistake, which he corrected by his vote four months later.

Frontal adversities

By the way, the government was not going to forgive Liebknecht for his vote at the Reichstag meeting. He was punished, summoned to the army, although at that time he was already 44 years old. In addition, not only his age, but also his state of health was such that he was not subject to mobilization. Yes, there, even the deputy rank did not help him.

At the front, Liebknecht served as a simple soldier in the labor battalion. Here he performed all the most dirty and hard work, but, according to eyewitnesses, he was always cheerful and never faint.

Death of a revolutionary

After returning from the front, Liebknecht, along with his like-minded Rosa Luxemburg, took part in the organization of the Spartak group, which had already formed by January 1916. She was engaged in active anti-war activities. For this he is excluded from the Social Democratic faction of the parliament. In the same year, from the rostrum of the Reichstag, Liebknecht called on the German proletarians to leave on May 1 for a demonstration under the slogan "Down with the war!" And "Workers of all countries, unite!"

During this demonstration, Liebknecht called on all those gathered to overthrow the government, which, he said, was leading a bloody and senseless imperialist war. For such seditious statements Liebknecht was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison. During the confinement, he learned about the victory of the October Revolution in Russia and took this news enthusiastically, after which he called on the German soldiers not to participate in its suppression.

In October 1918 Liebnecht was released, after which he continued his revolutionary activities. The politician actively opposed the treacherous policies of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party. It was he, together with Rosa Luxemburg at the Berlin constituent congress, held from the end of December 1918, founded the German Communist Party.

In January 1919, there was an anti-government uprising led by Liebknecht Karl. The main dates and events in his life, from his youth, were inseparably linked with revolutionary activity, and therefore the Social Democrats feared, not without reason, that such actions and appeals could lead to the outbreak of the civil war in Germany. The persecution of communist leaders began. For the heads of Luxembourg and Liebknecht was awarded a reward of 100 thousand marks. On January 15, on the orders of the former party member, Social Democrat G. Noske, they were captured and shot.