Authors

Discussion

This presentation explores the effect that the revolutionary year of 1905 had on the thought and practice of Rosa Luxemburg, including on her relationship to German Social Democracy. The year 1905 was a watershed year in the Russian Empire, with worldwide repercussions that Luxemburg herself already acknowledged at the time. Mass strikes occurred across the Empire, largely led by workers themselves, outside the control or management of a centralized revolutionary elite. The leadership of both the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) were wary of the effects of such direct action, and stressed caution as opposed to Luxemburg’s support for the mass strikes, and her hopes that they would turn into armed, revolutionary action. She viewed the workers’ actions as the result of both long-held grievances and years-worth of socialist-democratic education and agitation, and urged fellow social democrats to seize the moment alongside the workers. Her stance was viewed as reckless by many within the SPD, and the attacks she faced were many times laced with sexist and anti-Slavic language, all of which will be explored in this presentation.