The earth-shattering events of the German revolution in November 1918 were a powerful inspiration to the Russian masses, who were desperate to break loose from their isolation and extend the proletarian revolution westwards. It was the first in a series of spontaneous revolutionary waves that crashed into the barriers of capitalism.
In Moscow, Lenin had almost finished his reply to the attacks of Karl Kautsky, the past head of the Second International – The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky – when he received the news from Germany. He immediately put down his pen, but then resumed writing after a brief pause:
The above lines were written on 9 November 1918. That same night news was received from Germany announcing the beginning of a victorious revolution, first in Kiel and other northern towns and ports, where the power has passed into the hands of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, then in Berlin, where, too, power has passed into the hands of a Soviet.
He then added:
The conclusion which still remained to be written to my pamphlet on Kautsky and on the proletarian revolution is now superfluous. (V. Lenin, The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky, in Lenin Collected Works,[2] vol. 28, p. 319.)
For Lenin, there seemed no point in answering the distortions of Kautsky when the revolution was on the verge of victory.
As Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, Lenin issued an urgent appeal to the Russian workers:
News came from Germany in the night about the victory of the revolution there. First Kiel radio announced that power was in the hands of a council of workers and soldiers. Then Berlin made the following announcement: “Greetings of peace and freedom to all. Berlin and the surrounding districts are in the hands of the Council of Workers and Soldiers’ Deputies…”
Please take every step to notify German soldiers at all border points. Berlin also reports that German soldiers at the fronts have arrested the peace delegation from the former German government and have begun peace negotiations themselves with the French soldiers. (LCW, vol. 28, p. 179.)
As soon as this electrifying news spread, tens of thousands of Russian workers spontaneously took to the streets in jubilation. The mood reached fever pitch. In describing its dramatic impact, the Bolshevik Karl Radek recalled:
From every corner of the city demonstrations were marching towards the Moscow Soviet… Tens of thousands of workers burst into wild cheering. Never have I seen anything like it again. Until late in the evening workers and Red Army soldiers were filing past. The world revolution had come. The mass of the people heard its iron tramp. Our isolation was over. (J. Riddell [ed.], The German Revolution and the Debate on Soviet Power, p. 15.)
Lenin wrote to Sverdlov, convinced that the world revolution was imminent:
The international revolution has come so close in one week that it has to be reckoned with as an event of the next few days… We are all ready to die to help the German workers advance the revolution which has begun in Germany. In conclusion: (1) Ten times more effort to secure grain (clean out all stocks for ourselves and for the German workers). (2) Ten times more enrolments for the army. We must have by the spring an army of three million to help the international workers’ revolution. (LCW, vol. 28, pp. 364-365.)
Lenin and the Bolsheviks knew full well that the centre of gravity of the European revolution was not in backward Russia, but in industrially advanced Germany. While the Russian Revolution provided the opening shot of the world revolution, the decisive battle would be fought out in the heart of Europe, namely with the victory of the German revolution. It was therefore here that the attention of the revolutionary masses worldwide was concentrated. In 1918-1923, Germany can rightly be considered the epicentre of the world revolution and the key to the international situation.
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Henceforth referred to as LCW.