Emil Schubert on Participation in Elections at the Founding Party Congress of the KPD

This morning's remarks, both by Comrade Liebknecht and Comrade Radek, have proven that in revolutionary times, one must establish clear guidelines and slogans. The entire question of the National Assembly this afternoon was refuted this morning by Comrade Liebknecht. This morning, he took the position that socialism is a question of power, which must not be represented in any parliament, but in the streets and on the battlefields. At the Berlin General Assembly of the Union,1 Comrade Luxemburg , just like Liebknecht, took a completely different stance on the Russian Revolution than today. She said there, "The last one to leave gets bitten by the dogs," as the saying goes. Here with the Russian comrades, it was different; they were the first to attempt to implement communism and abolish parliamentarism. For this reason, we begin where the Russian comrades left off. Comrade Levi says: If we do not participate in the National Assembly elections, we will paralyze our movement. This is a standpoint that a revolutionary cannot and must not take if he does not want to come into conflict with the masses, who believe that power must lie in the hands of the workers. There can be only one thing: the realization of socialism through the power of the workers' councils.

If we declare ourselves in favor of parliamentarization today, at this stage of the revolution, those who are still wavering would see that no clarification has taken place between Spartacus and the Independents because we are using the traditional ballot paper. Let them vote for Ebert and Scheidemann, that cannot deter us from our actions. It is certain that if we work in this direction, we will face a difficult field, but because we are convinced that conditions are developing in our favor, there is no other solution for us than the slogan: Down with parliamentarism, and no pacts. The Charlottenburg comrades are of the opinion that we will switch over to the Spartacus League if we do not reach the conclusion today that the Spartacus League wants the same thing as the USP. You theorists can interpret it differently, but the instinct of the masses does not grasp it so quickly. The duty of the workers' and factory councils is to steer the leaders, who want to divert us from our path, onto the right path.

• 1 This refers to the general assembly of the USPD of Greater Berlin on December 15, 1918.