Max Levien on Participation in Elections at the Founding Party Congress of the KPD

What do you all want here? You all want to rein in the bourgeoisie. And I believe that there is no comrade who wishes that more fervently than Comrade Rosa Luxemburg. What does it mean to rein in the bourgeoisie? It means to lead the revolution to victory. That is not so simple. Revolutions do not march on a ruler. They describe zigzags, dictated by the various power relations. But the first commandment for a revolutionary class is to remain constantly on the offensive. We are talking about opportunism. It is purely a question of tactics. Comrade Liebknecht said that there is a possibility that the development will take a longer period. He spoke in favor of the National Assembly, but that would mean declaring bankruptcy of faith in the current contradictions between the warring classes. If we want to count on a longer period, then we must resort to a parliament organized along revolutionary lines. Of course, even that wouldn't be opportunism. Opportunism relies on quantity, on the number of votes. The suggestion has been made that only two delegates be elected: Comrade Luxemburg and Comrade Liebknecht. They're too good for that in my opinion. We need them on the streets. Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg demonstrated how brilliantly our comrades can work outside of parliament during the short period of the revolution. It has been said of Comrade Liebknecht that he had the opportunity there to discredit the Reichstag in the Reichstag itself. He forgot to mention that we didn't have freedom of assembly back then. The same was true of the first Duma. At present, we have a boiling cauldron of proletarian movement, and we certainly don't want to add fuel to this boiling cauldron by electing a National Assembly and hindering the masses' ability to act.

In Bavaria, elections for a Bavarian National Assembly will soon be announced. The people of Braunschweig have already voted, much to my regret. It is impossible to vote for the National Assembly without simultaneously voting for the Bavarian National Assembly. We are diverting the colossal movement, which is finding economic expression in the Ruhr region and in Silesia, into an area of ​​perpetual voting. We are thereby giving the workers the illusion of a personality cult, as if the leaders in the National Assembly could do anything. I would demand the dissolution of the National Assembly. Anything else is cooperation. When we submit motions, we consider them legitimate to create the constitution of the Reich. I would advise you to refrain from voting for the National Assembly. It is not possible to go to the National Assembly and at the same time resolve the revolutionary differences and wait until you are thrown out.