Industrial Councils in Germany

Abstract

THE social revolution which began in November, 1918, at the end of the World War, was first carried on by the soldiers' and workers' councils. These trusted men of the working population had almost superhuman tasks to perform. The complete military and economic breakdown, which had been left by the old forces, made it impossible for the soldiers' and workers' councils in the earliest days to be able to apply themselves to the reconstruction of the economic life. They were completely occupied in carrying on the work of liquidation. They were forced to organize the demobilization of all the troops in a speedy manner, and to find means of leading the country out of an economic condition, which was exclusively adapted for war needs, into an economic condition of peace. Considering these difficulties, and remembering the fact that the wvorkers in the old Germany had been excluded from any cooperation in the affairs of the state, these soldiers' and workers' councils accomplished great things. They were, however, not entirely homogeneous in this one respect, that the soldiers' councils desired only peace and the elimination of militarism,without, however, having any particular political philosophy,-whereas among the workers' councils, which had passed through the training of workers' organizations even before the war, it was a question of socialists with a definite purpose. The soldiers' councils disappeared gradually with the demobilization of the army, and the workers' councils, which had made a complete socialization of production the chief object of their activity, alone remained. The workers' councils had been organized from the individual industries and had their chief support in the metal industry. The executive council was formed from the workers' councils of any given locality. The workmen's committees, which had been elected in the factories during th war in conformity with the War Service Law, were relieved a short time after the outbreak of the revolution by the industrial councils, which were to decide all questions pertaining to the work in cotperation with the managers. The entire organization in the main was analogous to the similar bodies which had arisen in the Russian Revolution. The power of the workers' councils, however, was broken a few months later by the government. In this discussion we shall not proceed further into the p litical development of that time, the eactions of which were felt in the economic relationships of power. Externally considered, the first elections to the National Assembly form a turning point. The Government and the National Assembly now denied any further recognition to the councils; their executive councils were limited more and more by the decisions of the regular boards, until finally any legal activity was entirely denied them. In their place, according. to the will of the Government, workers' and employes' committees, which had been provided for by a law passed on December 23, 1918, were to be organized.