Irish Socialist Republicans were proud to be present in Berlin on Sunday, marching in the Internationalist Collective Berlin bloc in the Lenin-Liebknecht-Luxemburg Demonstration to remember the heroic sacrifice of the workers massacred in the Spartacist uprising and of their leaders, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
Two Starry Ploughs were flown by the ISR delegation, a flag that represents the aspirations of the Irish working class as well as the martyrdom of James Connolly, who like Luxemburg and Liebknecht was also killed in the course of working-class rebellion against imperialism.
The Spartacist Uprising was one of the most militant struggles of the German working class following the disaster of the imperialist First World War, which left nearly 2 million German dead and the country economically ruined.
The uprising began on January 5th with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets in response to the removal of a key government official sympathetic to socialism. Soon after a general strike was called. This soon developed into armedworkers taking key positions around Berlin and forming barricades to defend against the state. Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, while initially not being part of this uprising and with Luxemburg speaking against, saw that it had mass support from the people, and being stalwart socialists and defenders of the working class recognised that what this uprising needed was leadership that only they could provide. When the uprising was crushed on January 15th by the reformist Social Democratic government and proto-fascist allies, they paid for this choice with their lives.
In the spirit of the militancy of the Spartacist, the march was combative from the beginning, with chants calling for people’s war until communism, for the destruction of fascism, patriarchy and imperialism, and honouring Chairman Gonzalo of the Communist Party of Peru. International solidarity was a key element of the chants as well, with chants in German, English, Spanish and Portuguese. The heroic struggle of the Brazilian League of Poor Peasants (LCP) was highlighted in chants and also by multiple members of the march wearing LCP caps.
Members of the bloc carried red flags with the yellow hammer and sickle of the Communist Party of Peru. Two large German banners were carried, the front banner calling for all revolutionaries to “Unite Under Maoism”, and the second declaring “Eternal Honour and Glory to Chairman Gonzalo.”
Beginning at Frankfurter Tor in the heart of Berlin, the march lasted 2 hours as the militants and other organisation made their way to the Memorial Garden which pays tribute to Luxemburg, Liebknecht and dozens of other martyrs of the German working class.
The Internationalist Collective bloc was joined by a large and equally militant bloc of the TKP/ML directly behind, the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist party currently leading the People’s War in Turkey. Their large banner with the faces of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao was a welcome sight. Despite the militancy of the march, unlike last year the German police did not attack the marchers, but there is no doubt that the comrades in both blocs were prepared for such a possibility.
Mid-way through the rally, a delegate from Irish Socialist Republicans was invited to speak by megaphone and delivered the following brief address:
“It is an honour to be here today from Ireland among international comrades to pay tribute to two outstanding martyrs of the German working class, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. Imperialism is the greatest enemy of the working class and oppressed people around the world today. In Ireland, imperialism has a stranglehold on the country, North and South. We believe that only Marxism-Leninism-Maoism can lead the Irish people to National Liberation and Socialism and are dedicated to that fight. I would also like to express our condolences on the death of Chairman Gonzalo, great leader of the People’s War in Peru. Thank you.”
Upon arriving at the memorial to German socialists, the Internationalist bloc and TKP/ML stood together chanting revolutionary slogans, before proceeding into the memorial itself to pay tribute. The bloc was later accosted by Peruvian reactionaries who painted Chairman Gonzalo as a vicious murderer. This attempt was quickly shut down by all comrades present and the reactionaries departed.
It was a genuine pleasure for the Irish delegation present to march alongside comrades from across Europe. Irish Socialist Republicans looks forward to deepening the bonds of international solidarity with all revolutionary organisations present, and working towards the unity of purpose necessary to create a new International of the working class once again.