The Election of 1865
The past 5 years of Marxist rule had been rather mixed. Once again the economy had been booming as the industrial sector trebled in size, at the same time the Republic liberated millions of Germans from the rule of the bourgeoisie during the Deutschkrieg. However everything ended in tears. The Anarchist leader Proudhon was assassinated and Young Anarchist protesters were killed in the streets.
Now the Republic lies at the edge of both greatness and destruction. The 1865 election would determine the fate of Republic for decades to come.
The Marxist-Centralist Alliance
Prospective Chairman: Louis Auguste Blanqui
Hoping to become the first non-German Chairman of the VSVR Blanqui represents a very radical side of the Party’s Left. For 15 years he has sat on a base of immense power as the Minister for Intelligence and has been responsible for several wars, revolutions and attempted revolutions. Frighteningly effective and incredibly unscrupulous he has done anything and everything to achieve his aims. His current mission is to deal with the Anarchist ‘problem’.
Economic Policy:
Karl Marx met all expectations of him as Chairman as he led the Republic to success after success. However he struggled to deal with the growing instability of the People’s Party and seems to have alienated both Blanqui’s Centralists and the Anarchists.
Position within Party: Far Left
Economic Policy:
In the first 5 years of Marxist rule the industrial sector doubled in size, in the second it trebled. The Marxist economic policy is clearly a successful model and should not be changed.
‘’A Tax system in which the rich pay 100%, the poor 50% (the minimum allowed) and the middle strata any figure that is 5% more than the poor and 5% less that the rich.
Continued state expansion for our growing industrial sector. In the past 5 years the Marxist economic method has doubled industrial production – let us not question the success of the Marxist industrial policy.
No tariffs.
Military Spending should remain at 60%.
Social spending must remain at its maximum level at all times.’’
Reform Policy:
The past 10 years have seen the emergence of a strong set of social reforms. The lives of the workers have improved at an impressive rate and even in this time of troubles they shall continue to improve.
There are to be
two social reforms.
Many workers still earn a wage that is able to sustain them and little more. The minimum wage should be raised immediately.
Our safety standards are far too lax. Appendages are still being lost at a depressingly regular basis in our Republic’s factories whilst long term health effects are starting to become more apparent. It is the duty of the state to protect the workers and protect the workers we shall.
Inner Party Turmoil:
Did Karl Marx not say ‘’the only way to save the Republic from civil war now is to expel the Anarchists and shoot the Young Anarchists.’’
For years now the Young Anarchists have been blight upon our great Republic and now they have sadly infected the mainstream of the Anarchist movement with their poison. The murders of Comrade Proudhon must be brought to justice!
The King rat himself ‘Comrade’ Kadon is to face immediate execution for his crimes against the state and the people.
For attempting to force the Republic towards civil war Comrade Bakunin is to face detention for a period of 5 years and expulsion from the People’s Party.
Being associated with the Young Anarchists in any way is to be made a crime punishable by either death by hanging or imprisonment for an undetermined amount of time. The Anarchist Zeal is to be closed down; anyone found with a copy of that anti-revolutionary rag can be punished by the withdrawal of their support from the state (that means no unemployment subsidy, pension or healthcare). The enemies of the revolution will not be allowed to prosper!
The Anarchist faction as a whole will be under investigation. Anyone found to be an inflammatory influence on the People’s Party is to face expulsion from the Party and/or country or formal criminal punishment if their crimes demand it.
This program may be harsh Comrades but the aim of this Republic is to create a perfect society, these vermin have no place in that society.
Foreign Policy:
Once we have put our house in order we must continue the rapid expansion of the revolution. I say war with Prussia by 1870! With the strength of all Northern Germany we must then turn our attention Southward to destroy that bloated abomination that is the Habsburg Empire. By 1870 our future shall be forever secured Comrades! The Anarchists talk of securing our future through diplomacy but this is counterrevolutionary folly. We shall secure our future through fear, no one shall dare attack our Republic and millions more shall bask in its liberating aura. For the revolution!
United Cooperationists
Prospective Chairman: Friedrich Engels
Engels has been a member of the Central Committee for 15 years and has served admirably in each and every office he has controlled. On top of this he was the co-writer of the Communist Manifesto and has written many other works on socialist and communist thought. Following the sad decision of his dearest friend Marx to throw his lot in with Blanqui Engels broke with the Marxists and has founded a new faction alongside independents and moderate Anarchists with the founding principle that the Republic can only flourish if Marxist, Socialist and Anarchist work together in harmony.
Position within Party: Hard to define with Leftist, Centrist and Rightist elements combining
Economic Policy:
As in every sector of this manifesto the economic policy of the United Cooperationists is based upon compromise.
Taxes shall be slashed, the poor shall pay 25% tax (half the current rate), the rich 50% (also half the current rate) whilst the middle income population shall also pay 25% tax. Our budget is currently overflowing with surplus funds; why not give the money back to the workers themselves?
The Marxist industrial model may have been a glowing success economically but it has castrated the power of the Unions. State and Union are to work together in tandem with the state transforming from being the primary owner and controller of industry to a force that supports the Unions but does not unduly interfere with the production process itself. Greater Union control shall give the workers themselves a greater say in the affairs of their place of work. The Workers’ State is simply not as direct a route to the workers as the Unions.
Social spending is to remain at its maximum level at all times – we must support the welfare state we have created with appropriate funds.
Military spending is to remain stationary at 60% but further expansion of the standing army is to be slowed down tremendously.
No tariffs.
Reform Policy:
The greatest demand of the Anarchist faction is freedom of the press, the United Cooperationists can provide this without needless civil war!
There are to be no restrictions on the press in the United Socialist People’s Republic. If we take underground newspapers like the Anarchist Zeal out of the gutter then they shall surely end their inflammation of the public.
The social reforms in place are not to be interfered with. This is the greatest legacy of Marxist rule and should not be tampered with. At the same time Anarchist fears of an ever expanding state are to be assuaged as the social reforms are not to be expanded.
The United Cooperationists are surely the only people who support both social justice and political freedom.
Inner Party Turmoil:
The Blanquists would rip the heart out of the Republic whilst the Anarchists would bring it tumbling down.
Surely the formation of the United Cooperationists proves that Marx was wrong and that compromise between the Left and the Right of the Party can still bring peace.
Comrade Blanqui, although an unsavoury figure, will be 60 in February. His days as Minister for Intelligence and head of the AKVD are not going to be infinite. Attacking this old man now would plunge the Republic into a bloody civil war that would either leave it in the hands of the idealistic and violent Young Anarchists or the tyrannical Blanquists.
Meanwhile Comrade Kadon can hardly be considered a threat from his prison. There is no need for revolutionary to murder revolutionary.
We must find grounds on which to bring both Anarchist and Marxist together, it is possible to avoid civil war but only if we cooperate with each other.
The revolution cannot succeed unless the entire proletariat comes together, we cannot succeed if led by the extremist periphery.
Foreign Policy:
Any foreign escapades must guarantee no wars with Great Powers. If the South German states can be wrestled from under the thumb of Vienna then it would be tardy of us not to act upon our opportunities. If Prussia can be attacked without the intervention of a Great Power then there is no reason that millions of proletarians need suffer any longer under the grip of their Berlin despots.
The Collectivist Anarchists
Prospective Chairman: Mikhail Bakunin
Bakunin has long lived under the shadow of Proudhon – the father of Anarchism. Yet by the time he died Proudhon had totally lost touch with the modern Anarchist movement. This is not true of his successor. With a mixture of the radical Young Anarchist vigour and the steady heads of more experienced and moderate Anarchists he hopes to lead the Republic towards greater freedom and a bright future.
Position within Party: Right
Economic Policy:
Low and flat tax rates that shall meet just meet expenditure. For too long the state has hoarded the treasure of the masses, now it is time for the Marxist treasure chambers to be opened up.
No tariffs.
Military spending is to fall from 60% to 55%.
Industry is to be left largely in the hands of the Unions and workers’ syndicates with the state only interfering to prevent workers from losing their jobs.
In the past Proudhon called for the abolition of the collective farms. This was folly! Instead the farms should be ripped from the skeletal claws of the Marxist state and given the farmers’ syndicates and Unions.
The days of statist economics must be brought to a close as soon as possible, it is the people not the government that should lead the way forward.
Reform Policy:
Free press! It has long been discussed and argued for but the state press as merely grown more biased and filled with propaganda with age. The days of when it could be considered a fair and balanced paper are over. Now people must risk punishment to find the truth in the Zeal.
Freedom of the press! Freedom of expression! Freedom from the state!
Whilst the social reforms cannot yet be abolished the Anarchists propose a moderate phasing out. Many of these reforms (such as the maximum number of working hours and safety regulations) do have a place in an Anarchist society. Perhaps once the country is more stable we can look into phasing out the titanic mass of the Marxist state.
Inner Party Turmoil:
Is any word more terrifying to the common man than Blanqui?
Why is it that Anarchists can protest free of police brutality on the streets of London and New York yet in the world’s only workers’ state they risk death by merely voicing their opinion?
Too much Anarchist blood has already been spilled. Proudhon lies dead, as do hundreds of Young Anarchists who have crossed paths with the Napoleon of Cologne over recent months. Enough!
Blanqui must be arrested and tried in front of a jury of his proletarian peers. Whilst execution would be most preferable, considering the severity of his crimes, it is not to be the only option left open to the jurers.
The AKVD is to be abolished and the entire Ministry of Intelligence closed down until a new Ministry can be built without the cancerous poison of Blanquist influence.
There is no need to punish any of the Marxists for merely being afraid. For fear is the only thing that has driven them into Blanqui’s arms and unlike the butcher of the Rhine we shall not destroy an entire political movement if elected.
The innocent Comrade Kadon is to be released as soon as possible; a place on the Central Committee awaits him. The Central Committee is supposed to reflect the people and the Party, the Young Anarchists are a powerful force and they cannot be ignored by the Central Committee any longer. By bringing this movement into the mainstream their will to be destructive to the system will likely dissipate and we can slowly move towards an Anarchist future.
Foreign Policy:
So much blood has already been spilt in the Marxist quest for dominion over all Germany. We must bring the senseless Imperialism to a close.
Only with an open request from the proletarians of a country, and only without the fear of involvement in a war with a Great Power can we afford to go to war again over the coming half decade.
We seem to be becoming the very thing we fought to destroy in the Rhineland Revolution.
The German Socialists
Prospective Chairman: Ferdinand Lassalle
Lassalle is young and moderate. Now experienced in the Central Committee the German Socialists hope they can recover their lost support with the people and the party alike.
Position within Party: Centre
Economic Policy:
A reduction of taxes to a progressive system of 25%, 35% and 50% for the poor, middle income and rich respectively.
A 2% tariff.
Full social spending.
No change to military spending.
A mixed Union-State industrial policy with both sharing control over industry.
Reform Policy:
There shall be
two social reforms.
The unemployment subsidy must be increased in order to turn what is currently a symbolic gesture into something of actual benefit for the recipients.
The safety standards of our factories must also be improved in order to deal with the dreadful rate of industrial accidents.
Inner Party Turmoil:
There is no need for war Comrades!
A German Socialist vote is a vote for peace within the Republic. We must find compromises between the different factions. Blanqui can be reined in by reducing his resources rather than openly attacking him whilst the Young Anarchists will no longer be so violent once the direct threat of a Blanquist government is reduced.
We support the Cooperationist view that peace between the factions is possible, the best way to achieve this is clearly to appoint a moderate Chairman who can understand the grievances of the left and the right.
Foreign Policy:
Prussia sits tantalisingly to the East, a wounded pig unable to flee. We should strike now and strike hard. A victorious war over our dreaded enemy will unite the factions and bring liberation to the masses of Berlin, Danzig and Koenigsburg.
Beyond that we must be cautious but a war with the South German states (without Austria) would be very useful for our ambitions whilst the Danes lie undefended to our North – perhaps another people can be liberated from their Kings.
All readers may vote for either:
Marxists
United Cooperationists/ Cooperationists
Anarchists/ Collectivist Anarchists
German Socialists/ Socialists
I will not accept your vote if you vote for an individual you want to be chairman eg Blanqui and will only accept your vote if you name the faction of your choice.
Please place your vote in a separate post from your comment OR place it in bold alongside your comment.
I encouraged you to align yourself with a faction and campaign and argue for its success. However spamming will not be tolerate (I will warn you if I think you are spamming).
Good luck Comrades! Will the Republic stand united or purge its unwanted facets?
Voting shall close at Midday UK time on Thursday. Get voting!