The Election of 1850
In January 1850 the VSVR, for the first time in its history seemingly secure from external threat, decided its leader through an election. Four candidates stood for election. The leader would be voted for by the members of the People’s Party.
Karl Marx, the leader of the Marxist faction and the most intellectually brilliant man in government, stood on a program of rapid and severe reform in all areas of the state and of society. He called for big government and large scale social reform. He wished to focus on internal politics but pledged to expand the VSVR’s territory into Germany whenever an opportunity arose.
Wilhelm Weitling, the leader of the German Socialists, called for everything in moderation. He took on many of Marx’s policies but softened them. He also promised less government interference in the economy than Marx but far more than either the Trade Unionists or the Collectivist Anarchists. However in foreign politics he was somewhat of an extremist. He put forward the idea that if the Republic failed to expand then it would die. He proposed that any state not protected by a Great Power was to be a target for annexation.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the leader of the Anarchists and only non-German to stand in the election, represented one of the most radical wings of the People’s Party. He called for the immediate division of everything equally amongst the people. Then government would reduce in size alongside the military – the Anarchists were unique in their call for peace and this pacifist policy proved very effective in drawing in support for sceptics.
Finally Johann Eccarius, the leader of the United Trades Unions and the only man standing for the Chairmanship who had a background as a common worker and soldier, stood as an effective puppet of the Unions. His agenda for focussed entirely on empowering the Unions whilst he also called for peace (unless easy opportunities for expansion arose) and most controversially an end to the immigration of socialists from foreign countries (many had grown worried at the presence of numerous non-Germans in the highest offices of state).
The election itself was a very tightly contested affair as it quickly became apparent that the Marxists, Anarchists and German Socialists all had virtually the same level of popularity within the party. At times it seemed that any of the three could achieve victory whilst for the majority of the time the Marxists held a narrow lead. However towards the end of the election the German Socialists experienced a sudden surge in votes and managed to secure a slim victory. Voting began on January 1st and finished on January 7th.
The German Socialists secured 37% of the party’s vote and with that Wilhelm Weitling was made the first Chairman of the VSVR. With such a narrow difference between the leading factions there was a strong feeling both within the higher ranks of the party and amongst the lower ranks that reform to the system was required – after all 63% of party members had voted against Weitling.
With Weitling’s victory temporary Chairman Karl Marx quickly stepped down and assumed Weitling’s previous role as Party General Secretary – a position of immense power but clearly poorly suited to Marx himself.
Elsewhere the horrific showing of the Trade Unionists (who received just 3.7% of the vote) had raised question of the viability of the faction. Perhaps it would be better if the Unions compromised and withdrew from political affairs. Over the next 5 years the movement clearly needed to do some soul searching to decide how it could proceed.
Weitling himself was far from the most capable man in the Central Committee, indeed, it was arguable that he was the most capable man in the German Socialists. Yet he was a marvellous politician. No other man in the People’s Party could so effectively rouse a rabble through oratory skill alone and few others had struck such a cord with the common people. The lofty economic arguments of Karl Marx frequently went over the heads of the miners and factory workers of the Rhineland yet Weitling’s evangelical and emotive rhetoric was something they could clearly understand. His faction was clearly the most popular with the people, even if his position within the party had been dangerously weakened by his actions during the Revolution (namely his reluctance to join the People’s Party until after a terrible military defeat). Weitling’s greatest advantage was moderation – Marx and Proudhon’s ideas were frightening for most people. Such radical change could easily go wrong, Weitling promised to ease the people into the new world rather than revolutionarily change the way they lived their lives.