Prospects and Possibilities
EARLY IN JANUARY 1919, the situation in general was fully understood by the class-conscious
seamen in Wilhelmshaven, who were mostly quartered in the Thousand Man Barracks,
on the submarine training ship Deutschland, and in smaller vessels such as destroyers and torpedo-boats. To make sure that nothing should go amiss, the seamen set about
educating and training themselves. Lectures were given on Marxian socialism, communism
and strategy, on board ships and ashore. Instead of the discredited - as a result
of Social Democracy - term 'socialism', the term communism' was adopted. In close
co-operation with the revolutionary socialist workers' groups in north-western Germany
and the industrial centres of Westphalia (Ruhr District), a strategic plan was drawn
up to drive the reactionary forces from the waterside and south-western Germany towards
Berlin. Such a plan it was thought, was better than to allow the reactionaries to
fight on ground of their own choice. It was hoped also, to relieve the revolutionary
forces locally, and conquer Berlin for the oppressed class.
The revolutionary seamen of the North Sea Station were determined to fight, to win
or die, for the cause. They swore that the old class-society should be ended, never
to arise again, that there should be no more slavery, no more capitalist war - they
had had enough. To describe in words, the spirit of these seamen, is impossible. In their
minds they saw a new world-wide society of workers, free, without fear or want, a
society based on worker-democracy developing into a single unit of mankind.
In the meantime, it became evident that the reactionary forces were encircling north-western
Germany. Little by little, their troops occupied certain strategical points, not
as a marching army, but as 'visitors' and 'sympathisers' with the revolutionaries. In the meantime however, between January 10 and 15, the Weser Sailors' Council sent
a small torpedo-boat to Wilhelmshaven packed with sailors who wished to fight again,
shoulder to shoulder with their old comrades. Together with these sailors, a certain
Flight-Lieutenant A. was shown into the headquarters of the Committee. He offered his
services to the cause, saying: 'I am a proletarian by birth, and at times like these,
I come back to the class to which I rightly belong.' A, who was an officer in the
former Imperial naval air force, proved to be a brilliant instructor and adviser, as
well as a brave fighter, and last but not least, a true comrade at heart. In a very
short time he trained some fifteen young sailors, if not as pilots, at least as able
observers. His skill as a military teacher saved many lives. Other comrades able in command,
arose from out of the crews of the fleet, as well as the rank and file of the workers.
B, for instance, a former stoker of the Baden; C, a sailor of the destroyer flotilla, and D, a docker, elected by the revolutionary seamen, who proved to be a bold
comrade and able harbour commander.*
[* As many of the persons referred to, still have relations in Germany and for other
reasons, they have been referred to by initial letters only.]
The effect of the efforts made by order of the Committee, and the readiness and willingness
of its electors, became evident when it became known that an envoy - the third -
of the Ebert Government had arrived by aeroplane in Wilhelmshaven to have a last
talk with the members of the Council of Five, asking them to surrender Wilhelmshaven
to the Ebert Government. The confidential man of the Revolutionary Committee was
at that time busy studying charts in the Thousand Man Barracks. From the comrade
in command of the torpedo and destroyer flotillas he received by secret telephone - a cable leading
from the far-off torpedo-boat harbour direct to The Thousand Man Barracks the following
message:
'Comrade. - The crews of Flotilla B are at action stations. Our 8.8 centimetre guns
are well laid covering the Officers' casino. At your order we will fire at once and
destroy the house of traitors and its present occupiers. Please give the word'.
There was a moment of hesitation; terrible thoughts whirled through the brain of the
confidential man. But it only lasted a few seconds, then the order sounded back,
clear and decided:
'Thank you comrade, the hour to do so is near, but it has not yet arrived.'
Meanwhile, a special messenger arrived from the same flotilla, and he received the
same order verbally. It may be said, that no comrade was better informed than the
confidential man of the Committee, and he loved his comrades as he loved the cause.
He understood them too well, he knew that they were right, but it could not be done, for
in some situations it is not enough to be go-ahead.
On January 15, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were murdered in Berlin by officers
of Ebert's soldiery. In Wilhelmshaven a general strike was proclaimed by the International
Communist group which had at that time, apart from several hundreds of industrial workers, more than 500 members of the seamen of the fleet. Mass meetings and armed
demonstrations were held. On the flagstaffs of the warships and the flagmast of the
Thousand Man Barracks, the red flags fluttered in the wind at half-mast. The proletarians of the sea were mourning two beloved comrades, while the murder-provoking writer
of Vorw rts had his bloody prize.
Later, agents provocateurs sneaked into Wilhelmshaven. They passed themselves off
as 'comrades' and one of them, in the service of a certain military camarilla was
unmasked and two years later executed by the revolutionaries in Central Germany.
Nothing could better illustrate the spirit of the seamen than the fact that when on
the following day, January 16, an attempt was made by the reactionary Bund der Deckoffiziere'
[Officers League] 'to free Wilhelmshaven from Spartakist domination', the revolutionaries taught them a lesson in fighting that few of the White Guards could have
expected. After six hours of street fighting, during which several persons were killed,
the Bund surrendered unconditionally. The street leading to the Jachmann Bridge was littered with abandoned rifles and machine-guns. Some of the officers gave a promise
not to take up arms again against socialist revolutionaries, and it was later proved
that they had kept their word. Whether or not, this rising was inspired by the Ebert
Government, the result was a defeat for the old militarist forces. The seamen supporting
the Committee fought their opponents openly, and smashed them several times, but
none of the officers were executed.
At about the same time, another reactionary coup de main was attempted at Jever in
Oldenburg, which was also smashed by the Commandos of the Thousand Man Barracks.
Once more, when the sailors returned to Wilhelmshaven, they left behind them in the
Jever district a socialist Workers' community. But this time they did not return alone. They
brought back with them, to put under arrest until things cooled down, a provincial
Captain-General who did not believe in revolution. Unfortunately, this man was forgotten at the Heppens military prison in Wilhelmshaven, and when later his brother-officers
of the Gerstenberg army opened his cell, and he told them he was the Captain-General
of the Jever District, they would not believe him, and instead beat him soundly!
Towards the end of January, the tension grew among the seamen. Berlin fell, Kiel also*,
Bremen was attacked from the rear by a large army. Although a system of sailors'
and workers' guard posts had been organised in Wilhelmshaven and the surrounding
districts, and an Emergency Tribunal was sitting to deal with counter-revolutionaries, this
was far from being enough. What Wilhelmshaven needed - and still needs, and not Wilhelmshaven
alone! - was a full scale revolution from the ground up.
[* The Kiel Revolt flared up, but as many of the sailors went home it quickly died
down. Thousands went to Hamburg where they formed a so-called Navy High Council of
the Lower Elbe [Oberster Marine Rat der Niederelbe.] The activities of this council
were confined to requisitioning - by arms - of victuals in the surrounding districts. Unable
to lay hands upon the gold of the Banks, they seized - temporarily - the funds of
the Trade Unions in Hamburg. Through the exodus of the rebels from Kiel, the Kiel
Council was nearly emptied of revolutionary elements. And, it was mainly due to this that
reactionaries such as the social-democrat Gustav Noske, used it more or less as a
facade for the military force of the organised reaction. It was from here that the
counter revolutionary Erhardt Brigade started out].
It was clear that this would not be achieved in collaboration with the old personnel
of the Sailors' and Workers' Councils, but only by bringing in fresh blood from among
the ranks of the socialist revolutionaries of the Committee and its active fighting
units on land and sea. In the economic sphere, the Committee envisaged an association
of free and equal producers, based on a system of workers democracy, utilising -
since they would probably be isolated - the gold of the Reichsbank as a means of
exchange with capitalist countries, and of course, that meant the gold could not be used against
the revolutionary workers.
The great hope seemed to be Russia. In any case, there was no time for talking; the
final moment had arrived for acting - if unsuccessfully - then as an example.
The Revolutionary Wilhelmshaven Commune
THE STRUGGLE ALONG the whole waterfront in north-western Germany increased in ferocity,
and the revolutionary groups fighting under extremely difficult conditions around
Bremen, were wiped out after a stubborn resistance.
In this situation, the Revolutionary Committee in Wilhelmshaven ordered ashore all
available sailors of the fleet, supported by some torpedo-boats that were at anchor,
but ready for action in the Judebusen, to fight the approaching White army. The
advanced squads of sailors marched 15 to 20 kilometres from Wilhelmshaven to the front line,
taking up their positions in trenches dug long before. These squads, each of 10 to
30 sailors, with an elected Obmann, or confidential man, undertook to hold their
ground against the advancing army of Ebert's troops. The seamen fully understood that their
3,000 men, with little experience of fighting ashore, would hardly be a match for
an army of 40,000 experienced officers, but they also understood that the fight had
to go on at all costs, and that in the interests of themselves and the cause, there must
be discipline - voluntary discipline based on affection and trust. They treated their
own delegates, as well as the comrades in command, with brotherly love and respect.
Meanwhile, the Thousand Man Barracks was put into a state of defence. Machine-guns,
rifles, ammunition and hand-grenades were distributed and stored on all floors, machine-guns
were mounted on the roof of this mighty and massive building. On January 26, at 12 pm. the RC proclaimed a state of siege throughout Wilhelmshaven. The old Soldiers'
and Workers' Councils were removed from office. At the same time the Reichsbank with
21 millions in gold was seized, and the bank building guarded by a special troop
of 50 sailors and 15 machine-guns. Besides the Reichsbank, all other financial institutions
were seized and occupied by armed sailors; further, all statistical bureaux, postal
telegraph, and telephone offices, water and electricity works, all means of transport and traffic, railway stations, food and raw materials depots, printing shops, and
all government buildings. Trains were stopped, they could come in, but not go out.
In five different broadsheets printed in huge letters, placarded all over the town
were given the essentials of the things to come.
Workers, old age pensioners, all toilers in distress. particularly those who lived
in huts and wooden barracks, were told to seize the almost empty houses of the rich
and occupy them immediately, this was done without delay. There were also many previous
prisoners of war, who were freed without any discussion of 'different races' and nationalities.
Class consciousness had solved these 'problems' on the spot, ' . . . it is the social
existence of man that determines his consciousness. '
On January 27, in the forenoon, one of the storehouses which was crammed full with
provisions of the Navy was opened by order of the RC and many thousands kilograms
of salt meat, salt pork, bacon, peas, rice and tinned foods were distributed gratis
amongst the Wilhelmshaven inhabitants. Those in need received according to their necessities.
Meanwhile, information was received from the observers who were watching the movement
of the approaching army, that Wilhelmshaven was cut off on all sides except the waterfront, and that some of the sailor units, supported by a small boat-gun had already
opened the battle with the advancing Ebert troops. In fact, these comrades were in
touch with the officer troops, who rushed at them and lost ground.
At the same time, it was obvious that the hope of assistance from the fortress Heppens,
would have to be abandoned entirely because of large scale sabotage. In such a situation,
to make use of the torpedo boats in the Jadebusen, would have been disastrous. This then, and the situation in general was earnestly discussed by the delegates
at a meeting in the Thousand Man Barracks. As a result, word was given to the fighting
sailor squads to concentrate rearwards to the starting point. This was carried out
in an orderly manner. During the next few hours the revolutionaries intensified their
activities; making some local advances, and destroying some hostile positions in
the vicinity of Mariensiel.
Even in these circumstances, the Social Democrat leaders of Oldenburg, East Friesland,
were allowed to hold a meeting in the Wilhelmshaven canteen. They had asked to see
the Revolutionary Committee, and two delegates of the Fleet, together with a comrade
of the Revolutionary Committee, went to meet them. One of these Social Democrats, known
as the pontifex maximus of Oldenburg, had just begun to speak, when his own party
men told him roughly that he had better 'shut up' when he tried to persuade them
not to mingle with the seamen, but just wait and see; though some applauded him, seeing
in his waiting policy, the lesser evil, and believing that there would still be time
to jump on the victor's bandwagon if a victory should emerge. To them, the situation
appeared unstable. They were, without a doubt, capitalistically inclined, and therefore
tried to weaken the socialist cause in every possible way. They feared their own
shadows, and acted throughout in an underhand manner. This became evident when the
rumour was spread that the Spartakists had robbed the Reichsbank in their own personal interests,
and that some millions of gold had already been shipped away. Some months later,
however, in July 1919, Ebert's 'Extraordinary Peoples' Court', in Wilhelmshaven acknowledged that the Revolutionary Committee, although composed of 'fanatical Communists',
had always kept its hands clean.
On the afternoon of January 28, the first shells of a field howitzer, evidently aimed
at the Thousand Man Barracks, crashed into the harbour district.
At about this time, a small warship which, as it afterwards transpired, had been in
Scandinavian waters for over three months signalled to ask if it might put in to
the Wilhelmshaven docks. Comrade D, the acting Harbour Commander, being suspicious
of the late-comer, insisted on questioning the captain before he allowed the locks to be opened.
The commander of the vessel, an Imperial corvette captain, was asked to meet comrade
D on the pier, where he had to answer many questions, being finally told by D that he would himself keep an eye on him, and that if he the Herr Offizier behaved himself,
he comrade D - would see to it that he got another cigar band to put on his sleeve.
Elsewhere, more serious things were happening. At the main railway station in the
town, a battle was raging. Many of the sailors were mortally wounded. A motorised
column of officers had run past an outpost of seamen and workers, and made its way
to the station, with the obvious intention of seizing the station, and the guard defending
it were forced, in the face of heavy machine-gun fire, to give way at one point.
Suddenly the car of the Revolutionary Committee made its way at full speed into the
officers' column, and threw among them a number of hand-grenades. Eighteen officers were taken
prisoner, and four machine-guns, some automatic pistols and a number of naval daggers
were captured. The loss of life was fortunately small.
The Obmann of the guard of the station, a tough young stoker of the Baden, ashamed
of having nearly let the reactionaries get past him, stood with tears in his eyes
as he faced his comrades. But they understood; a hearty handshake, and everything
was all right.
As to the seamen as a whole, unlike Ebert's soldiery, they had no desire for revenge.
It was war, but their captives were not molested more than was absolutely necessary.
On the afternoon of January 29, a message came addressed to the workers and sailors,
informing them that some thousands of well-armed workers, commanded by a well-known
young socialist, P. were on their way to give all possible help to the fighters for
liberty in Wilhelmshaven.
Who could stand up to the revolutionary socialists now? Many of them thought they
could already hear the gunfire of their brothers smashing the reactionary battalions
from the east. But it was not the gunfire of the revolutionary army recruited in
Hamburg, Harburg, and Bremen, as they joyfully suggested, but that of the reactionary Gerstenburg
army. The army commanded by comrade P. never reached Wilhelmshaven. It advanced as
far as Delmenhorst, engaged the reactionary forces, suffered heavy losses, and retreated.
By this time, fighting was going on in the streets and at the barricades throughout
Wilhelmshaven. Heavy losses were inflicted on the reactionaries, who fought in close
column. A hail of hand-grenades descended upon them from the roofs and windows of
the houses, and their shouts of 'Ebert! Scheidemann!' were drowned by those of the revolutionaries
Liebknecht! Luxemburg!'
Again and again, the followers of Ebert were driven back, but ever again new officer
columns appeared, mostly to suffer the same fate. Sometimes the firing died down,
and only single explosions were heard; but then it would break out again, a roaring
hurricane in a sea of splinters and wreckage. In these circumstances, 34 fatally wounded
comrades amongst them comrade A, were moved to a torpedo-boat, which shipped them
to a small town on the lower Elbe.
Meanwhile, as the night drew on, the fourteen-hour battle for the Thousand Man Barracks
began. Among the 588 defenders, mostly sailors from the battle fleet, were a dozen
or so workers, some of them women, and, dressed in sailors uniform, an eighteen-year-old girl, the daughter of a naval officer of high rank. In a very short time, a shell
of medium calibre crashed into the gymnasium, followed by others which fell around
the barracks. A disagreeable odour, something like gas, filled the air. Then shells
began to burst at short intervals, in the western part of the building. But the sailors
had their turn too. Volunteers were called for. Comrade C took the lead, and within
half an hour, he had smashed up a column of officers, taken three prisoners, and
captured two heavy machine-guns and a 5.3 centimetre gun. The battle went on throughout
the night, reaching its climax in the early hours of the morning, when mine after
mine was hurled into the Barracks. Fire-balls and star-shells were let off, and the
darkness changed to fire and light. But there was no thought of surrender. Several attempts
were made to storm the Barracks, but each time the white guard troops were repulsed
by the machine-gun and rifle fire of the defenders. While the fighting was in progress, two meetings were held in the basement dining-room of the Barracks, and at both meetings
it was resolved to fight on to the last, and in no circumstances to give in.
But while it is true that the Ebert soldiery had suffered terrible casualties, so
too had the revolutionary sailors and workers. There is no purpose in describing
the harrowing scenes witnessed during the struggle, only one, shall be mentioned
here. Comrade H, mortally wounded, breathed 'Communism or death!' as he clasped the hand of the
man next to him, and his fellow combatant knelt down and kissed the forehead of a
brother-in-arms he had never known before.
It was day-break, two comrades were still firing the only machine-gun left undamaged
. . . And from the mast-head of the Thousand Man Barracks was torn down the tattered
red flag of the Wilhelmshaven Commune, riddled with gun-fire.
Here ends a chapter but a chapter only of the history of the revolutionary proletariat
of the sea.
Part 8
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