Workers' Councils

GA 331a — 12 May 1919, Stuttgart

How Should Socialization Take Place? II

Second meeting with representatives of the Greater Stuttgart Workers' Council

SOURCE INFORMATION: There are no minutes of this meeting, only a few keywords from the discussion recorded by Rudolf Steiner in his notebook. The present text is an attempt at reconstruction based on these keywords and should therefore be regarded as incomplete and only authentic to a limited extent. The documents used are printed in Appendix I. The text passages taken from them are set in italics in the present text.

[Rudolf Steiner points out the unfortunate situation in which the German Reich finds itself due to the total incompetence of its previous policies. This makes it all the more necessary to approach the reconstruction of Germany with realistic ideas.]

First, the peace terms for Germany conveyed by the Entente are discussed. The present draft treaty is a great injustice to the German people, and signing this treaty would mean accepting this injustice. Today is a historic day: the German National Assembly is meeting at Berlin University to protest against the draft Treaty of Versailles. Reich Chancellor Philipp Scheidemann, a majority socialist, will comment on this in parliament. It is known that he is not prepared to sign the treaty in its current form. The draft treaty presented in Versailles, with its 440 paragraphs, is a dictated peace that runs counter to the interests of the German proletariat in particular.

The conversation continues about the situation in Württemberg and especially in Stuttgart.

Comrade Mössel: The streets of Stuttgart are ruled by soldiers, and any citizen who is disliked is simply beaten down. All that remains of the German army in Württemberg are the security companies and the border guard troops. On March 6, 1919, the law on the formation of a provisional Reichswehr was enacted; by April 15, the troops had to be either demobilized or transferred to the Reichswehr. The cost of the war has now exceeded 7 billion marks, and yet a captain receives only 1,000 marks upon leaving the army, and a lieutenant a paltry 720 marks. In six months' time, there will certainly be no bourgeoisie and no aristocracy left, only the proletariat. Even today, two-thirds of the bourgeoisie are nothing more than “petty bourgeoisie.”

There is unrest here in Stuttgart. Weapons have been distributed among the supporters of the reactionaries. The Social Democratic “Tagwacht” is proving to be more stupid than expected; it has not noticed what is really going on. The provisional government here in Stuttgart no longer trusts its own people.

The economy has ground to a halt. Financial resources are urgently needed: 28 million marks are required to import fat and cotton. The workers' councils must grow into this economic matter.

During the discussion, it is decided that the workers' committees will meet regularly once a week. Through mutual discussion, they will attempt to clarify the economic situation. The primary topic to be addressed is the question: What is socialization? Rudolf Steiner is asked to present his views on this topic in a lecture to the workers' council on Thursday. He is to continue his presentation on Saturday. The focus will be on the first steps toward socialization.