Karl Liebknecht
The lone no vote
Against the war, against the state.
Reformist LuxemburgistOne of 729 ideologies · enter the Luxemburgist hall →- Role
- Revolutionary
- Era
- 1871–1919
- Region
- Germany
- Social band
- Reformist
- Placement
- −90 · −22 · +60
§ Where Karl Liebknecht stands
3 axesLiebknecht sought the abolition of capitalism and common ownership of production through a workers' revolution, the goal he announced on 9 November 1918 when he proclaimed a free socialist republic from the Berlin Palace. His 1913 attack on the Krupp arms empire reflected his conviction that private profit and militarism fed each other.
His politics were defined by defiance of the militarist state and of party discipline: he broke with the Social Democratic group to vote against war credits in December 1914, and his 1907 treatise urged the young to resist militarism. The libertarian lean is modest because in January 1919 he backed an armed attempt to overthrow the Ebert government without waiting for majority support.
Liebknecht was a radical internationalist who treated the war as a crime of the ruling classes. His 1915 leaflet declaring that the main enemy was at home rejected the wartime national truce outright, and he campaigned against Prussia's three-class franchise, which weighted votes by wealth, in favour of equal suffrage.
How close are you to Karl Liebknecht?
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§ The story
HistoricalKarl Liebknecht (1871–1919) was a German socialist lawyer and politician, the son of the Social Democratic co-founder Wilhelm Liebknecht. Born in Leipzig, he practised law in Berlin and made anti-militarism his cause: his 1907 book Militarism and Anti-Militarism earned him eighteen months' imprisonment for high treason. He led the Socialist Youth International, entered the Prussian House of Representatives in 1908 and the Reichstag in 1912, and in 1913 exposed the Krupp arms company's bribery of War Ministry officials.
Liebknecht became the symbol of socialist resistance to the First World War. Having first voted for war credits under party discipline, he cast the Reichstag's lone vote against them in December 1914, and was jailed in 1916 for leading an anti-war demonstration in Berlin. Freed in October 1918, he proclaimed a socialist republic on 9 November, co-founded the Communist Party and joined the leadership of the January 1919 uprising. Freikorps officers murdered him on 15 January 1919, claiming he had been shot while trying to escape.
Notable for
- 01Sole vote against war credits
- 02Co-founded the Spartacus League
- 03Martyr of 1919
Key works & moments
- 1907Publishes Militarism and Anti-Militarism and is convicted of high treason.
- 1913Exposes Krupp's bribery of War Ministry officials in a Reichstag speech.
- 1914On 2 December casts the Reichstag's only vote against new war credits.
- 1916Arrested at a May Day anti-war rally in Berlin; later sentenced to over four years' hard labour.
- 1918On 9 November proclaims a free socialist republic from the Berlin Palace.
- 1919Murdered by Freikorps officers in Berlin's Tiergarten on 15 January.
In their own words
“The main enemy is at home!”
§ Minds closest to Karl Liebknecht
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§ Also in the Luxemburgist hall
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§ Common questions
4 answersWhat was Karl Liebknecht's political ideology?
Karl Liebknecht was a revolutionary socialist and anti-militarist: on the 99ideologies three-axis compass, a Reformist Luxemburgist. Economically he was on the far left (−90), seeking common ownership through a workers' revolution. On governance he leaned libertarian (−22), defying the militarist state and his own party's discipline, though he backed the armed rising of January 1919. Socially he was clearly progressive (+60), a radical internationalist who opposed the war and Prussia's unequal franchise.
Was Karl Liebknecht left-wing or right-wing?
Left-wing, on the revolutionary far left. Liebknecht broke with the Social Democrats' support for the First World War, co-founded the Spartacus League and the Communist Party of Germany, and proclaimed a socialist republic in November 1918. Unlike later Leninists he left no theory of party dictatorship, and his reputation rests on principled anti-militarism, but his readiness to join the January 1919 rising shows that he saw revolution, not parliament, as the decisive road.
Did Karl Liebknecht vote against the war in 1914?
Yes, though not at first. On 4 August 1914 he bowed to Social Democratic party discipline and voted with his colleagues for the first war credits, having argued against them in the closed party meeting. On 2 December 1914, when a second credits bill came before the Reichstag, he was the only deputy to vote no, calling it an imperialist war of conquest. Another deputy joined him in 1915, and he was expelled from the Social Democratic parliamentary group in January 1916.
Which minds are closest to Karl Liebknecht?
On the 99ideologies three-axis compass, the minds closest to Karl Liebknecht are Rosa Luxemburg (98% alike), The Spartacist (archetype) (98% alike) and Paul Levi (97% alike). The furthest is Adam Sutler (0% alike).