The Constitution of the German Socialist Republic

The Constitution of the German Socialist Republic ​

Only a nation which has invented the labyrinthine structures of Hegelian Idealism and Marxism could devise a political system of such needless and byzantine complexity. Only one which has powered the second industrial revolution could actually make it function…

-Anonymous American Academic, 1949.

No, of course we are not “formalizing dual power”, or some such nonsense - the constitution recognizes that man is both a producer and a citizen, both a worker and a moral agent! Must it be really so unimaginable that the workers can have their councils and the nation still have its parliament? Soon enough, you will find there is nothing utopian about it at all!

-Georg Ledebour, 1920.

The councils rule, parliament meekly accepts its orders, and by this quite ingenious device, the entire nation has signed itself over to revolutionary communism.

-Matthias Erzberger, 1921

The parliament is, of course, a bourgeois-reactionary institution, but it would not be entirely useless to preserve, so long as it can be converted into a wholly advisory body.

-Ernst Thalmann, 1922

Historical Context

Following the defeat of Ludendorff’s national salvation government, the 1st Congress of the Socialist Republic convened in Trier to draft a constitution. Delegations from the Revolutionary Worker’s Bloc, the Social Democratic Party, the Catholic Worker’s League, the German Trade Unions, the National-Social Association, and the Worker’s and Soldier’s Councils met for over two weeks. The primary axis of conflict was between a troika of Rosa Luxemburg, Emil Barth, and Vitus Heller who favored the creation of a pure council republic, and a radical social-democratic group (and its middle-class and trade-union allies) who worried about the “bureaucratic dictatorship” of the neighboring Soviet experiment, and advocated instead to combine a parliamentary-democratic state with clauses enshrining socialist economic organization.

In the end, neither faction achieved their full goals, though the burgeoning power of the council movement and left-wing, social-democratic skepticism of middle-class intentions sufficed to give Luxemburg’s councilist vision the upper hand. On its surface, the constitution was a manifest compromise which created a system of dual-power between a parliamentary legislature and a Soviet worker’s congress; in truth, however, the contradictions and pathologies of dual-power were at least partially resolved through its formalization of the two bodies as distinct legislative houses of a national government with easily distinguishable mandates. The investment of de facto executive power in the hands of the Soviet congress gave it an advantage in any future power struggle, and a more important role in the day-to-day administration of government.

The often ambiguous language of the constitution betrays its provisional nature and the struggles between the various factions of the Trier conference. For example, in Ch.2 art.8, the Republic declares its solidarity for oppressed workers, and commits to aiding them achieve independence and liberation from wage-slavery. It is unclear if “independence” here refers to national-bourgeois independence from colonial powers, or simply independence from wage-labor. Most of the convention favored a clarification to indicate that the clause encompassed both, but a sizable portion of Luxemburg’s faction resisted this, resulting in the current text. Despite the ambitious, sweeping language of the document, much of it is subject to varying interpretations, something which the hardline, councilist flank of the Republic was not at all displeased with, given its skepticism of written constitutions. Other issues which prompted debate and acrimony were those of nationality, language, the extent of liberal freedoms, and the breadth of social rights.

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Preamble

We, the workers, farmers, and soldiers of Germany, having struck down the tyranny of the bourgeois Ludendorff government, resolve to lay the foundation of a free socialist democracy. The following provisional articles are guidelines for the building of our new worker’s state, which shall only be truly realized through sustained proletarian action and organization.​

Chapter 1: Fundamental Principles of the Socialist Republic

1. The Socialist Republic of Germany is a nation of all laboring people in Germany, irrespective of their form of work. This clause shall not be interpreted to include capitalists, war profiteers, or any other individual who profits from the subjection of workers to capitalist wage relations.
2. All power in the Socialist Republic emanates from the working people of Germany.
3. The means of production and all natural resources are recognized to be the property of society as a whole, and as the representative of the working peoples of Germany, the state reserves the right to take them into public ownership.
4. Individuals who were found to have willingly offered assistance to the previous dictatorship, as well as any members of the royal family, shall be deprived of the rights which other citizens enjoy; at the discretion of the Commissar of Justice and a majority of both legislative bodies, they may be permitted a sentence of exile.
5. The state shall act to eliminate capitalist economic relations and create a democratic and socialist planned economy controlled by the working people of Germany.
6. Political parties and candidates for public offices are obliged to uphold, defend, and advance the socialist character of the republic.
7. The present constitution is subject to change and revision with a 55% majority of both legislative bodies and the agreement of over half of the Council of People’s Commissars.​

Chapter 2: Declaration of International Proletarian Solidarity

8. The reason d’etre of the German Socialist Republic is the abolition of capitalism, imperialism, and all other forms of class oppression. In advancement of this goal, the Republic declares its solidarity for all oppressed workers and commits to aiding their struggles for independence and freedom from wage-slavery.
9. The German Socialist Republic declares its eternal enmity and opposition to all imperialist powers.
10. The German Socialist Republic seeks friendship with all socialist nations, and commits to the creation of a world-socialist federation.​

Chapter 3: Declaration of the Rights of Workers

Section 1: Political Rights

11. All citizens of the Republic over the age of 17 have the right to vote and hold public offices.
12. Foreign residents from friendly socialist nations may apply for the right to vote.
13. All citizens have the right to form political organizations, to participate in worker’s councils, and to engage in political advocacy.
14. No citizen shall be denied their political rights on the basis of sex, ethnicity, language or religion.
15. The above provisions do not apply to individuals convicted of treason or willingly aiding the previous regime, members of aristocratic families who refuse to renounce their honorifics, and members of the royal family of Imperial Germany.​

Section 2: Civic Rights

16. The Socialist Republic of Germany embraces the liberal rights of the individual, while insisting that they can only be substantively realized in a socialist order.
17. All individuals are guaranteed freedom of speech, and the organs of the state are obliged to undertake active measures to ensure every citizen has the means to share their opinions on matters of social and political importance.
18. Speech promoting the overthrow of the socialist republic and ethnic prejudice is excepted from the foregoing provision.
19. Freedom of Religion is protected and guaranteed.
20. Religious practices which violate the other enumerated rights may be regulated by the state, and are not protected.
21. Freedom of Assembly is guaranteed. The state will undertake efforts to guarantee citizens social and political outlets for solidaristic organization.
22. Freedom of association is guaranteed.
23. The equality of men and women is guaranteed.
24. Under no circumstance shall the aforementioned rights be denied on the basis of sex, ethnicity, language or religion.​

Section 3: Minority and Language Rights

25. The Socialist Republic of Germany repudiates in the strongest terms the repression of Poles, Jews, and Frenchmen under the previous Imperial government, and forswears the spirit and practice of national-chauvinism.
26. The state recognizes ethnic and religious prejudice as barriers to the achievement of socialism, and vows to eradicate the vestiges of bourgeois chauvinism from the republic.
27. German and Polish shall be the national languages of the worker’s republic.
28. Speakers of national languages have the right to learn in an environment which primarily employs their language.
29. The state is obliged to provide for the cultural and social needs of communities which speak national languages on an equal basis. This includes participation in worker’s councils, publicization of laws, and interactions with law enforcement.
30. With a simple majority vote of both legislatures, new national languages may be added.
31. Individual states may designate up to two protected minority languages.
32. Individuals who speak a protected minority language are entitled to schooling in which the majority of teaching is conducted in their native language.
33. The state shall also undertake efforts to develop and nourish the cultural life of all minority-language nations.
34. Schools must offer German instruction to students who lack facility in the language, to ensure they can participate actively in the civic life of the republic.​

Section 4: Social Rights

35. The previous rights shall remain mere formalities if workers are not provided with the material and social prerequisites of human flourishing. Therefore, the German Socialist Republic announces its commitment to the following rights, which it obliges itself to fulfill in perpetuity.
36. Every individual has the right to an education which will develop their intellectual capacities and acquaint them with the best of the culture and science of modern man. This right shall be realized through a system of universal, compulsory, public education up to the age of 18, and a network of free vocational, technical, and humanistic pedagogical institutes for adult workers. Higher education will be made accessible to all with the talents and desire to pursue it.
37. All have the right to work, to strike, and to receive fair compensation for their labor.
38. All have the right to join and form unions. No employer, including the state, may engage in actions aimed to dissuade workers from joining unions.
39. All unionized workers have the right to participate in free and open union elections.
40. Anyone convicted of violating the rights in the previous three articles may be found liable for treason.
41. Any business with over twenty employees must establish a worker’s council. The worker’s councils will have the right to manage day-to-day affairs of business, and may elect with a majority vote to seize its assets and run the enterprise as a cooperative if it is controlled by a private employer. Future laws will determine the relationship of cooperatives to the existing structure of state enterprises.
42. All workers have the right to the minimum material prerequisites for healthy human development. These include: assistance in old age, sickness, and unemployment, sanitary and dignified housing, and healthcare. The state is under a permanent obligation to provide these basic social goods to all the citizens of the Republic.
43. All workers have the right to participate in the cultural life of humanity. The state will undertake measures, such as funding and subsidies for the arts, which will guarantee broad access to literature, theater, and film.
44. All workers have the right to participation in the democratic planning of the socialist economy, as well as the management of the particular enterprises in which they work.
45. As man develops, so too do the conditions for human flourishing. The founders of the Socialist Republic acknowledge that the present list of rights is provisional and incomplete, and urges the workers of the future to treat it as such.​

Chapter 4: Organization of the Socialist Republic

Section 1: Legislative Power

46. Legislative Power shall be vested in two bodies: the People’s Assembly and the All-German Congress of Workers, Soldiers, and Farmers’ Councils.
47. All legislation must pass both legislative bodies.
48. The People’s Assembly shall be the representative of all German workers in their capacity as citizens.
49. Those elected to the People’s Assembly will be termed People’s Deputies. People’s Deputies will be elected to three-year terms through universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage of all men and women over 17 years of age.
50. Half of the People’s Deputies will be selected through the principles of proportional representation, and half through single-member constituencies representing 250,000 citizens each.
51. Election day will be made a public holiday, and the state is obligated to provide transport to polling stations for the indigent, elderly, and sick.
52. The People’s Assembly will elect a speaker for the purpose of coordinating votes and introducing legislation. The speaker must be elected with a majority of the votes of the People’s Assembly.
53. All sittings of the People’s Assembly will be public.
54. Deputies elected to single-member constituencies are subject to recall.
55. The All-German Congress of Workers, Soldiers, and Farmers’ Councils shall be the representative of all German workers in their capacity as producers.
56. Every single-member district will also host a provincial council. The council shall be composed of delegates elected from every worker’s council in the district. Worker’s councils may choose to recall the delegates sent to their provincial councils at any point.
57. By a majority vote, the provincial council shall choose anywhere from three to ten delegates, proportional to the total number of workers represented by the council.
58. These delegates will compose the All-German Congress of Workers, Soldiers, and Farmers.
59. Worker’s councils will hold elections every two years to provincial councils, which will then appoint delegates to the All-German Congress of Workers, Soldiers, and Farmers.
60. The All-German Congress will elect a council of people’s commissars in which executive power is vested.
61. The All-German Congress may, with the consent of the present council of people’s commissars, choose to add a new office to the council of commissars.
62. The All-German Congress may recall any currently serving commissar with a majority vote.
63. The All-German Congress of Workers, Soldiers, and Farmers will elect an executive committee of 100 members. All the powers of the All-German Congress, save the three enumerated above, are also vested in the executive committee.
64. The All-German Congress shall have the power to review all legislation proposed by the People’s Assembly. With a 50% vote, the All-German Congress may reject any legislation from the People’s Assembly which concerns economic and labor matters. This threshold is raised to 60% for other legislation.
65. The All-German Congress shall have the power to introduce legislation pertaining to the following subjects:​

_a. The organization of the economy and matters of democratic planning.
b. Labor Unions.
c. The Expropriation of private property.
d. Currency, commerce, weights, and measures.
e. Social insurance and welfare.
f. Education, including higher education and scientific libraries. T
g. The raising of revenue.
h. All other economic questions and matters of direct relevance to the German citizen in his capacity as worker and producer. _​

66. The All-German Congress may be called into session by the Council of People’s Commissars, Executive Committee, or provincial councils representing at least 25% of the total workers.
67. The People’s Assembly shall have the power to introduce legislation pertaining to all subjects of national interest, save that which concerns the overall organization of the economy, democratic planning, worker’s councils, the expropriation of private property, and labor unions.
68. With a simple majority vote, the People’s Assembly may reject any legislation from the All-German Congress, though this may be overridden with 60% of the All-German Congress and 40% of the People’s Assembly.
69. Declarations of war and ratifications of treaties require a simple majority of both legislative bodies. ​

Section 2: Executive Power

70. All executive power lies in the Council of People’s Commissars, which is tasked with the management of the day-to-day affairs of the Socialist Republic of Germany.
71. People’s Commissars will oversee departments which work on matters within their jurisdiction. At the head of every department will be a ministerial committee.
72. The members of the Council of People’s Commissars shall also be members of the executive committee, and at least half of those serving on ministerial committees within the various departments must also be sitting members of the committee.
73. The Council of People’s Commissars will issue decrees, regulations, and orders for the purpose of interpreting and enforcing the laws drafted by the two legislative bodies. Though these resolutions take effect immediately, all are subject to review, and may be rejected by a 50% majority of the All-German Congress, a 55% majority of the executive committee, or a 65% majority of the People’s Assembly.
74. The Chairperson of the Executive Committee shall be considered the head of the government.
75. Members of ministerial committees must be confirmed by the executive committee.
76. There shall be 20 People’s Commissars, with the option for the All-German Congress to add more as the need arises: ​

a. Internal Affairs
b. Light Industry
c. Heavy Industry
d. Trade
e. Planning
f. Labour
g. Army
h. Navy
i. Communications
j. Railways and Transport
k. Justice
l. Education
m. Agriculture
n. Foreign Affairs
o. Finance
p. Minority Affairs
q. Health and Welfare
r. Culture
s. Housing and Urban Life
t. Confederal Affairs

77. A government may elect to have a single commissar without portfolio. ​

Section 3: Districts and States

78. The Socialist Republic of Germany is a unitary state. All previous regional divisions are hereby annulled.
79. The Socialist Republic recognizes the following constituent states, with their boundaries described in Schedule A:​

_a. Berlin-Potsdam
b. Saxony
c. Mecklenberg-Pomerania
d. Prussia
e. Silesia
f. Posen
g. Hanseland
h. Anhalt-Brunswick
i. Bavaria
j. Baden-Wurttemberg
k. Schleswig-Holstein
l. Frankfurt
m. Hanover
n. Rhineland
o. Westphalia
p. Alsace-Lorraine
q. Austria_​

76. With a 60% majority of both houses and the approval of the Council of People’s Commissars, changes may be made to the borders of states.
77. Each state shall have a corresponding state assembly.
78. Fifty percent of the seats in each state assembly will be elected with regular, 4-year elections using proportional representation. 79. These will coincide with national elections. The remainder will be appointed by the provincial councils in the state, with each council receiving power to appoint a number of representatives equivalent to the overall share of workers it represents.
80. State Assemblies are tasked with drafting laws, regulations, orders, and decrees which deal with matters of local governance, including:​

_a. Education
b. Law Enforcement and public safety
c. The provision of social goods and healthcare
d. The economic development of their region, in coordination with the central government.
e. The execution of all the orders, laws, decrees, and regulations of the higher organs of socialist government. _​

81. Each state Assembly shall appoint an executive committee to conduct administrative matters. The Executive Committee’s Chairperson may also be called the state’s Head Minister.​

Chapter 5: Territory and Symbols

Section 1: Territory

82. The German Socialist Republic is composed of all the territories of the previous German Empire and those of German-speaking Austria.
83. In recognition of the creed of international proletarian solidarity, the German Socialist Republic permits any nation or subnational grouping to apply for admittance as an integral territory, autonomous republic, or associated republic.
84. A people may elect to become an integral territory of the German Socialist Republic, in which case they are afforded no special rights or privileges, aside from the ability, in concert with the legislature, to determine the boundaries of any new states.
85. A people may elect to become an autonomous republic, in which case they are afforded exclusive rights to make cultural, religious, and language policy through their state assembly, but are treated as an integral territory in all other respects.
86. A people may elect to become an associated republic, in which case they are treated as an independent nation in confederation with Germany. The people of an associated republic shall not elect political representatives to German institutions, and their internal affairs shall remain free of interference from the German Socialist Republic. By entering into confederation, a state declares its wish to coordinate its military and foreign policy with the German Socialist Republic and all other existing associated republics, as well as ensure the free movement of goods and people. A democratically elected body from the German Socialist Republic and all other Associated Republics shall convene to ensure a smooth process of integration.
87. Upon the reception of an application for admittance, the Executive Committee, Council of People’s Commissars, and Parliament will schedule votes within the next month. If all three bodies vote by simple majority to approve the application, it shall be considered accepted.​

Section 2: Symbols

88. The flag of the German Socialist Republic shall be the traditional black-red-gold banner with a hammer and sickle affixed in the center, as depicted in Schedule B.
89. The state motto of the German Socialist Republic shall be: the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.
90. The national anthem of the German Socialist Republic is the “Ode to Humanity”, performed to the accompaniment of the 4th movement of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. “The Internationale” may also be played in its stead.
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Schedule A

**Schedule B

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Notes

This is very much intended as a standalone entry, just to get the constitution out here! I’m going to spend a lot more time talking about the political dynamics that led up to it in future posts that will also provide a much more fine-grained discussion of politics in the first year of the DSR.

I am indebted to this timeline for helping me think through some of the details of the constitution (though this one is markedly different, reflecting the different circumstances of the revolution), and this artist for the flag.