Proletarians of all countries, unite!
Founding Declaration of the Red League
The Red League is a nationwide activist organization in which revolutionary activists have united on the basis of the following political standpoints:
● We struggle for the interests of the working class and toiling masses against the economic, political and ideological attacks of the bourgeoisie and its state. We promote the class struggle of the working class as a struggle for the socialist revolution in Germany, which we understand as part of and serving the world proletarian revolution. We strive to unfold the struggle for the economic demands, as part of the struggle of class against class, so that every struggle serves the struggle of the working class for the conquest of political power.
● We reject all bourgeois parties. We condemn the false leaders of revisionism and opportunism in every form and the corporatist leadership of the trade unions who betray the interests of the working class. We support the class organization of the working class and the struggle for the reconstitution of its own organizations, as well as the Communist Party of Germany. We operate and promote the election boycott by the broad masses.
● We support the anti-imperialist struggle and the democratic and revolutionary struggles of progressive and democratic organizations and individuals in all countries for the rights of the people and those of revolutionary and anti-imperialist political prisoners and prisoners of war.
● We defend the right of self-determination of nations, the right of anti-imperialist movements to choose their own forms of struggle, the right to freedom of organization, assembly and speech for the peoples in all countries, and the rights of anti-imperialist and revolutionary political prisoners, especially for the recognition of prisoner of war status for anti-imperialist and revolutionary fighters.
● We struggle against German imperialism, as well as the other imperialist powers and superpowers and all their lackeys, the imperialist wars and aggressions, the arbitrary reactionary campaigns that defame anti-imperialist and revolutionary movements as “terrorists”, the persecution of workers’, popular and progressive organizations and others that defend the interests of the people, and the criminalization of workers’, popular and anti-imperialist protest. NATO and EU are international gangs of robbers and must be smashed.
● We see ourselves as a part of the international working class and the worldwide revolutionary people’s movement. We see the people’s wars led by Communist Parties, today in Peru, Turkey, India and the Philippines, as the beacons in the struggle for liberation from the yoke of imperialism, showing the path that all the oppressed and exploited in the world must follow today. Accordingly, we struggle to defend them against any attack and actively work to develop and strengthen support for them through agitation and propaganda.
● We stand together against the repression of the imperialist state against the workers and the revolutionary movement, with all who are affected by it. We fight against militarism, fascism and racism in every form. We understand the division of the working class into native and foreign workers as the greatest obstacle to the development of the revolutionary workers movement and fight imperialist German chauvinism. We are proletarian internationalists and are deeply convinced that the working class has no fatherland.
● We struggle for the development of the class-conscious revolutionary women’s movement. We reject all forms of “identity politics” and “postmodernism” and uplift proletarian feminism in the struggle against patriarchy. We struggle to unleash the revolutionary fury of women, as a powerful force of the proletarian revolution.
● Our worldview can be summed up in the phrase, “It’s right to rebel!”. Our political standpoint is that, of the working class. We are revolutionary activists and call on all those exploited and oppressed by imperialism: Combat and resist!
Everyone who is willing to struggle together with us on this basis should get in touch with us, so that together we can build, develop and strengthen the Red League, in the service of the working class and the toiling masses in Germany and the world.
Founding Conference of the Red League, March 25, 2023
Interview with the Red League
Red Post: Hello Comrades. Nice of you to give us the opportunity to talk to you. Just the other day, the foundation of a new revolutionary organization in Germany was announced. The Red League is, so to speak, moving within the same political environment in which many of our collaborating comrades move, and to which probably a large number of our readers also feel they belong. That’s why we are very interested in this development. Can you tell us a little bit about this new organization, what you think its significance is?
Maria: The Red League is an organization founded by comrades who have worked in different red and internationalist collectives in Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, NRW and Baden-Württemberg, and by individuals and smaller groups from other German states. Some of us have done revolutionary politics together for many years, but mainly locally and without a unified nationwide organizational form. We have now changed that. We are convinced that in the political struggle of class against class, organization is the most important weapon. Because to achieve political goals, you need appropriate forms of organization and struggle. In our estimation, the form of organization that we used for years was in the main good and served its political purpose. But today this form of organization is outdated and does not correspond to the current moment of the class struggle in Germany. For this we discussed our political tasks together for a while and agreed on a political program. In this we have defined our goals. In order to fight for these goals, we need an organizational form that enables us to act in a unified way nationwide. It is also important for us to give comrades in parts of the country where there have been no collectives until now, and who now have a growing interest in our work, a way to organize together with us. That’s why we founded the Red League, as a broader activist organization that we are convinced will allow us to have a very different reach and perspective political impact.
RoPo: Why the name “Red League”?
Lucas: Germany is an imperialist country. Accordingly, the task of the proletariat, the working class, in this country is to carry out socialist revolution. This is different from the situation of our class in the oppressed countries – there the task is to carry out a democratic revolution to eliminate the imperialist yoke and exploitation by bureaucratic capitalism and semi-feudalism. In this country, we repeat, the task is socialist revolution – and thus the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. An organization of activists is usually labeled “red” in the Communist movement when it has set itself this task. In the oppressed countries, where a new-democratic revolution has to be carried out, a form of organization of comparable character is usually called “people’s movement” or similar.
So, the “red” comes from the character of the revolution that must be made in Germany. “League” is the name we have chosen because, as I said, we are emerging as a union of the various collectives, groups and individuals. That in the first place. But secondly, also because we are striving to be able to function in the future as a sort of umbrella organization, under which forms of organization with a special orientation, such as youth organizations, cultural organizations, etc., can then also participate. The comrades of the Red Women’s Committees have decided to see themselves as part of the Red League. We are very happy about this. This has given an important, if not decisive, contribution to our emergence.
RoPo: That means the Red Women’s Committees dissolved into the Red League?
Maria: No, by no means. The women comrades continue to work, but now as part of the Red League as a whole, that is, they retain their own organizational structure, but as part of a larger whole.
RoPo: As Marxists, we know that without the Communist Party, the proletarian revolution cannot win. What is your position on this question? Are you an organization that works for the reconstitution of the Communist Party of Germany?
Lucas: In our understanding, the Communist Party is the highest form of organization of the working class, it is its organized vanguard – the general staff of the class. And because it is that, it must be composed of the most dedicated, determined and willing to sacrifice of all the fighters of the working-class. The Communist Party, then, is a chosen detachment. Not everyone who wants to work for the proletarian revolution can meet these very high requirements. There are comrades who work in this way, and of course they must play a leading role within the whole revolutionary movement, but our role is different. We organize ourselves as activists, which means that we enter actively, systematically and in an organized way into the class struggle of the working class. Of course, we share the same worldview as the vanguard of the working class, but our respective practice is not on the same level as that of the comrades who take this matter directly into their own hands. Of course we see the need for the reconstitution of the Communist Party in this country, and of course we hope to make our modest contribution in this process. But the task of leading this process and carrying it out in the end is not ours.
RoPo: Talking about worldview now – in your founding statement you don’t write directly about ideological issues. Does that mean that you are a “cross-currents” organization?
Maria: We are definitely not a “cross-currents” organization, then we would not see ourselves as an activist organization, but as an association of different interest groups, parties and organizations. We are convinced that in class society, every idea and point of view inevitably carries a class stamp, as Chairman Mao so appropriately puts it. This means that every thought, every standpoint is ultimately an expression of the ideology of a class. And our ideology must be the proletarian one. Our political line or standpoints, which we have summarized in our founding declaration, are nothing but an attempt to apply this ideology within the class struggle of the proletariat and in its service. To summarize: We understand politics as the application of ideology in the class struggle. In the founding document, we do not put this in the foreground. For our activist organization, the core question is not to formulate a general political line. That is the task of the Communist Party. What we want is to make clear what we are fighting for, to give people the opportunity to create their own clear picture, without more general formulations.
RoPo: But there are many organizations or political associations that say, just like you, that they struggle for the class interests of the proletariat and that also call themselves Marxists or even Marxist-Leninists.
Lucas: The ideology of the proletariat – worldview, standpoint and method of the class – is the only scientific ideology and develops accordingly over time. More precisely, by leaps and in spiral form, as Lenin would express himself. Our basis is accordingly the ideology founded by Marx, developed to a higher level by Lenin and Chairman Mao Tse-tung respectively, and whose most important representative in recent decades has been Chairman Gonzalo. For us, this is the only correct ideological guide. In this respect, to express this very clearly, we believe that parties and organizations that place themselves on a different ideological basis cannot be called consistent Marxists and that, in most cases, these groupings are forces that have betrayed Marxism and are bartering with flags that are not theirs.
RoPo: Okay, that means you can manage on your own and don’t have to work with anyone else?
Maria: No. We are convinced that there is a great variety of forces in the revolutionary movement in Germany with whom we can, should and must work together. We believe that there are a lot of representatives of other class interests with whom the proletariat has to cooperate – as Marx already described it. But the proletariat has a clear intention to lead these other classes, not to be absorbed into them. These points, we think, are necessary to handle in the current moment of the class struggle in this country, in order to have the appropriate effect in the revolutionary united front, which is necessary. We will always judge any person, group, organization or party primarily on the basis of its practice, and we hope that others will apply the same criterion regarding us. But a requirement for comradely collaboration is active ideological struggle, not unprincipled conciliation.
RoPo: Then, to move on to another topic, how do you organize yourselves?
Lucas: The principle of organization of the working class since Marx and Engels has been democratic centralism. Lenin later also devoted himself to this question and further developed and established the principle of democratic centralism. And we, of course, also work according to this principle. We want to be an efficient organization serving the interests of the working class, not a discussion group. Therefore, unified action is needed to be able to, as they say, “strike as one fist,” and for that we need centralism, but based on democracy, with conscious and voluntary discipline. By the way, we believe it is necessary to note: the law of contradiction, the core of materialist dialectics, teaches us that there are no two things in this world that are the same. There is always within a human group a difference in abilities, charisma, talents, etc., etc. In the groups where people oppose the organizational principle of democratic centralism in the name of “freedom” and “anti-authority”, there is without exception a myriad of “unofficial” hierarchies. It is claimed that everyone is equal, but in the end it is always the same petty popes who run the place. There is no more democratic form of organization than that in which decisions are made by achieving ideological and political unity through active ideological struggle, criticism and self-criticism. And because every idea has a class stamp, human ideas reflect class interests, accordingly, in every revolutionary organization, objectively speaking, there always exists the struggle between two lines: the line that serves the interests of the proletariat, i.e., the revolution, and the line that serves the interests of the bourgeoisie, the ruling imperialist order. If we recognize this, we can also understand why the only democratic principle of organization for our class is democratic centralism.
RoPo: Does that mean that you also have a statute? And why didn’t you make that known at the same time as the founding declaration?
Maria: We have a common understanding of our organizational principles, and of course we have a regulated internal life. But we feel that this is a matter that concerns those who want to participate in this internal work, and not something that necessarily concerns everyone. So, the comrades who want to work with us, get in touch with us, and struggle together with us, will of course be fully and comprehensively informed about these things.
RoPo: Your founding declaration is above all a revolutionary program. When you read it, you get the impression that much of it is copied from the resolution of the international meeting of anti-imperialist organizations of August 20, 2022. Why is it like that? Can’t you think for yourselves?
Lucas: Yes, we can think for ourselves. We have also discussed this question. If there is already a principally accurate and correct program, as in this case, for example, on anti-imperialism, why shouldn’t we adopt it? After all, the Red Women’s Committees had already signed this resolution. Of course, we must also apply this program.
RoPo: Which people do you want to reach or organize?
Maria: Simply put, of course, because we have taken up the fight for socialist revolution, we want to reach and organize everyone who wants to put an end to the exploitation and oppression that sustains the ruling order today. Above all, of course, the leading class of our revolution, our class, which is the largest class in German society, the working class. But also the huge class of the semi-proletariat and parts of the petty bourgeoisie, such as intellectuals, who want to side with the working class. Above all, we find it important to go to the most exploited and oppressed, to those whom Engels called “the deepest and broadest masses.” Then, of course, within these different sections of the people, the youth has a special role, as the bearer of the future and the most active part of the revolutionary movement. Women have double reason to rebel, since they suffer not only from the exploitation and oppression of the ruling class, but also from that of patriarchy. And we believe that a crucial thing is to overcome the division of the working class in Germany into native and foreign workers. Because this is the most important pillar for the maintenance of the imperialist system. Accordingly, the ones mentioned are the ones we want to achieve. Every individual who shares our political standpoints and is willing to develop as an activist is welcome to work and struggle with us.
RoPo: Can you list a few struggles that you put on the agenda?
Lucas: If you take a look at our program or our founding declaration, you will get an impression of how broad our topics are. Of course, according to the objectives of the Red League, we focus on different economic and political struggles of the working class. In our eyes, this is necessary in order to develop the class struggle of the working class in this country and to continue to take root among the workers. For example, some of our members have already participated in the various waves of strikes that have occurred in recent years, highlighting the need for a combative union. But we also develop the labor struggles in our respective workplaces.
For us, proletarian internationalism is also of particular importance. It is not an empty phrase for us that the working class is an international class. That is why we put great emphasis on supporting the struggles of our class and the organizations that lead the class in the respective countries. There are, of course, the four people’s wars that are being waged right now – in Peru, India, Turkey and the Philippines. These are great beacons for us, and they give perspective and hope to revolutionaries. For example, one struggle that is immediately on the agenda for us now is the struggle of the Mexican people in southern Mexico against the Interoceanic Corridor. But the struggle of the poor peasants in Brazil has also been present in our work for a long time.
Maria: In addition, we will also, and especially of course we women comrades, but not only, put on the agenda the struggles of women against the double oppression and exploitation they suffer. In doing so, we also see a great need to fight against all kinds of identity politics and postmodernism, which have done great damage to the women’s movement in this country, especially in recent years. But the struggle for women’s emancipation, in our opinion, is not just a struggle for ideas, so wherever possible we will put weight on the particular economic conditions in which women struggle.
RoPo: The Red League also has a symbol, can you tell me why you chose this one?
Maria: We are guided above all by the saying of Marx and Engels: “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win!” As the Red League, it is our task to break these chains and unleash the full power of our class. All under the slogan: “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”. That’s why we have chosen our symbol as it is.
RoPo: Do you also run websites with revolutionary news, or have a newspaper or something similar?
Lucas: No, we don’t run a news website ourselves, nor do we distribute a newspaper. But of course we try to be in exchange with other revolutionary news websites, or with revolutionary print media, like RoPo for example.
RoPo: If I am interested in you guys, what is the possibility to get in contact with you?
Maria: For those who are interested, we have a website roterbund.de, which we update occasionally. There you can also find different e-mail contacts from the respective federal states.
RoPo: Thank you very much for this extensive interview and good luck with your work!