Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/219

 return for the democratization and parliamentarization of Germany.

As for the Social Democratic Minority, represented by Kautsky, Bernstein, Hanse, Ledebour, they had at least the merit of speaking out plainly.

We cannot, unfortunately, divulge their verbal declarations without putting them in a difficult position.

What can be repeated, however, is that they stated that in their opinion, though at present their action was met with formidable obstacles, they were sure whenever peace was declared to have the immense majority of the German working classes with them; that the aggressive tone of the Allies' Note in reply to President Wilson made their propaganda very difficult. On the other hand, they denounced the absence of sincerity in the protestations in favour of the rights of the people of Scheidemann and his supporters, when the Majority Socialists were in reality in the service of a fatal Imperialist and Militarist policy—fatal both for Germany and for Europe.

From these declarations, which seem to