The Class Struggle (Erfurt Program) (German: Das Erfurter Programm in seinem grundsätzlichen Theil erläutert) is an 1892 book by the Marxist theoretician Karl Kautsky. It is a commentary on the 1891 Erfurt Program of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), for which Kautsky was the primary author. The book became one of the most widely read and influential works of Marxism, serving as a popular and systematic exposition of the theory for an international audience. It was Kautsky's most famous work and became known as a "minor classic of Marxist thought". It was Kautsky's first major work published without direct guidance from his mentor, Friedrich Engels, and cemented his reputation as the leading theoretician of the Second International.
The book analyzes the development of capitalism, the nature of the future socialist "commonwealth," and the tactics for achieving it. It outlines Kautsky's synthesis of Marxist theory, blending an emphasis on the historical inevitability of social revolution, rooted in economic development, with the necessity of conscious, organized political action by the proletariat. While Kautsky's prose reflected the pressures of internal party politics in Wilhelmine Germany, the work was widely received as a revolutionary document.
At its 1891 party congress in Erfurt, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) adopted a new party platform, the Erfurt Program. The program consisted of a theoretical section, drafted primarily by Karl Kautsky, and a practical section detailing legislative demands. According to historian Donald Sassoon, the Erfurt Programme became one of the most widely read texts by socialist activists across Europe.[1] Following the congress, the SPD's central committee asked Kautsky to write a pamphlet to explain and elaborate upon the principles of the new program. This task expanded into a full-length book, Das Erfurter Programm, published in 1892.[2]
The book became Kautsky's most famous and widely translated work.[2] According to Kautsky's biographer, Gary P. Steenson, it was the first major work in which Kautsky presented his own formulation of Marxism without the direct guidance of his mentor, Friedrich Engels.[3] English translations of the book, including the 1910 edition by W. E. Bohn, have usually been titled The Class Struggle after the book's fifth section, which Steenson notes is somewhat misleading given the book's broader scope.[4]
Summary
The Class Struggle is divided into five sections. The first three provide a condensed overview of the origins and nature of modern capitalism, drawing heavily from Kautsky's earlier work, The Economic Doctrines of Karl Marx.[5]
The fourth section, "The Commonwealth of the Future," discusses the transition to a socialist society. Kautsky asserts the importance of human agency in history, stating, "When we speak of the irresistible and inevitable nature of social revolution, we presuppose that men are men and not puppets; that they are beings endowed with certain wants and impulses... which they will seek to use in their own interest."[5] However, he was reluctant to offer detailed blueprints for the future socialist state, considering such plans speculative. Despite this, he offered several general predictions: the decay of the traditional family, the confiscation of large-scale private property (while protecting that of small artisans and peasants), a trend toward the equalization of wages, and the achievement of "freedom from labor" rather than simply "freedom of labor".[5]
The final section addresses class relations and the tactics of the socialist movement. Kautsky emphasizes the importance of labor organization, political education, parliamentary participation, and social reform. He cautioned, however, that such activities were means to an end and should not be expected to delay or prevent the social revolution. He argued that revolution did not necessarily have to be accomplished through "violence and bloodshed," but observed that "never yet was any revolution accomplished without vigorous action on the part of those who suffered most under existing conditions."[5]
Themes
A central theme of The Class Struggle is the relationship between historical determinism and human volition. Kautsky presents the victory of the proletariat as inevitable, a consequence of the economic laws of capitalism. At the same time, he stresses that this victory can only be achieved through the conscious, organized political struggle of the working class.[6] This synthesis reflected Kautsky's attempt to balance the deterministic and voluntaristic elements within Marx's own writings. He argued that while objective conditions set the stage for revolution, it was the political action of the proletariat that would bring it about.[7] In the book, Kautsky encouraged those who detested capitalism by writing that "Irresistible economic forces lead with the certainty of doom to the shipwreck of capitalistic production."[8]
The book also reflects the political context of the SPD in the 1890s. Steenson notes that Kautsky's writing reveals the "moderating impact of internal party and external governmental pressures."[9] Kautsky attempted to placate the reformist right wing of the party, which focused on parliamentary action and gradual improvements, without abandoning the party's official commitment to revolutionary Marxism. Despite this balancing act, the book was overwhelmingly perceived by both party members and bourgeois critics as a revolutionary document in its time.[9]
Publication and reception
Published in 1892, Das Erfurter Programm quickly became Kautsky's most influential and widely translated book. It served as a comprehensive and accessible summary of Marxist theory for socialists across Europe and beyond. Sassoon notes that popular works by Kautsky and August Bebel were read and distributed more widely than Marx's own works.[10] By 1914, The Class Struggle had been translated into sixteen languages and "became the accepted popular summa of Marxism".[11] Its success cemented Kautsky's reputation as the leading theoretician of the Second International.[2]
In his introduction to a 1971 reissue of the 1910 English translation, scholar Robert C. Tucker described the book as "one of the minor classics of Marxist thought."[5] The book's ideas, along with the Erfurt Programme, came to define the orthodox Marxism that was later challenged by the revisionist movement led by Eduard Bernstein. Bernstein's critique attacked what he saw as the flawed "collapse theory" and "pauperization thesis" closely associated with Kautsky's Marxism.[12]
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