For today, I have to close


The last letter written by Rosa Luxemburg before her death

Rosa Luxemburg was tortured and executed on this day 100
years ago, January 15th 1919. The last letter contained in The Letters of Rosa
Luxemburg is dated January 11th, 1919 - following the crushed Spartacist
Uprising - and is reproduced in full below. In her last known piece of writing,
'Order prevails in Berlin', Luxemburg writes about the reasons contributing to
the failure of the rebellion and the future of the movement:


A new leadership can and must be created by the masses
and from the masses. The masses are the crucial factor. They are the rock on
which the ultimate victory of the revolution will be built. The masses were up
to the challenge, and out of this “defeat” they have forged a link in the chain
of historic defeats, which is the pride and strength of international
socialism. That is why future victories will spring from this “defeat.”

Peter Hudis introduces the turbulent historical context
for the New Left Project:

This letter was written in the immediate aftermath of the
abortive "Spartakusbund Uprising" of January 4-10, which attempted to
overthrow the SPD government of Ebert and Scheidemann and install a
revolutionary government representing the German working classes' demand for
genuine socialism ... Although Karl Liebknecht and others were carried away by
these events to see them as a demand to overthrow the regime, Luxemburg saw
them as a defensive reaction and held that calls for a seizure of power were
premature. However, she decided she could not stand in the way of the uprising
given the course of events on the ground that were taking on a life of their
own ...

She here tries to put the best face possible on the
defeat, arguing that the elections might not be held ... Luxemburg works to
keep the spirits of her longtime friend and comrade up by reminding her that no
defeat is ever permanent since such "events are a tremendous school for
the masses." It is fitting for this letter to end the collection of The Letters
of Rosa Luxemburg, given that it expresses her long-held view was that the most
important aspect of social struggle is the "intellectual sediment"
that it leaves for future generations to continue the struggle for freedom.


Here is the letter in full:

TO CLARA ZETKIN                                                               
[Berlin,] January 11 [1919]

Dearest Klara,

Today I received your detailed letter, finally got around
to reading it in peace and quiet, and what’s still more incredible, to
answering it. It is impossible to describe the way of life that I—and all of
us—have been living for weeks, the tumult and turmoil, the constant changing of
living quarters, the never-ending reports filled with alarm, and in between,
the tense strain of work, conferences, etc., etc. I literally could not find
time to write you. I’ve only seen my own place now and then for a couple of
hours at night. Perhaps tonight I will succeed in writing this letter. Only I
really don’t know how to begin, I have so much to tell you.




Well then, first of all, as far as nonparticipation in
the elections is concerned you overestimate enormously the scope and
consequences of this decision. There are no “Rühle-ites,” and Rühle was by no
means a “leader” at the conference. Our “defeat” was only the triumph of a
rather childish, half-baked, one-dimensional radicalism. But that was only at
the beginning of the conference. In its later course the feeling between us (of
the central leadership) and the delegates was restored to a sound basis, and
when I returned briefly to the question of participation in the elections
during my report I already felt quite a different resonance than at the
beginning. Don’t forget that the “Spartacists” are for the most part a fresh
new generation, free of the stupefying traditions of the “grand old party,
tried and true.”—And that must be viewed in both its aspects, of light and
shade. We all decided unanimously not to make too big an issue of this point
and not to take it too tragically. In reality the question of the National
Assembly [and the elections to it] will be shoved into the background by the
storm of events, and if the course of events continues as it has so far, it
will prove to be highly  questionable
whether things will even reach the point of elections and a National Assembly.
Your judgment of the matter (and by this I mean [what you consider] the tragic
nature of the decision) is quite different from ours, because unfortunately you
now have no feeling for the details, as we do, and moreover, a feeling for the
particular situation, for which one would require the experience of direct
observation. My first impulse, when I read your letter and your telegram about
the elections question, was to send you a telegram: Come here, quick as you
can. I am certain that one week’s stay here and direct participation in our
activities and consultations would be enough to establish complete conformity
between you and us in each and every respect. Now, however, I see myself
obliged to say the opposite to you: Wait a little while about coming here,
until we have quieter times again, to some extent. To live in the present
turmoil and hourly danger, the constant changing of living quarters, the strain
and the rushing around, is not for you, and in particular there would be no
possibility at all of working or even consulting in an orderly manner. I hope
in a week or so the situation will have clarified itself in one way or another
and regular work will again be possible. Then your relocating here would be the
beginning of a systematic collaboration, in the course of which mutual
agreement and a commonly shared understanding will come about automatically.


Nota bene: We have not taken any “Borchhardtians”[1] into
the organization. On the contrary, Borchardt was expelled from the
“International Communists”[2] and indeed that was done on our demand. For the
most part the “Communists” were from Hamburg and Bremen. Certainly this
acquisition [Erwerbung] has its thorny aspects, but in any case these are
secondary matters, which one has to get past and which will be straightened out
as the movement progresses.—On the whole our movement is developing splendidly,
and throughout all of Germany at that. The split from the USPD had become
absolutely unavoidable for political reasons, because even if the people were
still the same as at Gotha,[3] nevertheless the situation has become totally
different. The severe political crises that we’ve experienced here in Berlin
during all of the past two weeks or even longer have blocked the way to the
systematic organizational work of training our recruits, but at the same time
these events are a tremendous school for the masses. And finally, one must take
history as it comes, whatever course it takes. —The fact that you are receiving
Rote Fahne so infrequently is disastrous! I will see to it that I personally
send it to you every day. —At this moment in Berlin the battles are
continuing.[4] Many of our brave lads have fallen. Meyer, Ledebour, and (we
fear) Leo [Jogiches] have been arrested.

For today, I have to close.


I embrace you a thousand times, your R.


[1] A reference to Julian Borchardt.

[2] In November 1918 the name “International Communists”
was adopted, first of all by left groups in Hamburg and Bremen, and also by a
group in Dresden. They joined the KPD at its founding congress.

[3] The USPD held its founding congress at Gotha on April
6–8, 1917.

[4] On January 4, 1919, the Social Democratic government
announced the dismissal of Emil Eichhorn as head of the Berlin police. Eichhorn
belonged to the left wing of the USPD. The revolutionary workers and soldiers
responded to this with a massive rally in Berlin, and proceeded to arm
themselves for  and Karl Liebknecht were
tracked down by counterrevolutionary, protofascist military groups (the
so-called Volunteer Corps, or Freikorps ), and on January 15 they were arrested
and assassinated.