MIA > Archive > Wilhelm Liebknecht > Voices of Revolt
Written: As a speech in German, delivered December 6th, 1870.
Published in English: 1928.
Translated by: Unknown (name not provided).
Source: Voices of Revolt: Speeches of Wilhelm Liebknecht. International Publishers, first edition, 1928, New York, USA. 96 pages.
Transcription and Markup: Bill Wright for marxists.org, November, 2022
(Delivered in the course of the discussions on the new Imperial Constitution, December 6, 1870.)
The coronation, of the new Emperor,[2] if it were really desired to impart to this ceremony a worthy and symbolic significance, should be celebrated out there on the Gendarmenmarkt;[a] this would be the most fitting place for the coronation of the modern Emperor, for as a matter of fact this emperordom can only be maintained by a gendarme.
The thing we are dealing with here is a struggle between democracy and absolutism, which these gentlemen know as well as we do. In the year 1849, we opposed each other on the field of battle; the German question will not be solved in this Reichstag; it will be solved in the actual battle that will one day ensue between us!
[2.] William I (1871-1888) was actually crowned less than two months after this speech was delivered, at Versailles (January 18, 1871).
[a.] Gendarmenmarkt: a public square in Berlin, named after the gensdarmes, the most distinguished regiment of cuirassiers in the old Prussian kingdom, whose guardhouse stood on this site up to 1782.
Last updated on 30 July 2022