"
We are face to face with a great crisis. The consequences of the
imperialistic policy by means of which an era of competitive preparation
for war has been inaugurated, and which has served to intensify hostile
feeling between nations, have swept down over Europe like a torrent. The
responsibility lies with those who have upheld this policy; we refuse
it. [Applause from the Socialists.] Social Democracy has fought this
disastrous development with all its strength, and even up to the very
last hour, by means of prodigious public demonstrations, particularly in
close co-operation with its brothers in France, [applause from the
Socialists,] it has labored for the maintenance of peace. Its endeavors
have been in vain. We now stand before the brazen facts of actual war;
the horrors of hostile invasion threaten us. It is not for us today to
decide for or against war, but to deliberate on the problem of the
available means of national defense. We have now to think of the
millions of our fellow-countrymen who, through no fault of theirs, have
been drawn into this disaster. [Applause.] They will be the ones to
suffer most heavily from the devastation of this war.
Our warmest sympathy, accorded without reference to party, accompanies
all our brothers who have been called to the front.
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