Passive fatalism can never be the role of a revolutionary party, like the Social Democracy.
Karl LiebknechtRead
To the socialist no nation is free whose national existence is based upon the enslavement of another people, for to him colonial peoples, too, are peoples, and, as such, parts of the national state.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the interconnectedness of nations and the moral imperative to recognize the freedom of all peoples, especially those who are oppressed.
Karl Liebknecht's quote critiques the notion of national freedom for states that thrive on the subjugation of others. For Liebknecht, a true socialist perspective acknowledges that the existence of a nation cannot be justifiably claimed if it is established on the oppression of colonial peoples, who also possess their own rights and identities as nations. In this view, the freedom of one group is intrinsically tied to the liberation of all.
Themes
FreedomOppressionColonialismSocialismNationalism
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech addressing social justice movements.
More from Karl Liebknecht
All quotes →The failure of the Russian Socialist Republic will be the defeat of the proletariat of the whole world.
Karl LiebknechtRead
In the present imperialistic milieu there can be no wars of national self-defense.
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Like a cyclone, imperialism spins across the globe; militarism crushes peoples and sucks their blood like a vampire.
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Just as invasion is the true and tried weapon in the hands of capital against the class struggle, so on the other hand the fearless pursuit of the class struggle has always proven the most effective preventative of foreign invasions.
Karl LiebknechtRead
For capitalism, war and peace are business and nothing but business.
Karl LiebknechtRead
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