Resolution Proposed by the Delegation of the Central Committee

The present world war—having brought untold suffering wherever it has broken out, having laid waste and impoverished Belgium and Galicia, and having shattered the lives of countless thousands of workers—is an imperialist war, sparked by the struggle of the ruling classes in various nations for the division of colonies, for dominance over the global market, and for dynastic interests. It is but a natural extension of the policies pursued by the capitalist class and by the governments of all countries; accordingly, from a socialist standpoint, the question of who struck the first blow holds no real significance.

This war not only serves the interests of the working class in no way whatsoever—it is, rather, a weapon in the hands of the ruling classes, employed to undermine the international solidarity of workers and, within each nation, to weaken the workers’ movement and their class struggle. Likewise, the slogan “defense of the fatherland,” advanced by the bourgeoisie and endorsed by opportunists, is nothing more than a bait with which the bourgeoisie seeks to persuade the proletariat to sacrifice its life and blood in defense of bourgeois interests.

Taking all this into account, the Extraordinary International Conference of Socialist Women—drawing upon the Stuttgart Resolution, which calls for the exploitation of the economic and political crises wrought by war in order to rouse the people and hasten the downfall of the capitalist system; the Copenhagen Resolution, which stipulates that deputies must vote against war credits; and the Basel Resolution, which declares that workers regard it as a crime to shoot at one another—affirms that the representatives of the majority of socialist parties in the warring countries have acted in complete contradiction to these resolutions and, yielding to the pressures of circumstance, have committed a veritable betrayal of socialism, substituting nationalism in place of socialism. The conference maintains that the proletariat of all countries has but one enemy: its own class enemy—the capitalist class. The horrific suffering inflicted by this war stirs in all women, and especially in working‑class women, an ever‑growing yearning for peace. While declaring war on every imperialist war, the conference also recognizes that, in order for this yearning for peace to be transformed into a conscious political force, it is essential that working women fully understand that the propertied classes seek only annexations, conquests, and domination; that in the age of imperialism, wars are inevitable; and that imperialism threatens world peace with a succession of wars unless the proletariat can muster sufficient strength to put an end to the capitalist system and to overthrow capitalism once and for all. If a working woman wishes to shorten the period of suffering associated with the era of imperialist wars, her desire for peace must be transformed into indignation and into a struggle for socialism. Only through the revolutionary mobilization of the masses—by intensifying and sharpening the socialist struggle—can a working woman attain her goal in this struggle. Thus, her first duty is to support trade unions and socialist organizations and to disrupt the “civil peace” by fighting against war credits, by opposing entry into bourgeois ministries, by fostering and promoting the fraternization of soldiers in the trenches on the battlefield, by establishing clandestine organizations wherever the government has suppressed constitutional liberties, and, finally, by involving the masses in demonstrations and revolutionary movements.

The International Conference of Socialist Women calls upon working women in all countries to launch this struggle without delay, organizing it on an international scale and closely linking their work with that of socialists in every country who, like Liebknecht, are combating nationalism and waging a revolutionary socialist struggle.

At the same time, the conference reminds working women that in the most advanced countries of Europe, the objective conditions for socialist production have already ripened; that the entire movement has entered a new phase; that the present world war imposes new and grave responsibilities upon them; and that their movement may serve as the harbinger of a general mass uprising capable of lending fresh momentum to the socialist movement as a whole and bringing closer the hour of final liberation. By taking the initiative in organizing demonstrations and revolutionary rallies, working women—walking hand in hand with the proletariat—will be able to inaugurate a new era of proletarian struggle, during which the proletariat will win socialism in the more advanced countries and secure the democratic republic in the more backward ones.

Appendix to No. 42 of the newspaper “Social-Democrat,” June 1, 1915.

Printed according to the text of the Appendix.