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THE FIGHT FOR EXISTENCE 213
domination, which is
synonymous with the liberation of
humanity. For this double end I have struggled with
all my strength, and for this double end I will struggle
as long as a breath of life remains in me. Duty wills
it!" (25)
Such doctrines must of course be suppressed, and the
exposure of those who had relations with Bismarck
made it
impossible for him longer to deal even with a
section of the labor movement. The result was that
persecutions were begun on both the Lassalleans and the
Marxists. And it was largely this new policy of repression
that forced the warring labor groups in 1875 to
meet in conference at Gotha and to unite in one organization.
In the following election, 1877, the united party
polled nearly five hundred thousand votes, or about ten
per cent, of all the votes cast in Germany. It now had
twelve members in the Reichstag, and Bismarck saw very
clearly that a force was rising in Germany that threatened
not only him but his beloved Hohenzollern dynasty
itself.
For years most of its
opponents comforted themselves
with the belief that socialism was merely a temporary
disturbance which, if left alone, would run its course
and eventually die out. Again and again
its militant
enemies had discussed undertaking measures against it,
but the wiser heads prevailed until 1877, when the socialists
polled a great vote. And, of course, when it was
once decided that socialism must be stamped out, a really
good pretext was soon found upon which repressive
measures might be taken. I have already mentioned
that on May II,
1878, Emperor William was shot at by
Hodel. It was, of course, natural that the reactionaries
should make the most possible of this act of the would-be
assassin, and, when photographs of several prominent so-