AAUD

Left-wing splinter parties in the Weimar Republic

A 1974 dissertation on various left-wing radical groups in Weimar Republic era Germany.

ABSTRACT

AAUD/AAUD-E reader

Submitted by Juan Conatz on Aug 21 2012 09:01

A reader I compiled from various texts online of the AAUD/AAUD-E.

CONTENTS

The Communist Left in Germany1918-1921 by Gilles Dauvé and Denis Authier

Paul Mattick and Council Communism by Claudio Pozzoli

Council Communism by Mark Shipway

The Councilist Movement in Germany (1914-1935): A History of the AAUD-E Tendency by CICA

Preliminaries on Councils and Councilist Organization by René Riesel

The Second Congress of the KAPD

Resumé

As there has been a gap in this series of articles on the German Left, we will take the opportunity to go over the content of some of the previous articles:

The workers councils as organisational foundation of communist production - GIK

A summary of the basic theoretical foundations of the work 'Fundamental principles of communist production and distribution' by the Dutch German left group GIK.

Published by Neue Arbeiterverlag, Berlin 1931

Subversion introduction

Paul Mattick and Council Communism - Claudio Pozzoli

Notes by Claudio Pozzoli on Paul Mattick, council communism and in particular its differences with left communism.

The following pages do not constitute an attempt to provide an exhaustive analysis and interpretation of “council communism”, nor are they intended to situate Paul Mattick within the context of the current discussion concerning capitalism’s structural changes and the limits of the “mixed economy”.

Art as a weapon: Franz Seiwert and the Cologne progressives - Martyn Everett

Submitted by Steven. on Nov 8 2010 18:19
Fig 1. Hans Schmitz - Mass

An account of Franz Seiwert and the 'Cologne Progressives', a group or circle of artists who followed and participated in the radical currents around the German council communist organisations AAU and especially the AAU-E. The 'Cologne Progressives' may be the most radical group of artists ever.

Art has a long history of use as a propaganda weapon by the powerful, who have patronised particular forms of art and particular artists as a means of enhancing or glorifying their own position. The icon-like portraits of Queen Elizabeth I provide an obvious example, as artists were forbidden to paint other than an officially approved likeness.

The councilist movement in Germany (1914-1935): A history of the AAUD-E tendency

Submitted by Spassmaschine on Mar 11 2010 04:51

Article tracing the origins and theoretical development of the 'unitary' current of the General Workers' Union of Germany.

I. The Tendency’s Origins: From the First World War to the Defeat of the 1918 November Revolution

What does the Communist Workers Union want? - KAUD

Submitted by Spassmaschine on Jan 18 2010 03:56

1932 statement of the Communist Workers Union of Germany (Kommunistische Arbeiter-Union Deutschlands) on its perspective and purpose.

I

World war and revolution have clearly and unambiguously shown the proletariat that in its struggle against the bourgeoisie and capitalism it needs organizations of a kind that must have nocommon interests with the bourgeoisie.

Guidelines of the AAUD-E

Submitted by Spassmaschine on Jan 6 2010 05:04

Guidelines of the General Workers' Union Unitary Organisation, as presented at the Fourth Conference of the General Workers' Union of Germany in June 1920

Introduction1

  • 1. These theses comprised one of two projects proposed by the opposition within the AAUD. They were presented by the East Saxony and Hamburg districts at the Fourth Conference of the AAUD (June 1920), were adopted as definitive “guidelines” by the first autonomous conference of the opposition in October, and were published in Die Aktion No. 41/21, 1921.

Extracts from the guidelines of the AAUD

Submitted by Spassmaschine on Jan 6 2010 02:28

Extracts from the December 1920 Guidelines of the General Workers' Union of Germany

What Is Organization?
To organize means to arrange and give form to something. Parties, trade unions, the army, the Church, the State and the League of Nations are organizations.