council communism

Program of the AAUD

Program of the General Workers' Union of Germany, adopted at their third national conference in Leipzig, December 12-14, 1920.

Introduction

The Communist Left and the resolutions of the second congress of the Communist International - Henriette Roland-Holst

Dutch communist Roland-Holst argues against using the objective and subjective conditions of the Russian Revolution as a model for revolution in the Western countries.

The consequences of the decisions reached in Moscow are more complicated for the left communist groups.

The opportunism of the Communist Party of the Netherlands - Hermann Gorter

Hermann Gorter recounts his struggle against the Dutch Communist Party, following its abandonment of internationalist principles and adoption of reformist policies.

The communists are distinguished from the other working class parties by this only.... In the national struggles of the proletarians of the different countries, they point out and bring to the front the common interests of the entire proletariat, independently of all nationality....

Factory organisations or trade unions? - Fritz Wolffheim

Speech presented on August 16, 1919 before the assembly of the Communist Party’s Hamburg local, on the nature of trade unions.

The German revolution, whose political phase ended on November 9, 1918, meant, in addition to the destruction of German imperialism by means of the war, the destruction of the entire German Empire as well. Once its military power was destroyed, and the workers and soldiers told the big landowners and princes to go to hell, the German Empire, as it had existed until that time, ceased to exist.

The Hamburg revolution - Heinrich Laufenberg

A participant's account of their involvement in the November 1918 rebellion in Hamburg, and the movement of workers' councils that developed from it.

Preface

What is Council Communism?

Wage Slave X outlines the history and theory of Council communism.

As a distinct political current within the radical workers’ movement, council communism arose in the 1920s and ‘30s, originally in Germany and Holland. The revolutionary uprising in Germany from 1918 to 1921 provided the original impulse.

Bordiga versus Pannekoek - Antagonism

Introduction to a pamphlet examining how the Italian and Dutch-German communist lefts dealt with the questions of communist organisation, consciousness and class.

This article was originally published with, and refers to, the articles:
Party and Class, by Amadeo Bordiga
Party and Class, by Anton Pannekoek

Review: Anti-Parliamentary Communism in Britain, 1917-1945 - The Red Menace

Review of Mark Shipway's book, Anti-Parliamentary Communism: the Movement for Workers' Councils in Britian, 1917-1945, from The Red Menace.

The existence and activity of revolutionaries in Britain before the end of World War II has been either ignored or distorted In the various histories of the period written by apologists for the "Communist" Party and the Labour Party. Several books have recently become available which give us a clearer picture of our predecessors in this country.

The Communist Left in Germany 1918-1921 - Gilles Dauvé and Denis Authier

A analysis of the revolutionary movements in Europe at the end of World War I, their contradictions and limitations.

First published in France in 1976, as 'La Gauche Communiste en Allemagne (1918-1921)'. English translation by M. DeSocio published in 2006. Taken from the Collective Action Notes website.