German Revolution 1918
Content about the German Revolution of 1918.
Spartakism to National Bolshevism - the KPD 1918-24 - Solidarity
An account of the emergence of the KPD (The German Communist Party) in the early days of the German Revolution - as a break from the Social Democratic Party - through its decline and transformation into a tool of the Russian Bolshevik regime.
Initially a federation of radicals in favour of workers councils, the article traces the Party's steady degeneration through bureaucratisation and opportunism; and its role as a counter-revolutionary tool of Russian Bolshevik foreign policy, following Moscow directives to undertake dubious 'uprisings' and enter alliances with fascists and nationalists (the "Schlageter Line").
Rapprochement; how the Bolsheviks came to love capitalists
In this short excerpt Carr describes the speedy development of close links between the young Bolshevik regime and Western capitalist powers.
This included the supply of weaponry to the German Army at a time when it was crushing uprisings of communists and workers (for more on the Bolshevik relationship with the German military see;
http://libcom.org/history/spartakism-national-bolshevism-kpd-1918-24-solidarity).
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Working-class activity and councils - Germany 1918‑1923 - Peter Rachleff
A survey of the main events and the limits of working class activity during the Revolution.
"[i]Without being conscious of it, the working class had conquered power in November of 1918. It had gone in its actions far beyond its explicit demands ‑‑ and far beyond the consciousness it had of its own activity and desires.
The KAPD’s report on the third congress of the Communist International
Report presented at the meeting of the KAPD Central Committee on July 31, 1921, by a KAPD delegate to the Third Congress of the Third International.
Comrades!
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
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.
Schneider, Ernst Wilhelm 1883-1946??1970??) Aka Ikarus, Icarus
A short biography of the German revolutionary seaman Ernst Schneider
Born in Königsberg in Prussia (now the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad) on 23rd July 1883 Ernst Schneider was a harbour worker and seaman (steersman).
Theses on the Role of the Party in the Proletarian Revolution (KAPD, 1921)
The KAPD’s Theses on the Party were written in July 1921 to be discussed not only in the party but within the Communist International.
1. It is the historical task of the proletarian revolution to bring the disposal of the wealth of the earth into the hands of the working masses, to put an end to the private ownership of the means of production, thus rendering impossible the existence of a separate, exploiting, ruling class.
