Communists of the Spartacist League fighting in the streets of Berlin during the German Revolution 1918-1919

The Spartacist League (Spartakusbund in German) was a left-wing Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during and just after the politically volatile years of World War I. The League was named after Spartacus, leader of the largest slave rebellion of the Roman Republic. It was founded by Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg (see Luxemburgism), Clara Zetkin, and others. Its greatest period of activity was during the German Revolution of 1918, when it sought to incite a revolution similar to that of the Bolsheviks in Russia by circulating illegal subversive publications, such as the newspaper Spartacus Letters. Image File history File links Spartacus_fight. ... Image File history File links Spartacus_fight. ... “November Revolution” redirects here. ... Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... This article is about the historical figure. ... This article is about the state which existed from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC. For the state which existed in the 18th century, see Roman Republic (18th century). ... ▶ (help· info) (August 13, 1871 - January 15, 1919) was a German socialist and a co-founder of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. ... Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1870 or 1871 – January 15, 1919, in Polish Róża Luksemburg) was a Jewish Polish-born Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. ... Luxemburgism (also written Luxembourgism) is a specific revolutionary theory within communism, based on the writings of Rosa Luxemburg. ... Stamp Clara Zetkin, maiden name Eissner (5 July 1857 - 20 June 1933) was an influential socialist German politician and a fighter for womens rights. ... “November Revolution” redirects here. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... For other uses, see Bolshevik (disambiguation). ... Subversion is an overturning or uprooting. ...

The League subsequently renamed itself the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD), joining the Comintern in 1919. The League and the subsequent KPD were famous for pitched street battles with police and other direct action militant activities, some of which Vladimir Lenin disapproved of as premature, anarchistic, misguided, etc., yet nevertheless tolerated. On 1 January 1919, the KPD executed a short-lived communist revolution in Berlin despite protests from Luxemburg and Liebknecht. The uprising was crushed by the government of the new Weimar Republic however the government had to rely on the right wing freikorps in place of the army or police. 1932 KPD poster, End This System The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period. ... The Comintern (Russian: Коммунистический Интернационал, Kommunisticheskiy Internatsional – Communist International, also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organization founded in March 1919, in the midst of the war communism period (1918-1921), by Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik), which intended to fight by all available means, including... For the Canadian urban guerrilla group Direct Action, see Squamish Five. ... Lenin redirects here. ... Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism, typically with socialism (state or worker ownership over the means of production) as an intermediate stage. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Kurt von Schleicher (last) Legislature... The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps) was originally applied to voluntary armies. ...

History

Both Luxemburg and Liebknecht were prominent members of the left wing faction of the German Social-Democratic Party (SPD). Liebknecht was the son of SPD founder Wilhelm Liebknecht. They moved to found an independent organization after the SPD decided to support the German government's decision to declare war on the Russian Empire in 1914, beginning what would later be known as World War I. Besides their opposition to what they saw as an imperialist war, Luxemburg and Liebknecht maintained the need for revolutionary methods, in contrast to the leadership of the SPD, who had decided to participate in the parliamentary process. SPD redirects here. ... Wilhelm Liebknecht Wilhelm Liebknecht (March 29, 1826 - August 7, 1900) was a German social democrat, one of the founders of the SPD and father of Karl Liebknecht and Theodor Liebknecht. ... The subject of this article was previously also known as Russia. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. ... Revolutionary, when used as a noun, is a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of revolution. ...

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Spartacists decided to agitate for a similar course, a government based on local workers' councils (soviets), in Germany. Liebknecht and Luxemburg were imprisoned from 1916 until 1918 for their roles in helping to organize a public demonstration in Berlin against German involvement in the war. After the November revolution which overthrew the Kaiser at the end of World War I, a period of instability and revolutions began, which would last until 1923. Liebknecht declared a socialist republic in Germany from a balcony of the Kaiser's Berliner Stadtschloss in November of 1918 — the same night that Philipp Scheidemann of the SPD declared the Weimar Republic from the Reichstag. The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ... A workers council is a council, or deliberative body, composed of working class or proletarian members. ... A soviet (Russian: , IPA: , council[1]) originally was a workers local council in late Imperial Russia. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... “November Revolution” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Look up republic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Berlin City Palace (German: Berliner Stadtschloss) was a palace in central Berlin, on Schlossplatz, next to Alexanderplatz. ... Philipp Scheidemann (26 July 1865 – 29 November 1939) was a German Social Democratic politician, who proclaimed the Republic on 9 November 1918, and who became the first Chancellor of the Weimar Republic. ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Kurt von Schleicher (last) Legislature... The Reichstag building. ...

In December 1918, the Spartakusbund became the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). On January 1, 1919, the KPD attempted to take control of Berlin in what came to be known as the Spartakus uprising. This occurred against the advice of Luxemburg, who argued that an uprising was premature since the Spartakusbund was too weak and not enough of the working class had come over to its side. 1932 KPD poster, End This System The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Spartacist League (Spartakusbund in German) was a left-wing Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during and just after the politically volatile years of World War I. It was founded by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg (nicknamed Red Rosa) along with others such as Clara Zetkin. ...

The attempted revolution was crushed by the combined forces of the SPD, the remnants of the German Army, and the right-wing paramilitary groups known as the Freikorps, on the orders of chancellor Friedrich Ebert. Luxemburg and Liebknecht, among many others, were killed while held prisoner by the Freikorps, and their bodies dumped in a river. Hundreds of Spartacists were executed in the weeks following the uprising. Paramilitary designates forces whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force, but which are not regarded as having the same status. ... The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps) was originally applied to voluntary armies. ... This is not the Friedrich Ebert involved in the founding of the GDR, but rather his father. ...

The remains of the Spartacist League continued as the KPD, which retained the League's newspaper, die Rote Fahne (Red Flag), as its publication. The German newspaper Die Rote Fahne (The Red Flag) was created on 9 November 1918 by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg in Berlin, first as organ of the left wing revolutionary Spartakusbund. ... Historically, and most generally, the red flag is an international symbol for the blood of angry workers. ...

The Spartacist Manifesto of 1918

One of the most notable parts of the Spartacist Manifesto (published in 1918) is the following:

The question today is not democracy or dictatorship. The question that history has put on the agenda reads: bourgeois democracy or socialist democracy. For the dictatorship of the proletariat does not mean bombs, putsches, riots and anarchy, as the agents of capitalist profits deliberately and falsely claim. Rather, it means using all instruments of political power to achieve socialism, to expropriate the capitalist class, through and in accordance with the will of the revolutionary majority of the proletariat.

A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... For other uses, see Capitalism (disambiguation). ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ...

Prominent members of the Spartacist League

• Willi Budich
• Hermann Duncker
• Käte Duncker
• Hugo Eberlein
• Paul Lange
• Leo Jogiches
• Paul Levi
• Karl Liebknecht
• Rosa Luxemburg
• Julian Marchlewski (Julian Balthasar Marchlewski)
• Franz Mehring
• Ernest Meyer (Ernst Meyer)
• Wilhelm Pieck
• August Thalheimer
• Clara Zetkin

Leo Jogiches Leo Jogiches, also known by his party name Tyska or Tyshko (was born 17 July 1867 in the multi national city of Vilnius and died 10 March 1919 in Berlin). ... Paul Levi Paul Levi (March 11, 1883 – February 9, 1930) was a German Communist politician. ... ▶ (help· info) (August 13, 1871 - January 15, 1919) was a German socialist and a co-founder of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. ... Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1870 or 1871 – January 15, 1919, in Polish Róża Luksemburg) was a Jewish Polish-born Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. ... Julian Marchlewski (May 17, 1866 - March 22, 1925) was a Polish and Soviet communist functionary with an education in economics. ... Franz Erdmann Mehring (born 27 February 1846 in Schlawe, Pomerania, died 29 January 1919 in Berlin), was a German publicist, politician and historian. ... Wilhelm Pieck (January 3, 1876 - September 7, 1960) was a German communist, politician and president of East Germany. ... Stamp Clara Zetkin, maiden name Eissner (5 July 1857 - 20 June 1933) was an influential socialist German politician and a fighter for womens rights. ...

See also

Luxemburgism
Council Communism
Left Communism Luxemburgism (also written Luxembourgism) is a specific revolutionary theory within communism, based on the writings of Rosa Luxemburg. ... Council communism is a Radical Left movement originating in Germany and the Netherlands in the 1920s. ... Left Communism is a term describing a whole range of communist viewpoints which oppose the political ideas of the Bolsheviks from a position which is asserted to be more authentically Marxist and proletarian than the views held by the Communist International after its first two Congresses. ...

External links

• On the Spartacus Programme by Rosa Luxemburg