Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (German: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, KPD), was formed in 1919 from the Spartacus League, and was a major political party in Germany between 1919 and 6 March 1933 when it was banned. Up until then Berlin was considered a Communist stronghold.[1]
The party was Stalinist and loyal to the leadership of the Soviet Union, and from 1928 it was largely controlled and funded by them.
History
The well-known communist, Clara Zetkin, the German Marxist theorist, had joined the Spartacist League in 1917. After it became the Communist Party she represented them in the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic from 1920 until her death in June 1933. Another member from 1919 was Walter Ulbricht whose parents were committed Marxist members of the SPD. He would go on to become a founding member of the German Democratic Republic.
In the September 1930 General Elections the KPD gained 76 seats (4,590,453 votes) in the Reichstag, an increase of 22 seats.
Another early member of the KPD, Erich Mielke, was one of two communist assassins who in 1931 murdered Berlin Police Captains Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck. After learning that a witness had survived, Mielke escaped arrest by fleeing to the Soviet Union, where the NKVD recruited and trained him. In 1945 he was appointed the notorious head of the DDR's infamous STASI secret police; it was his proposal that the Berlin Wall be erected.
In 1932, the KPD founded Antifaschistische Aktion, commonly known as Antifa, which it described as a "red united front under the leadership of the only anti-fascist party, the KPD".
On 20 July 1932 the Chancellor of Germany, Herr von Papen, made a late evening radio broadcast in which he said the Communist Party had openly aimed at the overthrow of the German Constitution, and to this end for years had been carrying on a reign of terror. Public opinion, he said, was no longer prepared to put up with the incessant violence and disorder resulting from Communist agitation. Between June 1 and July 20th, in Prussia alone, and excluding Berlin, there had been 322 serious clashes between political factions involving 72 deaths and 497 injured. in 203 cases the Communists had been the aggressors. In Saxony and, in particular, in Leipzig and Chemnitz, the Communists had been chiefly responsible for the acts of violence committed. In the week prior to August 10th Berlin Communists fired upon a group of National Socialist Stormtroopers, one of whom was killed, whilst at Elbing (East Prussia) two were seriously wounded by communists.[2]
In the 31 July 1932 General Elections the KPD gained 89 seats (5,278,094 votes) in the Reichstag, an increase of 11 seats. In Berlin the capital became equally divided between the KPD, the SPD, and the National Socialists. However, this Reichstag was dissolved by Presidential Decree on September 12th.[3]
After World War II it re-established itself as a minor party in West Germany until 1956 when it was again banned by the Constitutional Court. Notwithstanding that, communist activity continues underground and through Anti-Fascist Action (AFA).
See also
Sources
- Haffner, Sebastian, Failure of a Revolution: Germany 1918-19, Andre Deutsch, pubs., London, 1969. ISBN: 0-233-96377-4
