Ernst Thälmann

Ernst Thälmann (April 16, 1886—August 18, 1944) was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during much of the Weimar Republic. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1944.

Political career

Born in Hamburg, Thälmann was a Social Democrat Party member from 1903. Between 1904 and 1913 he worked as a stoker on a freighter. He was discharged early from his military service as he was already seen as a political agitator.

Related Topics:
Hamburg - Social Democrat Party - 1903 - 1904 - 1913

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One day before his call up for military service in World War I on 14 January 1915, he married Rosa Koch. Towards the end of 1917 he became member of the USPD. On the day of the German Revolution, 9 November 1918, he wrote in his diary on the Western Front, "...did a bunk from the Front with 4 comrades at 2 o'clock."

Related Topics:
World War I - 14 January - 1915 - 1917 - USPD - German Revolution - 9 November - 1918 - Western Front

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KPD

When the USPD split over the question of whether to join the Comintern, Thälmann sided with the pro-Communist group which in November 1920 merged with the KPD. In December Thälmann was elected to the Central Committee of the KPD. In March 1921 he was fired from his job at the job centre due to his political activities. That summer Thälmann went as a representative of the KPD to the 3rd Congress of the Comintern in Moscow and met Lenin.

Related Topics:
Comintern - 1920 - KPD - 1921 - Lenin

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On 18 June 1922 an assassination attempt was made on his flat. Members of the right-wing nationalist organisation Consul threw a hand grenade into his ground floor flat. His wife and daughter were unhurt; Thälmann himself only came home later.

Related Topics:
18 June - 1922

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Thälmann participated in and helped organise the Hamburg Uprising of 23rd to 25 October 1923. The uprising failed, and Thälmann went underground for a time.

Related Topics:
Hamburg Uprising - 25 October - 1923

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After the death of Lenin on 21 January 1924, Thälmann visited Moscow and for some time maintained a guard of honour at his bier. From February 1924 he was deputy chairman of the KPD and, from May, Reichstag member. At the 5th Congress of the Comintern that summer he was elected to the Comintern Executive Committee and a short time later to its Steering Committee. On 1 February 1925 he became chairman of the Rote Frontkämpferbund (RFB), the defence organisation of the KPD. On 30 October he became Chairman of the KPD and that year was a candidate for the German Presidency.

Related Topics:
21 January - 1924 - Bier - Reichstag - 1 February - 1925 - RFB - 30 October - German Presidency

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In October 1926 he supported in person the dockers' strike in his home town of Hamburg. He saw this as solidarity with an English miners' strike which had started on 1 May and had been good for the business of Hamburg Docks as an alternative supplier of coal. Thälmann's argument was that this "strike-breaking" in Hamburg had to be stopped.

Related Topics:
1926 - English miners' strike - 1 May

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On 22 March 1927 Ernst Thälmann took part in a demonstration in Berlin, where he was injured by a blow from a sword.

Related Topics:
22 March - 1927

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KPD vs SPD

At the 12th party congress of the KPD from 9th to 15 June 1929 in Berlin-Wedding, Thälmann steered a clear course of confrontation with the SPD after the events of "Bloody May", in which 32 people were killed by the police in an attempt to suppress demonstrations which had been banned by the Interior Minister, Carl Severing, a Social Democrat.

Related Topics:
15 June - 1929 - Carl Severing

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During that time Thälmann and the KPD fought the SPD as their main political enemy, acting according to the Comintern guidelines which declared Social Democrats and Socialists "social fascist". These guidelines remained in force until 1935 when the Comintern officially switched to endorsing a "popular front" of all socialists against the Nazi threat.

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On 13 March 1932 Thälmann was once again candidate for the German Presidency, against a incumbent Paul von Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler. The KPD's slogan was "A vote for Hindenburg is a vote for Hitler; a vote for Hitler is a vote for war.". Shortly after this Thälmann proposed to the SPD the formation of an antifascist coalition as a united front against the Nazis.

Related Topics:
13 March - 1932 - Paul von Hindenburg - Adolf Hitler - Nazis

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After the Nazis (NSDAP) gained power on 30 January 1933, Thälmann proposed that SPD and KPD should organise a general strike to topple Hitler, but this was not achieved. On 7 February a Central Committee meeting of the already banned KPD took place in Königs Wusterhausen, near Berlin, where Thälmann emphasised the necessity of a violent overthrow of Hitler's government. On 3 March 1933 he was arrested in Berlin by the Gestapo.

Related Topics:
30 January - 1933 - General strike - 7 February - 3 March - Gestapo

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