Spartacist League

:This article is about the Spartacist League which existed in post-World War I Germany. See International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) for the group currently named the Spartacist League.

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 Russia 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.

Related Topics:
German Social-Democratic Party (SPD) - Wilhelm Liebknecht - Russia - 1914 - World War I - Imperialist - Revolutionary

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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 and led to 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 Berlin City Palace in November of 1918, on the same night that Philipp Scheidemann of the SPD declared the Weimar Republic from the Reichstag.

Related Topics:
Russian Revolution - 1917 - Workers' councils - Soviets - Berlin - November revolution - Kaiser - World War I - 1923 - Socialist - Republic - Berlin City Palace - Philipp Scheidemann - Weimar Republic - Reichstag

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In December 1918, the Spartakusbund became the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the German affiliate of the Communist International (Comintern). 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.

Related Topics:
Communist Party of Germany (KPD) - Comintern - January 1 - 1919

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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.

Related Topics:
Paramilitary - Freikorps - Friedrich Ebert

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The remains of the Spartacist League continued as the KPD, which retained the League's newspaper, die Rote Fahne (Red Flag), as its publication. After World War II, the Soviet occupation force in East Germany merged the KPD with the SPD in areas under its control, and created the Socialist Unity Party (SED). The SED became the ruling party of East Germany.

Related Topics:
Red Flag - World War II - Soviet - Socialist Unity Party - East Germany

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