Arthur Crispien (4 November 1875 – 29 November 1946) was a German

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

politician.

Biography

Crispien was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

(modern Kaliningrad, Russia) to August and Franziska Crispien. He worked as a house and stage painter in Königsberg and joined the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD) in 1894. He worked for a Health insurance fund and became the editor of the ''Königsberger Volkszeitung'' (1904–1906), the Danzig '' Volkswacht'' (1906–1912) and the ''Schwäbische Tagwacht'' in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

(1912–1914). In 1906 to 1912 Crispien was the regional Chairman of the SPD in

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he opposed the

Burgfriedenspolitik (, ) is a German term that refers to the political truce between Germany's political parties during World War I. The trade unions refrained from striking, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) voted for war credits in the Reichstag, and the parti ...

of the SPD on voting for German war credits and was dismissed from the ''Schwäbische Tagwacht''. He illegally published the newspaper ''Der Sozialdemokrat'' (The Social Democrat) and was imprisoned for 6 months. He was conscripted in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

in 1916, joined the Independent Social Democrats (USPD) in 1917 and became its co-chairman and member of the Executive Committee. The

Weimar era The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is als ...

saw him elected a Member of the Reichstag in 1920. He subsequently rejoined the SPD in 1922 and became its co-Chairman. From 1921 Crispien was a member of the executive board of the

International Working Union of Socialist Parties The International Working Union of Socialist Parties (IWUSP; also known as the 2½ International or the Vienna International; german: Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialistischer Parteien, IASP) was a political international for the co-opera ...

and since 1923 a delegate to the

Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI; german: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale, label=German, SAI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a me ...

. In 1920 he led a delegation of the

USPD The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was establish ...

to the

2nd World Congress of the Communist International The 2nd World Congress of the Communist International was a gathering of approximately 220 voting and non-voting representatives of Communist and revolutionary socialist political parties from around the world, held in Petrograd and Moscow from J ...

but refused to accept

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

's conditions for participation in the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

.Biography
at

Deutsche Biographie ''Deutsche Biographie'' ( en, German Biography) is a German-language online biographical dictionary. It published thus far information about more than 730,000 individuals and families (2016).Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie ...

Following the

Reichstag fire The Reichstag fire (german: Reichstagsbrand, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of ...

in 1933 Crispien went into exile to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and later

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, representing the Social Democratic Party in Exile. Crispien supported political and Jewish refugees from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and became a member of the

Swiss Socialist Party The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz; SP; rm, Partida Socialdemocrata da la Svizra) or Swiss Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste suisse, it, Partito Socialista Svizzero; PS), is a polit ...

. He was a delegate at the refugee conference of 1945 at

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...

. Crispien died in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, on 29 November 1946, aged 71.

References

External links

*
Arthur Crispien
in the Reichstag Members Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Crispien, Arthur 1875 births 1946 deaths German anti-war activists German Army personnel of World War I German prisoners and detainees Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic People from the Province of Prussia Politicians from Königsberg Emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Weimar Republic politicians