The Communist Party of Switzerland (german: Kommunistische Partei der Schweiz; KPS) or Swiss Communist Party (french: Parti communiste suisse; it, Partito Comunista Svizzero; PCS) was a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

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 ...

between 1921 and 1944. It was the Swiss section of the

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

(Comintern).

History

The Communist Party of Switzerland was founded in March 1921, in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

, by dissidents from the left wing of the

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland 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 poli ...

and a communist group formed in the aftermath of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Fritz Platten Fritz Platten (8 July 1883 – 22 April 1942) was a Swiss communist politician and one of the founders of the Communist International. Early life Platten was born in the village of Tablat, now part of St. Gallen, on 8 July 1883, to and Old Cathol ...

was a central leader in the new party. The party drew most of its support from

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

s in

German-speaking Switzerland The German-speaking part of Switzerland (german: Deutschschweiz, french: Suisse alémanique, it, Svizzera tedesca, rm, Svizra tudestga) comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switz ...

, most notably the cities of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

and Zürich. It counted six thousand members upon its foundation, of which 15% were women. Through subsidiary organizations, the party gathered support from various groups, such as the unemployed,

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

and intellectuals. From the late 1920s to early 1930s, the Communist Party's political program underwent

Stalinization Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

. A major turning point occurred in 1930, when the expulsion of

Walther Bringolf Walther Bringolf (1 August 1895 – 24 March 1981) was a former President of the National Council of Switzerland (1961/1962). He was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland and was a long-time mayor of Schaffhausen (1933–1968). ...

led to the split of nearly the entire

section into the

Communist Party Opposition The Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Opposition)), generally abbreviated as KPO or KPD(O), was a communist opposition organisation established at the end of 1928 and maintaining its existence un ...

, which merged into the Social Democrats five years later. The number of party members and voters decreased progressively, though the adoption of

popular front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

tactics in 1935 led to a slight increase in membership. Nevertheless, anti-communist laws adopted by a number of cantons, as well as party policies such as abandoning

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

(following the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...

) and supporting the Soviet invasion of Finland led to a decline in popularity. In November 1940, the Communist Party was banned by the Swiss government for its support of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the non-aggression pact between the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and

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 ...

. The ban had been preceded by the outlawing of

communist propaganda Communist propaganda is the artistic and social promotion of the ideology of communism, communist worldview, communist society, and interests of the communist movement. While it tends to carry a negative connotation in the Western world, the t ...

and activities in Switzerland in August. On 12 June 1941, all four communist members of the National Council were removed from office. The party continued to operate illegally with about 350 members until 1944, when it merged with the

Swiss Socialist Federation The Swiss Socialist Federation (french: Fédération socialiste suisse, abbreviated FSS) was a political party in Switzerland. Founding The FSS emerged from a split in the Swiss Socialist Party in 1939. On September 16, 1939 the Swiss Socialist Pa ...

to form the

Swiss Party of Labour The Swiss Party of Labour (german: Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz; french: Parti Suisse du Travail – Parti Ouvrier et Populaire; it, Partito Svizzero del Lavoro – Partito Operaio e Popolare; rm, Partida svizra da la lavur) is a communist pa ...

Role in the Comintern

Despite its small size, the Swiss Communist Party played an important role within the Comintern. After the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

(KPD) was banned by the Nazi government, in 1933, its leadership in

Southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

went into exile in Switzerland and was sheltered by the Swiss communists. The party also gave financial aid to some KPD officials and shelter to some of the German-based Comintern press agencies. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, the party contributed to the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed ...

by assisting the mobilization of volunteers from

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 other countries.

Election results

At the national level, the Swiss Communist Party had its best electoral performances in the 1920s. In 1928, with 19,7% of the popular vote, it won 25 seats in the

Grand Council of Basel-Stadt The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (german: Grosser Rat) is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of the ...

, the cantonal legislature of

Basel-Stadt Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as ...

. At the federal level, the party received its highest vote share in the 1939 election, the last it contested, winning four seats in the National Council, the lower chamber of the Federal Assembly; it was never elected into the Council States (upper chamber).

National Council

References

{{Authority control

Defunct communist parties in Switzerland Banned communist parties Political parties established in 1918 Political parties disestablished in 1944 1921 establishments in Switzerland 1944 disestablishments in Switzerland