''Der Kampf'' (German: ''The Struggle'') was a monthly political magazine published in the period between 1907 and 1938. It was first headquartered in Vienna and then in Prague and Brno. It was affiliated with the

Austrian Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

(SDAP), and its subtitle was ''Sozialdemokratische Monatsschrift'' (German: ''Social democratic monthly'').

History and profile

''Der Kampf'' was launched by the Austrian

social democrats 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 so ...

, including

Otto Bauer Otto Bauer (5 September 1881 – 4 July 1938) was one of the founders and leading thinkers of the left-socialist Austromarxists who sought a middle ground between social democracy and revolutionary socialism. He was a member of the Austrian Parl ...

, Adolf Braun and

Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republic" because he led the first government of German ...

in October 1907. It was modeled on ''

Die Neue Zeit ''Die Neue Zeit'' (German: "The New Times") was a German socialist theoretical journal of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that was published from 1883 to 1923. Its headquarters was in Stuttgart, Germany. History and profile Founded ...

'' which had been founded by

Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. Kautsky was one of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels i ...

. Its major goal was to provide a platform for the discussions about the theoretical issues and those regarding the Austrian workers' movement. ''Der Kampf'' supported modern science and the methods of social research. The editors of ''Der Kampf'' included Otto Bauer, Adolf Braun and Karl Renner. It was published by Georg Emmerling on a monthly basis in Vienna until February 1934 when it was banned. From 1934 to 1938 ''Der Kampf'' was published illegally and was first based in Prague and then in Brno.

Content and contributors

In February 1933 ''Der Kampf'' published an exchange between Friedrich Adler and Karl Kautsky about the

socialist democracy Socialist democracy is a political system that aligns with principles of both socialism and democracy. It includes ideologies such as council communism, democratic socialism, and Soviet democracy, as well as Marxist democracy like the dictatorsh ...

. Its leading contributors included Max Adler, Friedrich Austerlitz,

Robert Danneberg Robert Danneberg (23 July 1882, in Vienna – approx 12 December 1942, in Auschwitz) was an Austrian politician, a member of the SPÖ, Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria (SDAPÖ) and a prominent Austro-Marxism, Austro-Marxist theoretic ...

Julius Deutsch Julius Deutsch (February 2, 1884, Lackenbach, Austria-Hungary – January 17, 1968, Vienna, Austria) was a politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria, member of Parliament between 1920-1933 and co-founder and leader of the Socia ...

, Wilhelm Ellenbogen, Ludo Hartmann,

Rudolf Hilferding Rudolf Hilferding (10 August 1877 – 11 February 1941) was an Austrian-born Marxist economist, socialist theorist,International Institute of Social History, ''Rodolf Hilferding Papers''. http://www.iisg.nl/archives/en/files/h/10751012.php poli ...

, Engelbert Pernerstorfer,

Pavel Axelrod Pavel Borisovich Axelrod (russian: Па́вел Бори́сович Аксельро́д; 25 August 1850 – 16 April 1928) was an early Russian Marxist revolutionary. Along with Georgi Plekhanov, Vera Zasulich, and Leo Deutsch, he was one ...

, August Bebel, and

Emile Vandervelde Emile Vandervelde (25 January 1866 – 27 December 1938) was a Belgian socialist politician. Nicknamed "the boss" (''le patron''), Vandervelde was a leading figure in the Belgian Labour Party (POB–BWP) and in international socialism. Career Emi ...

. A short article on terrorism by

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

was also featured in ''Der Kampf''. Otto Bauer published a total of 152 articles in the journal which were mostly concerned with the national and international political events as well as problematic issues regarding the international workers’ movement and the Social Democratic Party. Bauer used various pseudonyms such as Karl Mann and Heinrich Weber, but he also used his name in these articles. One of the articles written by Max Adler was about the effects of the unemployment on the

class consciousness In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that a person holds regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their class interests. According to Karl Marx, it is an awareness that is key to ...

of working class.

Julius Braunthal Julius Braunthal (1891–1972) was an Austrian-born historian, magazine editor, and political activist. Braunthal is best remembered as the Secretary of the Socialist International from 1951 to 1956 and for his massive three volume ''History of the ...

was among the members of the editorial board of ''Der Kampf''. He also contributed to the magazine and published the first article on

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

entitled "Der Putsch der Fascisten" in November 1922 shortly after the

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, ...

, an organized mass demonstration and a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

by Benito Mussolini's

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. Th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kampf 1907 establishments in Austria 1938 disestablishments in Austria Defunct magazines published in Austria Defunct political magazines German-language magazines Magazines established in 1907 Magazines disestablished in 1938 Magazines published in Vienna Monthly magazines published in Austria Magazines published in Prague Mass media in Brno Socialist magazines Social Democratic Party of Austria Banned magazines Censorship in Austria