International Communists of Germany (Internationalen Kommunisten Deutschlands; IKD) was a Communist political grouping founded in November 1918 during the German Revolution. The small party was, together with the better known Spartacist League, one of the constituent organizations that joined to form 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 ...

in 1918.

Organizational history

The International Communists of Germany (IKD) was initially founded as the

International Socialists of Germany International Socialists of Germany (german: Internazionale Sozialisten Deutschlands; ISD) was the name of a political party, formed in September 1915, which split from the Social Democratic Party of Germany, following the latter's decision to sup ...

(ISD), and were in the anti-war opposition within 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). Within the

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

district organizations, a

left opposition The Left Opposition was a faction within the Russian Communist Party (b) from 1923 to 1927 headed ''de facto'' by Leon Trotsky. The Left Opposition formed as part of the power struggle within the party leadership that began with the Soviet fou ...

took stand against 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 ...

''" – the SPD support for

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 ...

. This current was identified as the Bremen Radical Leftists (german: Bremer Linksradikale) around the newspaper ''Bremer Bürger-Zeitung'' edited by Johann Knief, although their followers would be found outside Bremen as well. They were influenced by Karl Radek and

Anton Pannekoek Antonie “Anton” Pannekoek (; 2 January 1873 – 28 April 1960) was a Dutch astronomer, philosopher, Marxist theorist, and socialist revolutionary. He was one of the main theorists of council communism (Dutch: ''radencommunisme''). Biograp ...

. Subsequently, parts of the Bremen group advocated the thesis that one had to finally break away from the SPD and, under the influence of Knief, founded the first declared communist party in Germany on November 23, 1918, the ''International Communists of Germany.'' Only in 1918 the current institutionalized as a party and took its new name - the German Revolution had taken away censorship and repression. During the founding party congress of the Communist Party of Germany, the IKD groups joined forces with the

Spartakusbund The Spartacus League (German: ''Spartakusbund'') was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the "International Group" by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other ...

to form the KPD. Large parts of the former IKD members, however, were expelled from the KPD again at the Heidelberg party congress of the KPD , which took place from October 20 to 23, 1919, because they appeared in the party against the centralism of the Spartakusbund. They were then accused of syndicalism by

Paul Levi Paul Levi (11 March 1883 – 9 February 1930) was a German communist and social democratic political leader. He was the head of the Communist Party of Germany following the assassination of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in 1919. After being ...

. Leading former IKD members such as Otto Rühle and Heinrich Laufenberg then founded the

Communist Workers' Party of Germany The Communist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Arbeiter-Partei Deutschlands; KAPD) was an anti-parliamentarian and left communist party that was active in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. It was founded in April ...

on April 3, 1920 , a minority around

Paul Frölich Paul Frölich (7 August 1884 – 16 March 1953) was a German journalist and left-wing political activist and author, a founding member of the Communist Party of Germany and founder of the party's paper, ''Die Rote Fahne.'' A Communist Party deputy ...

remained in the KPD. The same name was later used by German

Trotskyists Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a re ...

who, fleeing

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

after the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s' rise to power in 1933, established an exile organization in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Arthur Goldstein Arthur Goldstein (18 March 1887 in Lipine, German Empire – 1943 in Auschwitz, German-occupied Poland) was a German Jewish journalist and communist politician. Life Goldstein joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1914, and ...

was involved in this incarnation of the

International Communists of Germany International Communists of Germany (Internationalen Kommunisten Deutschlands; IKD) was a Communist political grouping founded in November 1918 during the German Revolution. The small party was, together with the better known Spartacist League, ...

Notable members

Marie Griesbach Marie Griesbach (after 1920 Hundt) (26 November 1896, Dresden – 13 March 1984, Ohlenstedt) was a German revolutionary, anthroposophist and writer. She was named Red Marie by Heinrich Vogeler. During the German Revolution of November 1919 she ...

* Johann Knief *

Otto Rühle Karl Heinrich Otto Rühle (23 October 1874 – 24 June 1943) was a German Marxist active in opposition to both the First and Second World Wars as well as a council communist theorist. Early years Otto was born in Großschirma, Saxony on 23 O ...

* Julian Borchardt *

Heinrich Laufenberg Heinrich Laufenberg (19 January 1872 – 3 February 1932) was a leading German communist and one of the first to develop the idea of National Bolshevism. Laufenberg was a history academic by profession and was also known by the pseudonym Karl Erle ...

Footnotes

External links

''Die Bremer Linksradikalen. Aus der Geschichte der Bremer Arbeiterbewegung bis 1920''
(PDF; 5,1 MB, 70 Seiten) Gruppe Arbeiterpolitik {{Authority control 1918 establishments in Germany 1919 disestablishments in Germany Communist organisations in Germany Left communist organizations Political parties established in 1918 Political parties disestablished in 1919

Organizational history

Notable members

Footnotes

Further reading

External links