Karl Roche (1862–1931) was a German

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

and

left communist Left communism, or the communist left, is a position held by the left wing of communism, which criticises the political ideas and practices espoused by Marxist–Leninists and social democrats. Left communists assert positions which they rega ...

trade unionist. Roche joined the

Free Association of German Trade Unions The Free Association of German Trade Unions (; abbreviated FVdG; sometimes also translated as Free Association of German Unions or Free Alliance of German Trade Unions) was a trade union federation in Imperial and early Weimar Germany. It was foun ...

(FVdG) around 1900 as a seaman. He became a prominent member of the organization. In 1913,

Carl Windhoff Carl Windhoff (1882-1940) was a German syndicalist trade unionist. He joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1890. He was one of the most important SPD leaders Düsseldorf until he left the party in 1901. He then joined the Free A ...

Fritz Kater Fritz Kater (12 December 1861 – 20 May 1945) was a German trade unionist active in the Free Association of German Trade Unions (FVdG) and its successor organization, the Free Workers' Union of Germany. He was the editor of the FVdG's organ ...

, and he were the FVdG delegates at the

First International Syndicalist Congress The First International Syndicalist Congress was a meeting of European and Latin American syndicalist organizations at Holborn Town Hall in London from September 27 to October 2, 1913. Upon a proposal by the Dutch National Labor Secretariat (NAS) ...

in London. In 1919, he wrote the FVdG's first post-World War I platform ''Was wollen die Syndikalisten? Programm, Ziele und Wege der "Freien Vereinigung deutscher Gewerkschaften"'' (''What do the Syndicalists want? Program, Goals, and Means of the "Free Association of German Trade Unions"''). The program summarized the FVdG's theory: a reaffirmation of the importance of strikes as a vehicle for emancipation and a rejection of the centralized mainstream labor unions. Roche was also a resolute proponent of collaboration with

s. In late 1918,

Rudolf Rocker Johann Rudolf Rocker (March 25, 1873 – September 19, 1958) was a German anarchist writer and activist. He was born in Mainz to a Roman Catholic artisan family. His father died when he was a child, and his mother when he was in his teens, so he ...

returned to Germany, in March 1919 he joined the FVdG and started gaining influence. An avowed

communist anarchist Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains res ...

and follower of

Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

, Rocker rejected such close collaboration with Marxists. His growing influence led Roche to leave the

Free Workers' Union of Germany The Free Workers' Union of Germany (; FAUD) was an anarcho-syndicalist trade union in Germany. It stemmed from the Free Association of German Trade Unions (FDVG) which combined with the Ruhr region's Freie Arbeiter Union on September 15, 1919. T ...

, as the FVdG was now known, in 1920 and join the

General Workers' Union of Germany The General Workers' Union of Germany (german: Allgemeine Arbeiter-Union Deutschlands; AAUD) was a factory organisation formed following the German Revolution of 1918–1919 in opposition to the traditional trade unions. The AAUD was formed by th ...

(AAUD). He became the leader of the AAUD in

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

. In the mid-1920s he left the AAUD for the

Federation of Communist Anarchists of Germany A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

and then re-joined the FAUD.

References

*. Pg. 104-105, 189. *. Pg. 35.

External links

Archiv Karl Roche
Members of the Free Association of German Trade Unions Members of the Free Workers' Union of Germany Left communists 1862 births 1931 deaths {{Syndicalism and Anarcho-Syndicalism in Germany