The General Workers' Union of Germany (german: Allgemeine Arbeiter-Union Deutschlands; AAUD) was a factory organisation formed following the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 The German Revolution or November Revolution (german: Novemberrevolution) was a civil conflict in the German Empire at the end of the First World War that resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a dem ...

in opposition to the traditional trade unions. The AAUD was formed by the left communists in 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 1 ...

(KAPD) who considered organising based on trades as being an outmoded form of organisation and instead advocated organising workers based on factories, thus forming the AAUD. They were influenced by the

industrial unionism Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

of the Industrial Workers of the World. The council communists organised these factory organisations as the basis for region-wide workers' councils. A section of the AAUD led by Otto Rühle split from the AAUD, forming the

Allgemeine Arbeiter-Union – Einheitsorganisation The Allgemeine Arbeiter-Union – Einheitsorganisation (AAUE or AAU-E) (English: General Workers' Union – Unified Organization) was an anti-parliamentarian council communist organisation established in Germany in October 1921. It was a split from ...

.The German-Dutch Communist Left - Philippe Bourrinet
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References

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External links

Program of the AAUD

Theses on the Role of the Party in the Proletarian Revolution

Communist organisations in Germany Council communism Labor in Germany Labor history Organizations of the German Revolution of 1918–1919

See also

References

External links