''Volkswacht'' ('People's Guard') was a
social democratic
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 soci ...
newspaper published in
Danzig, Germany (present-day
Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
, Poland) from 1910 to 1919.
Initially ''Volkswacht'' was published weekly.
As of 1913 it was published twice weekly.
In 1914 it was converted into a daily newspaper.
The newspaper masthead carried the slogan ''Organ für die werktätige Bevölkerung in Westpreußen'' ('Organ of the toiling population in
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...
').
It was issued as a publication of the
Free Trade Unions.
''Volkswacht'' was founded in September 1910.
August Bebel
Ferdinand August Bebel (22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist politician, writer, and orator. He is best remembered as one of the founders of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) in 1869, which in 1875 mer ...
wrote an editorial for the inaugural issue of the newspaper.
Due to financial difficulties 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) had lacked an organ of its own in Danzig for a long time.
The new publication was maintained by funds from the central party leadership in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.
Arthur Crispien
Arthur Crispien (4 November 1875 – 29 November 1946) was a German Social Democratic politician.
Biography
Crispien was born in Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad, Russia) to August and Franziska Crispien. He worked as a house and stage pa ...
worked as editor of ''Volkswacht'' 1910–1912.
Gustav Schröder took over as editor after Crispien.
The newspaper played an important role in spreading social democratic ideas in the region.
The readership of ''Volkswacht'' was at pair with the bourgeois ''
Danziger Zeitung''.
On political issues the article material largely consisted of reprints from the SPD central organ ''
Vorwärts
''Vorwärts'' (, "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily as ...
''. The ''Volkswacht'' editors focused more on writing about local matters.
During the First World War, ''Volkswacht'' was placed under preventive censorship.
Julius Gehl
Julius Gehl (4 July 1869, Bromberg, Province of Posen – March 1945, Danzig) was a German social democratic politician. Gehl served as the Chairman of the West Prussian District League of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).Handbuch de ...
became editor of ''Volkwacht'' in 1917 with
Walter Reek
Walter Arthur Reek (26 January 1878 – 12/19 May 1933), was a social democrat politician in Germany and the Free City of Danzig. He was a member of the Weimar National Assembly, the Danzig Volkstag parliament and mayor of Neuteich (Nowy Staw).
...
heading the press commission.
The readership of ''Volkswacht'' increased after the outbreak of the
November Revolution.
In 1920 ''Volkswacht'' was replaced by ''Danziger Volksstimme'' ('People's Voice of Danzig').
References
{{Reflist, 30em
External links
Volkswacht archive at FES
German-language newspapers
Newspapers published in Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Socialist newspapers