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It was a party which dared not speak its name. It was a second ‘party’, alongside the KAPD. Its formation was the expression not of unity, but of a process of splits within the German revolutionary movement. The international regroupment of council communism Following the conference of December 1936, the GIC joined a very loose federation of national groups as its theoretical head. It abandoned the publication of its ‘Presse Material’ in German (PIK), in favour of the ‘Unionist’ review: INO (Internacia Novaj-Officejo) Presse-Korrespondenz. The latter was edited by the KAU’s international information bureau in Frankfurt, whose task was to inform and regroup council communist groups throughout the world. 727 These groups had the particularity of being detached from the KAPD, rejecting the former’s conception of the party, to join with the German KAU and the Dutch GIC: – The Danish KAPD, which had existed since the mid-20s, became the Group of International Communists (GIC) in 1930. 728 Initially, it published the review Mod Strømen (‘Against the Current’), then at the end of October 1931 the monthly journal Marxistisk Arbejder-Politik (‘Marxist Workers’ Politics’) The group was made up of twelve members, and had contacts with the oppositions inside the Danish CP. 729 Its orientation was strictly councilist, since it rejected any party. Its calls for the general strike’ and ‘direct action’ even show a similarity with the anarchist current, some way removed from council communism. – The left communists of Hungary (MBKSZ) worked under difficult conditions. The group was illegal, and faced with persecution by the police, fascist groups, and the organisations of the CP and social democracy. 730 Their propaganda found an echo in small fractions of the SP and CP. Within the council communist movement, the MBKSZ was certainly the group which insisted most on an urgent international regroupment of existing forces. – In the USA, the ‘Unionist’ group of Chicago was formed inside the IWW around Paul Mattick. It worked both amongst the German immigrants and in the American left communist milieu. Mattick had tried to form a KAP belonged to the Rote Armee in the Ruhr in 1920; he was regarded – with Erich Kunze (1895-?); pseudonyms: Sachs, Sackermann, then Richard Petersen in the Proletarier, after 1924 – as the principal leader of the fighting groups (Kampforganisationen) of the KAPD, under cover of “communist workers’ sport associations”. For this reason, he was condemned to several years of fortress, but was amnestied in 1924. [See: Lageberichte, op. cit.). 727 This bureau, directed by Karl Kraus, and ex-member of the AAU-E, was in contact with all sorts of groups including anarchists and syndicalists. The INO itself did not hesitate to publish texts from these currents, even though they were not council communists. In French, in 1932, Jean Dautry (1910-1960), André Prudhommeaux (pseudonyms: André Jolibois and Cello) and Karl Kraus of Francfort published the Correspondance internationale ouvrière/Internacia Novaj Oficejo, Paris- Frankfurt/Main-Nîmes. 728 The nucleus of Danish left communism was formed in 1924 around the Andersen-Harilds, father and son. The father had lived with his family in Germany. A member, first of the SPD, then of the USPD and finally of the KPD, he had been expelled from Germany in 1922. He left the Danish CP in the mid-20s. With his son Harald, he made contact with Dutch and German left communism after 1926, forming the nucleus of a Danish KAPD. [See: collection Canne-Meijer, IISG, map 70, 96, and 240.) Both had tried to create a Danish ‘organisation of proletarian free-thinkers’. This was a sizeable disagreement with German left communism, which was hostile to these types of formations. After 1933, the GIK became an essential link in the underground activity of German left communism (see Chapter 7) [Information provided by Gerd Callesen, Copenhagen. Arbejderbevaegelsens Bibliotek og Archiv (ABA), in a letter to Ph. Bourrinet, 1 st March 1984.] 729 Marxistisk Arbejder-Politik, “organ for Raads-Kommunismen”, No. 2, May 1932. 730 ‘Brief aus Ungarn’, in: Kampruf, organ of the KAU, No. 12, July 1932. According to a circular from the International Information Bureau, the MBKSZ was in contact with the IWW. The Hungarian group was also in close liaison with Bulgarian council communists [see: ‘An alle Gruppen der internationalen Rätekommunisten’, in: Rundschreiben No. 3, 15 th June 1932. The letter can be found in the archives of Harild Andersen-Harild in Arbejderbevaegelsens Bibliotek og Archiv (ABA) Copenhagen. 194
fraction within the small Proletarian Party of America, the third communist party formed in 1919. The United Workers’ Party emerged from this ‘party’ at the beginning of the 30s, and published the review Council Correspondence. Mattick, who was editor of the workers’ paper Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung, was very active in the unemployed movement. The Mattick group was far from rejecting the necessity of a revolutionary party. He was the only one to insist on unity between the KAPD and the KAU. 731 – In France, the groups Réveil communiste, then Ouvrier communiste, and Spartacus, the first made up of Italian, the last of German workers (group of A. Heinrich), fell apart at the end of 1931. 732 With them, council communism was to disappear from France for a long time to come. This highlighted the impossibility of links between the German-Dutch and the Italian communist lefts. 733 – Outside of these groups, one can hardly speak of a real influence of council communism. The split between the KAPD and the AAU had led certain national groups to link up with the KAPD alone. Although the KAPD in Austria 734 had a small group active in Vienna, it was present above all among German-speaking workers in Czechoslovakia. In the industrial north of Bohemia, a strong opposition developed within the Czech CP. At the end of 1928 and early in 1929, a group was formed that identified itself with the combat of the KAPD against the ‘Komintern’s opportunism’ since its 3 rd Congress. The Czech KAP Propaganda-Gruppe – led by the Sudeten journalist Kurt Weisskopf – had a strong presence in the industrial region of Gablonz (Jablonec); it published Kampfruf, aimed at the Bohemian ‘Unionist’ movement, then its political organ Spartakus from 1929-32. It had 731 P. M., ‘Unsere Auffasung’, in: Rätekorrespondenz, No. 8, 1931, theoretical review of the ‘Unionist’ movement: Chicago: “The party organises all consistent revolutionaries, even those of bourgeois origin, who join us. It regroups all revolutionary forces which do not base themselves on the place of work. It is organised by place of habitation; it is more a military than a propagandist organisation, although the one cannot exclude the other. It declares itself unreservedly for the AAU, that is for the elimination of the party during the seizure of power by the councils... Until this moment, the party fulfils the function of shock troops... Without the AAU, the KAP is nothing: without the KAP, the AAU renounces an important aspect of the class struggle. We can only recommend to the conference [that of December 1931] the renewal of the alliance with the KAP, just as we urge the KAPD to hasten this alliance. If the KAPD in the factories becomes rooted in the ground of party dictatorship in opposition to the dictatorship of the councils, we must automatically reject it. Only then would the need for a new party be on the agenda”. It should be noted that Paul Mattick, in rejecting any factoryist vision and underlining the necessity for the revolutionary party, was not yet a ‘councilist’. The vision of the party as ‘shock troops’ was that of the KAPD at the beginning of the 20s; but the assertion that the party must dissolve itself after the taking of power shows a separation with the KAPD’s position on the function of the party. 732 See: Ph. Bourrinet, The ‘Bordigist’ Current 1919-1999, Italy, France, Belgium, op. cit., Chapter 2. 733 The KAPD remained very suspicious of both Bordiga‘s current and the French Opposition. It had a tendency to identify them with the Korsch current which it rejected as opportunist. In 1926, the KAPD underlined the indecision of the bordigist current, while noting that it was outside the official line of the Komintern: “Bordiga was a small exception in Italy; from time to time he made correct criticisms, without being able to indicate himself the exact revolutionary road” [Zur Information, No. 5, April 1926). Bordiga’s fraction had begun as a real revolutionary current: “In the soil of the Italian CP, there began to develop – in a spontaneous form – a real line of the international left. The influence that comrade Bordiga continued to exercise on this movement prevented the real development of this line, which inevitably sought to return to the position of the abstentionist anti-parliamentary fraction of 1919, since the latter was a transgression. Bordiga’s activity left many émigré workers numbed in immobility and absolute indifference; it chained them to the cart of the mechanical party discipline of the 3 rd International, and consequently to opportunism”. But the bordigist fraction had to be distinguished from the rest of the French opposition. The latter was more to the right than the Korsch current: “We see clearly that the groups of the French opposition have taken much the same line as Karl Korsch in Germany, even though we have to say that they are still further to the right”. Later in the same article, the KAPD waxes ironical about the “graceful” and eclectic side of a “petty bourgeois Opposition” which “flies from one ideological flower to another”. The KAPD put this down, with some justice, to a “national narrowness” which “is a bit characteristic of the great theoreticians of the workers’ movement from Proudhon to Jaurès”, and explains this “ideological lightness” of the French Oppposition [‘Aus der Internationale: Frankreich’, in: KAZ (Berlin), No. 13, 1929). 734 The Austrian group had existed since 1928: it was formed following the workers’ insurrection in Vienna in 1927. [‚Die KAP in Österreich’, in: KAZ, No. 43, June 1928.] Kurt Weisskopf, German kapist in Prague, was living in London after 1938 and worked at the Reuters agency, using the wife’s surname – Dowson. He published a book on The Agony of Czechoslovakia 38/68 (London: Elek Books Ltd., 1968), published in French with another titel: Coups de Prague 1938- 1968 (Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1968). 195
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PHILIPPE BOURRINET The Dutch and Ge
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The Dutch and German Communist Left
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General studies ...................
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INTRODUCTION Despite the theoretica
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In fact, it was not the GIC, but th
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history of the Dutch communist curr
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Chapter 1: Origins and Formation of
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1862-1866, 1871-1872); these conser
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Dutch and German workers’ movemen
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However, this ‘radicalism’ of D
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emained an internationalist. It is
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a formidable weapon against the lef
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form the Tribunist movement: Mendel
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of the organisation. 31 He only dev
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The support given to the various re
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Using the pretext of the struggle a
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the end of 1903. 57 By contrast, a
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Bolsheviks had deputies in the Duma
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imposed to form an organised fracti
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was obliged to include in the pream
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‘right’ 100 - which was based i
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This was the beginning of an increa
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carried out by the SDP - in the for
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The growth of Dutch imperialism cou
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Wijnkoop’s suggestion, the SDP’
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evolution. 125 Right up until the w
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helped to write the pamphlet addres
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section, supported a counter-resolu
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Chapter 2 Pannekoek and ‘Dutch’
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The philosophical bases of radical
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Wrongly presented by its opponents
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is most necessary. Only knowledge g
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ended in defeat - but whatever help
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The Dutch Left never considered the
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ourgeois revolutions, thinks of not
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eligious faith in the success of th
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organisations they had so patiently
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forces... The most backward country
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mass strikes; the proletariat’s s
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‘Great Night’: “[passive radi
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economic, and whose political domin
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letter to Paul Lafargue (20 th June
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Luxemburg in urging a clear rejecti
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explicit criticism of their leaders
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As in most of the belligerent count
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the main goal was the return to pea
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Gorter’s analyses were remarkable
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political factors which led to this
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During 1915, opposition to the war
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inform its readers about the Confer
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It is noteworthy that Roland Holst
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powerful opposition to this policy
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The workers’ reaction was immedia
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concealed the Wijnkoop leadership
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Lenin was quite right to emphasise
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“Don’t you feel, little by litt
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dissolved itself. There only remain
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Chapter 4 THE DUTCH LEFT IN THE KOM
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Spartakusbund not rejected particip
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However, the circular of the Komint
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Kommunist, publication of the Breme
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Russians - like Trotsky 433 - no lo
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The resolution adopted by the confe
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Led by Wolffheim and Laufenberg, th
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Pannekoek’s great clear-sightedne
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Rühle’s anti-party current. But
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All these accusations fail to stand
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not that of a general staff, in whi
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democrats and bourgeois in the war
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The unions also resemble the state
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eal decision-making centre. In this
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Page 146 and 147: The NEP (New Economic Policy) in th
Page 148 and 149: and the workers, who had all been a
Page 150 and 151: However, all the left communists, G
Page 152 and 153: was more disastrous for the VKPD th
Page 154 and 155: At its 3 rd Congress, the Komintern
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Page 158 and 159: workers, and that every three month
Page 160 and 161: committee is also of the opinion th
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Page 166 and 167: private property”. They constitut
Page 168 and 169: side, of two KAPDs, with two papers
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Page 172 and 173: ‘old enemy’ Paul Levi. 650 Deth
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Page 176 and 177: THE GROUP OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIS
Page 178 and 179: the Dutch theoretical review Radenc
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Page 182 and 183: political sleep by the crisis of th
Page 184 and 185: economic, rather than the political
Page 186 and 187: the nationalist, even anti-Semitic
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Page 190 and 191: shreds”. 706 But significantly, t
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Page 206 and 207: Chapter 7 TOWARDS A NEW WORKERS’
Page 208 and 209: The evolution of the Dutch GIC towa
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Page 212 and 213: Secondly, by trying at all costs to
Page 214 and 215: In a contradictory way, the GIC rep
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Page 218 and 219: The function and functioning of the
Page 220 and 221: een eclipsed and replaced by a “d
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Page 230 and 231: Bogdanov, the social process was re
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Page 234 and 235: “As soon as the proletarian class
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“freedoms” and the introduction
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Steuermann 972 , Rühle showed that
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Russian capitalism. It was only con
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The unemployed workers of Amsterdam
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Unlike the Paul Mattick group in th
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The contribution by this group, whi
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Chapter 9 THE DUTCH INTERNATIONALIS
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workers’ councils”, the KAPN’
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impoverished peasants and, on the o
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The first ‘minority’ was formed
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iting, since the Dutch RSAP and the
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seems to have come from an ex-membe
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esult which appeared positive to th
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Chapter 10 FROM THE “MARX - LENIN
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to the previous history of Germany
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posterity a political, as much as a
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Council communist theory had a revo
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organisations together, including t
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This ‘broad’ policy towards oth
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The MLL Front played a considerable
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workers had been liquidated. A tota
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Chapter 11 The Communistenbond Spar
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political past, marked less by synd
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process, and “the [capitalist] sy
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organisation, once theoretical and
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organisation: “The Bond is a temp
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The implicit rejection of the Russi
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the ‘right’ to speak in the Ber
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slavenmaatschappij tot arbeidersmac
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In 1945-46, the Bond examined sever
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Luxemburg’s conception, it was fo
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draws in ever greater masses. [...]
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The onset of the Cold War left the
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- General rejection of all groups t
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disappeared in 1948. Canne-Meijer w
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Bond arrived at the idea that the R
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After World War II council communis
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joined the left wing of the SPD or
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Like SB, it paraded a strong anti-b
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If ‘councilism’ as an organised
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The history of the Dutch and German
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organisational discipline, both exp
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looked to changes in the sociologic
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The criticisms put forward by Geyer
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BIBLIOGRAPHY A bibliography on the
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Stan POPPE (1899-1991) archives: mi
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Rote Armee (constituted in April 19
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Korrespondenz-Blatt der KAPD, ‚an
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‘Monatsblätter aus der Jugendbew
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Nasha Duma, Sofia, Oct. - Dec. 1919
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THE NETHERLANDS The Dutch communist
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Uit eigen kring; intern orgaan (the
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(These latter two texts have been t
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There is a good choice of texts, tr
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Zur Psychologie des proletarisches
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Marxism: last refuge of the bourgeo
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(These texts are in Authier-Barrot,
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Der Kampf um die Macht in der Gegen
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Pamphlets by the Bulgarian left com
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REICHENBACH (Bernard), ‘Moscow 19
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‚Über Karl Korsch’, in Jahrbuc
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ROEGHOLT (Richter), Ben Sijes. Een
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JANEV (Nikola), Balgarskata komunis
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The ‘intellectual current’: lit
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MALANDRINO (Corrado), ‘Anton Pann
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BERENDSEN (Hans), & WEEDA (Rik), Ui
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HARMSEN (Ger), Historisch overzicht
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NGO VAN, Vietnam 1920-1945, révolu
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WINCKLER (Heinrich August), Arbeite
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Protokolle der Vereinigungs-Konfere
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Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli,
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CWI: Communist Workers’ Internati
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NSV: Nederlandsch Syndikalistisch V
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VOC: Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compa
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Blackwell (Russell) [alias: Negrete
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Fischer (Ruth) [Eisler (Elfriede),
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KAPN, 17, 138, 172, 187, 199, 204-2
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Most (Johann), 29 Mühsam (Erich),
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Rühle (Otto), 13, 17, 21, 62, 120,
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Vonk (group De), 324, 329, 337, 351
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