Communist Workers Union of Germany (1972)

The Communist Workers Union of Germany (German: Kommunistischer Arbeiterbund Deutschlands, KABD) was a K-Gruppen, and a Communist party in West Germany. The party was founded on August 5, 1972, through a split from the Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists.

Communist Workers Union of Germany Kommunistischer Arbeiterbund Deutschlands
Chairperson	Stefan Engel[1]
Founded	5 August 1972 (1972-08-05)
Dissolved	1982 (1982)
Split from	Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists
Succeeded by	Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany[2]
Newspaper	Red Flag
Youth wing	Revolutionary Youth League of Germany [de]
Membership	~900
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism Anti-revisionism
Politics of Germany Political parties Elections

"Rote Fahne", April 1973

History

The organization reportedly "fully supported" the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao.^[3] The declared aim of the KABD was to build "a new Marxist-Leninist party" away from the "revisionist degeneration" of the German Communist Party (DKP). Willi Dickhut, one of the initiators of the split, was expelled from the DKP in 1966.

Dickhut served as the editor of the party's theoretical organ Revolutionary Way: Problems of Marxism-Leninism (Revolutionärer Weg: Probleme des Marxismus-Leninismus). The organization's central organ was the "Red Flag" (Rote Fahne), which exists today as the MLPD's "Red Flag Magazine" (Rote Fahne Magazin).^[4] The organization's youth wing was the Revolutionary Youth League of Germany [de]. The party's membership hovered around 900 people.

On January 17, 1981, the leadership of the federation announced the prospect of founding a party.^[5] This was realized in 1982 with the formation of the Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany (MLDP).

Former Members

• Robert Kurz^[6]
• Berthold Huber^[7]
• Heide Rühle^[8]

See also

• West German student movement
• K-Gruppen

References

1. Pfahl-Traughber, Armin (9 September 2013). "Die "Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands" (MLPD)". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 15 December 2024.
2. https://www.rf-news.de/2022/kw25/grundstein-auf-dem-ersten-delegiertentag-des-kabd-gelegt
3. Spielberg, Georg (5 August 2013). "MLPD". www.verfassungsschutz-bw.de (in German). Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
4. "Jean Ziegler gratuliert". Rote Fahne News (in German). Retrieved 15 December 2024.
5. Kommunistischer Arbeiterbund Deutschlands, editor. Politischer Bericht der Zentralen Leitung des Kommunistischen Arbeiterbundes Deutschlands. Verlag Neuer Weg, 1981, p. 2.
6. Geschichte der Marxistisch-Leninistischen Partei Deutschlands. Halbbd. 2: Bd. 2. Parteiaufbau vom KABD zur MLPD. Vol. 2. Düsseldorf Stuttgart: Verlag Neuer Weg. 1986. p. 405. ISBN 978-3-88021-151-3.
7. "At Opel plant in Bochum, Germany, Maoists provide key support for union leadership". World Socialist Web Site. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
8. "Proletarischer Ehrgeiz und die Massenlinie waren seine Triebkraft! Zum Todestag von Ludwig Tammer". Rote Fahne News (in German). Retrieved 15 December 2024.

External links