Appendix 1 the Sources for the Study of German Communism
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Appendix 1 The Sources for the Study of German Communism The official publications of the KPD and the Comintern constitute by far the most important source for this book and for most accounts of the KPD so far written. A useful guide, with special attention to the pamphlet literature, was produced by Enzo Collotti in 1961 (Die Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands 1918-1933. Ein bibliographischer beitrag, Milan, 1961). The main official publication was the daily paper ('central organ') Die Rote Fahne, which came out from November 1918 to March 1933, with some short intervals and two long ones (in 1919 and 1923-4). It is a mine of information both for the life of the party and the political events. Secondly there is the Comintern's periodical lnprekorr (September 1921 to March 1933), covering all the sections of the international, but often heavily concentrated on the German one. The earlier issues are often lively; after 1925 'it can scarcely be approached without an effort'. For the period before September 1921 there is a dearth of publications from the Comintern side. Die Kommunistische lnternationale (KI) ( 1919-39) was always a discussion journal and a place for official ECCI proclamations, and little information was provided about the fate of the national sections, for the good reason that Moscow itself was often in the dark about this in the early years. The journal of the French supporters of the Third International, Bulletin Communiste (March 1920 to January 1926), is a useful supplement for this period. There are English-language versions of both lnprekorr and KI, but many articles on German affairs were omitted. Theoretical articles on capitalism and communist strategy are scattered through all Comintern publications, but the KPD prided itself from the first on its theoretical level and was the 202 Appendix 1 203 first party to start a journal specifically devoted to theory, Die lnternationale (1915, 1919-32). The more specialised party periodicals, though they provide little extra evidence, should at least be mentioned. Trade unionists had Die Einheit and Der Rote Gewerkschajter; the IAH (lnternationale Arbeiterhilje) had Der Rote Aufbau, the RFB had Die Rote Front, the military specialists had Vom Burgerkrieg (later Oktober), and party functionaries had Der Parteiarbeiter. The provincial press (36 daily newspapers in 1927) is often important for local events or when Die Rote Fahne was banned. Finally the minutes of the twelve party congresses provide evidence both of the clash of opinions and of the way the party was organised. Then there are the archives. A glimpse of the hidden wealth of documentation can be seen in Hermann Weber's publications of party records which went astray in the 1920s, either by confiscation or by falling into the hands of police informers, and thereby entered, along with much dross, into the archives of federal and local governments under Weimar. (Hermann Weber, Die Wandlung des deutschen Kommunismus. Die Stalinisierung der KPD in der Weimarer Republik, Frankfurt, 1969, vol. 1, appendix). It must be stressed, however, that these are chance finds, 'stray documents', and that the only systematic collections are in the East. A further source, sometimes of extreme value for the early history of the KPD, is the Nachlass Paul Levi, now housed in Bonn at the Archiv der sozialen Demokratie (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung). I have preferred not to attempt to itemise the secondary sources for German communism. An annotated bibliography would easily fill a volume by itself. Information on recent publications can be derived from the various specialist journals, above all the lnternationale Wissenschaftliche Korrespondenz zur Geschichte der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung (Berlin), ed. by H. Skrzypczak. This West German publication can be supplemented by the Beitrage zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung (East Berlin). My own debts to various authors are indicated in the footnotes to the present work. Appendix2 Statistical Tables A.1 The membership of the KPD, district by district, in 1921, 1925 and 1929 A.2 Membership figures, 1919 to 1923 A.3 The KPD leadership, 1919 to 1924 A.4 The KPD leadership, 1924 to 1935 TABLE A.1 The membership of the KPD, district by district, in 1921, 1925 and 1929 Party number District 1921 % 1925 % 1929 % 11 Halle-Merseburg 67 000 14.5 B 000 6.2 10 BOO 9.0 20 Lower Rhine 55 000 12.2 12 000 9.3 9 360 7.B 1 Berlin-Brandenburg 52 000 11.2 1B 710 14.5 1B 960 15.B 16 W asserkante-' 40 000 B.6 B 000 6.2 10 6BO B.9 13 Thuringia 25 000 5.4 7 000 5.4 5 000 4.7 1B/19 Ruhr-2 27 000 5.B 11 000 B.5 B 040 6.7 26 Wiirttemberg 1B 000 3.9 5 160 4.0 2 640 2.2 9 Erzgebirge-V ogtland 16 200 3.6 12 500 9.7 9 000 7.5 10 W Saxony (Leipzig) 14 000 3.0 B 509 6.6 7 320 6.1 23 Hesse-Frankfurt 14 000 3.0 4 632 3.6 4 320 3.6 14 Lower Saxony 13 000 2.B 1 000 O.B 1 BOO 1.5 17 North Bavaria 12 600 2.B 3 500 2.7 2 640 2.2 25 Baden 12 000 2.6 2 400 1.9 2 020 l.B 4 East Prussia 12 000 2.6 2 000 1.6 2 2BO 1.9 21 Central Rhine 12 000 2.6 3 500 2.7 2 900 2.4 3 Pomerania B 500 l.B 1 500 1.2 1 560 1.3 2B South Bavaria B 000 1.7 2 B03 2.2 1 440 1.2 12 Magdeburg-Anhalt B 000 1.7 2 000 1.6 3 000 2.5 15 Mecklenburg B 000 1.7 1 000 O.B B40 0.7 B E Saxony (Dresden) B 000 1.7 3 000 2.3 4 OBO 3.4 6 Silesia (Lower) B 000 1.7 1 500 1.2 1 BOO 1.5 17 Northwest (Bremen) 7 000 1.5 3 260 2.5 2 B03 2.3 24 Palatinate 4 000 0.9 3 200 2.5 960 O.B 7 Upper Silesia 3 000 0.6 500 0.4 960 O.B 22 Hesse-Cassel 3 000 0.6 5 000 0.4 720 0.6 2 Lusatia3 2 400 0.5 5 Danzig 1 600 0.3 500 0.4 960 O.B 24a Saar 1 000 O.B 1 200 1.0 Total membership 449 700 12B 674 11B OB3 204 Appendix2 205 1. Wasserkante included Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein 2. The Ruhr was formed after 1921 by amalgamation of the districts of Western Westphalia and Eastern Westphalia 3. Lusatia was merged with Berlin-Brandenburg after 1921 Sources for this table: 1921: Nachlass Paul Levi, 99/2, 'Bericht ii.ber den Stand der Partei organisation Anfang Januar 1921 ', p. 3 1925 and 1929: H. Weber, Die Wandlung des deutschen Kommunismus, Frankfurt, 1971, pp. 367-94 TABLE A.2 Membership figures, 1919 to 1932 Date Number Source October 1919 106 656 Bericht 2 Parteitag, p.27 July 1920 66 373 Bericht 5 Parteitag, p.4 October 1920 78 715 Ibid. January 1921 449 700 1 NPL 99/2, p.3 Summer 1921 359 613 Pieck, in lnpreko", 1922, No. 216, (claimed) 9 Nov, pp. 1507-8 157 168 lnpreko", 1922, pp. 1507-8 (paid up) September 1922 218 195 Bottcher, in lnpreko", 7 Feb 1923, p. 71 October 1922 328 017 lnpreko", 1922, No. 216, 9 Nov, (claimed) pp. 1507-8 255 863 Ibid. (paid up) September 1923 294 230 Bericht 9 Parteitag, p. 58 April 1924 121 394 Komintem vor dem VI Kongress, p. 122 April 1925 122 755 Pyatnitsky, in Kl, 17, 1927, p. 2138 April 1926 134 248 Komintem vor dem VI Kongress, p.l22 April 1927 124 779 Ibid. End of 1928 130 000 W. Rist, Neue Blatter for den Sozial ismus, 1931, pp. 79-91 1st half 1929 118 957 Creutzburg, Organisationsarbeit der KPD, Hamburg, 1931, pp.53-5 2nd half 1929 112 511 Ibid. April 1930 120 000 Ibid. August 1930 127 000 Ibid. October 1930 149 000 Ibid. December 1930 176 000 Ibid. 1st quarter 1931 195 083 Weber, Wandlung, p.364 2nd quarter 1931 190 182 Ibid. 3rd quarter 1931 213 554 Ibid. 4th quarter 1931 246 513 Ibid. March 1932 287 180 Die Kl vor dem VII Weltkongress, p.141 End of 1932 252 000 Ibid. 330 000 S. Bahne, 'Die KPD', p.662 1. According to Pieck in 1922, the figure of 450 000 'advanced at the unification congress, turned out to be far too high'. (lnpreko", 1922, No. 216, 9 Nov, pp.1507-8.) The figures for 1923 onwards are for paid up members. 206 Appendix 2 TABLE A.3 The KPD leadership, 1919 to 1924 (Zentrale members and candidates) 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 Karl Becker Paul Bottcher Heinrich Brandler Otto Brass Bertha Braunthal Ernst Diiumig· Hermann Duncker Kiite Duncker Hugo Eberlein Arthur Ewert Ruth Fischer Ernst Friesland Paul Frolich OttoGiibel Ottomar Geschke Kurt Geyer Arthur Hammer Fritz Heckert Edwin Hoernle Adolf Hoffmann Leo Jogiches August Kleine Wilhelm Koenen Joseph Koring Artur Konig Paul Lange ---- Paul Levi Karl Liebknecht Rudolf Lindau Rosa Luxemburg Ernst Meyer Hans Pfeiffer Wilhelm Pieck Hermann Remmele Felix Schmidt Fritz Schnellbacher Max Sievers Walter Stoecker Ernst Thalmann August Thalheimer Walter Ulbricht Jakob Wale her Paul Wegmann Rosi Wolfstein Clara Zetkin 1 2 3 4 5 6 L7 F 8 T 9 Appendix 2 207 1 First Party Congress, January 1919 2 Second Party Congress, October 1919 3 Third Party Congress, February 1920 4 Fourth Party Congress, April 1920 5 Fifth Party Congress, November 1920 6 Sixth (Unification) Congress, December 1920 L Resignation of Levi and others, February 1921 7 Seventh Party Congress, August 1921 F Expulsion of Ernst Friesland, January 1922 8 Eighth Party Congress, January 1923 T = Entry of Thalmann and other members of the Left Opposition into the Zentrale, May 1923 9 Ninth Party Congress, April 1924 208 Appendix 2 TABLE A.4 The KPD leadership, 1924 to 1935 (Polburo members and candidates) 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1935 Konrad Blenkle Franz Dahlem Philipp Dengel Hugo Eberlein Gerhardt Eisler Arthur Ewert Ruth Fischer Leo Flieg Wilhelm Florin Ottomar Geschke Fritz Heckert Wilhelm Hein Wilhelm Kasper Iwan Katz Arkady Maslow Paul Merker Ernst Meyer Heinz Neumann Helene Overlach Wilhelm Pieck Hermann Remmele Artur Rosenberg Paul Schlecht Ernst Schneller Werner Scholem Max Schutz Fritz Schulte Wilhelm Schwan Heinrich Susskind Ernst Thalmann Walter Ulbricht Jean Winterich 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Ninth Party Congress, April 1924 2 Tenth Party Congress, July 1925 3 First Party Conference, October/November 1925 4 Eleventh Party Congress, March 1927 5 Second Party Conference, November 1928 6 Twelfth Party Congress, June 1929 7 'Brussels Conference', October 1935 Notes and References PREFACE 1.