Die Oktoberrevolution und die deutsche Linke

Abstract

After the German Left, despite its split, had unequivocally welcomed the October Revolution, in January 1918 the attitude of the majority-SPD changed fundamentally, when the Bolsheviks prevented the constituent assembly from working. For Lenin, thus the SPD did no longer count as a possible partner. The Bolsheviks supported the founding of the KPD and lent massive fi nancial support, however until mid-1920 the party remained small and without infl uence. The Russian interest focused on the Independent Social Democrats whose numbers grew rapidly in 1919, while at the same time the party became more radical. Joining the Communist International at fi rst led to a factual, then also to an organisational split. Only by the left-wing majority on the USPD’s party congress joining the KPD, the latter became a mass party. A few months later the Comintern led the VKPD to the “March action” of 1921, the start of a rising meant to topple the Reich government by way of social unrest and armed violence. This refl ected the pre-given and perceived image of the October Revolution.