Wilhelm Liebknecht

Wilhelm Liebknecht
Wilhelm Liebknecht
Born	Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht; 29 March 1826; Giessen,Grand Duchy of Hesse
Died	7 August 1900(aged 74); Charlottenburg,Berlin,Prussia,German Empire
Nationality	German
Occupation(s)	Politician, journalist
Political party	Communist League; ADAV; Saxon People's Party; SDAP; SDP;
Children	Theodor; Karl;

Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht(German pronunciation:[ˈvɪlhɛlmˈliːpknɛçt]^ⓘ;29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German socialist and one of the principal founders of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany(SPD).^[1]His political career was a pioneering project combiningMarxistrevolutionary theory with practical legal political activity. Under his leadership, the SPD grew from a tiny sect to become Germany's largest political party. He was the father ofKarl LiebknechtandTheodor Liebknecht.

Biography

Early years

Wilhelm Liebknecht was born in 1826 inGiessen,the son of Katharina Elisabeth Henrietta (née Hirsch) andHessianpublic official Ludwig Christian Liebknecht.^[2]Liebknecht grew up with relatives after the death of his parents in 1832. From 1832 to 1842, he went to school at theGymnasiumof Giessen,^[3]then began studyingphilology,theologyandphilosophyin Giessen,BerlinandMarburg.The life story of his maternal great-uncle, the Protestant pastor and democratic activistFriedrich Ludwig Weidig,influenced young Liebknecht's social and political attitudes relatively early on. He studied the writings ofSaint-Simon,from which he gained his first interest incommunism,and had been converted to the extreme republican theories of which Giessen was a centre.^[3]After some trouble with the authorities as a result of participating in student radicalism, Liebknecht decided to emigrate to the United States.

While on a train to a port city, quite by chance, he met the headmaster of a progressive school inZürich,Switzerland, and Liebknecht impulsively decided to accept an offer to be an unpaid teacher at that school. Thus he found himself in Switzerland in 1847 asa civil warbegan in that country. He reported these events for a German newspaper, theMannheimer Abendzeitung,beginning a career in journalism that he would pursue for the next five decades.

Revolution of 1848

Whenrevolutionerupted inParisin February 1848, Liebknecht hurried to the scene. He arrived too late to do much in Paris, but he did join a legion that was traveling to Germany to instigate revolution there. During that poorly planned expedition, he was arrested inBadenand charged with treason. On the eve of his trial, revolution erupted once more, and a mob secured his release. He then became a member of theBadische Volkswehrand an adjutant ofGustav von Struveand fought in the ill-fatedReichverfassungskämpfe( "federal constitution wars" ). After the revolutionaries' defeat, he escaped toSwitzerlandand became a leading member of theGenfer Arbeiterverein(Worker's Association of Geneva), where he metFriedrich Engels.

Years of exile

In 1850, Liebknecht was arrested for his initiatives to unite Switzerland's German workers' associations and was banished from the country. With few options available, like many veterans of the recently failed revolution, he relocated his exile to London,^[3]where he stayed from 1850 to 1862. There he became a member of theCommunist League.During these years, he developed a lifelong friendship and collaboration withKarl Marx.^[4]In 1862, after an amnesty for the participants in the revolution of 1848, he returned toGermanyand became a member ofFerdinand Lassalle'sGeneral German Workers' Association(Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein,ADAV), the precursor of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany(SPD).

Return to Germany

From 1864 to 1865, Liebknecht also worked for the magazineDer Social-Demokrat(The Social Democrat) published byJean Baptista von Schweitzer.However, he soon found himself in disagreement with the paper's friendly position toward Prussia and its new Minister-PresidentOtto von Bismarck.Liebknecht quit the editorial staff and was forced to leave the ADAV due to pressure from Schweitzer. After being evicted fromBerlinby government authorities, Liebknecht moved toLeipzig,where he metAugust Bebel,with whom he founded theSächsische Volkspartei(Saxon People's Party) in 1867 and theSocial Democratic Workers' Party of Germany(Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands,SDAP) in 1869 inEisenach.During these years, he was elected to the national legislature, where he conducted a determined but futile opposition to Bismarck's policies. Liebknecht was also the editor of the party newspaper,Der Volksstaat(The People's State).

When theFranco-Prussian Warbegan in 1870, Liebknecht used his newspaper to agitate against the war, calling on working men on both sides of the border to unite in overthrowing the ruling class. As a result, he and Bebel were arrested and charged with treason. It is worth noting that Liebknecht opposed the war regardless of which side started it. His call for revolutionary opposition to the war directly contradicts what his party (the SPD) would do in 1914 whenWorld War Ibegan as at that time, with Liebknecht long dead, his successors opted to back the German cause in the war.

Treason trial

In 1872, both Liebknecht and Bebel were convicted and sentenced to two years ofFestungshaft( "imprisonment in a fortress" ). This was one of sixteen times that Liebknecht's politics resulted in his conviction and incarceration.

Return to politics

Wilhelm Liebknecht withEleanor MarxandEdward Aveling

After being re-elected to theReichstagin 1874, Liebknecht played a key role in the merger of the SDAP and Lassalle's ADAV into theSocialist Workers' Party of Germany[de](Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands,SAPD) inGothain 1875. He also became publisher of the newly founded party organVorwärts(Forward), arguing for the integration ofMarxisttheories into the SAPD's program in his articles.

From 1878 to 1890, the German government outlawed Liebknecht's party, but the terms of the law allowed the party to participate in elections and its elected delegates to participate in the Reichstag. Liebknecht used his position as a Reichstag member to criticize the political situation and opposed the tendencies in his own party toward anarchism on the one hand and accommodation with Bismarck on the other. Maintaining a radical and unified stance, the SAPD emerged from outlawry in 1890 as theSocial Democratic Party of Germany(Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands,SPD), taking 20% of the vote in theReichstag election.

Portrait of Wilhelm Liebknecht, 1900

In 1891, Liebknecht became editor-in-chief ofVorwärtsand one of the originators of the SPD's new Marxist-inspired party platform. Throughout that decade, he continued to serve in the Reichstag and to appear at political conventions of the SPD as a prominent participant. Despite his advanced age, he also was a major organizer of theSecond International,successor to theInternational Workingmen's Association.

Death and legacy

Grave of Wilhelm Liebknecht at theZentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde

Liebknecht died aged 74 on 7 August 1900 inCharlottenburg,a suburb ofBerlin.50,000 people joined his funeral procession.^{[citation needed]}His grave now forms part of theMemorial to the Socialists(German:Gedenkstätte der Sozialisten) in theFriedrichsfelde Central Cemetery,Berlin.

Works

Robert Blumund Seine Zeit,Nürnberg, 1896 (German)
Ein Blick in die Neue Welt,Stuttgart, 1887
Die Emscher Depesche oder wie Kriege gemacht werden,Nürnberg, 1895
Robert Owen:Sein Leben und sozialpolitischen Wirken,Nürnberg, 1892
Zur Grund- und Bodenfrage,Leipzig, 1876
Karl Marx: Biographical Memoirs,Chicago, 1906

Footnotes

^On The Political Position of Social-Democracy.
^Lane, A. T. (1995).Biographical dictionary of European labor leaders, Volume 1.Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 573.ISBN 0-313-26456-2.
^^a ^b ^cChisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Liebknecht, Wilhelm".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 592.
^Wilhelm Liebknecht (1901).Karl Marx: Biographical Memoirs...C.H. Kerr.

External links

Wilhelm Liebknecht Internet Archive,at theMarxists Internet Archive
Archive ofWilhelm Liebknecht Papersat theInternational Institute of Social History

[1] On The Political Position of Social-Democracy.

[bookref1-2] Lane, A. T. (1995).Biographical dictionary of European labor leaders, Volume 1.Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 573.ISBN 0-313-26456-2.

[EB1911-3] Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Liebknecht, Wilhelm".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 592.

[Liebknecht1901-4] Wilhelm Liebknecht (1901).Karl Marx: Biographical Memoirs...C.H. Kerr.

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