League of West German Communists
League of West German Communists Bund Westdeutscher Kommunisten | |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 1980 |
| Dissolved | March 1995 |
| Split from | Communist League of West Germany |
| Succeeded by | AG BWK |
| Headquarters | Cologne |
| Newspaper | Politische Berichte |
| Student wing | Kommunistische Hochschulgruppen |
| Ideology | Marxism-Leninism |
| National affiliation | People's Front |
The League of West German Communists (Template:Lang-de, abbreviated BWK) was a Maoist communist political organization in the Federal Republic of Germany, active between 1980 and 1995. BWK was one of the last "K-Groups" in West German politics. After German reunification, it merged into the Party of Democratic Socialism.
Foundation
BWK was founded in Mannheim on September 20th 1980, following a split from the Communist League of West Germany (KBW).[1][2] The split in KBW occurred in the midst of the 1980 Bundestag election campaign.[3] BWK was led by Jörg Detjen and Martin Fochler.[1][4] Around 400 KBW militants took part in founding BWK.[1] BWK published the bi-weekly Politische Berichte.[5] The organization had its headquarters in Cologne.[6] In 1980 BWK founded the publishing house Gesellschaft für Nachrichtenerfassung und Nachrichtenverbreitung mbH (GNN) in Colonge.[7]
In West German politics
By the late 1980s, BWK was one of few remaining "K-Groups" in West Germany.[8] As of 1988 BWK reported was active in seven bundesländer. Politische Berichte had a circulation of 1,300, and the pamphlet-review Nachrichtenhefte with a circulation of around 1,000.[5] BWK was a dominant force in the Colonge-based People's Front.[5]
Entry into PDS
On June 5, 1993 BWK set up a Working Group of the League of West German Communists with the Party of Democratic Socialism/Left List (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bund Westdeutscher Kommunisten bei der PDS/LL) in Hamburg. By the end of the year, BWK was active in all Western bundesländer, setting up Woring Groups in PDS.[9] BWK was dissolved in March 1995. Its members joined PDS.[10] BWK was the first West German left group to dissolve itself and merge into PDS.[11] The AG BWKs continued to exist within PDS, and later evolved into Forum of Communist Working Groups (Forum kommunistischer Arbeitsgemeinschaften). The Forum of Communist Working Groups was dissolved on Dec. 2nd 2007 an replaced in January 2008 by a new association, the Association for Political Education, Left Criticism and Communication (Verein für politische Bildung, linke Kritik und Kommunikation). The board of the new association consisted of Brigitte Wolf, Christoph Cornides, Rüdiger Lötzer, Christiane Schneider, Jörg Detjen, Martin Fochler and Alfred Küstler.[12]
References
- ^ a b c Der Spiegel. Verschärft ausgebeutet
- ^ Tempel, Karl G., and Hans Willi Weinzen. Die Parteien in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und die Rolle der Parteien in der DDR: Grundlagen, Funktionen, Geschichte, Programmatik, Organisation. Opladen: Leske + Budrich, 1987. p. 211
- ^ Olzog, Günter, and Hans-Joachim Liese. Die politischen Parteien in Deutschland: Geschichte, Programmatik, Organisation, Personen, Finanzierung. München ; Landsberg am Lech: Olzog, 1996. p. 220
- ^ Krautkrämer, Felix. Die offene Flanke der SPD der Fall Stephan Braun und die Zusammenarbeit von Sozialdemokraten mit Linksextremisten. Berlin: Ed. JF, 2008.
- ^ a b c Alexander, Robert Jackson. Maoism in the Developed World. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2001. p. 86
- ^ Staar, Richard Felix, Milorad M. Drachkovitch, and Lewis H. Gann. Yearbook on International Communist Affairs. Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution Press, 1991. p. 581
- ^ Normann, Lars. Rechts im Spiegel von links: die Zeitschrift "blick nach rechts" als Symptom politischer Kultur der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. München [u.a.]: GRIN-Verl, 2008. pp. 103, 158
- ^ Geronimo, and Gabriel Kuhn. Fire and Flames A History of the German Autonomist Movement. Oakland, Calif: PM Press, 2012. p. 61
- ^ Lang, Jürgen P., Patrick Moreau, Viola Neu, and Jürgen Hoffmann. Auferstanden aus Ruinen ...?: die PDS nach dem Super-Wahljahr 1994. Sankt Augustin: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 1995. pp. 17, 56, 75
- ^ Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. Splitterparteien
- ^ Thienel, Wolfram. Die PDS. GRIN Verlag GmbH, 1997. p. 13
- ^ Verein für politische Bildung, linke Kritik und Kommunikation. Ergebnisse und Materialen. December, 2007.