The Dutch and German Communist Left (1900-1968)

The Dutch-German Communist Left, represented by the German KAPD-AAUD, the Dutch KAPN, and the Bulgarian Communist Workers Party, separated from the Communist International in 1921, and famously attracted the ire of Lenin, who wrote his Left Wing Communism in response. Drawing on a wide breadth of first hand material, this volume examines the history, ideas, and legacy of this tendency.

Acknowledgements ... ix
Illustrations ... xi

Introduction ... 1

Part 1: From Tribunism to Communism (1900–18)

1 Origins and Formation of the ‘Tribunist’ Current (1900–14) ... 11
2 Pannekoek and ‘Dutch’ Marxism in the Second International ... 82
3 The Dutch Tribunist Current and the First World-War (1914–18) ... 132

Part 2: The Dutch Communist Left and the World-Revolution (1919–27)

4 The Dutch Left in the Comintern (1919–20) ... 177
5 Gorter, the kapd and the Foundation of the Communist Workers’ International (1921–7) ... 226

Part 3: The gic from 1927 to 1940

Introduction to Part 3: The Group of International Communists: From Left-Communism to Council-Communism ... 277
6 The Birth of the gic (1927–33) ... 292
7 Towards a New Workers’ Movement? The Record of Council-Communism (1933–5) ... 327
8 Towards State-Capitalism: Fascism, Anti-Fascism, Democracy, Stalinism, Popular Fronts and the ‘Inevitable War’ (1933–9) ... 380
9 The Dutch Internationalist Communists and the Events in Spain (1936–7) ... 407

Part 4: Council-Communism during and after the War (1939–68)

10 From the ‘Marx-Lenin-Luxemburg Front’ to the Communistenbond Spartacus (1940–42) ... 431
11 The Communistenbond Spartacus and the Council-Communist Current (1942–68) ... 456

Conclusion ... 517

Works Cited ... 533
Further Reading ... 550
Addresses of Archival Centres ... 614
Acronyms ... 615
Index ... 622