K-Groups (Germany)

A K-Group in Freiburg at a May Day demonstration (May 1, 1972)

K-Groups (German: Kommunistische Gruppen, lit. 'Communist Groups') is a term referring to various small, Maoist organizations and political parties that sprang up in West Germany at the end of the 1960s, following the collapse of the Socialist German Students' Union (SDS), and general collapse of the West German student movement.[1] K-Groups played a particularly important role within the New Left in West Germany during the first half of the 1970s. The term "K-Group" was used primarily by competing left-wing groups and in the media. It served as a collective term for the numerous, often fiercely divided groups and alluded to their shared self-image as communist cadre organizations.

Various organizations referred to as K-Groups included the Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists (KPD/ML), the Communist Party of Germany (Organizational Structure) (KPD-AO), the Communist League (KB), the Communist League of West Germany (KBW), the Communist Workers Union of Germany (KABD), and the Bavarian-based Workers League for the Reconstruction of the KPD [de] (AB).[2]

In 1971 the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated that Germany had around twenty active Maoist groups, with 800 - 15,000 members between them.[2] Following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, K-Groups began to fade in membership and salience. Numerous activists subsequently joined the newly formed peace and environmental movement and the resulting Green Party (now Alliance 90/The Greens). Maoist activists from workplace interventions and factory groups, who had initially hoped for immediate revolution, now became long-term active members of workers' council and trade unions.[3] Only the Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) has established itself permanently.[4]

Other contemporary German far-left parties, such as the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin (SEW) and German Communist Party (DKP), were not considered K-Groups, as they were oriented towards Eastern European "real socialism." Today however, the term is sometimes used somewhat vaguely in German media as a collective term for all small socialist or communist parties/organizations beyond the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Die Linke.

History

Origins within the Student Movement

Previously mentioned, K-groups emerged toward the end of the West German student movement in the late 1960s. Most K-Groups emerged from various regional chapters of the disintegrating Socialist German Students' Union. Although efforts were made to reach out to apprentices, workers, and especially former members of the banned Communist Party of Germany, most K-groups remained dominated by students and intellectuals. Many K-groups were characterized by an elitist attitude among their members. Unlike the student movement, they often propagated an ascetic lifestyle. Culturally, the K-groups often drew inspiration from the proletarian literature of the Weimar Republic, Chinese socialist realism, and Albanian folklore.[5]

According to German Sociologist Gunnar Hincks, he theorized that the adoption of authoritarian power and subjugation techniques by children from middle-class backgrounds was often caused by family disruptions during the war and post-war period and a period of orientation that gave rise to a strong need for recognition and group affiliation, even to the point of sectarianism.[6]

Ideological "Role Models"

Almost all K-groups viewed themselves as legitimate heirs of the historic Communist Party of Germany. They were united in their rejection of Eastern European socialism following Khrushchev's De-Stalinization campaign in 1956, which they dismissed as "revisionist." K-Groups ideologically referred to Mao Zedong's Chinese model of socialism, or to Joseph Stalin's tenure as General Secretary of the CPSU. After Mao's death and the associated change of course in China, some groups re-oriented themselves toward Albania under Enver Hoxha. Given the ideological breadth of the K-Groups, and a lack of unity, controversy and splits were common and often difficult for outsiders to understand. Critics have therefore often accused the K-groups of a tendency toward ideological "self-flagellation" and political sectarianism. There were, however, attempts to emphasize common themes and overcome fragmentation among themselves. In isolated cases, there was even cooperation with Trotskyist groups that had previously been strongly opposed, which lead to the founding of the United Socialist Party (VSP) in 1986 By this time, however, the K-groups had already lost importance.

Reception by the Political Establishment

Viewing the K-Groups as an "interface to terrorism," the Christian Democratic Union of Germany demanded that the K-Groups be banned, with specific focus on the KBW, KPD, and KPD/ML.[7]

Decline and Transition

Following the Decline of the K-Groups in the 1970s, many former members went onto contribute their views to the activities of segments of the new social movements, such as the environmental movement, peace/anti-war movement, and anti-imperialist movement. Through these movements, numerous former K-Group members turned activists later found a new political home within the German Green Party, or the establishment left (SPD/PDS) such as:

List of K-Groups

In Germany
Organization Dates Leaders Literary Publication(s) Succeeded By / Merged Into
Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (1965–1968) [de]
Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (1965–1968) 		MLPD (1965) 1965 - 1968
  • Erich Reimann
 Sozialistisches Deutschland
Socialist Germany 		-
Free Socialist Party/Marxist-Leninists
Freie Sozialistische Partei/Marxisten-Leninisten 		FSP (ML) 1967 - 1968
  • Günter Ackermann
  • Werner Heuzeroth
 Die Wahrheit
The Truth 		Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists
Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands/Marxisten-Leninisten 		KPD/ML 1968 - 1986 Roter Morgen
Red Morning 		United Socialist Party
Communist Party of Germany (Pre-Party Formation)
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Aufbauorganisation) 		KPD (AO) 1970 - 1980 Die Rote Fahne
The Red Flag 		-
League against Imperialism [de]
Liga gegen den Imperialismus 		League 1971 - 1990 (Front organization of the KPD (AO)) Internationale Solidarität
International Solidarity
Communist League (West Germany)
Kommunistischer Bund 		KB 1971 - 1991 Arbeiterkampf
Workers' Struggle 		-
Communist Workers Union of Germany
Kommunistischer Arbeiterbund Deutschlands 		KABD 1972 - 1982 Rote Fahne
Red Flag 		Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany
Workers' League for the Reconstruction of the KPD [de]Arbeiterbund für den Wiederaufbau der KPD AB 1973 -
  • Helge Sommerrock
  • Thomas Schmitz-Bender
 Kommunistischen Arbeiterzeitung

Communist Workers' Newspaper

German Communist Party
Communist League of West Germany

Kommunistischer Bund Westdeutschland

KBW 1973 - 1985
  • Helga Rosenbaum
 Kommunistische Volkszeitung

Communist People's Newspaper

League of West German Communists
Marxist-Leninists Germany [de]Marxisten-Leninisten Deutschland MLD 1976 - 1981
  • Heiner Hügel
 Die Achtziger Jahre

The Eighties

-
League of West German Communists

Bund Westdeutscher Kommunisten

BWK 1980 - 1995 Politische Berichte

Political Reports

Party of Democratic Socialism
Popular Front against Reaction, Fascism and War [de]Volksfront gegen Reaktion, Faschismus und Krieg VF 1980 - 1994 (Suspected front organization of the XYZ by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) Volksecho

Popular Response

Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (Minority)
United Socialist Party

Vereinigte Sozialistische Partei'

VSP 1986 - 1991 (Front organization of the GIM and KPD/ML) Sozialistische Zeitung [de]

Socialist Newspaper

Party of Democratic Socialism (Minority)

International Socialist Left (Majority)

Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany

Marxistisch–Leninistische Partei Deutschlands

MLPD 1982–Present
  • Stefan Engel
 Rote Fahne

Red Flag

-

Similar Organizations in Europe

At the same time in other countries in Western Europe, left-wing extra-parliamentary student movements in the 1960s sprang-up, with ensuing successor and splinter parties comparable to the German K-groups in terms of content and structure emerged, and continued to emerge. Similar parties in Western Europe rejected the Eastern European, Brezhnevite, "real socialism" and were also generally oriented towards Maoist China or Hoxhaite Albania, all generally declining after the death of Mao Zedong.

In Europe
Organization Dates Leaders Literary Publication(s) Successors
Netherlands Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (Marxist–Leninist) KEN (ml) 1964 - 1985 Rode Vlag
Ireland Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist–Leninist) CPI (ML) 1965 - 2003 Red Patriot -
Austria Marxist-Leninists of Austria MLÖ 1966 - 1967
  • Franz Strobl
 Rote Fahne Marxist–Leninist Party of Austria
Austria Marxist–Leninist Party of Austria MLPÖ 1967 - 1968 Union of Revolutionary Workers of Austria (Marxist–Leninist)
Austria Union of Revolutionary Workers of Austria (Marxist–Leninist) VRAÖ (ML) 1966 - 2005
  • Alfred Jocha
 Der Kommunist (1967–1970)

Für die Volksmacht (1970 - 1997; 1999 - 2005) Widerspruch (1997 - 1999)

-
Austria Communist League of Austria KBÖ 1976 - 1981 (Austrian sect of the KBW) Klassenkampf -
 Switzerland Communist Party of Switzerland/Marxist–Leninists KPS/ML 1969 - 1987
  • Nils Andersson
 Oktober Liberal-Socialist Party (FSP)
Iceland Communist Movement M-L KHML 1972 - 1976
  • Gunnar Andrésson
  • Kristján Guðlaugsson
 Stéttabaráttan Communist Party of Iceland (Marxist–Leninist)
Communist Party of Iceland (Marxist–Leninist) KSML 1976 - 1985 -
Luxembourg Communist League of Luxembourg KBL 1972 - 1980
  • Charles Doerner
 Roude Fändel -
Norway Workers' Communist Party AKP 1973 - 2007 Klassekampen Red Party
San Marino Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist) of San Marino PCMLSM 1968 - 1974
  • Giuseppe Fabbri

See also

References

  1. ^ Slobodian, Quinn (21 March 2012). Foreign Front: Third World Politics in Sixties West Germany. Duke University Press. doi:10.1515/9780822395041-010. ISBN 9780822395041. S2CID 243154919.
  2. ^ a b West Germany and the Global Sixties: The Anti-Authoritarian Revolt, 1962–1978. Cambridge University Press. 10 October 2013. ISBN 9781107022553.
  3. ^ Vgl. dazu den Zeitzeugenbericht von Rainer Knirsch: David gegen Goliath - Betriebsarbeit im BMW-Motorradwerk Berlin 1975–2003. In: Arbeit - Bewegung - Geschichte. I/2017, S. 102–117.
  4. ^ Protest Song in East and West Germany Since the 1960s. Camden House. 2007. ISBN 9781571132819.
  5. ^ Kuhn, Andreas (2005). Stalins Enkel, Maos Söhne: die Lebenswelt der K-Gruppen in der Bundesrepublik der 70er Jahre. Frankfurt/Main: Campus-Verl. ISBN 978-3-593-37865-7.
  6. ^ Hinck, Gunnar (2012). Wir waren wie Maschinen: die bundesdeutsche Linke der siebziger Jahre (1. Auflage ed.). Berlin: Rotbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-86789-150-9.
  7. ^ "CHRONIK DEUTSCHER HERBST". www.fr.de (in German). 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2025-08-19.
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-Gruppen