German Trade Union Confederation (1919–1933)
The German Trade Union Federation ( DGB ) was an umbrella organization of Christian and nationally oriented trade unions that existed from 1919 to 1933 .
Emergence
The majority of the Christian trade unions supported parliamentary democracy after the revolution of 1918 . In the end, however, their aim was to prevent a development towards a socialist republic. Over time, distrust of democracy increased. In particular, the fear of further revolutionary developments was a main reason for the merger of the non-socialist trade unions.
On November 20, 1918, the associations that were close to the German Workers' Congress and the organizations in the congress dominated by the Hirsch-Duncker trade unions , founded the German Democratic Trade Union Federation (DDGB). In order to avoid confusion with the DDP party , the federal government changed its name to DGB in early 1919.
In 1919 tensions arose between the Christian and national organizations on the one hand and the liberal associations on the other. At the end of 1919 this led to the Hirsch-Duncker trade unions resigning. They later founded the union ring of German workers ', salaried employees and civil servants' associations . A short time later, on November 22, 1919, the DGB was founded as an amalgamation of Christian-national associations.
structure
The umbrella organization consisted of three pillars: 1. The workers pillar consisted of the general association of Christian trade unions in Germany , 2. the salaried pillar comprised the general association of German employee associations (Gedag). One of the strongest sub-organizations was the German National Trade Aid Association , 3. the civil service pillar was formed by the general association of German civil service associations . However, this disbanded in 1926. A total of 28 individual organizations belonged to the DGB.
At the height of its expansion in the early 1920s, the DGB organized about 1.5 million members. It was thus much weaker than the socialist-oriented trade unions. The ADGB alone had around 7.8 million members in 1922. But due to its regional concentration, for example in the Rhenish-Westphalian industrial areas, the DGB was nevertheless influential.
A trade union congress met roughly every three years. The affiliated associations sent one delegate for every 4,000 members. The Congress was the highest federal body. Its resolutions were implemented by a committee. This consisted of the chairmen of the individual trade unions and, depending on their strength, other members. The committee elected a board to handle day-to-day business.
Overall, the Christian trade unions in the DGB held a strong position. The first chairman was Adam Stegerwald , who was also chairman of the Christian trade unions. His successor was Heinrich Imbusch in 1929 , who was also chairman of the Christian Miners' Association . Heinrich Brüning was the managing director of the DGB from 1920 to 1930 .
activity
Educational work at local and regional level played an important role for the DGB. It was about the specific trade union work, but also about special training for officials, for example in labor law. The DGB ran an educational home in Königswinter .
In addition, the DGB built up an extensive press system and dedicated itself to general public relations. The mouthpiece was the Zentralblatt, and there were also special offers for young people, women and works councils. The federal government maintained a press service for social and economic correspondence. Since 1921 the federal government published the daily newspaper “Der Deutsche. Daily newspaper for the German national community ”.
Positions
In the area of trade union interest representation, the workers' pillar in particular hardly differed from the ADGB . However, there were considerable differences in ideology. The associations of the DGB did not see themselves as class organizations, but as professional organizations. Stand meant not only a sociological positioning of the respective groups in society, but was also a value-determined determination of the position in the national community so designated by the federal government . This meant a national community of fate and culture. In some cases, the concept of race also played a role. With these positions, the DGB differentiated itself from the socialist and internationalist unions of the ADGB.
The members of the DGB were politically oriented towards different parties. The Catholic center remained of central importance for the Christian trade unions . There were also links to the DVP and DNVP . The remaining pillars, in which Protestant members were particularly numerous, were even closer to the DVP and DNVP. In the German National Action Aid Association (DHV), even more right-wing parties played a role. From 1930 the supporters of the NSDAP began to dominate the DHV .
DGB and politics
The DGB succeeded in filling some positions in the parties close to it. Within the central faction in the Reichstag , the number of workers (representatives) increased significantly to 26. By 1918 there had only been five. It was similar in the DNVP. But overall the influence remained limited. At the first trade union congress of the DGB in 1920, Adam Stegerwald in particular developed the idea of founding a new trade unionist party. For various reasons the move was not met with approval.
After the failure, Stegerwald relied on including the right to take responsibility for the state. In a right-wing civic bloc, the DGB unions should become a central power factor. At the trade union congress of the Christian trade unions in 1926, Stegerwald made it clear that the people's state sought by the DGB need by no means be a republic; it could also be a monarchy. The legal orientation was not without opposition from Heinrich Imbusch or Jakob Kaiser , for example , who took a Catholic, but also a republican point of view. The DHV, in particular, approached the NSDAP in the final phase of the republic. In 1930 16 of the 107 NSDAP members in the Reichstag were also members of the DHV. Of the 47 members of the DGB, the NSDAP members made up about a third.
In the last few years of the republic, in view of the weakness of the trade unions during the world economic crisis, there were increased efforts to found a cross-directional unified trade union . This failed not least because of the DGB's distrust that it was dominated by the ADGB. As a result of the economic crisis, the DGB, like the other trade union confederations, also lost numerous members.
The DGB unreservedly supported the Brüning government, especially since Stegerwald became Minister of Labor. Overall, the trade union federation rejected National Socialism , but in view of the DHV associated with it, it was difficult to formulate such rejection. The DGB was divided on the question of the social cuts decided by the Papen government . While the Christian trade unions protested, the DHV prevented the organization as a whole from taking joint action. For this reason, the DGB did not sign a joint declaration by all trade unions on Adolf Hitler's assumption of government as a government of “social reaction”. After Hitler came to power, the DHV joined forces and left the DGB. This organizationally collapsed in April 1933.
literature
- Helga Grebing : History of the German labor movement. An overview . Nymphenburger Verlags-Handlung, Munich 1966.
- Michael Schneider: Highs, crises and lows. The unions in the Weimar Republic from 1918 to 1933 . In: Klaus Tenfelde u. a .: History of the German trade unions. From the beginning until 1945 . Bund-Verlag, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-7663-0861-0 , pp. 279-446.