History of the German workers' associations
The history of the workers' associations goes back to the beginning of the 19th century. In Germany it is closely linked to the history of the entire labor movement. Due to the delayed economic and republican development compared to other countries, German workers' associations went through a special development that can hardly be compared with other European countries.
Classification in the historical context
The beginning of the struggle of the working class for more participation does not fall, as it is often shown, in the period of industrialization. This misjudgment is based not least on the belief that the capitalist mode of production was an invention of the industrial revolution. Because alongside independent craftsmen there were "manual workers who were separate from the means of production" long before industrialization. The emergence of employment relationships of this kind, also known as manufacturing capitalism, can be dated in Germany to the 16th century. As this way of working proved efficient, its scope grew rapidly. The emergence of a large working class could be observed long before the actual industrial revolution, but its successes were marginal due to the feudalist social structure. With the advent of industrialization, which reached Germany or the German Confederation relatively late, the trend towards the capitalist way of working accelerated very strongly. In view of the growing working class and the increasing threat of revolution, both the state and the imperial government initiated reforms to appease the workers. One of the economically most important reforms in this context was the Prussian peasant liberation in 1807, which formally ended serfdom. Due to a lack of financial resources, however, this reform resulted in the proletarianization of many small farmers. Poor craftsmen felt the same way after the abolition of the guild constitution . The loss of these reforms created great potential for the German labor movement. This so-called modern labor movement developed across Europe parallel to the increasing dominance of industrial capitalism in the 1930s and 1940s. In Germany, the revolutionary events surrounding the Hambach Festival at the beginning of the 1830s gave the labor movement a great boost. However, since the revolutionary unrest of that time did not bring the desired result and the absolutist forces of the labor movement acted repressively, the German labor movement initially relocated to neighboring countries. In particular, the craftsmen, who undertook a journeyman's hike as part of their training and thus got abroad more easily than others, were the pioneers of German workers' associations abroad.
German workers' associations in other European countries
German People's Association (Paris and London)
The first association abroad was the German People's Association in Paris in 1832 . In addition to German craftsmen, merchants and intellectuals organized themselves in it. In 1834, due to a change in the law in France and the subsequent ban, the German People's Association changed its name to the Union of Outlaws , before some members split off after internal disputes and founded the Union of the Just in 1836 . Both the League of Outlaws and the League of the Just worked in secret and had the character of a conspiracy or a secret society. For this reason no reliable information can be given about the number of members of this labor movement on French soil. The same applies to a section of the federal government that was founded in London.
Young Germany (Switzerland and London)
In addition to Paris, London and Switzerland formed further centers of the German workers' associations. In Switzerland, craftsmen founded Junge Deutschland in 1834 . Young Germany, which was a subsection of the Young Europe Association, was organized like a secret society, just like the League of Outlaws and the League of Justice. After initial successes and a spread over the whole of Switzerland and parts of France, German sovereigns exerted enormous pressure on Switzerland, so that it proceeded intensively and relentlessly against Young Germany. Many members were arrested or expelled to Germany, just as many joined workers' associations in France or England. This led to the founding of the Junge Deutschland London in 1836. In this London Bund, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed basic ideas for a communist social order.
Workers' associations in Germany
The German workers' associations played only a subordinate role in the two revolutions of March and May 1848. Although they took part, the dominant part in the disputes was the bourgeoisie, who tried to secure their rule and disempower both the nobility and the clergy. As a result, no workers or craftsmen were represented in the first Frankfurt National Assembly. Nevertheless, the revolution had a significant impact on the German workers' associations and their interests. Various workers' associations appeared publicly on German soil for the first time in 1848 and presented their demands for social improvements. Since there were practically no negative reactions in the form of police or military operations to demonstrations, there is often talk of the beginning of freedom of assembly in Germany. When it became clear that the state was unwilling or simply had no means to take action against workers 'associations, numerous workers' associations sprang up across the entire German territory. The League of Communists, which had previously only been active in England, was particularly active in this regard, and its pioneers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels relocated to Cologne, where the center of the Lower Rhine workers' associations was still in the midst of the turmoil of the revolution. The aim of the League of Communists was clear: All their actions "aimed to break the political power of the reactionary feudal class and to establish a state power that relied on the determined democratic forces of bourgeois society, the working class, the peasantry, the Petty bourgeoisie and parts of the democratic bourgeoisie, based. " The General German Workers 'Brotherhood in Berlin and Leipzig, which was headed by Stephan Born, was just as active as the League of Communists and the Lower Rhine workers' associations .
General German workers' brotherhood
see main article General German Workers' Union
The two last-named associations also represented the centers of the German labor movement during the revolutionary period. Based on a workers' congress in Brussels, Stephan Born and fellow campaigners called for the establishment of a workers' parliament in Berlin, which was to become the founding assembly of the General German Workers' Brotherhood. The fraternization quickly grew over the whole of German territory and at its best had almost 15,000 members. Born rejected the Communist Manifesto and instead drafted a catalog of demands for the Frankfurt National Assembly. In it he called for the democratization of the state apparatus and the economy, labor protection laws, production cooperatives and general compulsory education. In order to achieve these goals, he and his colleagues in the fraternization hoped for quick reforms, which were to be achieved by strong workers' associations and unions with the help of strikes and demonstrations.
Lower Rhine workers' associations
In contrast to the General German Workers' Association, the Lower Rhine Workers' Associations, and among them in particular the Cologne Workers' Association (KAV), had a clearly revolutionary character and close ties to the Communist League. Andreas Gottschalk , chairman of the association and initially an opponent of Karl Marx, made a name for himself with demands for radical democracy and the equality of work and capital. But very pragmatic demands were also made. For example, the Cologne workers' association advocated the establishment of labor arbitration tribunals, which should be made up of equal numbers of representatives from the employee and employer side. The development of the KAV was closely related to the fate of its chairman Gottschalk. He was arrested after repeated calls for a democratic republic and later fled to Paris. Before that, however, he forced the KAV to work with the Democratic Society of Karl Marx, who gained power in the KAV after Gottschalk left the company and finally became chairman. As a result, workers' interests took a back seat and the KAV increasingly focused on "general democratization". Marx implemented this change of course in order not to leave the path to communism that he had outlined in the Communist Manifesto. Only when it became clear that the revolution of 1848/1849 had failed did the KAV concentrate on employee interests again.
Setbacks
The huge boost that the German workers' associations experienced in the turmoil of the revolution of 1848/1849 quickly lost its strength. The members of the newly installed Frankfurt National Assembly quickly recognized that disregarding workers' interests posed a considerable risk potential for the existing social order. For this reason, various laws were passed, which were supposed to and initially led to an appeasement of the angry workers. In this context, the draft of a trade regulation from the year 1848, which never became law, is to be seen as the predecessor of the works constitution laws in terms of the history of ideas. But the workers' associations did not only find out that they were accommodating. The aforementioned trade regulations never became law. Protests by workers' associations and fraternities against this approach were brutally suppressed by Austrian and Prussian troops on instructions from parliament. In addition, all political associations, including workers' associations, were banned. This regulation forced numerous pioneers in the labor movement, including Marx and Engels, back into exile. This marked the beginning of the old forces' resurgence, so that "the 1850s were stamped with the victorious reaction."
1861 - the beginning of a new era
It was not the rebellious proletariat but a member of the high nobility that ended the restoration phase. After his enthronement, King Wilhelm I of Prussia mainly appointed liberal ministers to his new cabinet. Under this government the ban on political associations was lifted. Particularly noteworthy, however, is the legal safeguarding of freedom of association in the 1860s. These innovations led to the creation of new workers' associations in many parts of Germany. The most important new establishment was the General German Workers 'Association by Ferdinand Lassalle (see main article on the General German Workers' Association ). Lassalle saw the ADAV as an umbrella organization for workers' associations in Germany and also as the first socialist party.
Transition to political parties
In addition to Lassalle's General German Workers 'Association , the first socialist party according to its own ideas , the Marxist-oriented Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) was founded in August 1869 as a reaction to Lassalle's authoritarian leadership style under the aegis of Wilhelm Liebknecht and August Bebel . Spurred on by political successes in the Reichstag election in 1874, the two competing groups united in Gotha in 1875 to form the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAP), a direct predecessor of today's SPD .
Development after 1875
In the late 19th century and in the course of the 20th century, workers' associations increasingly lost their political importance in view of the growing influence of socialist parties. For this reason, their activities have increasingly focused on cultural and community activities. Thus, starting in the late 19th century, numerous workers 'choirs or workers' sports clubs came into being. The consequences of the Socialist Law of 1878 also hit the workers' associations hard. Political actions were banned and supporters were subjected to severe repression. Nonetheless, the Socialist Law briefly boosted the number of workers' associations in Germany. Immediately after the repressive regulations came into force, numerous workers' sports clubs were founded. These served socialist politicians, who could formally continue to be politically active as individuals, as the organizational base and cover organizations of the banned political parties. With regard to ideological orientation, the spectrum expanded further. Thus, towards the end of the 19th century, more and more confessional workers' associations ( Catholic workers' association , Protestant workers' associations ) emerged, which distanced themselves from social democracy.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kuhn, Axel (2004): "The German Workers Movement" and Anthes, J. (1972): Co-determination - Auseg oder Illusion, 47
- ↑ Peter Röben (2006): "Historical development of corporate co-determination in Germany"
- ↑ http://www.documentarchiv.de/nzjh.html
- ↑ Kuhn, Axel (2004): "The German Labor Movement"
- ↑ Ulbricht, Walter (1966): "History of the German Labor Movement - Volume I"
- ↑ Kuhn, Axel (2004): "The German Labor Movement"
- ^ Kuhn, Axel (2004): "The German Labor Movement"
- ↑ Peter Röben (2006): "Historical development of corporate co-determination in Germany"
- ↑ Peter Röben (2006): "Historical development of corporate co-determination in Germany"
- ↑ Peter Röben (2006): "Historical development of corporate co-determination in Germany"
- ^ Rainald Maaß: Origin, Background and Effect of the Socialist Law. In: Juristische Schulung (JuS) 9/1990
Sources and literature
- Peter Röben: Historical Development of Workplace Co-Determination in Germany (2006)
- Axel Kuhn: The German Labor Movement, (2004), Stuttgart: Reclam, ISBN 3-15-017042-7
- Walter Ulbricht: History of the German labor movement - Volume I - X, (1966), Berlin: Dietz Verlag
- Heinrich Pleticha: German History 1871-1918: Bismarck Empire and Wilhelminian Period, (1984), Gütersloh: Bertelsmann
- Werner Milert and Rudolf Tschirbs: From the workers' committees to the Works Constitution Act. History of corporate interest representation in Germany, (1991), Cologne: Bund-Verlag
- Dieter Dowe : Reports on the negotiations of the unification days of German workers' associations 1863 to 1869: Reprints / Ed. By Dieter Dowe. With an introduction by Shlomo Na'aman as well as a person index , magazine and newspaper index and place index by Max Schwarz. Berlin [u. a.]: Dietz Verl., 1980 (reprints on social history), ISBN 3-8012-2095-8
- Heitmann, Alexis: Workers on the Rhine and Elbe. Comparison of two centers of the early German labor movement. Hamburg and Cologne 1845-50. Munich: AVM, 2009. ISBN 978-3-89975-816-0
- Anthes, J. et al .: Codetermination - Way out or Illusion? Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH (1972)