War Committee on Consumer Interests

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The War Committee for Consumer Interests (KAKI) was founded in 1914 to represent the interests of German consumers during the First World War .

Emergence

As early as November 1914, the War Committee for Consumer Interests began to be formed. Hellmut von Gerlach, publisher of Welt am Montag and Waldemar Zimmermann from the Office for Social Policy , had already campaigned for such an organization . A summary of the consumers was welcomed by various organizations in view of the price increases already in place. It was to be feared that in the course of the maximum price debate, the interests of buyers, in contrast to those of trade and agriculture, could go under. Trade unions, professional associations and social democrats had previously represented consumer interests, but in contrast to the influential associations of farmers, trade and industry, there was no strong association devoted exclusively to consumers.

A preparatory committee was formed to prepare for founding an association. This included: Gertrud Bäumer ( Federation of German Women's Associations ), Ilse Müller-Oesterreich ( German Association of Buyers ), Anton Höfle ( German Association of Technicians ), Erich Jacubeit ( Association of permanent wage earners ) and Karl Breitkopf ( Association of German National Clerks ). In December 1914, the latter sent an appeal to around seventy associations to establish a “War Center for Consumer Interests”. This was intended to educate consumers about the economical use of available food. In addition, a "reasonable distribution" of stocks and the prevention of excessive price increases caused by speculation should be pushed. In addition, the new association should protect the interests of consumers vis-à-vis the legislature.

It was actually founded on December 6, 1914. A few days later, thirty-five associations had joined the committee. These represented about 6 million members. In addition to the umbrella organizations of workers, employees and civil servants from the various ideological orientations, associations of women, existing consumer and tenant organizations and some other associations were represented.

organization

The actual management was carried out by an executive board. This was headed by Waldemar Zimmermann. There were seven departments. They were responsible for the usury of goods, legal measures, usury of jobs, usury of rent , press, organization and management. There was also a full board, which mainly served to balance the different interests of the member associations.

Since March 1916, the committee published the “ Rundschau der Deutschen Konserbewbewegung ” as a mouthpiece . After the merger with the “ Organ für Preisprüfung ” in 1917 , the paper was called: “ Rundschau der Deutschen Konserbewbewegung und Notification für Preisprüfung ”. In addition, there was press correspondence twice a week with the “ Consumer Economy in War.” "

activity

In addition to the central level, there were district and local committees. The level of the districts corresponded to the areas of the deputy general commands . At the regional level, prices, rents and other costs were monitored and statistics on prices, rations and local living conditions were collected. Representatives of the committee sat on the local food committees and price review bodies. The committee organized monitoring committees to ensure compliance with the prescribed maximum prices. The names of the stores that defied the provisions were made public. There were also recommendations for businesses that behaved in an exemplary manner.

For the first time at the end of 1914, the Central Committee went public and warned of the less affluent families of a planned massive increase in the price of bread. Instead, he advocated the bread stamp system . In addition, education about correct consumer behavior during the war was organized and appropriate cooking courses were organized. In addition, the committee campaigned for cooperative associations between associations of food producers and consumer cooperatives and promoted the establishment of war kitchens . The statistical material collected by the Consumer Committee on changes in the standard of living of the population during the war is of great scientific importance. In the course of the expansion of public food management, the scope of the association's activities in food distribution and price inspection offices increased.

In June 1915 the committee held the first "Consumer War Conference". The social democratic member of the Reichstag and member of the board of directors of the consumer committee, Robert Schmidt , presented the report . According to this, around 60 associations with seven million members were organized at that time. Some associations did not join the central association, but worked on the district and local level. The association turned against the suspicion of being an organization directed against the middle class and agriculture. Johann Giesberts , chairman of the Christian trade unions , however, said that production and trade exist “ for the sake of the consumer ” and not the other way around, that the “ consumers, as mere tributaries of trade, should continue to be treated as before ”.

With the increase in central public management of most foodstuffs, work at regional and local levels has become increasingly important. It was there that the interests of consumers were most likely to be represented. At the national level, however, the committee was often unable to assert itself against the organizations of trade and agriculture. Similar to the handcraft, trade and agriculture chambers, consumer chambers were unsuccessfully demanded to represent consumer interests. One last meeting took place during the war in April 1918. There, too, it was about the demand to transform the committee into a public corporation. In the post-war period, the association had success, at least on a regional level, when a consumer association was founded for the province of Westphalia .

literature

  • Anna Roehrkohl: Hunger Blockade and Home Front. The communal food supply in Westphalia during the First World War. Stuttgart, 1991 pp. 194-199