Socialization movement in the Ruhr area

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A series of strike movements in 1919, the aim of which was to nationalize the coal and steel industry , is referred to as the socialization movement in the Ruhr area .

prehistory

In December 1918, the Reichsrätekongress passed the resolution to socialize the mature industries, especially mining. In the weeks that followed, the Council of People's Representatives did little to implement this decision; it only set up a socialization commission . In the Ruhr region , the dissatisfaction because of this increased. There had been mainly economically motivated strikes there since December 1918. In Hamborn on December 21, 1918, socialization was also demanded, but this demand soon took a back seat to demands for reductions in working hours and wage increases.

January strike

In January the strikes were politicized. One of the triggers for this was the January uprising in Berlin . However, the goals were different. While Berlin was about to overthrow the government, the strikers in the Ruhr area fought for the implementation of the decision of the Reichsrätekongress.

On January 11, 1919, about 80,000 workers, the majority of whom were miners, took part in the strike movement. Many of the strikers were initially close to syndicalism , which had a stronghold around Hamborn. In this situation, the workers and soldiers council of the city of Essen took over the coordination and management. The so-called “Nine Commission” was formed from representatives from the KPD , USPD and MSPD . The chairman was the district judge Ernst Ruben (MSPD). In addition to enforcing socialization, the Neunerkommission also wanted to regain control over the spontaneous movement and prevent the feared economic catastrophe. In a certain way, the group saw itself as a deputy for the Reich leadership, which did not know the mood of the workers and was unable to act in the district because of the Berlin January fighting.

The Nine Commission ordered the offices of the coal syndicate to be occupied and decided on price and wage controls. In addition, a People's Commissar was appointed for socialization. The Nine Commission also called on the strikers to resume work.

Socialization model

The socialization model of the Nine Commission did not come from supporters of syndicalism. However, it had strong syndicalist elements, and state socialist ideas were of secondary importance in this model. The miners elected Steigerrevierräte, which in turn elected mining councils. The latter consisted of a technical and a commercial employee as well as three members of the workforce. The next higher level were mountain district councils. At the head was the Central Mining Council. Not only the free trade union Old Association called for the election of the councils , but also the liberal, Christian and Polish miners' associations in the area. So far, the unions had refused to socialize.

An immediate nationalization of the mines was not considered, it was about obtaining economic control rights. Julian Marchlewski (KPD), also known as Karski, formulated as economic advisor to the Nine Commission: “The miners are prepared to tolerate the yoke of private capital for a while, but they insist that the right of control, which is in their Interest, as is absolutely necessary in the general interest, must be introduced immediately. The councils should serve this control and only this control. "

Negotiations with the imperial government

On January 13, 1919, the delegates of all workers 'and soldiers' councils from the Rhenish-Westphalian industrial area met. Representatives of the Reich government and trade union representatives were also involved in the negotiations. In addition, were Otto Hue , chairman of the Old Association, as well as the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Labor, John Giesberts ( center ) present. The delegates decided unanimously to start socializing the mining industry immediately. Most of the strikers then returned to work.

However, the resolutions could only stand if the Reich government recognized them. A delegation from the Nine Commission then traveled to Berlin and negotiated with the government on January 17th. The Council of People's Representatives did not meet the specific demands. Instead, he committed himself in an abstract form to the “legal regulation of a comprehensive influence on the entire coal mining industry by the Reich” and to “determining the participation of the population as a whole in the yields - socialization.” Furthermore, the Reich government appointed three socialization commissioners in addition to the existing socialization commission Area: Bergrat Röhrig, the general director of the German-Luxembourgish mining and smelting company Albert Vögler and Otto Hue. The election of councils was also granted, but without the extensive control rights envisaged by the Nine Commission.

The Nine Commission only accepted parts of the government's measures. It renounced the appointment of a People's Commissar, at the same time insisted on its own recognition and demanded that the economic council system be recognized by February 15, 1919. Negotiations on February 13 and 14 brought hardly any rapprochement on the main issues.

February strike

After the commanding general, Oskar von Watter , had previously obtained Gustav Noske's consent , on February 11, 1919 he had the General Soldiers' Council dissolved by the Freikorps Lichtschlag and its members arrested. After a bloody fighting, the Freikorps occupied Dorsten on February 14th . On the same day, representatives of the workers' and soldiers' councils demanded the reinstatement of the soldiers' council in Munster and gave the government an ultimatum until February 17th. On February 16, the volunteer corps moved up Watters command toward a satisfying action against Hervest from. The blood trail that began here earned the formation the name "Freikorps Totschlag".

On February 16, a conference of workers' councils in Mülheim an der Ruhr resolved the general strike. Syndicalists and communists ruled the assembly. The actual decision was to be made on February 18 at a general conference of workers and soldiers' councils. Although the majority Social Democrats had threatened a general strike, they did not want to support an alliance with syndicalists and communists. Their delegates spoke out against the general strike, left the conference and declared that the MSPD would withdraw from the commission of nine. The representatives of the USPD and KPD reaffirmed the decision to initiate a general strike .

About 180,000 workers took part in this general strike. This corresponded to about half of the workforce in the Ruhr mining industry. Freikorps and striking workers fought sometimes bloody arguments. On February 21, 1919, a delegates' conference, in which MSPD representatives were again involved, decided to end the general strike. Among the more radical forces, displeasure with the MSPD and the inactive government under Philipp Scheidemann on the issue of socialization increased .

April strike

In the period that followed, the demand for socialization in the area lost some of its importance, and wage and working time issues became more important again. At the same time the influence of the radical syndicalists increased. Bloody fights between workers and members of the Freikorps in Witten on March 24th and 25th triggered a third phase of the major strikes in the area. The result was a new wave of strikes between Bochum and Dortmund .

The demands now made included the recognition of the councils, the dissolution of the volunteer corps and the introduction of six-hour shifts in the mining industry. In addition, there was a demand for recognition of the "Hamburg Points" on military policy, as decided by the Reich Councilor Congress, and for the police to be disarmed.

On March 30, 1919, a shaft delegate conference met in Essen. The negotiation was dominated by representatives of the KPD and the syndicalists. It decided to leave the established trade unions and to found a “ General Miners' Union ”. A Central Mining Council took the place of the Nine Commission. An indefinite general strike was also decided.

On April 1, around 160,000 miners in the entire Ruhr area went on strike, the peak was reached on April 10 with 307,000 strikers, which corresponded to three quarters of the workforce. Significantly more people than just the syndicalists and supporters of the more radical left parties took part in the strike. Many MSPD supporters now actively participated in the strike.

The authorities reacted by imposing a state of siege and announced the use of the military to enforce the end of the strike in the economically central coal mining industry. General Oskar von Watter , the military commander, was placed alongside the Bielefeld SPD politician Carl Severing as Reich and State Commissioner. This was intended to keep military force to a minimum. In his appeal of April 8, 1919, Severing announced that he wanted to “speak to the workers as a workers' representative and act as workers for the workers.” According to Severing, the decisions he made were not primarily aimed at violent repression. Instead, they should reach an understanding with the striking workers and put an end to existing hardships and grievances. "Violence should only be used where it is provoked by irresponsible elements."

With concessions, but also with hard pressure, with the arrest of strike leaders and the granting of special rations for those willing to work, Severing tried to take action against the strike. His policies were successful and the number of strikers had been falling steadily since April 14, 1919. An attack by soldiers of the Lichtschlag Freikorps, who shot at a gathering of strikers in the Mettmann district, caused a setback on April 15 . A strike conference then decided to continue the strike. On April 24th, around a third of the workforce went on strike; The strike was not finally over until May 2, 1919.

consequences

As a result of the strike, the trade unions lost numerous members to the new communist General Miners 'Union and to the syndicalist Free Workers' Union of Germany . Younger workers in particular joined these new organizations. The free trade union association alone lost a third, in some places even half of its members. Within the old association, the opposition, which was mostly close to the USPD, gained influence.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quotation from Winkler: From the revolution to stabilization. 1984, p. 171.
  2. ↑ Quotation from Winkler: From the revolution to stabilization. 1984, p. 167 f.
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Niess: The Revolution of 1918/19 , Europa-Verlag 2017, ISBN 978-3-95890-074-5 , pp. 353-354.
  4. ↑ Winkler: From revolution to stabilization. 1984, p. 174, there also the Severing quotations.

literature

  • Axel Kuhn: The German labor movement . Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-15-017042-7 , pp. 156-158.
  • Holger Marcks: When the pits are in proletarian hands. The 1919 strike movement in the Ruhr area. In: Holger Marcks, Matthias Seiffert (ed.): The great strikes - episodes from the class struggle. Unrast-Verlag, Münster 2008, ISBN 978-3-89771-473-1 , pp. 34-38.
  • Heinrich August Winkler: From Revolution to Stabilization. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1918 to 1924 . Berlin / Bonn 1984, ISBN 3-8012-0093-0 , pp. 158-175.