Helge Döhr<strong>in</strong>gForewordThe follow<strong>in</strong>g text comprises an <strong>in</strong>troductionto the development of German<strong>Syndicalism</strong> from its beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>gs<strong>in</strong> 1890 until the end of its organizedform <strong>in</strong> the early 1960s. The emphasisof this <strong>in</strong>troduction, however, centerson the period before <strong>and</strong> lead<strong>in</strong>g upto 1933, when the National Socialistsunder Adolf Hitler ascended to power.<strong>Syndicalism</strong>, <strong>and</strong> more specifically<strong>Anarcho</strong>-<strong>Syndicalism</strong> are movementsthat have been largely forgotten. Thisalbeit superficial outl<strong>in</strong>e should, at itsconclusion, show that this movementwas not always so obscure <strong>and</strong> unknown.This piece aims not to comprehensivelyexam<strong>in</strong>e all the variedaspects of German <strong>Anarcho</strong>-syndicalism,but rather to pique the curiosity<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terest of its readers.4
1. What does “Workers’ Movement” mean?<strong>Syndicalism</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Anarcho</strong>-<strong>Syndicalism</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Germany</strong>: An IntroductionThe first th<strong>in</strong>g that one learns <strong>in</strong> study<strong>in</strong>g the history of the Workers’Movement, <strong>in</strong> <strong>Germany</strong> <strong>and</strong> elsewhere, is that the workers were organized primarily<strong>in</strong>to the so-called ‘Workers Parties.’ In <strong>Germany</strong> these took the form of theSPD [moderate Social Democrats] <strong>and</strong> the KPD [German Communist Party].Upon further exam<strong>in</strong>ation a number of other parties fall <strong>in</strong>to view, for exampleRosa Luxemburg’s “Independent Social-Democratic Party” (USPD), or the CP’sother <strong>in</strong>carnations, the KAPD <strong>and</strong> the Socialist Workers’ Party. And naturally thedef<strong>in</strong>ition of the term “Workers’ Movement” places these political parties firmly<strong>in</strong> the foreground. The same is true of <strong>Germany</strong>’s General Association of Unions(ADGB). Closer observation, however, reveals that these <strong>in</strong>stitutions have less todo with a movement <strong>in</strong> the truest sense of the word than with the regulation <strong>and</strong>discipl<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g of the Workers’ Movement to the benefit of private or state <strong>in</strong>vestorsof capital. If we are to speak of a true movement of workers we can only speak ofthe grassroots <strong>in</strong>itiatives of the proletariat, which tried to advance the class struggle.In some cases these efforts <strong>in</strong>cluded Social-Democratic or Communist workers.Worth not<strong>in</strong>g, however, is how quickly such activities elicited objections fromtheir leaders <strong>in</strong> the parties <strong>and</strong> trade unions. In contrast to these <strong>in</strong>stitutions, weview the idea of a “workers’ movement” as someth<strong>in</strong>g which develops <strong>in</strong> an organicfashion, not <strong>in</strong> response to orders from union or party leadership but rather as aproduct of the activities of organized wage workers fully conscious of their ownresponsibilities <strong>and</strong> avoid<strong>in</strong>g centralized organizations. Considerable energy <strong>and</strong>strength is absorbed <strong>in</strong> the activities surround<strong>in</strong>g sectarian conflicts, “great leaders”<strong>and</strong> the production of specialized Marxist literature from Bernste<strong>in</strong> to Len<strong>in</strong>. Andall this just to come to the realization that the Workers’ Movement, as def<strong>in</strong>ed bythese groups, is paralyzed. For those who would like to shorten the route to thisrevelation without miss<strong>in</strong>g any of the essential lessons, one need only look backat times when there actually were organized work<strong>in</strong>g-class movements that transcendedMarxist dogma <strong>and</strong> electoral deceptions. <strong>Germany</strong>, dur<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>terwarperiod, yields an example of a Workers’ Movement with <strong>in</strong>dependent, free-st<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>gforms of organization, primarily among the Unionist/Council Communists<strong>and</strong> the (<strong>Anarcho</strong>-)Syndicalists. Here we will focus on the <strong>Anarcho</strong>-Syndicalists,which <strong>in</strong> <strong>Germany</strong> formed not only a remarkable “movement of ideas,” but also arecognized proletarian mass-movement, one that has been largely forgotten. Thosewho attempt to f<strong>in</strong>d references or <strong>in</strong>formation relevant to this subject among lessma<strong>in</strong>stream sources, from Wolfgang Abendroth or Karl-He<strong>in</strong>z Roth, for example,will be disappo<strong>in</strong>ted. And yet, alongside st<strong>and</strong>ard works on the subject, authoredby Hans Manfred Bock or Angela Vogel, to name a few, there appear a number ofregional studies…concern<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Anarcho</strong>-<strong>Syndicalism</strong>.5
Change language