alternatehistory.com
Brundlefly - Spartacist Bavaria
Leaders of the Executive Council of the Bavarian Soviet Republic:
1919-1919: Ernst Niekisch (USPD)
1919-1924: Eugen Leviné (KPD) [1]
1921 def. Erich Mühsam (KPD-VRI), Ernst Toller (USPD)
1924-1937: Rudolf Egelhofer (KPD) [2]
1937-1951: Heinrich Schmitt (KPD) [3]
1951-1970: Albert Buchmann (KPD-M) [4]
1970-1977: Herbert Wehner (KPD-M) [5]
1974 def. Anton Donhauser (Christian Socialist), Richard Scheringer (RFB Veterans), Andreas Baader (Revolutionary Communist Front)
First Secretaries of the Executive Council of the Free Socialist City-State of Munich:
1977-1984: Herbert Wehner (KPM-RFB Veterans-Christian Socialist people's front) [6]
1979 def. Hans Scholl (Christian Socialist), Fritz Teufel (Revolutionary Communist Front), Gert Bastian (RFB Veterans)
1984-1994: Claus Schreer (KPM-RFB Veterans unity front) [7]
1984 def. Christoph Probst (Christian Socialist), Fritz Teufel (Revolutionary Communist Front), Paul Breitner (Reform), Gert Bastian (RFB Veterans), Petra Kelly (Comrades for Peace)
1989 def. Paul Breitner (Reform-Christian Socialist Coupon), Petra Kelly (Comrades for Peace), Gert Bastian (RFB Veterans)
1994-2004: Harald Weinberg (KPM) [8]
1994 def. Petra Kelly (Comrades for Peace), Paul Breitner (Democratic Socialist), Uschi Obermaier (Anti-Imperialist Front)
1999 def. Christian Ude (Democratic Socialist), Ulrike Windsperger (Comrades for Peace), Çetin Oraner (Anti-Imperialist Front)
2004-2014: Klaus Ernst (KPM-Democratic Socialist unity front) [9]
2004 def. Christian Ude (Democratic Socialist), Ulrike Windsperger (Comrades for Peace), Çetin Oraner (Anti-Imperialist Front)
2009 def. Gerald Häfner (Comrades for Peace), Brigitte Wolf (Democratic Socialist), Kerem Schamberger (Anti-Imperialist Front), Barbara Streidl (Independent Women's League)
2014- : Eva Bulling-Schröter (KPM-Democratic Socialist unity front) [10]
def. Gerald Häfner (Comrades for Peace), Dominik Lehmann (Democratic Socialist), Meredith Haaf (Independent Women's League), Nicole Gohlke (Anti-Imperialist Front)
[1] Having fought off several coup d'etat attempts from right-wing militias (partially backed by German republican forces), the Bavarian Soviet Republic maintained its presence in Munich, receiving military and financial support from Soviet Russia and the Hungarian Soviet Republic. While differenct factions were still allowed for the 1921 council elections, the Bavarian section of the party sooned switched to strict Leninist principles. Soviet Russia immideately recognised the Republic as "Soviet Germany", whereas the Bavarian government-in-exile (or, as it soon became known, the "Augsburg government") was seen as the legitimate Bavarian state of the German republic.
[2] Now solely confined to Munich, the revolutionary council was in constant fear of invasions either by the Augsburg government or the Reichswehr. A faction fight emerged on the correct position on the relationship with the German national KPD. In those faction fights, Leviné sided with the ultra-leftist Fischer-Maslow faction, which wanted to use Munich as the base for overthrowing the Berlin government. Rudolf Egelhofer, leader of the official Bavarian Red Front, was unwilling to cooperate with this plan, as he found that his troops weren't ready for such a megalomaniac plan. In an inner-party coup, Leviné was removed with the help of the Red Front. During Egelhofer's tenure, the Bavarian KPD became more and more estranged with the official German KPD. While the Bavarian Republic relied on support from Moscow, the German KPD soon became more and more independent. To counter new attacks by right-wing Bavarian militias, Egelhofer practically implemented a military regime.
[3] In 1937, the Soviet trials finally reached Munich. Egelhofer was identified as having Trotskyite-Bucharinite leanings and "disappeared" during a trip to Moscow. Under the new leader Heinrich Schmitt, the Stalinist period of the Bavarian Councils Republic began. Any opposition was outlawed, and many party members were purged mostly for being "Levi-ites" (i.e. followers of Paul Levi, leader of the German KPD) or Trotskyites. Having lost the support from the German party, and with the Soviet Union as its sole ally, the Soviet Republic entered a period of extreme isolationism. Following a large-scale brain drain of the old city's elites, borders were strictly controlled, making it almost impossible the leave Munich. Throughout the 1940s, the city was basically cut off from the outside world and abandoned its former internationalist outlook for a strict Bavarian-only policy.
[4] The first years of the Buchmann era were largely a continuation of the isolationist policy of the 1940s. However, with severe economic problems and casual famines hitting the city hard (only being tempered by financial injections from the Soviet Union), the council decided to re-position itself on the international stage. The first step was an official ceasefire agreement with the German Republic. The governing party renamed itself into the Communist Party of Germany - Munich Section (KPD-M), thereby stressing its independence and officially promising not to meddle in German affairs. In interior policy, Buchmann also tried to build a new identity. In order to promote immigration of wealthy Bavarians of the surrounding areas, a new national policy was initiated, linking the legacy of the 1919 revolution to the Bavarian peasants' uprising of 1705/06 and historical rulers like Ludwig II. Border controls were loosened, leading to a growing influx of tourists and family reunions. The culmination of this re-interpretation of recent Bavarian history was the 50th anniversary celebration of the revolution in 1969. However, the Buchmann era also witnessed a rise in terrorist groups of various kinds. Most of them they were carried out by the right-wing, ultra-Catholic Order of the Virgin Mary (rumoured to be supported by the Augsburg government), and militant neo-pagan cults with roots in the 1920s militias. There also was a small circle of anarcho-syndicalist left-wing terrorist groups, who openly called into question the policy of harmonisation with the German republic under Buchmann.
[5] Heavily influenced by the Eurocommunism, new party secretary-general Herbert Wehner gradually restored inner-party democracy. For the first time in five decades, new factions were allowed. Wehner also initiated council elections, albeit on the base that the executive leadership had a final verdict on the parties. Therefore, only parties with a commitment to the principles of the 1919 revolution were allowed to participate. Starting with the 1974 elections, the executive council would be replaced by the less hierarchical position of the First Secretary, which would be rotated every ten years. For the first council elections, three factions were allowed: the Christian Socialists, who combined their version of socialism with a strong Bavarian national heritage, anti-Prussian sentiments and a close affinity to Southern European Eurocommunists (thereby also keeping the core principles of Munich independence alive); the RFB (Red Front) veterans were mostly elder military men with vivid memories of the founding struggles of the 1920s; and finally, the ultra-left Revolutionary Communist Front, originally designed by the council leaders as both a faux-radical opposition (but in reality supporting government policy indirectly by suggesting that the measures of the council didn't go far enough) and an effort by the regime to speak to a younger, radical generation who demanded radical reforms. The latter, though, would soon develop into a radical group of its own.
[6] After renouncing any revolutionary ambitions outside the city of Munich, Wehner made an official peace treaty with the Republic. In order to gain more international recognition, the Bavarian Soviet Republic now became officially known as the Free Socialist City-State of Munich. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Communist Front were making more and more demands over the control of the councils. Rumours emerged that they were about to stage a coup. As a counter-measure to growing influence of the Revolutionary Communist Front - who, as was soon to be found out, had links to several terrorist groups - Wehner formed a people's front government that included commissioners from the Christian Socialists and the RFB veterans. The model was seen as a success and retained after the 1979 council elections.
[7] As the Christian Socialists were making more demands on reforming the strictly atheist founding principles, new first secretary Schreer (who took over from Wehner after the 1984 council elections) ended the people's front. His leadership was marked by a more technocratic approach: he gradually introduced free-market reforms and initiated an urban renewal program, including the building of several council high-rise estates in the outskirts of the city and an underground railway line. He also incorporated the RFB veterans fully into the KPM. The 1980s also saw the growing popularity of the new Reform Party, made up of dissident Marxists closely allied to the German KPD. Following the 1987 bombing in Schwabing (carried out by a group with personal links to the Revolutionary Communist Front), Schreer banned the Revolutionary Communist Front altogether, initiated purges against suspected "sympathisers" and large-scale city surveillance - a move criticised by the Comrades for Peace (another new faction largely catering to the urban professionals) as being "neo-authoritarian".
[8] The 1994 council election saw the unification of Christian socialists, Marxist dissidents and activists calling for more democratic control over the councils into a big-tent reformist party, now called Democratic Socialists. Many former activists and council members of the old Revolutionary Communist Front formed the Anti-Imperialist Front, basically a re-vamped, moderate edition of the former party, still calling for radical reforms, but sticking to a peaceful process. Under the Harald Weinberg, the Free City-State finally entered the League of Nations in 1997.
[9] By now, the Democratic Socialists had emerged as the biggest party. In order to still maintain revolutionary principles of the Soviet Republic, the KPM insisted on leading the next government, but formed a unity front with the Democratic Socialists. It was continued in 2009, despite the Comrades for Peace now having gained the most votes.
[10] The nomination of Bulling-Schröter in 2014 was partially a reaction to the challenge imposed by a new faction in the council: the Independent Women's League, who criticised the unuttered sexism of the KPM. Mostly siding with the Comrades for Peace, they spoke to younger people with a more down-to-earth message, also criticising the erratic town planning schemes of the unity front.
1919-1919: Ernst Niekisch (USPD)
1919-1924: Eugen Leviné (KPD) [1]
1921 def. Erich Mühsam (KPD-VRI), Ernst Toller (USPD)
1924-1937: Rudolf Egelhofer (KPD) [2]
1937-1951: Heinrich Schmitt (KPD) [3]
1951-1970: Albert Buchmann (KPD-M) [4]
1970-1977: Herbert Wehner (KPD-M) [5]
1974 def. Anton Donhauser (Christian Socialist), Richard Scheringer (RFB Veterans), Andreas Baader (Revolutionary Communist Front)
First Secretaries of the Executive Council of the Free Socialist City-State of Munich:
1977-1984: Herbert Wehner (KPM-RFB Veterans-Christian Socialist people's front) [6]
1979 def. Hans Scholl (Christian Socialist), Fritz Teufel (Revolutionary Communist Front), Gert Bastian (RFB Veterans)
1984-1994: Claus Schreer (KPM-RFB Veterans unity front) [7]
1984 def. Christoph Probst (Christian Socialist), Fritz Teufel (Revolutionary Communist Front), Paul Breitner (Reform), Gert Bastian (RFB Veterans), Petra Kelly (Comrades for Peace)
1989 def. Paul Breitner (Reform-Christian Socialist Coupon), Petra Kelly (Comrades for Peace), Gert Bastian (RFB Veterans)
1994-2004: Harald Weinberg (KPM) [8]
1994 def. Petra Kelly (Comrades for Peace), Paul Breitner (Democratic Socialist), Uschi Obermaier (Anti-Imperialist Front)
1999 def. Christian Ude (Democratic Socialist), Ulrike Windsperger (Comrades for Peace), Çetin Oraner (Anti-Imperialist Front)
2004-2014: Klaus Ernst (KPM-Democratic Socialist unity front) [9]
2004 def. Christian Ude (Democratic Socialist), Ulrike Windsperger (Comrades for Peace), Çetin Oraner (Anti-Imperialist Front)
2009 def. Gerald Häfner (Comrades for Peace), Brigitte Wolf (Democratic Socialist), Kerem Schamberger (Anti-Imperialist Front), Barbara Streidl (Independent Women's League)
2014- : Eva Bulling-Schröter (KPM-Democratic Socialist unity front) [10]
def. Gerald Häfner (Comrades for Peace), Dominik Lehmann (Democratic Socialist), Meredith Haaf (Independent Women's League), Nicole Gohlke (Anti-Imperialist Front)
[1] Having fought off several coup d'etat attempts from right-wing militias (partially backed by German republican forces), the Bavarian Soviet Republic maintained its presence in Munich, receiving military and financial support from Soviet Russia and the Hungarian Soviet Republic. While differenct factions were still allowed for the 1921 council elections, the Bavarian section of the party sooned switched to strict Leninist principles. Soviet Russia immideately recognised the Republic as "Soviet Germany", whereas the Bavarian government-in-exile (or, as it soon became known, the "Augsburg government") was seen as the legitimate Bavarian state of the German republic.
[2] Now solely confined to Munich, the revolutionary council was in constant fear of invasions either by the Augsburg government or the Reichswehr. A faction fight emerged on the correct position on the relationship with the German national KPD. In those faction fights, Leviné sided with the ultra-leftist Fischer-Maslow faction, which wanted to use Munich as the base for overthrowing the Berlin government. Rudolf Egelhofer, leader of the official Bavarian Red Front, was unwilling to cooperate with this plan, as he found that his troops weren't ready for such a megalomaniac plan. In an inner-party coup, Leviné was removed with the help of the Red Front. During Egelhofer's tenure, the Bavarian KPD became more and more estranged with the official German KPD. While the Bavarian Republic relied on support from Moscow, the German KPD soon became more and more independent. To counter new attacks by right-wing Bavarian militias, Egelhofer practically implemented a military regime.
[3] In 1937, the Soviet trials finally reached Munich. Egelhofer was identified as having Trotskyite-Bucharinite leanings and "disappeared" during a trip to Moscow. Under the new leader Heinrich Schmitt, the Stalinist period of the Bavarian Councils Republic began. Any opposition was outlawed, and many party members were purged mostly for being "Levi-ites" (i.e. followers of Paul Levi, leader of the German KPD) or Trotskyites. Having lost the support from the German party, and with the Soviet Union as its sole ally, the Soviet Republic entered a period of extreme isolationism. Following a large-scale brain drain of the old city's elites, borders were strictly controlled, making it almost impossible the leave Munich. Throughout the 1940s, the city was basically cut off from the outside world and abandoned its former internationalist outlook for a strict Bavarian-only policy.
[4] The first years of the Buchmann era were largely a continuation of the isolationist policy of the 1940s. However, with severe economic problems and casual famines hitting the city hard (only being tempered by financial injections from the Soviet Union), the council decided to re-position itself on the international stage. The first step was an official ceasefire agreement with the German Republic. The governing party renamed itself into the Communist Party of Germany - Munich Section (KPD-M), thereby stressing its independence and officially promising not to meddle in German affairs. In interior policy, Buchmann also tried to build a new identity. In order to promote immigration of wealthy Bavarians of the surrounding areas, a new national policy was initiated, linking the legacy of the 1919 revolution to the Bavarian peasants' uprising of 1705/06 and historical rulers like Ludwig II. Border controls were loosened, leading to a growing influx of tourists and family reunions. The culmination of this re-interpretation of recent Bavarian history was the 50th anniversary celebration of the revolution in 1969. However, the Buchmann era also witnessed a rise in terrorist groups of various kinds. Most of them they were carried out by the right-wing, ultra-Catholic Order of the Virgin Mary (rumoured to be supported by the Augsburg government), and militant neo-pagan cults with roots in the 1920s militias. There also was a small circle of anarcho-syndicalist left-wing terrorist groups, who openly called into question the policy of harmonisation with the German republic under Buchmann.
[5] Heavily influenced by the Eurocommunism, new party secretary-general Herbert Wehner gradually restored inner-party democracy. For the first time in five decades, new factions were allowed. Wehner also initiated council elections, albeit on the base that the executive leadership had a final verdict on the parties. Therefore, only parties with a commitment to the principles of the 1919 revolution were allowed to participate. Starting with the 1974 elections, the executive council would be replaced by the less hierarchical position of the First Secretary, which would be rotated every ten years. For the first council elections, three factions were allowed: the Christian Socialists, who combined their version of socialism with a strong Bavarian national heritage, anti-Prussian sentiments and a close affinity to Southern European Eurocommunists (thereby also keeping the core principles of Munich independence alive); the RFB (Red Front) veterans were mostly elder military men with vivid memories of the founding struggles of the 1920s; and finally, the ultra-left Revolutionary Communist Front, originally designed by the council leaders as both a faux-radical opposition (but in reality supporting government policy indirectly by suggesting that the measures of the council didn't go far enough) and an effort by the regime to speak to a younger, radical generation who demanded radical reforms. The latter, though, would soon develop into a radical group of its own.
[6] After renouncing any revolutionary ambitions outside the city of Munich, Wehner made an official peace treaty with the Republic. In order to gain more international recognition, the Bavarian Soviet Republic now became officially known as the Free Socialist City-State of Munich. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Communist Front were making more and more demands over the control of the councils. Rumours emerged that they were about to stage a coup. As a counter-measure to growing influence of the Revolutionary Communist Front - who, as was soon to be found out, had links to several terrorist groups - Wehner formed a people's front government that included commissioners from the Christian Socialists and the RFB veterans. The model was seen as a success and retained after the 1979 council elections.
[7] As the Christian Socialists were making more demands on reforming the strictly atheist founding principles, new first secretary Schreer (who took over from Wehner after the 1984 council elections) ended the people's front. His leadership was marked by a more technocratic approach: he gradually introduced free-market reforms and initiated an urban renewal program, including the building of several council high-rise estates in the outskirts of the city and an underground railway line. He also incorporated the RFB veterans fully into the KPM. The 1980s also saw the growing popularity of the new Reform Party, made up of dissident Marxists closely allied to the German KPD. Following the 1987 bombing in Schwabing (carried out by a group with personal links to the Revolutionary Communist Front), Schreer banned the Revolutionary Communist Front altogether, initiated purges against suspected "sympathisers" and large-scale city surveillance - a move criticised by the Comrades for Peace (another new faction largely catering to the urban professionals) as being "neo-authoritarian".
[8] The 1994 council election saw the unification of Christian socialists, Marxist dissidents and activists calling for more democratic control over the councils into a big-tent reformist party, now called Democratic Socialists. Many former activists and council members of the old Revolutionary Communist Front formed the Anti-Imperialist Front, basically a re-vamped, moderate edition of the former party, still calling for radical reforms, but sticking to a peaceful process. Under the Harald Weinberg, the Free City-State finally entered the League of Nations in 1997.
[9] By now, the Democratic Socialists had emerged as the biggest party. In order to still maintain revolutionary principles of the Soviet Republic, the KPM insisted on leading the next government, but formed a unity front with the Democratic Socialists. It was continued in 2009, despite the Comrades for Peace now having gained the most votes.
[10] The nomination of Bulling-Schröter in 2014 was partially a reaction to the challenge imposed by a new faction in the council: the Independent Women's League, who criticised the unuttered sexism of the KPM. Mostly siding with the Comrades for Peace, they spoke to younger people with a more down-to-earth message, also criticising the erratic town planning schemes of the unity front.
- Brundlefly
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