Germany 1918-33 was one of the most tumultuous periods in history. Following the revolution in Russia, the German workers and soldiers attempted to seize power in November 1918. Unfortunately, the revolution was betrayed by the Social Democratic leaders. Further revolutionary convulsions rocked Germany from 1919 to 1923. By this time, a mass Communist Party had been formed, but following advice from Zinoviev and Stalin, a classical revolutionary opportunity in 1923 was missed. This was a blow, not only in Germany, but internationally. The German defeats served to strengthen the grip of the Stalinist bureaucracy in Russia. This resulted in zig-zags of policy between opportunism and ultra-leftism, which paved the way for the ‘Third Period’ with the Social Democrats regarded as the main enemy. With the rise of fascism, Leon Trotsky described Germany in 1931 as “the key to the international situation”. “On the direction in which the solution of the German crisis develops will depend not only the fate of Germany herself (and that is already a great deal), but also the fate of Europe, the destiny of the entire world, for many years to come,” he explained. Trotsky called for a United Front against fascism, but this was rejected by the Stalinists. This paved the way for the victory of the Nazis, leading to the Holocaust and the Second World War with its 55 million dead. In this book, Rob Sewell argues that all this was not inevitable, and analyses those events, drawing out the lessons for today.

Germany 1918 to 1923,Long out of print, this is a timely reprint of,Harman's highly readable account of a decisive,event in 20th century history.

Chartism was the first time ever that British workers fixed their eyes on the seizure of political power: in 1839, 1842 and again in 1848. In this struggle, they conducted a class war that at different times involved general strikes, battles with the state, mass demonstrations and even armed insurrection. They forged weapons, illegally drilled their forces, and armed themselves in preparation for seizing the reins of government. Such were the early revolutionary traditions of the British working class, deliberately buried beneath a mountain of falsehoods and distortions. This book sees Chartism as an essential part of our history from which we must draw the key lessons for today.

Now a quarter of a century after the opening of the archives in Berlin and Moscow, the role of the German Communist Party (KPD) has been the subject of a new wave of studies. With this book, this new field of scholarship will be available in English for the first time. The book begins with the editors' comprehensive contextualisation of the KPD within the history of the ill-fated Weimar Republic, as well its location within the Moscow-based Communist International (Comintern) thus bringing together the global and the 'local'. In the rest of the book, authors offer a flavour of the rich texture of the world of German Communism. Attention is given to the party's revolutionary origins in 1918/19, accounting for the importance of not only Rosa Luxemburg's Spartacus League, but also the 'Left Radicals', whose stronghold was Bremen and north-western Germany. The policy dilemmas of being a mass party in Germany are then elucidated, but ultimately, the party's fate and its policy-making were dominated by Moscow in the process known as 'Stalinisation', which neared completion by the end of the 1920s. However, this volume also includes a detailed appraisal of left-wing Communists' opposition to Stalin and Stalinisation, as well as the party's changing relationship with the SPD-led trade unions. A section in the volume presents new research on how German communism aspired to reach beyond its core support among the working class by examining its overtures to peasants, avant-garde artists, pacifists and prominent left-wing personalities outside the party's ranks. Finally, an account of Stalin's own betrayal of German communism is offered after the Nazis' 'seizure of power' in 1933. This book represents essential reading for academic, undergraduate and general readers interested in twentieth German history and politics and the interwar communist movement. With thanks to the Nina Fishman translation award run by the Amiel Melburn Trust.

Alan Woods outlines the development of philosophy from the ancient Greeks, all the way through to Marx and Engels who brought together the best of previous thinking to produce the Marxist philosophical outlook, which looks at the real material world, not as a static immovable reality, but one that is constantly changing and moving according to laws that can be discovered. It is this method which allows Marxists to look at how things were, how they have become and how they are most likely going to be in the future, in a long process which started with the early primitive humans in their struggles for survival, through to the emergence of class societies, all as part of a process towards greater and greater knowledge of the world we live in. This long historical process eventually created the material conditions which allow for an end to class divisions and the flowering of a new society where humans will achieve true freedom, where no human will exploit another, no human will oppress another. Here we see how philosophy becomes an indispensable tool in the struggle for the revolutionary transformation of society.

This book sets out to examine Rosa Luxemburg’s ideas, not from the distorted myths about her political ideas, or solely about personal questions such as her love life, but from Luxemburg’s very own writings. It is an attempt to provide an insight into the treasure trove of ideas and revolutionary theory that Luxemburg’s works constitute. The book shows that the real Rosa Luxemburg is often very far from the myths and rumours that surround her: Rosa Luxemburg was, is and remains a revolutionary.