In the radical camp : : a political autobiography 1890-1921 / / by Paul Frölich ; edited and with an introduction by Reiner Tosstorff ; translated by David Fernbach.

• Superior document: Historical Materialism Book Series ; Volume 208
• VerfasserIn: Frölich, Paul, 1884-1953,
• TeilnehmendeR: Tosstorff, Reiner,; Fernbach, David,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2020.
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Historical materialism book series ; Volume 208.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

Paul Frölich was a key figure in the formative years of German Communism. From a working-class family, he was active in the Social Democratic Party from the late 1890s, a left radical opposed to the First World War, and a founder member of the KPD. His previously unpublished memoir, only recently discovered, casts valuable new light on a key period, particularly the Comintern intervention that led to the disastrous ‘March action’ of 1921.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Paul Frölich’s uncompleted memoirs -- Reiner Tosstorff -- Political Autobiography 1890–1921 -- Preface -- 1 Leipzig -- A party worker from the time of the anti-socialist law -- Leipzig hotchpotch -- ‘Bolshevism’ among the Leipzig Social Democrats -- Other times -- ‘Socialism as a Commodity’ -- 2 Hamburg -- A cockfight -- The ‘mammoth’ -- Old and young -- Anecdotes -- 3 The War -- Bremen -- 4 August -- With the army -- The conflict in the party -- Kiental -- The Arbeiterpolitik -- Spartacus and the left radicals -- General strike in Bremen -- Army experiences, 1916–17 -- The wanderings of a soldier -- 4 November 1918 -- The revolutionary shop stewards -- The Hamburg left in the war -- 6 November 1918 -- Revolutionary politics in Hamburg -- 5 Foundation of the Communist Party (Spartacus League) -- Conference of the left radicals -- The merger with the Spartacus League -- January to March 1919 -- Leo Jogiches as party leader -- 6 Munich 1919 -- Polemical interlude -- 7 The Split in the Party -- 8 The Kapp Putsch -- 9 From the Kapp Putsch to the March Action -- 10 The March Action of 1921 -- Appendices -- Karl Radek to the Central Committee of the KPD, 9 January 1919 -- Paul Levi to the Central Committee of the KPD, 16 March 1920 -- Selected Biographies.