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Spartacus League

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Spartacus League

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Also known as Spartacus Group

Marxist revolutionary movement in Germany during World War I

Key facts

Founders
Karl Liebknecht , Rosa Luxemburg , Clara Zetkin
Foundation
4 August 1914 ( 1914-08-04 )
Dissolved
30 December 1918 ( 1918-12-30 )
Split from
Social Democratic Party
Country
German Empire , Weimar Republic
Motives
Opposition to German involvement in World War I Anti-monarchism Spread of socialism and communism Establishment of a socialist republic
Ideology
Marxism , Luxemburgism , Revolutionary socialism , Council communism , Left communism
Political position
Far-left
Notable attacks
Spartacist uprising
Status
Defunct

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Named after
Spartacus
Official name
Spartakusbund
Country
Germany
Founded by
Rosa Luxemburg
Image
Stamps of Germany (DDR) 1966, MiNr 1154.jpg
Political ideology
communism
Show 9 more facts
inception
1918-11-11
dissolved, abolished or demolished date
1918-12-31
Commons category
Spartacus League
different from
Spartacist uprising
house publication
Die Rote Fahne
P8168
Mifflin
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~29 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Spartacus League (German: Spartakusbund) was a left revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I and immediately thereafter. It was founded in August 1914 as the International Group by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who were dissatisfied with the party's official policies in support of the war. In 1916 it renamed itself the Spartacus Group and in 1917 joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), which had split off from the SPD as its left wing faction.

During the November Revolution of 1918 that broke out across Germany at the end of the war, the Spartacus Group re-established itself as a nationwide, non-party organization called the "Spartacus League" with the goal of instituting a council republic that would include all of Germany. It became part of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) when it was formed on 30 December 1918 and at that point ceased to exist as a separate entity.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Spartacus League” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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