Political and party leadership · Background: Germany — People | Cyber-Lenin

Political and party leadership Background: Germany Clear all

49 people

By birth A–Z List Cards

Wilhelm Liebknecht Wilhelm Liebknecht Co-founder of the Eisenach party and drafter of the Gotha Programme Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1826–1900
August Bebel August Bebel Co-founder of the SPD who led the German workers' movement for over 40 years, the 'shadow emperor' of the working class Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1840–1913
Clara Zetkin Clara Zetkin Creator of International Women's Day, she set women's liberation at the heart of class struggle Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 1857–1933
Carl Legien Carl Legien German trade-union leader who signed the 1918 agreement with Stinnes and met the Kapp Putsch of 1920 with a general strike Social movements and organizing · Independent activity 1861–1920
Hugo Haase Hugo Haase Lawyer who founded the USPD against the war and co-chaired the Council of People’s Deputies with Ebert in 1918 Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1863–1919
Ernst Friedrich Däumig Ernst Friedrich Däumig German socialist and a leading figure in the workers’ council movement. Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 1866–1922
Gustav Bauer Gustav Bauer Social Democratic chancellor whose government accepted the Treaty of Versailles under an Allied ultimatum Political and party leadership · Germany state institutions 1870–1944
Karl Liebknecht Karl Liebknecht The lone vote against the war; the revolution's first martyr Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 1871–1919
Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert SPD leader who headed the revolutionary government of 1918, steered the councils into parliamentary democracy and became the first president Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1871–1925
Arthur Crispien Arthur Crispien German social-democratic politician and co-chair of the Independent Social Democratic Party. Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1875–1946
Hermann Müller Hermann Müller A Social Democratic politician of the Weimar Republic who served twice as chancellor. Government and administration · Germany state institutions 1876–1931
Wilhelm Cuno Wilhelm Cuno Non-party chancellor who answered the Ruhr occupation with passive resistance and fell amid hyperinflation Political and party leadership · Germany state institutions 1876–1933
Wilhelm Pieck Wilhelm Pieck From the Spartacus League to GDR head of state, the sole founding member who lived the full arc of German communism Political and party leadership · East Germany 1876–1960
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Adenauer The chancellor who made provisional statehood durable Government and administration · Germany state institutions 1876–1967
Gustav Stresemann Gustav Stresemann Weimar chancellor who ended passive resistance in 1923 and, as foreign minister, concluded the Locarno treaties Diplomacy and international organization · Germany state institutions 1878–1929
Andreas Hermes Andreas Hermes Weimar finance minister who founded the CDU in the Soviet zone in 1945 and was deposed for opposing the land reform Government and administration · Germany state institutions 1878–1964
Heinrich Brandler Heinrich Brandler KPD chairman who called off a revolution; co-founder of the International Right Opposition Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 1881–1967
Paul Levi Paul Levi From Rosa Luxemburg's lawyer to KPD leader, his 'anti-putschism' took on Comintern adventurism Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 1883–1930
August Thalheimer August Thalheimer Main theorist of the KPD and Bonapartist analyst of fascism Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany Opposition (KPO) 1884–1948
Ernst Thälmann Ernst Thälmann Hitler's personal prisoner, unbroken by eleven years in solitary Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 1886–1944
Karl Korsch Karl Korsch Co-founder of Western Marxism, the German philosopher who challenged Marxist orthodoxy with Marxism and Philosophy Scholarship and theory · Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 1886–1961
Hugo Eberlein Hugo Eberlein German Communist who abstained on the Comintern’s founding at its first congress and was later shot in the Great Purge Social movements and organizing · Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 1887–1941
Jakob Kaiser Jakob Kaiser Christian Democrat who led the CDU in the Soviet zone until SMAD removed him, then became West Germany’s minister for all-German affairs Government and administration · Germany state institutions 1888–1961
Ernst Reuter Ernst Reuter The social democrat who became the voice of divided Berlin Government and administration · Germany state institutions 1889–1953
Max Fechner Max Fechner First East German justice minister, dismissed and imprisoned in 1953 after opposing the prosecution of striking workers Law and justice · East Germany 1892–1973
Hermann Göring Hermann Göring A Luftwaffe chief who organized Nazi war and plunder Political and party leadership · Nazi party and regime 1893–1946
Wilhelm Zaisser Wilhelm Zaisser First East German Minister for State Security, purged in 1953 after trying to replace Ulbricht Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany 1893–1958
Hermann Matern Hermann Matern SED Politburo member and chairman of the Central Party Control Commission who stood by Ulbricht in 1953 Political and party leadership · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) 1893–1971
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ulbricht German communist leader who built the GDR and erected the Berlin Wall Political and party leadership · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) 1893–1973
Otto Grotewohl Otto Grotewohl The Social Democrat who led a divided state into being Government and administration · East Germany 1894–1964
Friedrich Ebert Jr. Friedrich Ebert junior A social democrat who moved from municipal politics into state power amid Germany's division Political and party leadership · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) 1894–1979
Rudolf Hess Rudolf Hess Nazi Party leader and Hitler’s deputy, sentenced to life imprisonment at the Nuremberg trials. Political and party leadership · Nazi party and regime 1894–1987
Kurt Schumacher Kurt Schumacher SPD leader who survived ten years in Nazi camps and, after the war, refused the merger with the Communists Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1895–1952
Erich Gniffke Erich Gniffke SPD organiser in the Soviet zone who signed the merger with the KPD, then left the SED in 1948 and fled west Social movements and organizing · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1895–1964
Hinrich Lohse Hinrich Lohse Nazi Gauleiter of Schleswig-Holstein who, as Reichskommissar for Ostland in 1941–1944, ordered the ghettoisation and expropriation of Jews Government and administration · Germany state institutions 1896–1964
Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Erhard The West German economic statesman who shaped currency reform and the social market economy Economy, finance and planning · Germany state institutions 1897–1977
Heinrich Rau Heinrich Rau Communist who chaired the German Economic Commission, the forerunner of the GDR government, and led East German economic policy Economy, finance and planning · East Germany 1899–1961
Fritz Selbmann Fritz Selbmann East German heavy-industry minister who faced the striking workers outside the House of Ministries on 16 June 1953 Industry and production · East Germany 1899–1975
Erich Ollenhauer Erich Ollenhauer Exiled SPD functionary who succeeded Schumacher as SPD leader and leader of the West German opposition Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1901–1963
Hilde Benjamin Hilde Benjamin East German jurist who succeeded Fechner as justice minister after the 1953 uprising and led its harsh political trials Law and justice · East Germany 1902–1989
Rudolf Herrnstadt Rudolf Herrnstadt Editor of Neues Deutschland who helped draft the 1953 New Course, moved against Ulbricht and was purged as a “faction” Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) 1903–1966
Fred Oelßner Fred Oelßner Economist and the SED’s chief ideologue until 1958, when he was expelled from the Politburo in the Schirdewan affair Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) 1903–1977
Anton Ackermann Anton Ackermann German communist who drafted the KPD’s 1945 appeal and argued for a “special German road to socialism” Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) 1905–1973
Erich Fritz Emil Mielke Erich Mielke East Germany's 'Master of Fear': the Stasi chief who ruled state security for 32 years Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany 1907–2000
Bruno Leuschner Bruno Leuschner East German planner who ran planning in the German Economic Commission and then chaired the State Planning Commission Economy, finance and planning · East Germany 1910–1965
Erich Honecker Erich Honecker The long-serving East German leader of the walled republic Political and party leadership · East Germany 1912–1994
Willy None Brandt Willy Brandt A social democrat who made reconciliation a politics of divided cities Government and administration · Germany state institutions 1913–1992
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl Helmut Kohl The chancellor who seized the initiative on the German question with a ten-point unification plan days before Malta Political and party leadership · Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 1930–2017
Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz Egon Krenz The last communist leader of East Germany, who succeeded Honecker, opened the Wall, and fell in 50 days Political and party leadership · East Germany 1937–