People of the Revolution and the USSR

Activity
Any Scholarship and theory 1
Affiliation

Most people

Any Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1 Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) 1

All 2 affiliations

Germany

Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1 Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) 1
Position(set)
Any Counter-revolutionary forces 1 Socialist-bloc reform leader 3 Dissident 3 Non-Bolshevik socialists 1 Marxism and communism 11 Liberalism and republicanism 1
Citizenship
Any Austria 1
Background(set)
Any Russia 30 Germany 22 France 10 United Kingdom 9 Hungary 6 Georgia 4 Finland 3 Spain 3 Austria 2 Belarus 2 Belgium 2 Cuba 2 Italy 2 Moldova 2 Chile 1 Czechia 1 Greece 1 Ireland 1 Madagascar 1 Poland 1 Switzerland 1 Turkey 1 Ukraine 1 United States 1
Era
Any

People of the wider world

The age of the Internationals and empires1820–1917 1
Non-Bolshevik socialists Background: Czechia Clear all

Karl Johann Kautsky

Karl Johann Kautsky
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) Non-Bolshevik socialists Austria Czechia 1854–1938 ○ Natural causes

Chief theoretician of orthodox Marxism in the Second International, founding editor of Die Neue Zeit, editor of Marx's Capital Vol. IV

"Socialism as a means to the emancipation of the proletariat, without democracy, is unthinkable." — The Dictatorship of the Proletariat (1918)

Leading Marxist theoretician of the Second International. He authored the Erfurt Programme, refuted Bernstein's revisionism, and after the Russian Revolution critiqued Bolshevik rule, creating the defining point of divergence between social democracy and Leninism.

Career timeline
  • 1875Joined Austrian SDAP; published Darwin and Socialism
  • 1880–1883Moved to Zurich, met Bernstein; travelled to London and befriended Marx and Engels
  • 1883–1917Founded and edited Die Neue Zeit for 35 years — leading Marxist theoretical journal of the Second International
  • 1885–1890Worked closely with Engels in London; began editing Marx's Theories of Surplus Value
  • 1891–1892Authored theoretical section of Erfurt Programme and commentary The Class Struggle — defining SPD Marxism
  • 1899–1909Led orthodox Marxist counter-attack against Bernstein's revisionism; published The Road to Power
  • 1917Broke with SPD over war policy; co-founded Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD)
  • 1918–1922Published The Dictatorship of the Proletariat criticising Bolshevik rule; provoked Lenin's polemical reply