German labour pioneer who led the League of the Just, the Communist League and in 1848 the Cologne Workers' Association
Born in 1812 at Weinbach in Nassau, a pastor's son, he joined the Giessen students' attack on the Frankfurt guardhouse and fled to Switzerland, where in 1834 he took part in Mazzini's raid on Savoy. In Paris from 1836 he joined the League of the Just, was imprisoned after the Society of the Seasons rising of 1839, and was expelled in 1840 to London, where he organised the German Workers' Educational Association. In 1848 he saw the Communist Manifesto through the press, then went to Cologne, led the Cologne Workers' Association with Moll and helped publish the Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Tried for high treason in 1849, he was acquitted but expelled. In 1850 he split from Marx with Willich, was reconciled with him in 1856, and in 1865 joined the General Council of the First International. He died of tuberculosis in London in 1870.
Also known as: Karl Hermann Christian Friedrich Schapper · Carl Schapper
Activities and affiliations
- 1836–1847
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1847–1852
Communist LeagueMain
Social movements and organizing -
1848
Social movements and organizing
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1848–1849
Ideology and propaganda
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1865–1870
International Workingmen's Association (First International)
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1834Took part in Mazzini's raid on Savoy
- 1836Joined the League of the Just
- 1840Exile in London; organised the German Workers' Educational Association
- 1848Vice-president of the Cologne Workers' Association
- 1865–1870Member of the General Council of the First International
Related historical events
- 1848.03–1849.07The German Revolution of 1848–1849Vice-president of the Cologne Workers' Association, Communist League leaderA leader of the League of the Just, he signed the Demands of the Communist Party. After Gottschalk's arrest he and Moll steered the Cologne Workers' Association to Marx's line, and he helped publish the Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Jailed after the September unrest, he was tried for treason in Nassau in 1849 and in 1850 led the League's left faction with Willich.
- 1848–1849The Revolutions of 1848Leader of the League of the Just, founder of the Communist LeagueHe led the League of the Just of exiled German artisans and was foremost in turning it into the Communist League in London in June 1847. In 1850 he led, with Willich, the faction that wanted a new rising at once.