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Spartacists

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Spartacists
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Revolutionary socialist group active in Germany (1914 – 18). It developed as an offshoot of the Social Democratic Party and was officially founded in 1916 by Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, and others who violently opposed Germany's role in World War I and called for a socialist revolution. The group encouraged demonstrations in December 1918 that led to the abortive Spartacus Revolt in January 1919, after which the leaders were murdered by members of the Freikorps. The league was then transformed into the Communist Party of Germany.

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Political Dictionary: Spartacists
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Internationalist, revolutionary group within the German SPD which adopted the name of the leader of a slave revolt in ancient Rome (and, later, Hollywood). Expelled from the SPD in 1917, it joined the Independent German Socialist Party (USPD), leaving in early 1919 to form the German Communist Party (KPD). Implicated in the January 1919 uprising against the SPD government during which its leaders, Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were assassinated.

— Geraldine Lievesley

 
 
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Spartacus party (organization, Germany – in politics)
Karl Liebknecht (German politician & writer)
Rosa Luxemburg (German politician)

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Political Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Copyright © 1996, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more