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Wilhelm Liebknecht

 

Wilhelm Liebknecht, c. 1890
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Wilhelm Liebknecht, c. 1890 (credit: Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin)
(born March 29, 1826, Giessen, Hesse — died Aug. 7, 1900, Berlin, Ger.) German socialist, cofounder of the German Social Democratic Party. Imprisoned for participating in the Revolutions of 1848, he lived in exile in England (1849 – 62), working closely with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Prussia granted him amnesty in 1862, but Otto von Bismarck had him expelled again in 1865. In Leipzig he and August Bebel organized the Social Democratic Labour Party in 1869. He was imprisoned (1872 – 74) for his writings against the Franco-Prussian War. Bismarck's repression of the socialists brought about a merger with the followers of Ferdinand Lassalle in 1875. With the expiration of the Anti-Socialist Law (1878 – 90), this party became known as the German Social Democratic Party. Liebknecht continued as a leading spokesman, primarily as a writer for the party's newspaper, Vorwärts.

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German Literature Companion: Wilhelm Liebknecht
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Liebknecht, Wilhelm (Gießen, 1826-1900, Charlottenburg), an early German socialist, took part in the 1848 Revolution (see Revolutionen 1848-9), fled to Switzerland, from which he was expelled in 1850, and spent some time in London in close contact with Karl Marx. In 1867 he became a Social Democrat (see SPD) deputy of the Diet of the North German Confederation (see Norddeutscher Bund), and in 1874 won a seat in the Reichstag. He was once imprisoned (1872-4) and several times expelled from various German states.

Liebknecht took a prominent part in the editing of Vorwärts, the Social Democrat newspaper (1890-1900). In addition to propagandist works he wrote a Geschichte der französischen Revolution (1890). Karl Liebknecht was his son.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Wilhelm Liebknecht
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Liebknecht, Wilhelm (vĭl'hĕlm lēp'kənĕkht), 1826-1900, German socialist leader and journalist. His participation in the revolution in Germany in 1848-49 forced him into exile, and he lived in England until 1862. While there he became associated with Karl Marx. Although greatly influenced by Marx, he disagreed with him on many fundamental principles of socialism. Upon his return to Germany, Liebknecht initially joined the socialist group founded by Ferdinand Lassalle. Shortly afterward he broke with the Lassalleans because of doctrinal differences, and in 1869 with his disciple August Bebel, he formed the Social Democratic Labor party. For several years the two groups conflicted, but in 1875 they merged as the Socialist Labor party. As a member of the North German Reichstag, Liebknecht, a confirmed pacifist, voted against extending war credits for the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). He incurred the enmity of Otto von Bismarck, was convicted of treason, and with Bebel spent two years in prison (1872-74). Elected to the Reichstag in 1874, he was a member at his death. He wrote many books on historical and social topics and edited several socialist newspapers.
Wikipedia: Wilhelm Liebknecht
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Liebknecht

Wilhelm Liebknecht (29 March 18267 August 1900) was a German social democrat, one of the founders of the SPD and father of Karl Liebknecht and Theodor Liebknecht.

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Biography

Born in Gießen as the son of Hessian public official Ludwig Christian Liebknecht and Katharina Liebknecht (née Hirsch), Liebknecht grew up with relatives after the death of his parents in 1832; from 1832 to 1842, he went to school at the Gymnasium of Gießen, then began studying philology, theology and philosophy in Gießen, Berlin and Marburg.

After working briefly as a teacher at the Musterschule of Karl Fröbel, the radical nephew of Friedrich Fröbel in Zürich and as a correspondent for the "Mannheimer Abendzeitung", Liebknecht took part in the revolutionary fights in Paris in February 1848; in September the same year, he was arrested in Baden and remanded following his involvement in the republican uprising of Gustav von Struve. Following his release in May 1849, he became a member of the Badische Volkswehr and an adjutant of Struve and fought in the Reichverfassungskämpfe ("federal constitution wars"); after the revolutionaries' defeat, he escaped to Switzerland and became a member of the Genfer Arbeiterverein (Worker's Association of Geneva), where he met Friedrich Engels.

In 1850, Liebknecht was arrested for his initiatives to unite Switzerland's German workers' associations and banished from the country, moving to his exile in London, where he stayed from 1850 to 1862 and became a member of the Communist League, meeting Karl Marx in the process. He returned to Germany in 1862 after an amnesty for the participants in the revolution of 1848 / 1849 and became a member of Ferdinand Lassalle's ADAV (Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein, "General German Workers' Association"), the precursor of the SPD.

From 1864 to 1865, Liebknecht also worked on the magazine "Der Social-Demokrat" ("the Social Democrat") published by Jean Baptist von Schweitzer; however, he soon found himself in disagreement with the paper's Prussia-friendly position, leaving the editorial staff and also being forced to leave the ADAV due to pressure from Schweitzer. After being evicted from Berlin, Liebknecht moved to Leipzig, where he met August Bebel, with whom he founded the Sächsische Volkspartei ("Saxon People's Party") in 1867 and the SDAP (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, "Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany") in 1869 in Eisenach. Liebknecht became one of the leaders of the SDAP and the leading publisher of the party organ, "Der Volksstaat" ("the People's State").

In 1872, Liebknecht, together with August Bebel, was sentenced to two years of Festungshaft ("imprisonment in a fortress") for high treason in a political prosecution known as the Leipziger Hochverratsprozess.

After being elected into the Reichstag in 1874, Liebknecht played a key role in the merger of the SDAP and ADAV into the SAPD (Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, "Socialist Workers' Party of Germany") in Gotha in 1875; he also became publisher of the newly-founded party organ "Vorwärts" ("forward"), arguing for the integration of Marxist theories into the SAPD's program in his articles.

From 1878 to 1890, Liebknecht used his position as a Reichstag member to criticize the political situation even under Otto von Bismarck's "Sozialistengesetz" ("Socialists' law"); in 1891, he became editor-in-chief of "Vorwärts" and one of the originators of the SPD's new Marxist-inspired party platform. He also continued to appear at political conventions as a referent despite his advanced age until 28 July 1900; in 1896, he was briefly jailed for four months after being convicted of lèse-majesté.

Liebknecht died on 7 August 1900 in Charlottenburg, near Berlin; 50,000 joined his funeral procession.

See also


Publications

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