Foreign Language Federations (1890s - 1930) - German

GERMAN FEDERATIONS

German Language Federation of the Socialist Party
German immigrants comprised the major part of groups affiliated with the First International and later the Socialist Labor Party. German immigrants dominated the early American socialist political organizations and consequently it was only relatively late when the need was felt to organize a specific German language group within the party.
The "German Language Federation of the Socialist Party" was formed at the First National Convention of the German-speaking Socialists of the United States, held at New Castle, PA, on Dec. 27-28, 1912. A total of 32 delegates, (representing 90 branches with a claimed membership of 4,515) participated. Adolph Dreifuss was elected the first Translator-Secretary of the organization for a two year term and a 7 member National Committee elected -- one member being elected by each of 7 counties in New York and New Jersey with a strong German-language organiization. A Supervising Committee was also elected, charged with handling grievances within the Federation as well as the oversight of the Translator-Secretary and members of the National Committee.

[fn: Adolph Dreifuss, "Report of German Language Federation." ([Chicago]: [Socialist Party of America], [1913]).]

 
The German Federation so organized began its work in the National Office in Chicago on March 1, 1913.
The German Federation of the SPA showed the following pattern of growth:

March - Aug. 1913 ------------------- 3,620 members ave.
Sept. 1913 - Feb. 1914 ------------ 4,738 members ave.
March - Aug. 1914 ------------------- 5,100 members ave.
Sept. 1914 - Feb. 1915 ------------ 4,257 members ave.
March - Aug. 1915 ------------------- 4,117 members ave.
Sept. 1915 - Feb. 1916 ------------ 4,,577 members ave.

 
In its first three years, the German Federation issued 7 pamphlets and published a book, The International in America by Hermann Schleuter, editor of the New Yorker Volkszeitung. The group brought Alexandra Kollontai to the United States for nearly four months to work as an organizer. Prominent speakers from the early years of the Federation included Oscar Ameringer, Max Bedacht, Ernest Untermann, and Emil Seidel, among others.

[fn: Adolph Dreifuss, "The Work of the German Language Federation SP" in The American Labor Year-Book, 1916. (NY: Rand School Press, 1916), pp. 133-134.]

 

2. 2nd Convention of the German Socialist Federation -- Rochester, NY -- May 30-31, 1919

On May 30-31, 1919, the 2nd National Convention of the German Socialist Federation was held in Rochester, NY. It was attended by about 35 delegates. The Convention's most significant action was endorsement of the program of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party, which was approved by a vote of 29 to 4. A further motion to immediately affiliate with the Left Wing movement was defeated 24 to 10, with the majority of delegates seeking to maintain affiliation with the SPA. A resolution was also passed calling for affiliation of the Socialist Party with the Communist Interrnational.

[fn: "German Socialist Federation Convention Endorses Left Wing Program," in The Ohio Socialist, June 11, 1919, pg. 3.]

 

Executive Secretary of the German Federation of the Socialist Party up to the 1919 split was Ludwig Lore.



German Federation of the Communist Party of America
This decision of the Executive of the German Federation met with opposition from member branches. The first German branch to cross over and be chartered to the CPA's new German Federation was that of St. Paul, Minnesota, followed by Minneapolis -- the home turf of CPA Central Executive Committee member Charles Dirba. The German branch of Local Cuyahoga Co. (Ohio), the massive Socialist Party local formerly headed by C.E. Ruthenberg, was hotly contested, with the Executive Secretaries of both the CLP (Wagenknecht) and CPA (Ruthenberg) addressing a meeting of the branch for 45 minutes each; the meeting then voted 178 to 3 to affiliate with the new CPA German Federation. An additional 19 branches from Massachusetts voted to affiliate with the CPA as did various other branches located throughout the midwest and eastern United States.
Organizer of the CPA's German Federation was Fritz "Fred" M. Friedman. In October of 1919 it began to issue a new German weekly, Die Kommunististische Internationale. By mid-November of 1919 approximately 30 German branches with a claimed membership of about 2500 had affiliated with the CPA.
[Source: C.E. Ruthenberg, "The Party Organization", in The Communist, new series v. 1, no. 2, Oct. 4, 1919, pg. 7; CEC minutes of Nov. 15, 1919 meeting, Comintern Archive: f. 515, op. 1, d. 7, l. 8.]



German Language-Group of the Communist Labor Party [Deutschen Sprachgruppe der Kommunistischen Arbeiterpartei]
Immediately after the split of the Socialist Party in 1919, the German Federation took up the issue of affiliation. In September, the National Executive of the Federation voted 41 to 8 to follow individual branches in New York and New Jersey into the the Communist Labor Party.
Gustav Wolf of Weehawken, NJ, served as the first Secretary of the CLP's German Federation.

[fn: "Communist Labor Party National Office Bulletin" (Sep. 1919). In the Comintern Archive f. 515, op. 1, d. 6, l. 22.]

 
The German Language Group feature prominently Ludwig Lore. It published material from the address of the New Yorker Volkszeitung, located at 15 Spruce Street, New York.
It published at least one pamphlet: Warum für die Kommunistische Arbeiterpartei?

[fn: Copy in Comintern Archive, f. 515, op. 1, d. 24, l. 28-33].

 

 


German language organization of the United Communist Party
Some 61 of the UCP's 673 primary party units ("Groups") were German speaking in December of 1920, according to the Party's statistics, nearly 10% of the total number. These groups were spread across the east, with the largest number in New York, Chicago, and Cleveland.

[fn: DoJ/BoI Investigative Files, NARA M-1085, reel 940, doc. 501.]

 

 


German Federation of the unified Communist Party of America
In late 1921, during the 5 months between formation of the unified CPA and the split of the Central Caucus faction, the Communist Party's German Federation had an average monthly paid membership of only 153, making it the 9th largest of the 10 Language groups in the party.

[Source: Comintern Archive: f. 515, op. 1, d. 75, l. 12.]