Today in Labor History March 5, 1871: Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) was born in Zamosc, Poland. Together with Karl Liebknecht, she helped found the radical Spartacus League in 1916. The Spartacists and other leftwing Council Communists launched an uprising to replace the Social Democratic government with a communist one. Many of the workers obtained arms. They tried, but failed, to get the support of the Navy, which remained neutral in the conflict. However, the Social Democrats got the anti-Communist Freikorps paramilitary to fight for their side. Many of the ultranationalist Freikorps members were suffering from PTSD from WWI. Many went onto to become members of the Nazi Party and served in the SS. The Freikorps had weapons and military equipment leftover from WWI and were able to quash the uprising within a week. Up to 200 people died in the fighting, including 17 Freikorps soldiers. The Social Democrats captured, beat and executed Liebknecht and Luxemburg.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #RosaLuxemburg #spartacist #communism #nazis #uprising #ptsd #execution #socialdemocrat #germany #poland #fascism

I always enjoy speaking with Ted Smyth. We’re both centrists making us screaming lefties in current day America 😜

#USPolitics #EuroZone #USPol #SocialDemocrat #IrishPoliticz #Mastodaoine https://mastodon.ie/@IrishStewPodcast/115797489243839184

Gods bless Zohran mamdani, and gods bless the United Fuckin' States!!!

Congratulations, NYC.🌹✊🌹

#mamdani #socialdemocrat #trumpertears /via @TheGuardian

Today in Labor History November 3, 1918: The German Revolution of 1918–19 began when 40,000 sailors took over the port in Kiel, in the wake of the Wilhelmshaven mutiny, a few days earlier. In less than two weeks, it brought down the German empire, forcing all the monarchs to abdicate. They created a republic, led by the moderate Social Democrats, who vowed to implement modest reforms, including women’s suffrage and the eight-hour work day. The far-left socialists, however, wanted to create a republic led by workers’ councils. At the end of the year, violence erupted between the two groups over a dispute about sailors’ pay, killing 67. This led to the Communist Spartacist Uprising, led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, and the Bavarian Soviet. The Social Democrats enlisted the Freikorps to help them suppress the uprisings against its authority, resulting in another 200 deaths. The Freikorps was composed of right-wing veterans of World War One, many of whom went on to become members of the Nazi Party.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #germany #communism #socialism #berlin #bavaria #mutiny #rosaluxemburg #nazi #socialdemocrat