Paul Frölich: In the Radical Camp

Paul Frölich, 1884--1953, was a communist journalist, politician, biographer of Rosa Luxemburg, and one of the major observers of the politics of the early twentieth century.Reiner Tosstorff teaches at the history department at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. He has published monographs and articles on Spanish history as well as on the international workers' movement in the twentieth century.

• Introduction: Paul Frölich’s uncompleted memoirsReiner TosstorffPolitical Autobiography 1890–1921Preface1 LeipzigA party worker from the time of the anti-socialist lawLeipzig hotchpotch‘Bolshevism’ among the Leipzig Social DemocratsOther times‘Socialism as a Commodity’2 HamburgA cockfightThe ‘mammoth’Old and youngAnecdotes3 The WarBremen4 AugustWith the armyThe conflict in the partyKientalThe ArbeiterpolitikSpartacus and the left radicalsGeneral strike in BremenArmy experiences, 1916–17The wanderings of a soldier4 November 1918The revolutionary shop stewardsThe Hamburg left in the war6 November 1918Revolutionary politics in Hamburg5 Foundation of the Communist Party (Spartacus League)Conference of the left radicalsThe merger with the Spartacus LeagueJanuary to March 1919Leo Jogiches as party leader6 Munich 1919Polemical interlude7 The Split in the Party8 The Kapp Putsch9 From the Kapp Putsch to the March Action10 The March Action of 1921AppendicesKarl Radek to the Central Committee of the KPD, 9 January 1919Paul Levi to the Central Committee of the KPD, 16 March 1920Selected Biographies

“Not a mere history book, this political autobiography is a torch passed on to us. It is up to us not to let this passion for revolution be extinguished.” —Folko Mueller, Against the Current“The memoirs of Paul Frölich [...] can be considered one of the true archive sensations of recent years.”—Ralf Hoffrogge, International Review of Social History“The publication of these so nearly forgotten memoirs represents a major service to our movement.”—Ben Lewis, Weekly Worker