Beating the Fascists?: The German Communists and Political Violence 1929–1933

Eve Rosenhaft

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511896934

In this book Eve Rosenhaft examines the involvement of Communists in political violence during the years of Hitler's rise to power in Germany (1929–33). Specifically, she aims to account for their participation in `street-fighting' or 'gang-fighting' with National Socialist storm-troopers. The origins of this conflict are examined at two levels. First Dr Rosenhaft analyses the official policy of the Communist Party towards fascism and Nazism, and the special anti-fascist and self-defence organizations which it developed. Among the aspects of Communist policy that are explored are the relation between the international confrontation between Communists and Social Democrats as claimants to lead the left, and the implications of this dispute in German politics; the ideological difficulties in the implementation of Communist policy in a period of economic dislocation; and the organizational problems posed by the fight against fascism. Dr Rosenhaft then explores the attitudes and experience of the Communist rank and file engaged in the struggle against fascism, concentrating on the city of Berlin, where a fierce contest for control of the streets was waged.

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi
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Contents
pp vii-viii
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Preface
pp ix-xiv
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List of abbreviations
pp xv-xvi
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Map 1 - Greater Berlin 1930
pp xvii-xvii
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Map 2 - Central Berlin 1930
pp xviii-xviii
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1 - Introduction: Social crisis, radical politics and organized violence in Weimar Germany
pp 1-27
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2 - The Party, the neighbourhood and the uses of violence in the ‘Third Period’
pp 28-56
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3 - Defining the enemy: The wehrhafter Kampf against the SA in theory and propaganda
pp 57-87
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4 - Organizing the wehrhafter Kampf: The Communist defence formations
pp 88-110
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5 - Between ‘individual terror’ and ‘mass terror’: The campaign against the SA-taverns, 1931
pp 111-127
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6 - The shape of violence in the neighbourhoods
pp 128-166
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7 - Who were the streetfighters?
pp 167-207
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8 - Conclusion: Communist politics in the Weimar Republic
pp 208-215
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A note on sources
pp 216-220
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Notes
pp 221-256
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Bibliography
pp 257-267
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Index
pp 268-273
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Beating the Fascists?

The German Communists and Political Violence 1929–1933

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

Preface
pp ix-xiv

List of abbreviations
pp xv-xvi

Map 1 - Greater Berlin 1930
pp xvii-xvii

Map 2 - Central Berlin 1930
pp xviii-xviii

1 - Introduction: Social crisis, radical politics and organized violence in Weimar Germany
pp 1-27

2 - The Party, the neighbourhood and the uses of violence in the ‘Third Period’
pp 28-56

3 - Defining the enemy: The wehrhafter Kampf against the SA in theory and propaganda
pp 57-87

4 - Organizing the wehrhafter Kampf: The Communist defence formations
pp 88-110

5 - Between ‘individual terror’ and ‘mass terror’: The campaign against the SA-taverns, 1931
pp 111-127

6 - The shape of violence in the neighbourhoods
pp 128-166

7 - Who were the streetfighters?
pp 167-207

8 - Conclusion: Communist politics in the Weimar Republic
pp 208-215

A note on sources
pp 216-220

Notes
pp 221-256

Bibliography
pp 257-267

Index
pp 268-273

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Beating the Fascists?

The German Communists and Political Violence 1929–1933

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