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Revision as of 00:07, 13 September 2008 by Alimantado (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Paul Levi (11 March 1883 – 9 February 1930) was a German Communist politician.
Levi, born in Hechingen into a Jewish middle-class family, joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1906. There he became part of the party’s left wing together with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. Levi was also Luxemburg's lawyer in political cases.
During World War I Levi was conscripted. Discharged in 1916, he settled in Switzerland, associating with Karl Radek and Vladimir Lenin and becoming a memember of the Zimerwald Left. He was recalled to the army, again discharged and became one of the leaders of the Spartacist League in 1918, which soon became the Communist Party of Germany. He opposed the initiatives of Karl Liebnecht in January 1919. After the failure of the German Communist Revolution of 1918/1919, and the killing of the party’s main leaders Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and Leo Jogiches, Levi took over as the new central leader of the Communist Party, struggling against the party's ulta-left.
Levi headed the German delegation to the second congress of the Comintern in Moscow in 1920, but it is said that Lenin did not like him.
Levi was expelled from the Communist Party for publicly criticizing party policies following the March uprisings of 1921.. Lenin and Trotsky substantially agreed with his criticisms, but not the way in which he hade made them. Lenin sent him a private letter through his friend Clara Zetkin, where he asked Levi to accept the expulsion for "break of discipline" and then adopt a friendly approach towards the German CP and cooperate with them in the class struggle in a loyal manner. If so, Lenin would then push for his reinstatement in the party. . Levi did not accept this proposal and continued to criticize the party sharply and condemn its leaders..
After being expelled from the Communist Party, Levi formed the Communist Workers' Community. In 1922 he joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany. Later, he rejoined the Social Democratic Party.
Levi died in Berlin in 1930. He succumbed to injuries he suffered when he fell out of his window. The circumstances of his fall have not been clarified.
References
- Leon Trotsky (1922) "Paul Levi and Some 'Lefts'". The First Five Years of the Communist International. Retrieved from May 20, 2007
- Pierre Broué (1971) "The German Revolution 1917-1923'".
- Vladimir Lenin (1921) "A Letter to the German Communists".
- Pierre Broué (1971) "The German Revolution 1917-1923'"
- Mike Jones (1985) "The Decline, Disorientation and Decomposition of a Leadership". 'Revolutinary History, Vol 2 No 3, Autumn 1989'.