Communist Party of Germany/Marxist–Leninist
Communist Party of Germany/Marxist-Leninist Kommunistische Partei Deutschland/Marxistisch-Leninistisch | |
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| Abbreviation | KPD/ML |
| Founded | December 31, 1968 |
| Newspaper | Roter Morgan |
| Political orientation |
Marxism-Leninism Hoxhaism Anti-Revisionism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Party flag | |
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The Communist Party of Germany/Marxist–Leninist (German: Kommunistische Partei Deutschland/Marxistisch-Leninistisch; KPD/ML) was a communist party active in West and East Germany during the Cold War. Founded on December 31, 1968 in Hamburg by Ernst Aust, a former Communist Party of Germany (KPD) official.
Ideology
The ideology of the KPD/ML was deeply rooted in anti-revisionist Marxism-Leninism, emphasizing adherence to the theoretical works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin. The party's core ideology was characterized by its strong anti-revisionism, rejecting what it saw as the "revisionist" degeneration of the original Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and its alignment with the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) in East Germany. The KPD/ML upheld Marxism-Leninism and initially aligned itself with Mao Zedong's China before shifting to Enver Hoxha's Albania in 1978.
Strategically, the KPD/ML focused on rooting itself within the German working class, emphasizing recruitment from industrial workers while limiting intellectuals' influence to maintain a "proletarian character". The party actively opposed what it viewed as bourgeois influence within the Marxist-Leninist movement and participated in labor strikes, anti-nuclear protests, and other mass movements while opposing imperialism and state repression. Its newspaper, Roter Morgen (English: Red Mourning), served as a key propaganda tool.
The KPD/ML aimed to mobilize the masses and maintain revolutionary discipline, but it struggled with internal divisions, state repression, and ideological shifts.
History
The KPD/ML in the GDR
In the early 1970s, a group of students in East Berlin started studying Marxism–Leninism independently, eventually forming a small circle of students and workers. They grew disillusioned with the gap between Marxist theory and the reality of socialism in East Germany.
In 1969-1970, a youth group called Progressive Youth formed in Magdeburg, inspired by the Black Panthers. They studied banned texts by figures like Mao, Stalin, and the Black Panthers, and became active across East Germany. After the group was disbanded by authorities, some members formed a KPD/ML cell in 1976.
In Rostock, another student group with similar views emerged, and many reached out to Marxist-Leninist organizations in West Berlin and the Albanian embassy in East Berlin for further ideological guidance. Older, experienced activists, like Heinz Reiche, also joined, including some who had opposed the SED, for its new revisionist line in the 1950s.
Over the years, the KPD/ML gained followers and established underground party cells inspired by the illegal KPD from the Nazi era. By 1980, there were about three dozen active members and 50-60 sympathizers.