K-Groups () is a term referring to various small, Maoist organizations and political parties that sprang up in West Germany at the end of the 1960s, following the collapse of the Socialist German Students' Union (SDS), and general collapse of the West German student movement. K-Groups played a particularly important role within the New Left in West Germany during the first half of the 1970s. The term "K-Group" was used primarily by competing left-wing groups and in the media. It served as a collective term for the numerous, often fiercely divided groups and alluded to their shared self-image as communist cadre organizations.
Various organizations referred to as K-Groups included the Communist Party of Germany/Marxists–Leninists (KPD/ML), the Communist Party of Germany (Organizational Structure) (KPD-AO), the Communist League (KB), the Communist League of West Germany (KBW), the Communist Workers Union of Germany (KABD), and the Bavarian-based (AB).
In 1971 the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated that Germany had around twenty active Maoist groups, with 800 - 15,000 members between them. Following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, K-Groups began to fade in membership and salience. Numerous activists subsequently joined the newly formed peace and environmental movement and the resulting Green Party (now Alliance 90/The Greens). Maoist activists from workplace interventions and factory groups, who had initially hoped for immediate revolution, now became long-term active members of workers' council and trade unions.Vgl. dazu den Zeitzeugenbericht von Rainer Knirsch: David gegen Goliath - Betriebsarbeit im BMW-Motorradwerk Berlin 1975–2003. In: Arbeit - Bewegung - Geschichte. I/2017, S. 102–117. Only the Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) has established itself permanently.
Other contemporary German far-left parties, such as the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin (SEW) and German Communist Party (DKP), were not considered K-Groups, as they were oriented towards Eastern European "real socialism." Today however, the term is sometimes used somewhat vaguely in German media as a collective term for all small socialist or communist parties/organizations beyond the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Die Linke.
History
Origins within the Student Movement Previously mentioned, K-groups emerged toward the end of the West German student movement in the late 1960s. Most K-Groups emerged from various regional chapters of the disintegrating Socialist German Students' Union. Although efforts were made to reach out to apprentices, workers, and especially former members of the banned Communist Party of Germany, most K-groups remained dominated by students and intellectuals. Many K-groups were characterized by an elitist attitude among their members. Unlike the student movement, they often propagated an ascetic lifestyle. Culturally, the K-groups often drew inspiration from the proletarian literature of the Weimar Republic, Chinese socialist realism, and Albanian folklore.
According to German Sociologist Gunnar Hincks, he theorized that the adoption of authoritarian power and subjugation techniques by children from middle-class backgrounds was often caused by family disruptions during the war and post-war period and a period of orientation that gave rise to a strong need for recognition and group affiliation, even to the point of sectarianism.
Ideological "Role Models" Almost all K-groups viewed themselves as legitimate heirs of the historic Communist Party of Germany. They were united in their rejection of Eastern European socialism following Khrushchev's De-Stalinization campaign in 1956, which they dismissed as "revisionist." K-Groups ideologically referred to Mao Zedong's Chinese model of socialism, or to Joseph Stalin's tenure as General Secretary of the CPSU. After Mao's death and the associated change of course in China, some groups re-oriented themselves toward Albania under Enver Hoxha. Given the ideological breadth of the K-Groups, and a lack of unity, controversy and splits were common and often difficult for outsiders to understand. Critics have therefore often accused the K-groups of a tendency toward ideological "self-flagellation" and political sectarianism. There were, however, attempts to emphasize common themes and overcome fragmentation among themselves. In isolated cases, there was even cooperation with Trotskyist groups that had previously been strongly opposed, which lead to the founding of the United Socialist Party (VSP) in 1986 By this time, however, the K-groups had already lost importance.
Reception by the Political Establishment Viewing the K-Groups as an "interface to terrorism," the Christian Democratic Union of Germany demanded that the K-Groups be banned, with specific focus on the KBW, KPD, and KPD/ML.
Decline and Transition Following the Decline of the K-Groups in the 1970s, many former members went onto contribute their views to the activities of segments of the new social movements, such as the environmental movement, peace/anti-war movement, and anti-imperialist movement. Through these movements, numerous former K-Group members turned activists later found a new political home within the German Green Party, or the establishment left (SPD/PDS) such as:
Winfried Kretschmann (KBW) Ralf Fücks (KBW) Winfried Nachtwei (KBW) Krista Sager (KBW) Joscha Schmierer (KBW) Ulla Schmidt (KBW) Jürgen Trittin (KB) (KB) Antje Vollmer ()
List of K-Groups +In GermanyOrganizationDatesLeadersLiterary Publication(s)Succeeded By / Merged IntoMarxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (1965–1968)MLPD (1965)1965 - 1968 Erich ReimannSozialistisches DeutschlandSocialist Germany -Free Socialist Party/Marxist-LeninistsFreie Sozialistische Partei/Marxisten-LeninistenFSP (ML)1967 - 1968 Günter Ackermann Werner HeuzerothDie WahrheitThe TruthCommunist Party of Germany/Marxists–LeninistsCommunist Party of Germany/Marxists–LeninistsKommunistische Partei Deutschlands/Marxisten-LeninistenKPD/ML1968 - 1986 Ernst Aust Horst-Dieter KochRoter MorgenRed MorningUnited Socialist PartyCommunist Party of Germany (Pre-Party Formation)Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Aufbauorganisation)KPD (AO)1970 - 1980 Dieter Kunzelmann Horst MahlerDie Rote FahneThe Red Flag -Liga gegen den ImperialismusLeague1971 - 1990(Front organization of the KPD (AO)) Internationale SolidaritätInternational SolidarityCommunist League (West Germany)Kommunistischer BundKB1971 - 1991 Knut Mellenthin ArbeiterkampfWorkers' Struggle -Communist Workers Union of GermanyKommunistischer Arbeiterbund DeutschlandsKABD1972 - 1982 Willi Dickhut Stefan EngelRote FahneRed FlagMarxist–Leninist Party of GermanyArbeiterbund für den Wiederaufbau der KPDAB1973 - Helge Sommerrock Thomas Schmitz-BenderKommunistischen Arbeiterzeitung Communist Workers' NewspaperGerman Communist PartyCommunist League of West Germany Kommunistischer Bund WestdeutschlandKBW1973 - 1985 Helga RosenbaumKommunistische Volkszeitung Communist People's NewspaperLeague of West German CommunistsMarxisten-Leninisten DeutschlandMLD1976 - 1981 Heiner HügelDie Achtziger Jahre The Eighties -League of West German Communists Bund Westdeutscher KommunistenBWK1980 - 1995 Politische Berichte Political ReportsParty of Democratic SocialismVolksfront gegen Reaktion, Faschismus und KriegVF1980 - 1994(Suspected front organization of the XYZ by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution)Volksecho Popular ResponseAssociation of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (Minority)United Socialist Party Vereinigte Sozialistische Partei'VSP1986 - 1991(Front organization of the GIM and KPD/ML)Socialist NewspaperParty of Democratic Socialism (Minority) International Socialist Left (Majority)Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany Marxistisch–Leninistische Partei DeutschlandsMLPD1982–Present Stefan EngelRote Fahne Red Flag-
Similar Organizations in Europe At the same time in other countries in Western Europe, left-wing extra-parliamentary student movements in the 1960s sprang-up, inspired by the 1966 Cultural Revolution, with ensuing successor and splinter parties comparable to the German K-groups in terms of content and structure emerged, and continued to emerge. Similar parties in Western Europe rejected the Eastern European, Brezhnevite, "real socialism" and were also generally oriented towards Maoist China or Hoxhaite Albania, all generally declining after the death of Mao Zedong. +In EuropeOrganizationDatesLeadersLiterary Publication(s)SuccessorsCommunist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (Marxist–Leninist)KEN (ml)1964 - 1985 Nico Schrevel Daan MonjéRode VlagCommunist Party of Ireland (Marxist–Leninist)CPI (ML)1965 - 2003 Hardial BainsRed Patriot -Marxist-Leninists of AustriaMLÖ1966 - 1967 Franz Strobl Rote FahneMarxist–Leninist Party of AustriaMarxist–Leninist Party of AustriaMLPÖ1967 - 1968Union of Revolutionary Workers of Austria (Marxist–Leninist)Union of Revolutionary Workers of Austria (Marxist–Leninist)VRAÖ (ML)1966 - 2005 Alfred JochaDer Kommunist (1967–1970) Für die Volksmacht (1970 - 1997; 1999 - 2005) Widerspruch (1997 - 1999) -Communist League of AustriaKBÖ1976 - 1981(Austrian sect of the KBW)Klassenkampf -Communist Party of Switzerland/Marxist–LeninistsKPS/ML1969 - 1987 Nils AnderssonOktober Liberal-Socialist Party (FSP)Communist Movement M-LKHML1972 - 1976 Gunnar Andrésson Kristján GuðlaugssonStéttabaráttan Communist Party of Iceland (Marxist–Leninist)Communist Party of Iceland (Marxist–Leninist)KSML1976 - 1985 -Communist League of LuxembourgKBL1972 - 1980 Charles DoernerRoude Fändel -Workers' Communist PartyAKP1973 - 2007 Sigurd Allern Pål SteiganKlassekampenRed PartyCommunist Party (Marxist–Leninist) of San MarinoPCMLSM1968 - 1974 Giuseppe Fabbri
See also Außerparlamentarische Opposition West German student movement New Communist Movement La Chinoise Autonomism Workerism Proletarian Democracy New Left in Japan
References
External links The historical development of West Germany’s new left from a politico-theoretical perspective with particular emphasis on the Marxistische Gruppe and Maoist K-Gruppen Phd thesis by Matthias Dapprich