League of the Just

The League of the Just, known as a self-designation also covenant of justice, was a precursor and the nucleus of the later socialist and communist parties of Europe and the world. In 1836 he went out on the initiative of the journeyman tailor and the first German theorist of communism Wilhelm Weitling in Paris from the already existing there since 1834 Federation of outlaws. 1840 its headquarters was moved under the auspices of Karl Schapper to London. There the covenant was renamed in 1847 under the influence of the new members Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the Communist League.

History of the League of the Just

The League of the Just sat down especially from early socialist German emigrants in France together and known to the goal of " liberation of Germany from oppression " and the " Entsklavung of mankind."

The forerunner of the League of the Just, who led by Jacob Venedey covenant of the outlaws, was a strictly hierarchically structured secret society. Dominated by intellectuals from the petty bourgeoisie, he denied " simpler" members, especially journeymen and workers have a say in the management. The so discontented workers and journeymen built 1836-1838 to the new, politically much more radical organization of the League of the Just.

One of the most influential members of the Federal and formative theorists was the journeyman tailor Wilhelm Weitling. He advocated not only a political but also a social revolution in the sense of a revolution of the ruling ownership. Only through such a social revolution the proletariat could be free, whereas a mere political revolution only effecting the amendment to the State Constitution. With his theses to Weitling turned away from humanitarian socialism of the early French socialists, representing, for example, the cooperative ideas of Saint- Simon and Charles Fourier. Far Ling claimed against the interests of workers (see proletariat ) and the bourgeoisie ( cf. bourgeoisie ) are incompatible. He saw one of the tasks of the League of the Just is politically educate workers so that they are fighting for their own self- interests. Other important members were the shoemaker Heinrich Bauer and the former student Karl Schapper.

Although it temporarily succeeded the League of the Just, to call some groups in the German states into life, the influence of the federal remained rather low. 1839, the federal government tried together with the guided by Auguste Blanqui "Company of the seasons " to organize an uprising against the since the July Revolution of 1830 in France reigning monarchy under Citizen King Louis -Philippe. After the failure of the headquarters of the Federal was moved yet in 1839 from Paris to London. Under the influence of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the League of the Just was in 1847 renamed " League of Communists ."

The second congress of the Communist League, which met from November 29 to December 8, 1847, with participants from 30 local groups from France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the states of the German Confederation, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States commissioned Marx and Engels to write The Communist Manifesto.

This manifesto was finally the end of February 1848 published in London and distributed throughout Europe. Although the Communist Manifesto did not affect triggered in the same year bourgeois revolutions in France, Germany and other European countries ( the 1848 February Revolution, March Revolution ), but it formed the programmatic basis for the later emergence of left revolutionary socialist and communist parties.

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