Arthur Crispien | |
|---|---|
 Crispienc. 1930 | |
| Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany | |
| In office September 1922 – March 1933 | |
| Serving with | Otto Wels |
| Chairman of theIndependent Social Democratic Party of Germany | |
| In office March 1919 – September 1922 | |
| Serving with | Hugo Haase(1919) Ernst Däumig(1919–1922) |
| Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister of the Free People's State of Württemberg | |
| In office 11 November 1918 – 10 January 1919 | |
| Member of theReichstag forBerlin | |
| In office 24 June 1920 – 22 June 1933 | |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1875-11-04)4 November 1875 |
| Died | 29 November 1946(1946-11-29) (aged 71) |
| Party | SPD (1894–1917, 1922–1933) USPD (1917–1922) |
| Other political affiliations | Swiss Socialist Party |
| Spouse | Berta Ranglack |
| Children | 3 |
| Occupation | Painter, journalist |
Arthur Crispien (4 November 1875 – 29 November 1946) was a GermanSocial Democratic politician.
He was co-chairman and member of theReichstag for theIndependent Social Democratic Party of Germany, USPD, from 1920 - 1922. He was co-chairman and member of the Reichstag for theSocial Democratic Party of Germany, SPD, from 1922 to 1933.
Crispien was born inKönigsberg (modern Kaliningrad, Russia) to August and Franziska Crispien. He worked as a house and stage painter in Königsberg and joined theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1894. He worked for a Health insurance fund and became the editor of theKönigsberger Volkszeitung (1904–1906), theDanzigVolkswacht (1906–1912) and theSchwäbische Tagwacht inStuttgart (1912–1914). In 1906 to 1912 Crispien was the regional Chairman of the SPD inWest Prussia.[1]
In 1909 he was sent to the SPD party school in Berlin where he became one ofRosa Luxemburg's students. They developed a close friendship that lasted until her death in 1919. He was sent in 1912 to Stuttgart to become editor-in-chief of the party paper Schwäbischen Tagwacht. He became part of the innermost circle of the SPD's left wing, which was then called theGruppe Internationale,the International Group, but which later became theSpartacus League, and which was led by Rosa Luxemburg,Karl Liebknecht andClara Zetkin. During that period he was seen as Spartacus' representative in Stuttgart.[2]
At the outbreak ofWorld War I he opposed theBurgfriedenspolitik of the SPD on voting for Germanwar credits and was dismissed from theSchwäbische Tagwacht.[1] Karl Liebknecht was the only MP from the SPD to vote against the party line. Crispien openly showed his support for him and was dismissed as editor-in-chief of the Schwäbische Tageswacht and came into conflict withFriedrich Ebert who later became the first president of the Weimar Republic.[3] He illegally published the newspaperDer Sozialdemokrat (The Social Democrat) and was imprisoned for some months.[4] He was conscripted in theGerman Army in 1916. He was sent to the Western Front but managed to desert.[5]
In 1917, the SPD split and theUSPD, theIndependent Social Democratic Party of Germany, was formed by people from the left wing of the SPD. The remaining SPD took during this time the party designationMSPD, theMajority Social Democratic Party of Germany. Despite his closeness to above all Rosa Luxemburg, he began to take steps away from the Spartacists. In November 1918,Wilhelm II, the last German emperor abdicated andrevolution broke out in the streets. When theCommunist Party of Germany, KPD, was formed in December 1918 by Luxemburg and Liebknecht, Crispien remained in the USPD bloc.[6] After the revolution, Crispien became a member of the ProvisionalWürttemberg Government as Vice-President in 1918 and was Minister of the Interior in the Provisional State Government underWilhelm Blos until 10 January 1919. After an attemptedcoup by the Spartacists, which was approved by the USPD, he was dismissed from the government. On 12 January 1919 he was elected to the Württemberg state parliament, but resigned in April 1919 after being elected party co-chairman and member of the Executive Committee of the USPD together withHugo Haase in early March. TheWeimar era saw him elected a Member of theReichstag in 1920[7] and as Foreign Policy Spokesman for the USPD. He successfully co-led the USPD in the1920 parliamentary election when the party received 18% of the vote and became the second largest party.
In 1920, he led a delegation of theUSPD to the2nd World Congress of the Communist International but refused to acceptLenin's conditions for participation in theComintern.[4] He was critical to the idea of a merger of the USPD with theKPD. Crispien now became a target for the German Communists and the Communist International who portrayed the USPD as "social fascist".[8] From 1921 Crispien was a member of the executive board of theInternational Working Union of Socialist Parties.[9]
In 1922, the USPD and MSPD were reunited and the SPD was re-formed. Crispien was a Member of Reichstag for the SPD from 1922 and co-led the party from 1922 to 1933. From 1923 he was a delegate to theLabour and Socialist International.[9]
On 30 January 1933 theNazi seizure of power commenced, when PresidentPaul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, who immediately urged the dissolution of the Reichstag and the calling of new elections. Crispien was the SPD's main candidate in theelections to the Reichstag on 5 March 1933, which was held six days after theReichstag fire. Before the election, Nazi stormtroopers unleashed an extensive campaign of violence against members of the Communist Party, trade unions and the SPD. As party leader of the SPD and former war opponent and member of Spartacus League, there were rumors after the election that Crispien was high onSA's list and that they wanted to arrest him and hang him at theBrandenburg Gate.[10]
Crispien managed to flee the country and went into exile toAustria and laterSwitzerland, representing theSocial Democratic Party in Exile. Crispien supported political and Jewish refugees fromNazi Germany and became a member of theSwiss Socialist Party. He was a delegate at the refugee conference of 1945 atMontreux.[1]
Crispien died inBern,Switzerland, on 29 November 1946, aged 71.[11]
Chairmen of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany | ||
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| SPD (1890–1933) |
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| SPD-in-exile (1933–1945) |
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| SPD (since 1945) |
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