The_Class_Struggle_(Erfurt_Program)

<i>The Class Struggle</i> (Erfurt Program)

The Class Struggle (Erfurt Program)

Influential 1892 book by Karl Kautsky

For the 1891 SPD party platform by Bebel, Bernstein and Kautsky that this is a commentary on, see Erfurt Program.

The Class Struggle (Erfurt Program) (German: Das Erfurter Programm in seinem grundsätzlichen Theil erläutert von Karl Kautsky) is an 1892 book-length work by Karl Kautsky. It was first published in Stuttgart and was the official commentary of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) on their brief 1891 Erfurt Program (by Kautsky, party leader August Bebel and Eduard Bernstein). It became and is still considered the seminal (and popular) text for Orthodox Marxism and the Second International.[2]

Quick Facts Author, Original title ...

History

Eduard Bernstein is acknowledged in the first edition preface as having given advice and critical review.[3] Historian Donald Sassoon wrote it “became one of the most widely read texts of socialist activists throughout Europe” and Kautsky's commentary “was translated into sixteen languages before 1914 and became the accepted popular summa of Marxism” around the world.[4] It was first translated into English by Daniel De Leon in 1894 and an adaption published in The People (Socialist Labor Party newspaper) in New York.

In 1894, Lenin translated it into Russian.[2] This was during his exile in Geneva.[5]

20th century

1910 English translation by William Bohn (Charles Kerr)

In 1904, it was republished in German as German: Der Klassenkampf in der Sozialdemokratie. The eighth German edition from 1907[6] was translated by William Bohn and published in 1910 by Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company in Chicago. In 1911, Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 (from the 1899 translations by Daniel De Leon) were published in four SLP pamphlets, The Working Class, The Capitalist Class, The Class Struggle and The Socialist Republic (the latter from Chapter 4 The Commonwealth of the Future).[7] Dietz Verlag (Berlin) reprinted it in German in 1965.[8] In 1971 another English version was published by W. W. Norton & Company.[9]

21st century

Author Lars T. Lih coined the term Erfurtianism to describe the political views put forward in Kautsky's book.[10]

Chapters

1892 German original

  1. Der Untergang des Kleinbetriebes
  2. Das Proletariat
  3. Die Kapitalistenklasse
  4. Der Zukunftsstaat
  5. Der Klassenkampf

1894 English translation

Published separately as pamphlets of the Labor library.

1899 English translation

Published separately as pamphlets of the People library.

1910 English translation

  1. The Passing of Small Production
  2. The Proletariat
  3. The Capitalist Class
  4. The Commonwealth of the Future
  5. The Class Struggle

References

  1. [1]
    Kautsky, Karl (18 February 1892). "English: The Class Struggle (Erfurt Program) by Karl Kautsky". Retrieved 18 February 2024 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  2. [2]
    Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? in Context, Lars T. Lih, Historical Materialism 9 p.74
  3. [3]
    "Karl Kautsky: Das Erfurter Programm (Vorwort zur 1. Auflage)". marxists.org. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  4. [4]
    "The origin of Rosa Luxemburg's slogan 'socialism or barbarism'". climateandcapitalism.com. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  5. [5]
    "ГПИБ | Каутский К. Основы социалдемократии : (Эрфуртская программа) : пер. с нем. - Женева, 1894. - (Социалдемократическая библиотека. Сер. 2; вып. 3)".
  6. [6]
    The class struggle (Erfurt program) archive.org Publishers Note
  7. [7]
    "Karl Kautsky: Capitalist Class (Introductory)". marxists.org. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  8. [8]
    "Karl Kautsky: Das Erfurter Programm (Vorrede zur 5. Auflage)". marxists.org. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  9. [9]
    The class struggle (Erfurt program) : Kautsky, Karl, 1854-1938 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. New York, Norton. 1971. ISBN 9780393005677. Retrieved 11 April 2020 – via archive.org.
  10. [10]
    "VI Lenin and the influence of Kautsky - Weekly Worker". weeklyworker.co.uk.
  11. [11]
    Kautsky, Karl (1894). De Leon, Daniel (ed.). The Proletariat (Labor library, no. 10 ed.). New York City: New York People. OCLC 17193022.
  12. [12]
    Kautsky, Karl (1894). De Leon, Daniel (ed.). The capitalist class (Labor Library, no. 7 ed.). New York City: New York People. OCLC 44584077.
  13. [13]
    Kautsky, Karl (1894). De Leon, Daniel (ed.). The co-operative commonwealth (Labor Library, no. 9 ed.). New York City: New York People. OCLC 29099166.
  14. [14]
    Kautsky, Karl (1894). De Leon, Daniel (ed.). The class struggle (Labor library, no. 11. ed.). New York City: New York people. OCLC 20443052.
  15. [15]
    Kautsky, Karl (1900). De Leon, Daniel (ed.). The working class (People library, v. 2, no. 6 ed.). New York city: New York People. OCLC 1001345662.
  16. [16]
    Kautsky, Karl (1900). De Leon, Daniel (ed.). The capitalist class (People library, 2:7. ed.). New York city: New York People. OCLC 938122055.
  17. [17]
    Kautsky, Karl (1900). De Leon, Daniel (ed.). The socialist republic (People Library Vol 2. No 9 ed.). New York City: New York People. OCLC 17115436.
  18. [18]
    Kautsky, Karl (1899). De Leon, Daniel (ed.). The class struggle (Labor library, no. 4. ed.). New York City: New York People. OCLC 15583260.
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