Communist Party of Germany

Communist Party of Germany Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands
Abbreviation	KPD
Founders	Rosa Luxemburg Karl Liebknecht
Founded	1 January 1919
Banned	17 August 1956
Dissolved	21 April 1946
Preceded by	Spartacus League
Merged into	Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Succeeded by	German Communist Party
Newspaper	Die Rote Fahne
Youth wing	Young Communist League of Germany
Political orientation	Communism
International affiliation	Comintern (1919–1943)
Party flag

The Communist Party of Germany (KPD), was a communist party in Germany founded by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. The branch in the German Democratic Republic merged into the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany whilst the western branch was banned by the government of West Germany.

History

Founding

The Communist Party was formed in the midst of the November Revolution, which occurred in Weimar Germany not long after the end of the First World War. A party congress convened by the Spartacus League occurred in Berlin from December 30, 1918, to January 1, 1919, where a socialist party program was adopted and solidarity with Soviet Russia was declared. From its founding the party was targeted by the imperialists and on 15 January 1919 party leaders Luxemburg and Liebknecht were captured and murdered.