Arthur Rosenberg
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Arthur Rosenberg (19 December 1889 – 7 February 1943) was a German
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
historian and writer.


Biography


Early years

Arthur Rosenberg was born into a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
middle-class family in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
on 19 December 1889, yet he was baptized as a Christian. He excelled at the Askanisches Gymnasium before studying at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
with Otto Hirschfeld and Eduard Meyer. Rosenberg established himself as an expert in Roman constitutional history and held a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
(1911) in ancient history and
archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
.Branko Lazitch with Milorad M. Drachkovitch (eds.), ''Biographical Dictionary of the Comintern.'' Revised Edition. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1986; pp. 401-402. In 1914, Rosenberg proved to be a conformist representative of the German academy, believing in the "ideas of 1914," and signing nationalist petitions. He then was drafted into the army, working for the Kriegspresseamt, the public relations office of the army.


Political career

After Germany's defeat in 1918 and his demobilization from the army, Rosenberg joined the new Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD).Pavel Broiué, ''The German Revolution, 1917-1923.'' John Archer, trans. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2006; pp. 982-983. He went on to join the
Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
(KPD) in 1920. Rosenberg emerged as an important theoretician for the dissident left wing of the KPD in their ongoing factional struggle with the party leadership headed by
Heinrich Brandler Heinrich Brandler (3 July 1881 – 26 September 1967) was a German communist, trade unionist, politician, revolutionary activist, and political writer. Brandler is best remembered as the head of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the party ...
and August Thalheimer. He was regarded as one of the top leaders of the party left in the city of Berlin and was an advocate of the theory that the KPD should pursue a revolutionary offensive against the Weimar state. The left wing gained control of the KPD in April 1924 and Rosenberg was elected a member of the governing Central Committee of the party as well as a delegate to the 5th Congress of the Communist International and a member of the
Executive Committee of the Communist International The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI (Russian acronym ИККИ), was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body. The ECCI was established by the Foundin ...
(ECCI) that same year. Rosenberg denounced the Dawes Plan as a plot by American capitalists to take control of the German economy. However he rejoiced that the Plan would "drive the last nails into the coffin of the German Republic". He said the Communists were ready to give the Republic the final shove so that it would "meet the fate that it deserves".Stephen A. Schuker, ''The End of French Predominance in Europe. The Financial Crisis of 1924 and the Adoption of the Dawes Plan'' (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1976), p. 391. When further factionalism swept the German Communist Party, Rosenberg maintained an ultra-left wing line as part of a factional group that included
Werner Scholem Werner Scholem (29 December 1895 – 17 July 1940) was a member of the German Reichstag in 1924 to 1928 and a leading member of the Communist Party of Germany. Scholem and his wife, Emmy, were portrayed in the 2014 documentary "Between Utopia and ...
,
Iwan Katz Iwan Katz (1 February 1889 - 20 September 1956) was a German politician (SPD, USPD, KPD, AAUE, SED and UAPD). In many ways the period of his greatest influence, within the Communist Party and after his expulsion from it in 1926 outside it, came ...
, and
Karl Korsch Karl Korsch (; August 15, 1886 – October 21, 1961) was a German Marxist theoretician and political philosopher. Along with György Lukács, Korsch is considered to be one of the major figures responsible for laying the groundwork for Western ...
.E.H. Carr, ''A History of Soviet Russia (Volume 7): Socialism in One Country, 1924-1926: Volume 3, Part 1.'' London: Macmillan, 1964; pg. 322. This group fell into disfavor in Moscow from June 1925, however. In electing a new Central Committee the German party was invited by ECCI "to have no fear of drawing into the work the best elements from former groups not belonging to the Left" — an effort to further undercut Rosenberg's factional group. Despite the criticism, Rosenberg was named a delegate to the 6th Enlarged Plenum of the CI in February 1926, at which he participated. Expulsions of the left wing of the KPD followed in 1927, but Rosenberg was not himself one of those subject to such treatment. Nevertheless, he quit the KPD in April 1927, moving from the political realm to the field of scholarship. He taught at the
University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
and served as the head of an organization called the League of Rights of Man.


Years of exile

When the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
came to power in 1933 Rosenberg was dismissed from his university post due to his Jewish ethnicity. Rosenberg emigrated first to
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
before moving on to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. From 1934 to 1937 Rosenberg taught history at the
University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
. He proceeded to the United States in 1937 to take a professorship at
Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...
, where he taught and wrote until the end of his life.


Death and legacy

Arthur Rosenberg died 7 February 1943 in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In the 1960s, his books came to more widespread attention among German historians.


Footnotes


Works

* ''Imperial Germany: The Birth of the German Republic, 1871–1918.'' Oxford University Press (1931), translation by Ian Morrow (*1896), original: ''Die Entstehung der deutschen Republik'', Berlin, 1930 * ''A History of Bolshevism: From Marx to the First Five Years' Plan.'' (1932) * ''Fascism as a Mass Movement.'' (1934) * ''A History of the German Republic, 1918–1930.'' (1936) * ''Democracy and Socialism: A Contribution to the Political History of the Past 150 Years.'' (1938)


Literatur

*
Karl Christ Colonel Karl Christ (15 June 1897 – ) was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. He returned to his nation's defense during early World War II. Biography Karl Christ was born on 15 June 1897 in Darmstadt, the Grand Duchy ...
: ''Römische Geschichte und deutsche Geschichtswissenschaft.'' München 1982, , p. 177–186. * Mario Keßler: ''Arthur Rosenberg. Ein Historiker im Zeitalter der Katastrophen (1889–1943).''[Böhlau-Verlag, Köln/Wien 2003, . **Kurzfassung (vorlaufend): ''Im Zeitalter der Katastrophen. Arthur Rosenberg (1889–1943). Im Spannungsfeld von Wissenschaft und Politik.'' VSA-Verlag, 2002, , 39 S. *
Rosenberg, Arthur
'. In: Hermann Weber, Andreas Herbst: ''Deutsche Kommunisten. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 bis 1945.'' 2., überarb. und stark erw. Auflage, Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2008, . * Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg: "Rosenberg, Arthur." In ''The Dictionary of British Classicists.'' Bristol 2005, Bd. 3, pp. 836–838. * *Francis L. Carsten, "Arthur Rosenberg: Ancient Historian into Leading Communist," ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Vol. 8, No. 1. (Jan., 1973), pp. 63–75.


External links



at marxists.org
Mario Kessler, ''Arthur Rosenberg (1889-1943): History and Politics between Berlin and New York''Phillip Stetzel on Arthur Rosenberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Arthur 1889 births 1943 deaths Brooklyn College faculty German Comintern people Communist Party of Germany politicians German people of Jewish descent German Marxists German revolutionaries Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Writers from Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German male non-fiction writers 20th-century German historians German Army personnel of World War I